Transcripts For CSPAN3 House Gun Violence Prevention Task Fo

With a lets begin this prayer. We cannot remain silent. For us to honor the responsibilities that we have to protect and defend the american havee we must not only moments of silence, we must have days of action. , am grateful to Mike Thompson the chair on the gun violence robintion task force and kelly for bringing us together this morning. Many of our members are here this morning to bear witness. It is not just the high profile cases that challenge our cases. It is the everyday violence that must be addressed. I think our colleagues were hosting this forum and for the relentless efforts and determined leadership in confronting the gun violence crisis. We are grateful to our expert panelists for sharing their insights, experiences, and solutions. They will be introduced by our cochairs here today, but i wanted to personally welcome them and thank them. I am here to say, no more silence. We must take action to prevent gun violence. To start, we cant and must to closethe bipartisan the loophole that will allow suspects to purchase guns. The republicans have blocked this from debate three times. This is a republican bill. This is a republican bill we are asking to be brought up. We must ask Bipartisan Legislation to beef up background checks. We must create a select committee to prevent gun violence so we can determine and report back Commonsense Solutions to confront this crisis. Our in action is unconscionable. Is on conceivable. How can we remain silent . No more violence and no more silence. Our distinguished chair of the task force, mr. Thompson. You, and thank you to all the leaders who came out for the panel. And a special thank you to our special panel. The outlook in four to what you have to say and hopefully, it will help us to move this issue forward. I am a gun guy. I am a hunter and i support the Second Amendment. I believe lawabiding people have a right to own and use firearms, but i am also a father of two First Responders and the grandfather of three beautiful granddaughters. I want my kids to be able to go to work and be safe in the workplace and i want my grandkids to be able to go to school to do the things grandkids do and be safe as well. Weont believe the debate are having on the issue of gun safety and gun violence prevention is in conflict with the Second Amendment. It is not in either or. We can protect the Second Amendment and we can also protect not only my grandkids and kids, but everybody elses as well. Unfortunately the Majority Party has been completely unresponsive to our efforts to put an end or a dent in gun violence. Therethe same every time is a mass shooting. They could be San Bernardino, charleston, isla vista, or oregon. The response is the same. We have a moment of silence. Everybody offers thoughts and prayers. And then, we go want to business as usual. At the same time, we have over 30 people a day killed by somebody with a firearm and nothing is done. And that is not acceptable. We cannot allow that to be the rule any longer. We need to keep guns away from people who should not have them and asked the leaders said on the top of that list, the people who are on the terrorist watch list, but also criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill. We do need to create a select committee to deal with this issue. The Majority Party is so troubled by the actions we are putting forward. Come to the table and lets Work Together to try and figure out work. Olutions that will congress can do one or two things. We could continue to beat silent. That is what we did after newtown and all the other tragic events that i mentioned earlier. Or, we could do Something Different we could pull together and do something to make our country safer. It is important that we hear from these experts today. I believe we should go down the path of, lets do Something Different and lets be safe. I yield to my colleague and cochair, the vice chair of the task force, robin kelly. Robin kelly i would like to thank nancy pelosi for her leadership. Chairman thompson, it is an honor to be working alongside you in this much overdue effort and i think the witnesses for their testimony today. The unfortunate truth for today is that we have had over 300 50 Mass Shootings in less than 350 days in 2015. As the year draws to a close, it is clear this congress has little appetite to end gun violence. We are losing a generation of americans to gun death. We continue to turn a blind eye to the epidemic plague in our nation. It is not just irresponsible. It is callous. Streets, taken to the this chamber of commerce, and the homes of families to demand we do something. Weeks you know what has happened in colorado, california, and countless Mass Shootings that did not draw the eye of the media. This cannot continue. As we qqq approaches, we must not forget the as the new year approaches, we must not forget the lives that were ha lted. Yday was a year that ever the American Dream was continuously robbed by g unfire. A virginia journalist and cameraman were savagely executed by a jilted coworker on national television. Three people were killed and seven injured at a lafayette Movie Theater because theyre only mistake was going to the theater. Gun violence is crippling america. Represent chicago, which has seen nearly 3000 shot this year and nearly 400 killed. That includes a