APHA sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging Congress to take immediate action on three key proposals to address the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. In the letter to House and Senate leaders, the letters urge Congress to enact three critical and commonsense policies already under consideration that would create major progress in reducing the toll of firearm violence. These policies include:
1) appropriating $50 million through the FY 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill for public health research on firearm morbidity and mortality prevention;
2) enacting legislation requiring universal background checks, such as H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act; and
3) enacting legislation that allows the removal of firearms from those deemed potentially harmful to themselves or others through the issuance of extreme risk protection orders, or ERPO, such as H.R. 1236/S.506, the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act.
The joint letter urges Congress to work to enact these important proposals upon their return to Washington, D.C., following the summer congressional recess. We shall see.
Here’s how you can urge your member of Congress to act on key gun violence prevention legislation.
