Members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force hold a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you all for being here.
00:08I'm Mike Thompson from California, and I have the privilege and the honor of chairing
00:14the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and I'm here today with many of our colleagues
00:21who are on the task force, and we're here today to announce the filing of a discharge
00:27petition to force the Republican leadership to take some action to make our communities
00:33safer.
00:34This discharge petition on the floor today we're going to talk about is to bring the
00:45red flag bill that Congresswoman Lucy McBath has to a vote on the House floor.
00:51We know that red flag laws work.
00:54We know that they save lives.
00:57By using a red flag law, you're able to separate someone who is a danger to themselves or others
01:03from a firearm that they may have ownership of or possession of.
01:09As I said, I represent California, and California passed a red flag law in 2016, and they can
01:16document that that red flag law in California has stopped 58 mass shootings.
01:23We should be doing everything we can to make our communities safer, and that's what our
01:29task force has set out to do.
01:32We passed in the last Congress the Bipartisan Community Safety Act, and that was the first
01:39major piece of gun violence prevention legislation signed into law in 30 years, and it has a
01:47red flag provision in that.
01:51Congresswoman McBath's bill will ensure that the work that we did in that legislation and
01:56the money that we're able to secure can be better spent across all 50 states and save
02:03lives.
02:04So, thank you all for being here, and it's my pleasure to turn it over to a real stalwart
02:09and an icon in the gun violence prevention space, and that's Congresswoman Lucy McBath
02:15from Georgia.
02:16Well, I want to thank Chairman Thompson for his tremendous leadership for the Gun Violence
02:25Prevention Task Force here on the Hill.
02:28He's been leading in this work long before I came to Congress, and I can't tell you how
02:33valuable you are in leading us and giving us the charge, and I want to thank all of
02:39my colleagues that stand with me here today.
02:41They're all champions in the Front for Gun Safety and Safer Communities.
02:50I'm proud to be the lead sponsor of this legislation that is going to be discharged on the floor
02:56today, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, with Congressman Carbajal, and
03:01the sponsor of the discharge petition that we have filed today that would bring the bill
03:06up for an immediate vote on the House floor.
03:10I have led this bill since 2019, and I have continued to hear stories from families everywhere
03:17I go and law enforcement all around the country about the lives that might have been saved
03:24if we had a red flag law in place.
03:29Stories like Mary Stiller Strobel, whose brother Ben was a combat veteran suffering from depression
03:37and PTSD.
03:41Ben had lost 30 pounds after his tour.
03:45Returning home, his father asked him about his weight loss.
03:50Ben replied that he couldn't eat, and he said that it was just so hard out there, Dad.
03:57It's just so hard, and everywhere I go, it smells like death.
04:02Ben was seeking treatment at a local VA hospital, but his family worried that in a moment of
04:09desperation, Ben might end his own life.
04:15Mary and her father drove to every gun store in their community.
04:22They showed these store photos of Ben, and they were pleading with him.
04:28If he shows up in this store, if he shows up to purchase a firearm, please do not sell
04:35this firearm to Ben.
04:39Ben Miller died by suicide.
04:43He used a gun that he bought at a local store.
04:47It's too often that the families and the loved ones who see the signs of crisis before anyone
04:54else are helpless to do anything about it.
04:58And red flag laws empower those families, along with law enforcement, to do something
05:05before it's too late.
05:09Empower their voices and allow a judge upholding due process under the law to determine if
05:18temporary limits should be placed to keep guns out of the hands of those who may be
05:23a danger to themselves or others.
05:27In the nutshell, this is what red flag laws do.
05:32Mary and her father weren't able to use that process because it was not instituted federally
05:38or within their state.
05:41They did not have a red flag law in place.
05:45This legislation would change that.
05:49Legislation I remind you that passed the House last Congress, the 117th Congress, with the
05:55support from Democrats and five Republicans.
06:01Legislation that was once held by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican
06:07Lindsey Graham.
