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Sunday, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, released the following statement after a bipartisan group of Senators announced an agreement on reforms to address gun violence:
“I am encouraged that Democratic and Republican Senators have announced a tentative bipartisan framework for new commonsense gun safety regulations, including provisions to crack down on gun trafficking and straw purchasers—a reform I have championed for more than a decade. This framework does not include everything we need to end gun violence, but it is a first step in the right direction. In the meantime, the Oversight Committee will press forward with our investigation to hold the gun industry accountable for the dangerous weapons of war it sells.”
On June 8, 2022, Chairwoman Maloney held a hearing on the urgent need to address the gun violence epidemic. The hearing featured powerful testimony from Zeneta Everhart, mother of Zaire Goodman from Buffalo, New York; Roy Guerrero, M.D., Pediatrician in Uvalde, Texas; Felix Rubio and Kimberly Rubio, parents of Lexi Rubio, who was murdered at Robb Elementary School; Miah Cerrillo, fourth-grade student at Robb Elementary School; and Miah’s father, Miguel Cerrillo.
In Chairwoman Maloney’s closing statement, she announced that the Committee will hold a future hearing with the nation’s largest gun manufacturers to explain why they continue marketing and selling the weapons of choice to mass shooters.
The Committee has been examining gun violence in the United States for several years, and in 2019 launched an investigation into gun dealers that sell guns used in crimes. On April 28, 2022, the Committee released preliminary findings from its investigation, showing that a small number of gun dealers—particularly those in states with lax gun laws—have sold thousands of guns used in violent crimes.
On May 27, 2022, the Committee sent letters to five leading manufacturers of semi-automatic rifles for information related to the manufacture, marketing, and sales of their weapons, to understand how these guns are fueling the gun violence epidemic and to inform gun safety legislation.
For more than 10 years, Chairwoman Maloney has championed bipartisan legislation, including H.R.1007, the Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act, to make gun trafficking a federal felony and strengthen penalties for straw purchasers, which will help stop the flow of guns into the hands of criminals.