fouryearold boy. This years one thing that should be made quite clear , it is gun violence is not just an urban problem or contained to a social class. It is an american problem. I see the discussion today as a changing of the tide. The safety ofor american families. I think leader pelosi, chairman thompson, and my colleagues. Yield back. It is now my honor to start introducing the witnesses. Chief dixon is from the Petersburg Bureau of police. Chief dixon was officially installed as the chief of police out of the Petersburg Police department in 2007. Prior to joining the eaters per police department, he served the Richmond Community for over 24 years. As a lawenforcement officer, chief dixon has had the opportunity to experience all aspects of policing. He has a passion for community empowerment. Have beenatives initiated under chief dixon. Police andse include community together, communitybased problemsolving, youth enrichment programs. Chief dixon has attended several supervisory and management courses and has served a tour in armynited states corps. It is my honor and pleasure to introduce chris. Lifelong hunter and shooter, chris is a investor. He is a businessman. He is a former federal firearms license dealer and a board member of arizona for gun safety. He and his wife obtained their fll. Ffl allowed him to buy, sell, trade and manufacture firearms. Hes a firearms owner, regular shooter, concealed weapons license holder and a student of the business sector. Ande from keeping the books compliance for his business and helping his father in law to generate money out of that business, his goal is to utilize his fll license to help reform the firearms industry. Robin kelly the honorable dr. Thatcher, is the founding director and Senior Advisor of the school of medicine in atlanta georgia. Previously, he served as the 16th Surgeon General in the United States. Only the second person in history to have held both positions simultaneously. As Surgeon General and assistant secretary for health, he led the department effort to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health. To theed as a director senate for Disease Control and prevention and the administrator of the agency for toxic substances and disease reginald say. He was also a contributor to the 2015 report for Health Disparities in america. He graduated from atlanta, georgia in 1963. He holds md and phd degrees. Alpha omegaer of society and the American College of physicians. Webster, the director of the John Hopkins Center. Webster is a professor of policy and management at the John Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public Health. He is the director of the John Hopkins Center for gun policy and research. He is on the faculty of the center for Injury Research and policy. He holds a joint appointment as professor in the school of Education Division of public hes one of the nations leading experts on firearm policy and the prevention of gun violence. He is coed tore of reducing gun violence in america and forming policy with evidence and analysis. He was a distributor to the 2014 report, gun violence in america, and on articles on firearm policy and carrying the prevention of gun violence, intimate partner violence. Courses taught include understanding and preventing violence, research and evaluation for health policy, and graduate seminar in health and Public Policy. Welcome. Well now hear testimony from our panelists. I would like to begin. Very distinguished chief. Chief dixon good morning. On september 5, 2010, Jonathan Williams was sitting in his vehicle in the apartments when he was shot in the head and killed. He was struck by gunfire directed as individuals in the area of his vehicle that he had no association with. During the incident, nine shots were fired by michael hilton, hilton was convicted of murder of williams and sentenced to 25 years in the Virginia Department of corrections. On september 8, 2011, turnell rhodes was visiting friends at jefferson south apartments when he was shot and killed. He was involved in an altercation with an individual who has yet to be identified. He was shot one time before fleeing the area. Rhodes, a Star High School basketball player attending Virginia State university, was gunned down in the prime of his life. A High School Athlete with the potential to have the world in the palm of his hands. Unfortunately, due to senseless argument, settled by gun firing and killing him, his True Potential never be known. On may 4, 2015, shakira ross was shot four times and killed while sitting in her vehicle. Roth was waiting for a friend to return her vehicle when the offender approached the rest dents that her friend was in. The offender noticed ross in the vehicle and began firing into the vehicle. A total of eight rounds were shot into the vehicle. The offender in this incident has been arrested and is awaiting trial. Ross was a 2014 graduate of the Governors School in richmond, virginia. I want to thank youall for letting me have this opportunity to be here. Secondly, let me thank the men and women across the country who risk their lives every day, sometimes against unmatched odds, superior training, and firepower in order to keep our Community Safe from those who mean to do us harm. We are experiencing Mass Shootings throughout the country, too frequently as Public Safety professionals. We see horrific gunfire in our communities every day. And we are speaking out because enough is enough. Background checks are critical for the safety of our communities. They keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited from possessing them. We know that the National Instant background check system works. Since the brady law was enacted, background checks have blocked over two million prohibited purchases from buying guns. We must extend the background check requirement to all purchases. No policy matter has this much public support. Poll after poll shows over 90 of the public supports background checks for all purchases. 