GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION TASK FORCE CHAIR REP. MIKE THOMPSON ANNOUNCES REP. MIKE HONDA AS NEW TASK FORCE VICE CHAIR

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, today announced that Task Force member Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) will now serve on the Task Force as one of 13 Vice Chairs. The vice chairs and Thompson comprise the Task Force’s leadership team.

“I am proud to announce that Congressman Mike Honda will serve on the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force as a Vice Chair,” said Thompson. “With his position as Ranking Member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science – which has jurisdiction over funding related to gun violence prevention – Mike will be an effective advocate for our work as a Vice Chair.  I look forward to continuing our work to reduce and prevent gun violence, while protecting the rights of law-abiding individuals to own firearms, with Mike as a Vice Chair.”

As a member of the committee that funds the Department of Justice Rep. Honda, who is also a gun owner, has fought for commonsense gun safety legislation for years.

“I am proud to accept the position of Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force,” said Honda. “I will continue to fight for real change to our gun safety laws to protect all Americans, especially our youth who are so vulnerable. Reducing needless gun violence is a moral imperative, which is made more clear everyday as we continue to lose innocent lives.”

After the December 14, 2012, school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Thompson was named by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to chair a congressional task force on reducing and preventing gun violence. Thompson is a hunter, gun owner, former chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, and veteran who carried a military-style assault weapon during a tour in Vietnam.

The House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force has been leading the effort in the House of Representatives to pass commonsense legislation (H.R. 1217) to close dangerous loopholes in our background check system that make it far too easy for criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill to bypass a background check when purchasing guns online, at a gun show or through a classified ad.