Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the following statement after President Biden announced in Monterey Park, Calif. an executive order to reduce gun violence:
“I applaud President Biden for taking action to reduce gun violence. Expanding background checks, supporting red-flag laws and holding gun manufacturers accountable for marketing to children will save lives.
“But we must do more, which will require legislation from Congress.
“It’s been nearly two months since the shooting in Monterey Park. The gunman used an assault weapon to kill 11 innocent people and injure nine more at a Lunar New Year celebration. He would have killed more if not for the heroic action of an unarmed individual.
“Unfortunately, we wake up almost daily to headlines of mass shootings. Most of these shootings share one connection: they all involve an assault weapon.
“We must act to ban dangerous assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, like those used in Monterey Park. These weapons of war are designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. They don’t belong on our streets.
“I hope Congress will follow the president’s lead and take up the assault weapons ban and pass other commonsense proposals to end the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our communities.”
Background:
- After the Monterey Park shooting, Senator Feinstein reintroduced the Assault Weapons Ban to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. The bill has 41 cosponsors in the Senate.
- She has introduced several other bills to reduce gun violence including the Age 21 Act, the Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act and the Extreme Risk Protection Order Expansion Act.
- Senator Feinstein is a founding member of the Gun Violence Prevention Caucus.