06:10Gun violence in this country is an epidemic.
06:13The Surgeon General just yesterday finally issued a report on the public health crisis
06:20that is gun violence in America and called for action.
06:25And so we once again are taking action.
06:29So I thank my colleagues that are here with me, my colleagues that are here in Congress
06:35for taking action to join me to announce this new strategy to move this legislation along,
06:43common sense legislation that saves lives.
06:47I implore our colleagues in this House to sign the discharge petition and make these
06:55life-saving tools available not only state by state, but everywhere in this country,
07:02no matter their zip code or their political party.
07:07Because we, and I say that we are the Gun Sense Democratic Caucus, are working to protect
07:15the American people.
07:17Even if the current majority doesn't stand up with the safety of their own constituents
07:23and their own families, we will.
07:27And now it is my distinct pleasure to bring up to you an incredible leader in our caucus
07:33and partner in this fight for gun violence, Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse.
07:46Well first and foremost, good afternoon everyone and thank you to the Gun Violence Prevention
07:51Task Force leaders, to Chairman Thompson for his principled leadership of the task force
07:57for so many years, to Representative McBeth, my sister in service and served together on
08:03the Judiciary Committee, and she continues to inspire not just the members of our House
08:08Democratic Caucus, but really folks across the country in the way in which she's been
08:12able to convert personal anguish into action, and once again doing so here with respect
08:17to her leadership on the Red Flag Discharge Petition.
08:21Of course, my good colleague and friend, Representative Robin Kelly from the great state of Illinois,
08:26no one has worked harder, no one has worked harder in trying to curb and prevent and stop
08:33gun trafficking in our communities than Representative Kelly, best evidenced by the provision that
08:38she was able to get signed into law by President Biden just a few short years ago within the
08:43Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
08:46There was a provision in that bill, of course, that Representative McBeth and Representative
08:50Carbajal worked vociferously on as well in relation to red flag laws, and we've heard
08:55a lot from some of our Republican colleagues about their purported support for these laws,
09:01which we know save lives.
09:03You heard from Chairman Thompson about the way in which these laws have saved lives in
09:07California.
09:08That's certainly true in my home state of Colorado that I'm privileged to represent
09:12here in the House.
09:14But in my view, talk is cheap.
09:17There's an opportunity for so-called moderate Republicans in the House Republican Conference
09:24to prove that they support these red flag laws.
09:29They can do so by simply walking onto the floor and signing the discharge petition that
09:34Representative McBeth and Chairman Thompson, Representative Kelly, and so many others are
09:39leading on.
09:40A simple way for them to show their constituents, the Congress, the country, that they in fact
09:47care about saving lives, because we know that red flag laws will in fact, do in fact, save
09:54lives.
09:56These laws have often been passed on a bipartisan basis in a variety of different states across
10:01the country, again, including Colorado.
10:04This should not and cannot be a partisan issue because fundamentally it is a public health
10:09issue, evidenced of course by the Surgeon General's announcement just yesterday regarding
10:14the epidemic and scourge of gun violence impacting communities from Atlanta to Chicago to California
10:20to Colorado.
10:21So inaction is not an option, which is why you see yet again House Democrats stepping
10:26up to the plate, making the case to our colleagues to join us in good faith to protect our communities,
10:32and we'll keep doing that each and every day.
10:40At this time, if there are any questions, we're more than happy to entertain them,
10:44but we are seriously continuing to work as much as we can in a bipartisan manner to make
10:49sure that the extremist protection order is not just state by state, as Assistant Leader
10:56Neguse did say, we were able to pass that in the bipartisan Safer Communities Law, but
11:02we want to save as many lives as we can, and it's important that every state, the citizens
11:08and community members of every state, law enforcement, have access to these life-saving
11:14tools.
11:15And so that is the reason why it's vitally important to make sure that this is a federal
11:21law, which is the most expansive way to keep our communities safe.
