WASHINGTON — Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) hailed the new gun safety proposals unveiled Jan. 16 by President Obama.
The plan consists of numerous measures including a requirement that background checks be conducted on every firearm sale, an item that Meng urged the administration to include in a letter she recently sent to Vice President Joe Biden, who recommended the new proposals as the head of Obama’s Gun Task Force.
Meng also announced that she has joined the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, a group of lawmakers tasked with examining steps that Congress can take to reduce and prevent gun violence.
The task force was established by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) in the wake of Newtown tragedy. The panel plans to hold meetings and hearings over the next several weeks and release proposals for improved gun safety laws in February.
The team, led by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa) is also expected to work with the Gun Task Force on its plan to decrease and prevent gun violence.
“With the horrible massacres and senseless shootings that have taken place across the country, it is essential that we act now to strengthen our nation’s gun laws so that we can prevent future tragedies from occurring,” said Meng. “It is finally time to get serious about the gun violence problem plaguing our nation. Continuing to sit idly by and do nothing is longer an option.
“I praise President Obama for putting forward a comprehensive package, and I urge Congress to enact these proposals and the eventual recommendations of our task force.”
Just one day after being sworn into office, Meng announced that she would introduce legislation this month to close the “fire-sale loophole,” which permits gun dealers with revoked licenses to transfer their weapons to their private collections, then sell the firearms in inventory clearance sales without federal background checks.
In addition, Meng has agreed to co-sponsor several other gun control bills, including the Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (H.R. 138), Gun Show Loophole Closing Act (H.R. 141), Fix Gun Checks Act (H.R. 137) and Crackdown on Deadbeat Gun Dealers Act (H.R. 236).