Gun Violence Prevention

Our country and our very own neighborhoods here in the Greater Washington D.C. Metropolitan area are facing a gun violence crisis. We have lost too many lives to murders and assaults involving guns and gun deaths by suicide. It is possible to prevent people from killing other people or themselves without infringing upon someone’s Second Amendment rights for lawful self-defense and recreation.

This is why during my time in the House of Delegates, I’ve voted for bills signed into law to require universal background checks, allow localities to regulate firearms in government buildings and, most importantly, enact extreme risk protective orders to allow a judge to issue an emergency order to prohibit someone who is in imminent danger of hurting themselves or others from purchasing, possessing or transporting a firearm. Here in greater Prince William, we’ve already seen a profound, positive effect from this bill becoming law as more than a dozen times, local law enforcement has been able to intervene to prevent suicides and homicides.

As we work across the aisle on this issue, we must involve our student constituents in the discussion. I found success as a delegate engaging with students themselves. In May 2018, I hosted a student-led roundtable discussion with U.S. Senator Tim Kaine on gun-violence prevention at Manassas Park High School. Student participants from Manassas Park, Unity Reed, Patriot and Hylton high schools shared their stories, offered innovative policy solutions and stressed the critical need for gun violence prevention legislation as they feared for their safety in school and the local community. This conversation was eye-opening and reinforced in me the belief that our students, educators and community deserve to live free from the threat of gun violence where they learn and work.

I’ll continue to support gun violence prevention bills where there is existing precedent in Virginia or other states for bipartisanship so we can get something done that is effective and data-driven.