11:27Happy to say that the Office of Gun Violence Prevention has very much been accepting of
11:34this tool as a way to protect our communities, and this Democratic caucus is working in lockstep
11:42with the Office of Gun Violence Prevention to enhance the ability for states all across
11:47the nation to use these tools.
11:52Also in conjunction with the funding that has been appropriated for community violence
11:58intervention and the work that we've done, we hope to really save lives.
12:03Every community in this country deserves to be able to live without the unfettered access
12:12of guns by people who should not have them.
12:16And that is all that we intend to do each and every day that I do this work.
12:21I am reminded each and every day of my own son, the loss of my son to unnecessary gun
12:28violence.
12:29And we know that these laws work.
12:32We know that in the states that have enacted these laws, that the so-called justifiable
12:38homicide rates fall.
12:42In fact, we have Senator Scott, who was the governor of Florida.
12:48After the Parkland tragedy, he himself signed into law in the state of Florida red flag
12:53laws.
12:55And so we know that they work, and we want to continue to encourage our Republican colleagues
13:03to do what is right.
13:06There are constituents that they have in their own communities that every single day are
13:11dying by suicide.
13:13There are constituents every single day that are dying by domestic abuse because of firearms.
13:21There are constituents every single day that they have that are dying unnecessary deaths
13:27due to unnecessary gun violence.
13:30Question?
13:31This isn't the first discharge petition on this issue.
13:32Is there anything that you've learned from the previous discharge petitions as you talk
13:33to Republicans about signing on that you're applying to this particular petition on this
13:34red flag bill?
13:35You know, the question that we've heard before is that, you know, the person that you're
13:51talking about taking the guns from does not have due process, and that's absolutely not
13:55the case.
13:57There is due process built into this legislation.
14:01The problem has been is that in the past, and we've tried to explain to them, is that
14:06when a family finds an individual or a loved one in crisis, someone who is exhibiting signs
14:12of being in crisis, and they have access to firearms, law enforcement oftentimes has had
14:19their hands tied.
14:21These families call law enforcement, please take the guns from my loved one, they're going
14:27to cause harm to themselves or to others, and law enforcement's hands have been tied.
14:33And so what we've tried to explain to our Republican colleagues is that what we are
14:36doing with this legislation is we are giving law enforcement the tools that they need to
14:42be able to go to court with the families before the judge with due process enhanced in this
14:48legislation in the court proceedings for that individual to ascertain whether or not
14:53they actually pose a risk to themselves or to others.
14:58And there are two different types of extreme risk protection orders.
15:04There's an ex parte, there's also an order.
15:08So depending on what the judge deems necessary, the guns may be taken from an individual for
15:16a short period of time until it's ascertained whether or not they are at risk, or an order
15:22where those guns are taken from them for an extended period of time.
15:26But reassured, due process is implicit within this legislation because once it is deemed
15:33that that individual is no longer a threat to themselves or others, they will have to
15:38pass a background check again, but they will have those firearms returned to them.
15:46This does support Second Amendment rights.
15:48There is due process within this legislation because most certainly there are people in
15:54the country that are law-abiding gun owners, law-abiding gun enthusiasts, law-abiding hunters,
16:01and we're not infringing upon their rights.
16:04But we need to make sure that people who should not have access to guns or firearms
16:09when they are in crisis don't have access to them.
16:13Question?
16:14You're up against a majority who would be very reluctant to cooperate on this issue.
16:23What about this do you think will be different, and why are you hopeful that this will go through?
16:29Well, I am not under any illusion that they are going to cooperate, but we are appealing
16:37to the American people as well.
16:39We want the American public to know that despite our Republican colleagues' unwillingness
16:45to do what is right and to protect the safety of their communities, we're not going to stop.
16:52We're going to continue to build upon the work that we've done.
16:55There are advocates and gun safety organizations all around the country that stand with us,
17:00and we're doing tremendous work.
17:02When I came into gun safety advocacy 10 years ago, I can tell you the countless number of
17:08times I would go to testify in state legislatures or to even come here and testify before the
17:15United States Senate, and there would be no one there with me.
