Issue Position: Guns

Issue Position

I remember when I first heard about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We were on a family vacation and they announced a moment of silence over a loudspeaker on a cruise ship -- my only child at the time was my 9-month-old son. I remember a feeling of relief that I wouldn't be sending him off to school for a long time. I never imagined that day almost 6 years ago would become a normal day in America.

Gun violence is a public health crisis in our country right now. Here in Rhode Island, I'm the lead sponsor of a package of critical bills to help produce mass shootings:

A bill to ban the sale and importation of assault weapons,

A bill to ban high-capacity magazines, which allow guns to fire an unlimited number of rounds without reloading,

A bill mandating the safe storage of firearms, to prevent them from being used by anyone other than their owner.

As a mom, it's critical to me to reduce gun violence and keep our kids safe. Sending our kids to school shouldn't be an act of faith. I support the Safe Schools initiative, so that anyone with a concealed carry permit cannot carry a firearm onto any school property.My opponent opposed the "red flag" bill supported by our state's police chiefs to help them take guns away from people who are a danger. We must remember that guns can make people a danger to themselves: two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides. He also voted to allow domestic abusers to keep their guns.

Because of my advocacy, I was awarded the Moms Demand Action "Gun Sense Candidate" Distinction.

The next session will be critical to gun safety efforts -- before the pandemic disrupted legislative business, I got 41 of my House colleagues -- a majority -- to co-sponsor the high-capacity magazine ban. If I am returned to the House for another two years, we should have a real chance at making it Rhode Island law.

Source