88 of gun owners, 86 of n. R. A. Members supports this measure. Lawmakers must listen to its Law Enforcement professionals and the communities that live with this every day. High capacity ammunition magazines must be limited to 1r0u7bds. We as longterm professionals have looked at this matter very seriously and concluded that 10 rounds would help reduce the number of senseless deaths in Mass Shootings and give Law Enforcement the opportunity to respond if confronted by a persons intent on committing such acts. A 10round limit may also provide someone on the scene an opportunity to take down a shooter when they stop to reload. We also support restricting the sale of new militarystyle semiautomatic weapons. This will not affect those who already legally own these weapons. These weapons are designed for war and designed to kill as many people as fast as possible. For the sake of our communities and the safety of our offices, we urge the passage of sensible legislation. Again, thank you. God bless you. God bless this great country. And enough is enough. Ms. Pelosi thank you very much, chief dixon, for your very informative statement. Also thank you for how you described how our First Responders are being trained to reduce violence and the odds that they are up against. Thank you for being here. Now we are going to hear from chris kitaeff, his introduction was made by chairman of our task force, thompson, i want to join him in welcoming you, thank you. Mr. Kitaeff, its an honor for me to be here to speak with youall today. Growing number arizona i have exposed to a rich culture of firearms. I have very fond memories of trap shooting with my brothers, duck hunting camping trips, and spending time with family, lawabiding gun owners. Several years ago i did obtain my f. F. L. It was a business i knew b my fatherinlaw, who had done so much for me as a yuck man, was down on his luck. This was something i could invest in. Build around, and give back to someone who had given so much to me. But everyone has a turning point. A moment in time where things change that you can point to. For me and so many others it was that december morning nearly three years ago waking up to the sandy hook tragedy. I was so disgusted with this industry that had caused so much pain that i was going to walk away. I had the conversation with my wife and other trusted advisors of canceling my license. However, i realized that all that would do would be contribute to the problem. And i remembered legendary coach carr telling me one time that you got to not blame anybody. Not expect anything. But do something. And thats when i decided i was going to resolve to do everything i could to be a reasonable gun dealer and speak out for commonsense gun laws. To go above and beyond federal law when possible to make sure that guns are kept out of the hands of dangerous people. So what can gun dealers do . As chief dixon said, background checks. Brady background checks keep millions of guns out of the hands of prohibited purchasers. As a dealer in arizona, i have run a lot of background checks. The process is amazingly simple. And most are completed in less than 9 o seconds. In rare case when is a result takes longer than three days to be completed, an n. R. A. Back loophole allows dealers to make the sale even though the check is incomplete. That means dealers sell thousands of guns to dangerous people each year. The charleston shooter was one of them. We have implemented the policy of no completed background check, no sale. Let me be clear, this is not an original idea. One of the nations largest firearms dealers, walmart, has implemented this policy since 2002. Not only is this the right thing to do, the commonsense thing to do, it will also have no material Financial Impact on dealers. Let me say that again. As a dealer, not exercising your ability to transfer a firearm to a person after the three days before a check is completed will have no material Financial Impact on your business. These are the numbers. Less than 10 of the background checks that i have run come back delayed. And of those, an overwhelming majority, upwards of 95 , receive a definitive proceed or denied result within that three days. So im really talking about less than 1 of one business. 1 of the checks. This 1 is so important. There are potentially dangerous people seeking a firearm. We have the power to close the default proceed loophole. A loophole that has forever changed the lives of so many people around this country. We have also provided a platform for private sales. Every licensed lawabiding dealer in this country is at a material disadvantage due to the private laws or lack thereof when it comes to the sale of firearms. It costs the dealer nothing to run a background check. Big misnomer. It costs the dealer nothing to run a background check. We have promoted an environment of a private sales within our f. F. L. Come in, transfer your firearm at no cost, knowing that you can sleep well at night that we have done the background check. We have done the paperwork to make sure you are transferring to a safe or nonprohibited purchaser. You need to train employees. Ask questions. Really screen for the state of mind in which the person is trying to purchase. So much can be told by one just general demeanor. 