June 10, 2022

On Chicago’s South Side, Duckworth Underscores Commitment to Passing Commonsense Gun Safety Legislation

 

[CHICAGO, IL] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with local leaders and advocates to discuss the impacts of gun violence on Chicago’s neighborhoods and legislative action at the federal level to pass commonsense gun safety legislation in the wake of massacres in Uvalde and Buffalo. Duckworth was joined at the Gresham Community Center by Chicago Alderman Howard B. Brookins, City of Chicago Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities Commissioner Rachel Arfa, Heartland Alliance READI Chicago Director Jorge Matos, Acclivus CEO LeVon Stone, Gresham Community Center President Dwayne Williams Jr. and other community advocates. Photos from today’s meeting are available here.

“We are in the midst of a gun violence crisis in this country,” Duckworth said. “Firearm-related injuries are the leading cause of death among children and teens in Illinois and across the country. After recent tragedies in Buffalo and Uvalde, and the violence we tragically know is all too common across Chicago, it’s long overdue we take action at the federal level. If we do nothing, more innocent lives will undoubtedly be lost. I look forward to reviewing the proposal my colleagues put forward in the Senate, but if we can’t find 10 Republicans, we need to suspend the filibuster to get it done.”

The Senate is currently working on a package of gun violence prevention legislation that is hoped to be called for a vote in the coming weeks. Last month, after 19 children and two teachers were murdered in Uvalde, Texas in yet another preventable school shooting Duckworth went to the Senate floor to beg her colleagues to pass overdue, obvious and commonsense gun safety legislation that the majority of Americans support and that could prevent countless future massacres.

Last month, on the 15th anniversary of his death, Duckworth and Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL-01) re-introduced the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act, legislation would prohibit unlicensed firearm ownership and the transfer of firearms without a valid firearms license. Blair Holt was a Chicago Julian High School honor student who was gunned down protecting his friend when a gunman opened fire while they were riding home from school on a crowded public transit bus.

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