OP-ED
Using art as a means to promote social justice
BY GREGORY MEEKS
Whether it’s Odessa and El
Paso Texas, Dayton and Vegas,
or Orlando and Sandy Hook,
it’s often said that our nation
barely has a moment to grieve
one mass shooting before the
next one makes headlines.
But we must not forget
that gun violence happens
every day, in homes and on
our streets. Yes, even here in
Queens.
According to the CDC’s
most recent complete data set
in 2017, 39,773 people died as a
result of gun-related injuries.
Gun violence is a national epidemic,
manifested by inconsistent
gun laws, that spare no
community.
New York has strong gun
control laws, this is true. But
there is little stopping someone
from going to state with
more gun stores and fewer
laws, driving up or down the
“Iron Pipeline” of I-95, and
using that weapon here in
New York. You may recall the
death of NYPD office Brian
Moore who was shot by a gun
acquired in Perry, Ga.
In August, Queens saw an
increase in shootings while,
throughout the city, crime has
been on a downward trend. In
the 113th precinct which covers
parts of Jamaica, Hollis,
St. Albans and Springfield
Gardens, shootings have increased
by 40 percent this
year, up to 14 from 10 the year
prior.
One crucial way we can
reduce gun violence in our
community is my instituting
federal laws that set at least a
floor of necessary gun safety
measures, like universal background
checks and closing the
gun show loophole. The House
passed a package of gun safety
reforms last winter, H.R. 8, as
one of its first major priorities
after Democrats resumed leadership.
This legislation is not only
bold, it is widely popular
across both Democratic and
Republican voters alike. According
to a recent Quinnipeac
poll, 93 percent were in favor of
universal background checks,
and 82 percent supported requiring
a license to purchase
a gun. And yet, these Housepassed
bills are sitting in the
Senate’ legislative graveyard,
waiting on Sen. Mitch McConnell
to heed the will of frustrated
Americans tired of the
Senate’s inaction.
After all, despite these
bills being strong measures
to help keep guns out of the
hands of those who shouldn’t
have them, they are the floor
of what Congress can do, not
the ceiling. There are more
measures that can help drastically
reduce damage that
can be inflicted by a singular
mass shooter. Those measures
include banning Assault style
weapons like the AR-15 so commonly
used in mass shootings,
banning extended magazines
which allow shooters to shoot
longer without reloading.
There are also measures
to reduce the gun violence we
see every day in our communities,
like allowing authorities
to temporarily confiscate
weapons from those accused
of domestic abuse or who are
a danger to themselves. Over
half of the mass shootings in
the U.S. are connected to intimate
partner or family-based
violence, and the majority of
those who kill an intimate
partner have a history of domestic
violence.
This month, The House
Judiciary Committee moved
forward with three additional
pieces of legislation: H.R. 1186,
H.R. 2708 and H.R. 1236, which
aim to remove weapons of war
out of our streets and restrict
those seeking to commit hate
crimes from access to guns.
I’ll soon be reintroducing
my legislation from last
Congress, the Investor Choice
Against Gun Proliferation
Act, which would require listed
companies to annually disclose
their financial relationships
with the gun industry,
allowing consumers and investors
to make informed decision
that aligns with their morals.
Though his position changes
by the day, even President
Trump has been forced to acknowledge
the national momentum
for gun reform. We
can credit that to local and national
activism. I’ve recently
met with Moms Demand Action
for Gun Sense in America,
who’ve been instrumental in
building the gun safety movement,
to discuss how we can
get common sense gun reform
over the finish line.
We have more guns in this
country than we have people.
When compared to every other
wealthy nation in the world,
no other country comes close
to matching our rate of gun
deaths. This is not the American
exceptionalism we want
to be known for. It is time for
the Senate to bring gun reform
legislation to the floor for a
vote now.
Gregory Meeks is the U.S.
Representative for New York’s
5th congressional district.
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