Durbin Meets With March For Our Lives To Discuss Common Sense Gun Legislation
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with representatives from March For Our Lives. During their meeting, Durbin discussed the ongoing negotiations in the Senate to address the scourge of gun violence that kills more than 100 Americans each day. Durbin expressed his own support for common sense gun violence prevention solutions like closing gaps in the gun background check system.
“This week, we’ve heard the families of the Buffalo shooting victims share their grief and listened to young survivors of the Uvalde shooting retell the events of that horrific day,” Durbin said. “We cannot ignore our responsibility to the American people to pass common sense reforms that would reduce the epidemic of gun violence. We must act. Alongside dedicated organizations and activists like those in March For Our Lives, I will continue to push for the meaningful reform that will save lives.”
A photo of the meeting is available here.
Earlier this week, Durbin held a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the growing threat of domestic terrorism, which featured testimony from Garnell Whitfield, Jr., whose mother Ruth was murdered in the recent mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
On June 15, Durbin will chair a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence and kids. Gunfire became the leading cause of death among American children and teens (age 19 and under), according to recently-released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. A total of 4,368 American youth died in 2020 from gun violence (homicides, suicides and accidents)—a nearly 30 percent increase from 2019. The number of youth gun deaths passed the number of youth motor vehicle deaths for the first time in 2020. There have been at least 248 mass shootings in which four or more people are shot thus far this year —more than one mass shooting per day.
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