90 of the crime guns are originating for just 5 of the licensed dealers in this country. How many of those guns are taking advantage of this default proceed loophole. So i advocate for entrepreneurs, Mike Thompson<\/a> the chair on the gun violence robintion task force and kelly for bringing us together this morning. Many of our members are here this morning to bear witness. It is not just the high profile cases that challenge our cases. It is the everyday violence that must be addressed. I think our colleagues were hosting this forum and for the relentless efforts and determined leadership in confronting the gun violence crisis. We are grateful to our expert panelists for sharing their insights, experiences, and solutions. They will be introduced by our cochairs here today, but i wanted to personally welcome them and thank them. I am here to say, no more silence. We must take action to prevent gun violence. To start, we cant and must to closethe bipartisan the loophole that will allow suspects to purchase guns. The republicans have blocked this from debate three times. This is a republican bill. This is a republican bill we are asking to be brought up. We must ask Bipartisan Legislation<\/a> to beef up background checks. We must create a select committee to prevent gun violence so we can determine and report back Commonsense Solutions<\/a> to confront this crisis. Our in action is unconscionable. Is on conceivable. How can we remain silent . No more violence and no more silence. Our distinguished chair of the task force, mr. Thompson. You, and thank you to all the leaders who came out for the panel. And a special thank you to our special panel. The outlook in four to what you have to say and hopefully, it will help us to move this issue forward. I am a gun guy. I am a hunter and i support the Second Amendment<\/a>. I believe lawabiding people have a right to own and use firearms, but i am also a father of two First Responders<\/a> and the grandfather of three beautiful granddaughters. I want my kids to be able to go to work and be safe in the workplace and i want my grandkids to be able to go to school to do the things grandkids do and be safe as well. Weont believe the debate are having on the issue of gun safety and gun violence prevention is in conflict with the Second Amendment<\/a>. It is not in either or. We can protect the Second Amendment<\/a> and we can also protect not only my grandkids and kids, but everybody elses as well. Unfortunately the Majority Party<\/a> has been completely unresponsive to our efforts to put an end or a dent in gun violence. Therethe same every time is a mass shooting. They could be San Bernardino<\/a>, charleston, isla vista, or oregon. The response is the same. We have a moment of silence. Everybody offers thoughts and prayers. And then, we go want to business as usual. At the same time, we have over 30 people a day killed by somebody with a firearm and nothing is done. And that is not acceptable. We cannot allow that to be the rule any longer. We need to keep guns away from people who should not have them and asked the leaders said on the top of that list, the people who are on the terrorist watch list, but also criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill. We do need to create a select committee to deal with this issue. The Majority Party<\/a> is so troubled by the actions we are putting forward. Come to the table and lets Work Together<\/a> to try and figure out work. Olutions that will congress can do one or two things. We could continue to beat silent. That is what we did after newtown and all the other tragic events that i mentioned earlier. Or, we could do Something Different<\/a> we could pull together and do something to make our country safer. It is important that we hear from these experts today. I believe we should go down the path of, lets do Something Different<\/a> and lets be safe. I yield to my colleague and cochair, the vice chair of the task force, robin kelly. Robin kelly i would like to thank nancy pelosi for her leadership. Chairman thompson, it is an honor to be working alongside you in this much overdue effort and i think the witnesses for their testimony today. The unfortunate truth for today is that we have had over 300 50 Mass Shootings<\/a> in less than 350 days in 2015. As the year draws to a close, it is clear this congress has little appetite to end gun violence. We are losing a generation of americans to gun death. We continue to turn a blind eye to the epidemic plague in our nation. It is not just irresponsible. It is callous. Streets, taken to the this chamber of commerce, and the homes of families to demand we do something. Weeks you know what has happened in colorado, california, and countless Mass Shootings<\/a> that did not draw the eye of the media. This cannot continue. As we qqq approaches, we must not forget the as the new year approaches, we must