CONGRESSMAN JOE MORELLE HOSTS RULES SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON “TOOLS TO COMBAT GUN TRAFFICKING AND REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES”

(Washington, D.C.) — Today, Congressman Joe Morelle, Chairman of the Rules Committee’s Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process, hosted a subcommittee hearing on “Tools to Combat Gun Trafficking and Reduce Gun Violence in Our Communities.” The hearing focused on exploring actions that Congress can take to better combat gun trafficking and ensure that illegal guns do not make their way onto the streets of our communities, where they are too often used in violent crime.  

"Our nation is perpetually grieving the loss of innocent lives to mass shootings and neighborhood violence, which have become all too common in our communities. I hosted this hearing because enough is enough: it's time to act and take long overdue action to keep our families safe,” said Congressman Joe Morelle. “Our thoughtful discussion and expert testimony outlined comprehensive actions we can take to address gun trafficking, strengthen regulations on gun shops, and better protect our streets from the devastation of gun violence. I look forward to working with my colleagues to adopt these measures and continue building on our efforts to keep gun out of the hands of those who intend to do harm.”  

“In my 35 years in law enforcement, I have seen first-hand the consequences of the use of illegal and stolen guns on victims, their families and the community at large,” said Monroe County Sheriff Todd K. Baxter. “I am committed to taking any legal action I can to reduce the number of illegal and stolen guns on our streets by suggesting federal support for responsible commercial firearms management, positive gun ownership, and incentivizing responsible gun ownership and management, as opposed to criminalizing individual gun owners and dealers.” 

“Each day, more than 110 Americans are killed by firearms, but only a fraction of these tragic events make national news. Gun violence is a widespread, public health emergency that demands Congressional action. Last week, the House advanced numerous commonsense proposals to combat gun violence and the Senate just announced a bipartisan framework to make our communities safer. But we still have more work to do. Today our Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process heard from experts in the field on what additional steps can be taken to end the gun violence crisis in our communities,” said Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern. “There is a clear opportunity for us to work together to make our country safer, and that includes enacting laws to crack down on illegal guns and prevent gun trafficking. Americans are looking to Congress for leadership right now, and I want to thank Chairman Morelle for introducing this critical bill, the Gun Theft Prevention Act, which offers concrete steps to tackle this important issue.”  

Witnesses in the hearing included Sheriff Todd Baxter, Sheriff of Monroe County, NY; Rob Wilcox, the Director of Federal Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety; and Dr. Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH, FAAP, FACEP, Senior Associate in Pediatrics in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  

The committee discussed the importance of ensuring that Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has the necessary tools to track and police gun trafficking as well as critical funding streams for gun violence prevention research. The committee also covered elements of H.R. 4423, the Gun Theft Prevention Act, authored by Congressman Morelle. 

Specifically, the Gun Theft Prevention Act would: 

• Require employees that have access to firearms to pass the same background check as a gun buyer. 

• Allow ATF to require gun shop owners to keep an inventory of the firearms in their stock and conduct an annual inventory reconciliation to see if any guns are missing.

• Create strong enforcement mechanisms, including license suspension or revocation, for dealers that repeatedly fail to meet minimum security requirements.

• Authorize an additional 650 ATF personnel dedicated to conducting dealer inspections and enforcement.

• Require individual gun owners to report lost and stolen firearms to local police and the ATF.