Photo Courtesy of Sen. Schumer’s Office
Schumer unveiled the gun safety proposal on Sunday surrounded by schoolchildren at the Julia Richman Education Complex on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
By Forum Staff
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week unveiled a comprehensive gun safety proposal that he and his colleagues will be pushing in the upcoming weeks in the Congress.
Schumer made the announcement on Sunday surrounded by schoolchildren at the Julia Richman Education Complex on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
“If there is one thing this movement has declared it is that we must plug the wide range of loopholes and deficiencies in our gun safety laws. We have seen an epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings simply envelop America for too long. Each one reveals new loopholes and gaps in gun safety. Rather than just plugging one leak in response to the last mass shooting, we need a complete approach that improves our gun safety laws from top to bottom and helps prevent future shootings,” Schumer said. “Americans are fed up with the unbending position of the [National Rifle Association], which is to do nothing now and always, no matter how many lives are lost. The coming days will prove whose side the president is on and whose side so many in Congress are on, too. I am hopeful that we are at the beginning of the march towards meaningful legislation and that is why we are making this push with these students in New York City.”
New York’s senior senator detailed the proposal in three parts: First, Schumer said he is urging Congress to pass tough legislation that closes existing loopholes in the background check system, such as the gun show loophole and internet sales loophole.
He is also calling on Congress to pass legislation that allows for protective orders to temporarily disarm individuals who have shown credible signs of being a harm to themselves or to others.
And finally, the senator is calling for a formal debate on assault weapons on the floor of the Senate.
Schumer noted that this isn’t the first time America has had to deal with serious gun issues since he’s been in office. He helped author the 1993 Brady Bill, which amended the Gun Control Act of 1968 to require background checks before a licensed gun dealer makes a sale. After the tragedy at Virginia Tech in 2007, Congress passed the National Incident Criminal Background Check System Improvement Act, which boosted the system through which states provided the names of people who were adjudicated mentally ill or who had committed violent crimes. Simply put, states report these names to a federal database that licensed gun dealers then check before selling a weapon. Schumer said that it is clear that more needs to be done to improve this system.
