Pushing for Sensible Gun Laws

When I was a young boy, my sister used my father’s gun and took her own life. I am no stranger to the tragedy inflicted on family in the wake of gun violence. Our community came together after the devastating shootings around UCSB. For me, it underscored the need to do everything we can to keep guns away from those who pose a threat to themselves or others.

We need more commonsense gun safety measures–which is why I’m proud to have helped craft the first new federal gun safety law in 30 years: the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

This law includes my bill that I championed for more than half a decade, the Extreme Risk Protect Order Act, which helps states set up ‘red flag’ laws and increases awareness of these laws in places like California that already have them. ‘Red flag’ laws are proven to save lives by temporarily removing guns from people who pose a danger to themselves or others while preserving due process.

The law we got approved this year also helps crack down on straw gun purchases, ghost guns, and gun traffickers, improves background checks, and invests in community violence prevention.

This was a big step forward, but there is still plenty of work to be done to keep our communities safe from gun violence. That’s why I’ve also backed and helped pass commonsense gun safety measures that institute universal background checks and close loopholes in our vetting systems.

As a veteran, I’ve seen what weapons of war can do. They have no place on our streets. I support reinstituting national restrictions on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

I am committed to making sure we keep our communities safe and end our nation’s gun violence epidemic.