DeGette Joins Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Colleagues in Announcing Consensus Principles to Keep Americans Safe

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1) joined with her colleagues on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in announcing the consensus policy principles they have developed over the past two months to prevent gun violence in our nation. The Task Force was formed in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut that claimed the lives of 20 children, and the ensuing national call to address the devastation caused by gun violence in our country.

"Today, I am proud to join with my colleagues as we announce a set of common-sense proposals to keep our children and our families safe and prevent gun violence across the country," said DeGette. "It is a testament to those who gave their lives in Sandy Hook that we as a nation are finally engaging in a larger conversation regarding our views on guns, violence, and how we respond to mentally ill citizens in our communities. The principles we announce today reflect that conversation and provide a framework for action. I am hopeful we can come together as a Congress and as a nation around these reasonable solutions that will help keep killing machines out of the hands of disturbed individuals, while respecting the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun owners."

The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, led by Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-5), introduced the following consensus policy principles and urged their Congressional colleagues to take action:

• Reinstate and strengthen a federal ban on the sale of additional assault weapons into the market.

• Reinstate a federal ban on assault magazines.

• Pass legislation requiring a background check for every gun sale, while respecting reasonable exceptions for cases such as gifts between family members and temporary transfers for sporting purposes.

• Strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database.

• Prosecute those prohibited buyers who attempt to purchase firearms and others who violate federal firearm laws.

• Pass legislation aimed specifically at cracking down on illegal gun trafficking and straw-purchasing.

• Make funding available for public safety and law enforcement initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence.

• Support initiatives that prevent problems before they start, like helping local communities apply evidence-based prevention and early intervention strategies.

• Close the holes in our mental-health system and make sure care is available for those who need it.

• Help our communities get unwanted and illegal guns out of the hands of those who don't want them or shouldn't have them.

• Support responsible gun ownership.

• Take steps to enhance school safety.

• Address our culture's glorification of violence seen and heard though our movie screens, television shows, music and video games.

"This comprehensive set of proposals reflects the fact that there is no one solution to the problem of gun violence in America," continued DeGette. "As a first step, I'm proud to have introduced a bill to ban high-capacity assault magazines on the first day of this Congress. I am pleased my Task Force colleagues support that initiative as a fundamental proposal to better protect our children from gun violence. I am also proud that in the next few weeks, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, of which I am the Ranking Member, will begin to examine how best to reform our mental health system so care is available to those whose illness may otherwise lead them to harm themselves or others."

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