Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Senior Member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget issued this statement following shootings Fresno, San Diego, and Oklahoma:

“Once more, over the course of just a weekend, America suffered at least three mass casualty shooting incidents. In Fresno, California, a gunman terrorized a family gathering in the backyard of a private residence, and opened fire. Four were killed and another six were injured. Downstate in San Diego, a murder-suicide claimed the lives of five members of the same family, with a sixth on life support. And, this morning, a gunman stormed into a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma, killing three. These incidents do not include the mass shooting at Saugus High School, in Santa Clarita, California, on Thursday, where two high school students were shot and killed and another three injured. Together with the untold stories of gun violence plaguing communities and homes throughout the nation, these are just the latest examples of this nation’s unhealthy obsession with guns, that this problem is indeed an epidemic, and underscores the need for reform.

Of the ways we can respond to this matter, we can enact H.R. 8, which the House passed over 200 days ago and current confronts Senate inaction. We can also pass a trio of bills I introduced in July, following carnage at the Santa Fe High School, in Santa Fe, Texas. These bills include: H.R. 4080, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, which would regulate the proper storage of firearms and ammunition for residences with a minor or a person that is ineligible to own a firearm; H.R. 4081, the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, which would create a process for the license and registration of firearms and the possession of certain ammunition; and, H.R. 4082, which prohibits the purchase or sale of a firearm or ammunition unless it is through a federally licensed dealer that meets additional requirements.

“Thus far, there have been over 300 mass shootings in America. Each time, whole families are irreparably affected and those standing in the way of meaningful change are tacitly complicit. We must do better, and we can begin by enacting into law the bills mentioned herein. Otherwise our children, our loved ones, and our neighbors will continue to suffer.”