hodgepodge
Senior Member (Gold)
She's having a community meeting next Wednesday night to address "gun violence".
Here is her column in today's Capital:
The tragic shooting at The Capital did not happen in a vacuum. It occurred in a series of gun massacres: Emanuel AME Church in 2015, Pulse Nightclub in 2016, Sutherland Springs and Las Vegas in 2017, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas in 2018, among countless others.
These shootings were preventable. We need leaders who will acknowledge that simple fact and actually do something to protect our communities.
These massacres are happening in our country with increasing frequency as we watch in horror. Children are literally being taught how to defend themselves if an active shooter enters their school. Parents and family members wonder if they will someday be faced with asking the question — “Did my loved one survive?”
Many of us have become increasingly active, pushing lawmakers to protect our communities, but feel helpless in the absence of concrete action.
This cannot be a new normal. I will not accept that.
There is no one solution to preventing gun violence in this country. It is only with a combination of smart policy, social change, and political courage that we will make our communities safer.
On the policy front, we should start where agreement exists. According to a Pew Research Center survey, a majority of Americans believe we should have a federal database to track gun sales. An overwhelming majority believe we should require background checks for private sales at gun shows, prohibit gun purchases by people on the no-fly list, prevent those suffering from mental illness from buying guns, and ban 3-D printed guns.
If elected to the state Senate, I will not be able to set federal policy – but I will introduce legislation to close gaps and ensure Maryland remains a leader in gun safety.
In the absence of federal action, Maryland must be a leader in stopping the flow of guns across state lines. Trafficked guns are tearing apart communities like Annapolis and Baltimore — and we can work while Congress sits on its hands. Maryland passed a law which reduced the illegal flow of guns into our state, and we need to partner with and pressure other states to adopt similar policies.
We must move away from the counterproductive debate which boils down to individual liberty versus government regulation of guns. We all want to prevent these tragedies from happening — and we must focus on areas of agreement and find common solutions.
We need to move toward evidence-based policymaking. In 1996, Congress virtually halted gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This impedes Maryland’s ability to use data to inform our policymaking. We cannot wait for the federal government to restart this research, the state must move faster.
Maryland is home to some of the world’s leading research institutions. We need to empower researchers at our schools of medicine, public health, public policy, and law to find better answers, and we need to use those answers to guide our policy decisions.
If elected, I will introduce a bill to create a Maryland Gun Violence Prevention Research Fund to enable the University of Maryland, Morgan State, Johns Hopkins and other institutions to conduct health and policy research on gun violence.
I readily admit that I do not have all the answers. But as your state Senator, my commitment to you is that I will not rest until we work together to find and implement solutions.
The community is demanding more of elected, and our leaders must deliver. It is not enough to sit back and say you tried. We need our leaders to step up and take collective responsibility. To keep pushing, keep talking, keep working together until we make our communities safe.
To that end, I invite the community to join me and gun safety experts on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center to help “set the agenda” and prevent gun violence in our community.
Here is her column in today's Capital:
The tragic shooting at The Capital did not happen in a vacuum. It occurred in a series of gun massacres: Emanuel AME Church in 2015, Pulse Nightclub in 2016, Sutherland Springs and Las Vegas in 2017, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas in 2018, among countless others.
These shootings were preventable. We need leaders who will acknowledge that simple fact and actually do something to protect our communities.
These massacres are happening in our country with increasing frequency as we watch in horror. Children are literally being taught how to defend themselves if an active shooter enters their school. Parents and family members wonder if they will someday be faced with asking the question — “Did my loved one survive?”
Many of us have become increasingly active, pushing lawmakers to protect our communities, but feel helpless in the absence of concrete action.
This cannot be a new normal. I will not accept that.
There is no one solution to preventing gun violence in this country. It is only with a combination of smart policy, social change, and political courage that we will make our communities safer.
On the policy front, we should start where agreement exists. According to a Pew Research Center survey, a majority of Americans believe we should have a federal database to track gun sales. An overwhelming majority believe we should require background checks for private sales at gun shows, prohibit gun purchases by people on the no-fly list, prevent those suffering from mental illness from buying guns, and ban 3-D printed guns.
If elected to the state Senate, I will not be able to set federal policy – but I will introduce legislation to close gaps and ensure Maryland remains a leader in gun safety.
In the absence of federal action, Maryland must be a leader in stopping the flow of guns across state lines. Trafficked guns are tearing apart communities like Annapolis and Baltimore — and we can work while Congress sits on its hands. Maryland passed a law which reduced the illegal flow of guns into our state, and we need to partner with and pressure other states to adopt similar policies.
We must move away from the counterproductive debate which boils down to individual liberty versus government regulation of guns. We all want to prevent these tragedies from happening — and we must focus on areas of agreement and find common solutions.
We need to move toward evidence-based policymaking. In 1996, Congress virtually halted gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This impedes Maryland’s ability to use data to inform our policymaking. We cannot wait for the federal government to restart this research, the state must move faster.
Maryland is home to some of the world’s leading research institutions. We need to empower researchers at our schools of medicine, public health, public policy, and law to find better answers, and we need to use those answers to guide our policy decisions.
If elected, I will introduce a bill to create a Maryland Gun Violence Prevention Research Fund to enable the University of Maryland, Morgan State, Johns Hopkins and other institutions to conduct health and policy research on gun violence.
I readily admit that I do not have all the answers. But as your state Senator, my commitment to you is that I will not rest until we work together to find and implement solutions.
The community is demanding more of elected, and our leaders must deliver. It is not enough to sit back and say you tried. We need our leaders to step up and take collective responsibility. To keep pushing, keep talking, keep working together until we make our communities safe.
To that end, I invite the community to join me and gun safety experts on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center to help “set the agenda” and prevent gun violence in our community.