not forget the lives that were ha lted. Yday was a year that ever the American Dream<\/a> was continuously robbed by g unfire. A virginia journalist and cameraman were savagely executed by a jilted coworker on national television. Three people were killed and seven injured at a lafayette Movie Theater<\/a> because theyre only mistake was going to the theater. Gun violence is crippling america. Represent chicago, which has seen nearly 3000 shot this year and nearly 400 killed. That includes a fouryearold boy. This years one thing that should be made quite clear , it is gun violence is not just an urban problem or contained to a social class. It is an american problem. I see the discussion today as a changing of the tide. The safety ofor american families. I think leader pelosi, chairman thompson, and my colleagues. Yield back. It is now my honor to start introducing the witnesses. Chief dixon is from the Petersburg Bureau<\/a> of police. Chief dixon was officially installed as the chief of police out of the Petersburg Police<\/a> department in 2007. Prior to joining the eaters per police department, he served the Richmond Community<\/a> for over 24 years. As a lawenforcement officer, chief dixon has had the opportunity to experience all aspects of policing. He has a passion for community empowerment. Have beenatives initiated under chief dixon. Police andse include community together, communitybased problemsolving, youth enrichment programs. Chief dixon has attended several supervisory and management courses and has served a tour in armynited states corps. It is my honor and pleasure to introduce chris. Lifelong hunter and shooter, chris is a investor. He is a businessman. He is a former federal firearms license dealer and a board member of arizona for gun safety. He and his wife obtained their fll. Ffl allowed him to buy, sell, trade and manufacture firearms. Hes a firearms owner, regular shooter, concealed weapons license holder and a student of the business sector. Ande from keeping the books compliance for his business and helping his father in law to generate money out of that business, his goal is to utilize his fll license to help reform the firearms industry. Robin kelly the honorable dr. Thatcher, is the founding director and Senior Advisor<\/a> of the school of medicine in atlanta georgia. Previously, he served as the 16th Surgeon General<\/a> in the United States<\/a>. Only the second person in history to have held both positions simultaneously. As Surgeon General<\/a> and assistant secretary for health, he led the department effort to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health. To theed as a director senate for Disease Control<\/a> and prevention and the administrator of the agency for toxic substances and disease reginald say. He was also a contributor to the 2015 report for Health Disparities<\/a> in america. He graduated from atlanta, georgia in 1963. He holds md and phd degrees. Alpha omegaer of society and the American College<\/a> of physicians. Webster, the director of the John Hopkins Center<\/a>. Webster is a professor of policy and management at the John Hopkins Bloomberg<\/a> school of Public Health<\/a>. He is the director of the John Hopkins Center<\/a> for gun policy and research. He is on the faculty of the center for Injury Research<\/a> and policy. He holds a joint appointment as professor in the school of Education Division<\/a> of public hes one of the nations leading experts on firearm policy and the prevention of gun violence. He is coed tore of reducing gun violence in america and forming policy with evidence and analysis. He was a distributor to the 2014 report, gun violence in america, and on articles on firearm policy and carrying the prevention of gun violence, intimate partner violence. Courses taught include understanding and preventing violence, research and evaluation for health policy, and graduate seminar in health and Public Policy<\/a>. Welcome. Well now hear testimony from our panelists. I would like to begin. Very distinguished chief. Chief dixon good morning. On september 5, 2010, Jonathan Williams<\/a> was sitting in his vehicle in the apartments when he was shot in the head and killed. He was struck by gunfire directed as individuals in the area of his vehicle that he had no association with. During the incident, nine shots were fired by michael hilton, hilton was convicted of murder of williams and sentenced to 25 years in the Virginia Department<\/a> of corrections. On september 8, 2011, turnell rhodes was visiting friends at jefferson south apartments when he was shot and killed. He was involved in an altercation with an individual who has yet to be identified. He was shot one time before fleeing the area. Rhodes, a Star High School<\/a> basketball player attending Virginia State<\/a> university, was gunned down in the prime of his life. A High School Athlete<\/a> with the potential to have the world in the palm of his hands. Unfortunately, due to senseless argument, settled by gun firing and killing him, his True Potential<\/a> never be known. On may 4, 2015, shakira ross was shot four times and killed while sitting in her vehicle. Roth was waiting for a friend to return her vehicle when the offender approached the rest dents that her friend was in. The offender noticed ross in the vehicle and began firing into the vehicle. A total of eight rounds were shot into the