Newtown Action Alliance contributes to Congressional Report on Gun Violence in America
PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE JUNE 25, 2014 10:00 AM EST
Contact: Po Murray
pmurray@newtownaction.org
203-512-1778
Newtown Action Alliance contributes to Congressional Report on Gun Violence in America
Written by Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), the Report analyzes the country’s gun violence epidemic and offers a blueprint for resolving the crisis.
(Newtown, CT) – June 25, 2014
Recently the Newtown Action Alliance was asked to contribute to The 2014 Kelly Report on Gun Violence in America, being released Wednesday, June 25th. The report is the first collaboration of its kind between Members of Congress, gun safety advocates, and public health/academic communities on the nation’s gun violence epidemic. It offers comprehensive legislative and policy solutions to the crisis. Po Murray, Chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, has been invited to attend a meeting on Capitol Hill the day of it’s release along with other contributors and stakeholders “to discuss implications of the report and effective actions that will help make our children and families safe from gun violence.”
Ms. Murray states: “The Newtown Action Alliance shared our story of how the Newtown community pulled together to transform our tragedy into meaningful action with support from victims’ families, teachers, students, and friends from numerous states. During the year following the unimaginable tragedy that occurred in Newtown on December 14, 2012, there have been heartaches and disappointments in our grassroots advocacy efforts. However, we recognize that what happened in Newtown has ignited a national conversation on gun violence prevention. As more and more Americans lose their loved ones to senseless gun violence, this national conversation will grow in size and scope until Congress will have no choice but to take action.”
Murray continued, “The Newtown Action Alliance would like to thank and applaud Congresswoman Robin Kelly. She has taken the lead on compiling a comprehensive congressional gun violence report that sheds light on the issue of gun violence in America and identifies policy solutions that can save American lives.”
Contributors to the report include Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force; Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel; Newtown Action Alliance; Duke University School of Public Policy, and others.
“America has a gun violence problem. It’s time that we face it head-on by instituting common-sense gun reforms to save lives,” Rep. Kelly states in the report. “We can strike the right balance between protecting the Second Amendment and promoting public safety by keeping guns out of the wrong hands. The Kelly Report strikes this balance.”
The Kelly Report on Gun Violence is “an anthology of analysis,” continues Rep. Kelly. “[It] defines the nature of gun violence in America while providing a framework for improving the status quo through a comprehensive set of legislative and public policy recommendations. It is a multi-faceted approach to gun violence prevention, one that includes ideas for ground-level social supports to help build safer communities. The Kelly Report offers a reasonable and feasible way forward in reducing gun violence in our country.”
Among the recommendations, the report proposes establishing firearm restraining orders which would allow courts to confiscate firearms from those who are a danger to themselves or others. In addition, it suggests investing in smart gun technologies to prevent stolen guns from being used to commit crimes as well as repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity to lawsuits by gun violence victims.
For more information and to read the full sixty-six page report, please go to: http://newtownaction.org/kellyreport2014
ABOUT NEWTOWN ACTION ALLIANCE
The Newtown Action Alliance is a grassroots organization formed after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Newtown Action Alliance works to bring about legislative and cultural change that will reduce gun violence, a public health crisis in our country.