Culpeper Star-Exponent: House Democrats to Republicans: let’s work to prevent more gun violence

CULPEPER STAR-EXPONENT

U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, this week joined 122 colleagues in Congress in asking U.S. House Republicans to work with Democrats to fight gun violence. The local congresswoman is a member of the U.S. House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, according to a Jan. 30 release from her office.

More than 43,000 Americans died from gun violence last year and there were more than 650 mass shootings, the release stated. The U.S. gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than that of other high-income nations. Firearm fatalities are also the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the U.S., according to an article last year at Forbes.com.

In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, House Democrats underscored gun violence statistics in requesting legislation to further prevent gun violence. Democrats included with the letter a calendar marking the one-year anniversary of every mass shooting that took place in the United States last year.

“As members who advocate for action on gun violence prevention, we know that it is impossible to set aside a week that isn’t marked by a mass shooting, or a single day that wasn’t touched by preventable gun violence tragedies,” stated the letter. “While there is bipartisan agreement that mental health is a serious public safety issue in our country, the gun homicide rate in the United States is 26 times that of other wealthy nations.

“It is not credible to address the gun violence epidemic without working to prevent people who are a danger to themselves or others from accessing firearms. We again ask you to work with Democrats on any policies to end the gun violence epidemic.”