Working to End Gun Violence
I remain committed to fighting the scourge of gun violence that has shattered communities across our country.
During my twenty-five years in Congress, I have consistently earned a 100 percent vote rating for my voting record in Congress from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and other groups fighting against gun violence.
I have consistently been awarded an “F” from the NRA for my voting record in Congress.
Below are some of the recent issues I am working on to combat the scourge of gun violence that continues to plague our country.
There is an urgent need for communities to do all they can to identify the early warning signs of looming violence by mentally unstable or violent people and keep firearms out of their hands.
That is why I have continued to support legislation, like the Keeping Guns from High-Risk Individuals Act, which would prohibit the sale to or possession of firearms by individuals considered “high-risk.”
Keeping firearms and assault weapons out of the hands of high-risk individuals is essential to ending the preventable, mass gun violence tragedies that plague this nation.
After a 15-year-old shot and killed four teens at Michigan’s Oxford High School last year, his parents came under scrutiny for their negligence after it was determined that he successfully and easily gained access to their firearm.
While the Oxford tragedy was one of the most prominent recent shootings that resulted from the negligent storage of guns in a household where a minor was present, it wasn’t the only one that devastated a community.
These tragic cases have underscored the urgent need to strengthen gun storage requirements in homes where minors are present.
That’s why this year I co-sponsored Ethan’s Law, named for a Connecticut teenager who accidentally shot and killed himself with a neighbor’s unsecured gun, which would require storage of a weapon in a “secure gun storage or safety device” in a residence where a minor under age 18 could potentially gain access.
Background checks are the foundation of a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy.
The current system has blocked more than three million attempts to buy guns by individuals barred under law from purchasing them, according to the Justice Department.
However, there is still work to be done to strengthen, expand and close loopholes in the background check system.
That is why I co-sponsored two recent measures to strengthen background check laws, which passed the House this Congress.
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act would expand background checks to be required on all firearm sales, closing the gun show and online sales loopholes.
This common sense, bipartisan legislation requires all gun sellers — including private and online vendors and sellers at gun shows — to conduct background checks on potential buyers.
I also co-sponsored the Enhanced Background Checks Act, which addresses the Charleston loophole.
Under current law, gun dealers are permitted to sell a firearm to an individual if the FBI background check has not been completed within three business days.
This bipartisan bill extends the time the FBI has to complete the initial background check from three to ten business days.
No private person should possess an automatic or semiautomatic military-style weapon, nor a device that turns a semi-automatic rifle into the equivalent of a machine gun.
That is why I continue to support the Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act, legislation I joined my colleagues to introduce in Congress, which would ban the manufacture, possession, transfer, sale, or importation of bump stocks that can turn semi-automatic rifles into the equivalent of machine guns.
I also supported the Assault Weapons Ban, which passed the House this Congress and would make it a crime to knowingly own or sell a semiautomatic assault weapon or large capacity ammunition feeding device.
Weapons of war have no business place in our streets, schools or communities.
More on Working to End Gun Violence
Chesapeake, Virginia -- Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) issued the following statement on Wednesday in the wake of a mass shooting at a Walmart store in Chesapeake that killed six people.
"My heart goes out to the victims and the Chesapeake community who are forced to deal with such tragedy as families and loved ones prepare to gather ahead of Thanksgiving," said Congressman Sherman.
Colorado Springs, Colorado -- Five people are dead and 25 injured after a gunman entered Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club, Saturday and began firing with a long rifle. The gunman is in custody after being subdued by at least two people inside the club.
Today marks the 4-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting – the deadliest act of antisemitic violence in American history. On this day in 2018, a man radicalized by antisemitic conspiracy theories online walked into Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue and opened fire, murdering 11 worshippers while shouting “all Jews must die.”
Granada Hills, CA -- On August 10, 1999, an avowed white supremacist walked into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and began a shooting spree he wanted to serve as “a wakeup call to America to kill Jews.”
Choosing the location for its light security, he injured five people at the center and murdered a postal service worker of Filipino origin, Joseph Ileto.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) voted for historic legislation that will reinstate the assault weapons ban, a key action to ensure safer communities for Valley Residents by preventing gun violence and keeping weapons of war off our streets.