17:19There would be no one to really help encourage me or encourage common-sense gun safety legislation
17:25policy.
17:26But that's changed now.
17:29That has definitely changed now.
17:31There's not one mother, father, there's not one family in any community that I know of
17:38that is happy with the scourge of gun violence in our country.
17:42It is a public health crisis.
17:44It is an epidemic.
17:46And so we know and believe that we are doing the right thing.
17:50We are saving lives.
17:52And we'll continue to champion forward, but we will also continue to let the American
17:57public know that it is not us that holds up progress.
18:03And I'm hoping that our Republican colleagues will take heed to the voices of the people.
18:09Over 90% of the American public want common-sense gun safety legislation.
18:14They believe there must be a balance of rights, gun rights, protecting Second Amendment gun
18:22rights with a balance of common-sense measures to keep people safe.
18:27Let me just add, this is the process.
18:36We could avoid the discharge petition altogether if the Republican leadership would bring up
18:42before the body a vote on the bills that we on the task force and the American people
18:49know will make our communities safer and will save lives.
18:54But they've chosen not to.
18:56They've decided they're not going to bring any gun violence prevention legislation up.
19:02As a matter of fact, they've exacerbated things by removing the Veterans Administration from
19:09being able to ascertain information on veterans that are a danger to themselves or others.
19:17In legislation, in an amendment that they passed, they stopped that from being able
19:23to take place at a time when 20 veterans a day are taking their own lives.
19:30So this is what we have.
19:32This is the only tool that we have through the rules of the House and the legislative
19:38process to be able to free this measure up that we know saves lives for a vote from the
19:47House of Representatives to bring it into law.
19:51If I could just say one thing, that's where all of you come in.
19:54You know how hard we're working.
19:56This is my, I think, third gun violence press conference this month.
20:00You see familiar people and sometimes more legislators, sometimes less depending on committee.
20:07And that's how we need the media to come in to talk about what we're doing and talk about
20:11why we have not made more progress.
20:14Because as you've heard, what we're trying to do has saved lives, does save lives, and
20:19will save lives.
20:20Yes.
20:21Thank you.
20:22I'm wondering, are there any Republican colleagues of yours that have signaled to you that if
20:23this legislation was brought to the floor, they would be open to voting for it?
20:38Some voted for it last.
20:39Pardon?
20:40Some voted.
20:41Yeah.
20:42There were actually five Republicans that voted for it in the 117th Congress.
20:43I don't know what pressure has been placed on them, but I do know on private conversations,
20:49there are Republicans who said, yeah, I get it.
20:52You know, yes, there are suicides in my own community.
20:55Yes, I understand what's happening.
20:58But I think they're just afraid to stand on the other side of their Republican colleagues.
21:05But I think deep down, they know that they have constituents that are dying unnecessarily,
21:12as we all do in our constituencies.
21:16The bump stock ruling from the court is a prime example of that.
21:23If you recall, when bump stocks became widely known of, and that was after the Las Vegas
21:29mass shooting, then there was action on the floor.
21:33There was a Republican bill to ban bump stocks, and they couldn't get it through their leadership.
21:41So the former president did it through administrative regulations, and the court just ruled that
21:49that was not constitutional.
21:51So we need to codify that regulation.
21:56We need to put it in law to prohibit these bump stocks, a device that's added onto a
22:02semi-automatic firearm to make it function just like a fully automatic firearm.
22:09And there are colleagues who were pushing for the bill, Republican colleagues who were
22:14pushing for that bill, but are reluctant to push now through the discharge petition process
22:22because they think it is going against their leadership.
22:26It is their leadership that's holding this up.
22:29And I don't know if that's because they're beholden to outside organizations or they're
22:36beholden to the extreme right wing of their conference.
22:41Thank you.
22:42Thank you.
22:43Thank you.
22:44Thank you.
22:45Thank you.