Mike Levin: “according to a report on murder-suicides released last month by the Violence Policy Center, a firearm is the weapon most…”

“according to a report on murder-suicides released last month by the Violence Policy Center, a firearm is the weapon most frequently used to murder the victims, with the offenders then taking their own lives. The study notes that easy access to a gun was the decisive component for almost all of the murder-suicides. Of the 54 murder-suicides reviewed in this study, 52 were firearm-related. If these people had not had access to a firearm, some of these deaths may not have occurred. There is a piece of legislation in the Senate I believe would help prevent easy access to firearms by felons, those determined to be mentally ill by a court, those individuals with domestic violence misdemeanors and restraining orders, and others prohibited by law from owning a firearm. In April of last year, Senator Jack Reed introduced the Gun Show Background Check Act. The Reed bill, which is supported by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, extends the Brady bill background check requirement to all sellers of firearms at gun shows. I cosponsored that bill because I believe it is critical that we do all we can to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands. Mr. President, I believe this piece of legislation would be one of many things we can do to address the problem of easy access to guns.”