[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 133 (Friday, August 4, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E756-E757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION + PUBLIC SAFETY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 4, 2023

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, I must shed light on the growing public safety concern 
regarding gun violence.
  In 2022, firearm injury was the 12th leading cause of death in the 
United States of America.
  Every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns.
  And each year, hundreds of law enforcement officers lose their lives 
to gun violence, having been shot to death while protecting their 
communities.
  Our government's continued lack of proactivity towards preventing gun 
violence has led to countless, unnecessary deaths.
  Countless lives have been cut far too short, and countless families 
have had to experience the excruciating pain of knowing their loved one 
will never make it back home.
  And although gun violence affects us all, I would like to highlight 
the disproportionate effect of gun violence on Black communities.
  Black Americans are 10 times more likely than white Americans to die 
by gun homicide.
  Black Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to 
be fatally shot by police.
  And while Black Americans made up 12.5 percent of the United States 
population in 2020, they were the victims in 61 percent of all gun 
homicides.
  According to the American Progress, ``this is due to a combination of 
weak gun laws; systemic racial inequities, including unequal access to 
safe housing and adequate educational and employment opportunities; and 
a history of disinvestment in public infrastructure and services in the 
communities of color most affected by gun violence.''
  Discriminatory and unjust policies and practices such as slavery and 
Jim Crow are the reason that Black communities are still struggling to 
overcome the inequities in our society today.
  Time and time again our country has forced Black Americans to pay the 
price for its sins, causing countless lives to be lost in the process.
  Instead of acknowledging this public safety concern, our government 
continues to choose to remain ignorant, crafting a narrative of a war 
on the Second Amendment.
  So, allow me to be clear: I support the Second Amendment.
  But I will not sit idly by and hear the abuse of the far right's 
interpretation of the Second Amendment.
  In June 2022, the Supreme Court took a radical step when it ruled in 
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. V. Bruen that the right 
to carry a weapon or self-defense extends to outside the home.
  In this case, plaintiffs challenged the 100-year old New York state 
handgun licensing law requiring individuals to show proper cause before 
they can be licensed to carry a concealed weapon in public.
  The Court ultimately ruled New York's concealed carry law 
unconstitutional, extending the right to own a gun for self-defense in 
the home to exist outside the home as well.
  This decision altered the well-established test for evaluating gun 
safety laws and threatens the lives of millions around the country.
  The Court's decision sheds light to a growing misinterpretation of 
the Second Amendment.
  As both a legislature and a legal scholar, I must point out that the 
Second Amendment is not absolute.
  No where in the Second Amendment does it prohibit regulating guns.
  How dare we sit by when lives are being lost and act as though there 
is nothing we can do?
  Is there no sense of responsibility to provide restrictions to save 
lives?
  Our role in Congress is to ensure that we utilize every tool 
available to us to keep our cities safe.
  We need to reimagine public safety by holding law enforcement 
officers who violate the public trust accountable, using public health 
resources to address mental health crises, and ensuring all communities 
are not overpoliced, well-resourced with access to job opportunities, 
affordable childcare, and capable social services to improve the 
quality of life.
  We need to increase the use of civilian responders deployed to 
incidents involving mental health concerns and disturbances or 
disputes.
  We need to strengthen governmental agencies dedicated to violence 
intervention and neighborhood safety.
  We need to pass legislation such as H.R. 52, the Kimberly Vaughn 
Firearm Safe Storage Act, a bill I introduced which establishes best 
practices for safe firearm storage to protect Americans, especially 
children, from improperly stored or misused firearms.
  We need to pass legislation, such as H.R. 48 the Gun Violence 
Reduction Resources Act of 2023, which will work to hire additional 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive agents and 
investigators to enforce gun laws.
  We need to focus on mental health and pass legislation such as H.R. 
46 the Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act, which will 
authorize funding to increase

[[Page E757]]

access to mental health care treatment to reduce gun violence.
  These bills are particularly important as it pertains to mental 
health given the following facts:
  Suicide is the leading cause of gun related deaths in America.
  More than 60 percent of deaths by guns in the country are the result 
of individuals using these weapons as a means to commit suicide.
  Approximately 1 in 4 American adults have a mental illness and nearly 
half of all adults in America will develop at least one mental illness 
during their lifetime.
  Less than half of children and adults with diagnosable mental health 
problems receive the treatment they need.
  Gun violence is a nonpartisan issue with bipartisan solutions.
  We act as though our hands are tied behind our back, despite the 
countless options at our disposal.
  I join my CBC colleagues in advancing common-sense bills that work to 
prevent gun violence.
  Protecting our communities and protecting our families need to be 
priority.

                          ____________________