Time to put some steel in the GOP’s spine

August
7, 2019

{My name and address}

Dear {me},

Thank you for the taking the time to write regarding the two shootings that
occurred over the weekend in El Paso and Dayton. I appreciate you reaching
out on this front.

As you may already know, the shooting in El Paso, which left 22 people dead,
was declared an act of domestic terrorism by the US Attorney for the Western
District act of Texas. In the coming weeks, law enforcement and the
Department of Justice will work together to determine whether to bring forth
federal hate crime and firearm charges, which carries a possible death
penalty sentence. I think it’s also worth mentioning that the El Paso shooter
posted an anti-immigrant document online twenty minutes before the shooting
on a platform called 8chan. It was the third shooting this year where a
shooter posted on 8chan before an attack. This cannot happen again, and I
plan on looking for ways to help law enforcement identify and prevent these
types of threats in a swifter manner. Additionally this weekend, in Dayton,
Ohio, a gunman fired dozens of shots leaving nine people dead.

In your letter, you ask me to take action to prevent shootings like these
from happening again. In that vein, I plan on working with my colleagues in
the House in advancing realistic solutions that will address the root issues
behind the violence we saw this weekend. For example, I am a cosponsor of the
Mass Violence Prevention Act which would reduce the flow of firearms into the
black market, where violent criminals often buy weapons and circumvent
background checks. This legislation would directly combat firearms-related
violence by dedicating new resources that could be used to implement proven
strategies. Additionally, the Mass Violence Prevention Act would create a
fusion center at the FBI dedicated to preventing mass violence. This new FBI
fusion center would improve coordination between federal, state, and local
law enforcement agencies, which is something that law enforcement officers
have said needs to be addressed. While bills like these don’t get a ton of
coverage, I think it’s critical we target the black market for firearms and
this strikes me as a good bipartisan way to start looking for ways to address
this violence.  

If you have further questions, please contact my Legislative Aide, Sam
Shumate, in my Washington, D.C. office. He can be reached at 202-225-4531 and
is happy to discuss this issue further if you’d like.

Thanks again for writing and take good care.