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Rep. Mace Releases Statement on Gun Legislation

June 24, 2022

Once again, the House is being asked to vote on sweeping legislation which jeopardizes Americans’ Constitutional protections, negotiated by a small group of Senators, and pushed through without any input or amendments from the House. Sweeping reforms should be bicameral and bipartisan.

As a mom of two kids, the gun violence in our country is truly heartbreaking and I want to see every child safe no matter where they live or go to school. At the same time, we should not strip away certain provisions the constitution affords every law abiding citizen. 

Why is it so hard to talk about the root cause of the underlying issue of mental illness, school safety and charging and convicting criminals with a crime? 

Take for example in South Carolina, most illegal firearm possessions are by those between the ages of 21 and 39. When it comes to criminal charges for illegal firearm possession, the state doesn’t really keep track of how many plead down or how many convictions are made each year of those who are charged. Last year alone, South Carolina had over 3,500 charges for illegal firearms possession, but good luck figuring out how many were convicted.

In Chicago, for example, there is widespread gun control but that doesn’t stop mass shootings from happening every single weekend.

Our policies should be based on reality and based on an approach that will truly get to the root of the problem, keeping our communities safe, while also protecting those who follow the law.

Sadly what we are seeing in many of our neighborhoods is a basic failure of the enforcement of laws already on the books, combined with a lack of respect for the basic values of human life, increased mental health issues, bullying, and poverty. 

The proposal the House voted on today has long-standing implications on our constitutional rights, such as a federal expansion of gun confiscation orders, without due process, and is a classic example of federal overreach of decisions that should be left in the hands of states. 

As I have stated in the past, and as I have shown through my work in the state legislature and in Congress today, there are ways to do all of the above. 

If we could focus on strengthening background checks, address mental health, provide law enforcement the funding they need to enforce illegal gun possession laws already on the books, school safety, improving software that keeps track of criminal charges and convictions that would otherwise prohibit someone from purchasing a firearm, well, then we’d be on to something.

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