vehicle. The offender in this incident has been arrested and is awaiting trial. Ross was a 2014 graduate of the Governors School<\/a> in richmond, virginia. I want to thank youall for letting me have this opportunity to be here. Secondly, let me thank the men and women across the country who risk their lives every day, sometimes against unmatched odds, superior training, and firepower in order to keep our Community Safe<\/a> from those who mean to do us harm. We are experiencing Mass Shootings<\/a> throughout the country, too frequently as Public Safety<\/a> professionals. We see horrific gunfire in our communities every day. And we are speaking out because enough is enough. Background checks are critical for the safety of our communities. They keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited from possessing them. We know that the National Instant<\/a> background check system works. Since the brady law was enacted, background checks have blocked over two million prohibited purchases from buying guns. We must extend the background check requirement to all purchases. No policy matter has this much public support. Poll after poll shows over 90 of the public supports background checks for all purchases. 88 of gun owners, 86 of n. R. A. Members supports this measure. Lawmakers must listen to its Law Enforcement<\/a> professionals and the communities that live with this every day. High capacity ammunition magazines must be limited to 1r0u7bds. We as longterm professionals have looked at this matter very seriously and concluded that 10 rounds would help reduce the number of senseless deaths in Mass Shootings<\/a> and give Law Enforcement<\/a> the opportunity to respond if confronted by a persons intent on committing such acts. A 10round limit may also provide someone on the scene an opportunity to take down a shooter when they stop to reload. We also support restricting the sale of new militarystyle semiautomatic weapons. This will not affect those who already legally own these weapons. These weapons are designed for war and designed to kill as many people as fast as possible. For the sake of our communities and the safety of our offices, we urge the passage of sensible legislation. Again, thank you. God bless you. God bless this great country. And enough is enough. Ms. Pelosi thank you very much, chief dixon, for your very informative statement. Also thank you for how you described how our First Responders<\/a> are being trained to reduce violence and the odds that they are up against. Thank you for being here. Now we are going to hear from chris kitaeff, his introduction was made by chairman of our task force, thompson, i want to join him in welcoming you, thank you. Mr. Kitaeff, its an honor for me to be here to speak with youall today. Growing number arizona i have exposed to a rich culture of firearms. I have very fond memories of trap shooting with my brothers, duck hunting camping trips, and spending time with family, lawabiding gun owners. Several years ago i did obtain my f. F. L. It was a business i knew b my fatherinlaw, who had done so much for me as a yuck man, was down on his luck. This was something i could invest in. Build around, and give back to someone who had given so much to me. But everyone has a turning point. A moment in time where things change that you can point to. For me and so many others it was that december morning nearly three years ago waking up to the sandy hook tragedy. I was so disgusted with this industry that had caused so much pain that i was going to walk away. I had the conversation with my wife and other trusted advisors of canceling my license. However, i realized that all that would do would be contribute to the problem. And i remembered legendary coach carr telling me one time that you got to not blame anybody. Not expect anything. But do something. And thats when i decided i was going to resolve to do everything i could to be a reasonable gun dealer and speak out for commonsense gun laws. To go above and beyond federal law when possible to make sure that guns are kept out of the hands of dangerous people. So what can gun dealers do . As chief dixon said, background checks. Brady background checks keep millions of guns out of the hands of prohibited purchasers. As a dealer in arizona, i have run a lot of background checks. The process is amazingly simple. And most are completed in less than 9 o seconds. In rare case when is a result takes longer than three days to be completed, an n. R. A. Back loophole allows dealers to make the sale even though the check is incomplete. That means dealers sell thousands of guns to dangerous people each year. The charleston shooter was one of them. We have implemented the policy of no completed background check, no sale. Let me be clear, this is not an original idea. One of the nations largest firearms dealers, walmart, has implemented this policy since 2002. Not only is this the right thing to do, the commonsense thing to do, it will also have no material Financial Impact<\/a> on dealers. Let me say that again. As a dealer, not exercising your ability to transfer a firearm to a person after the three days before a check is completed will have no material Financial Impact<\/a> on your business. These are the numbers. Less than 10 of the background checks that i have run come back delayed. And of those, an overwhelming majority, upwards of 95 , receive a definitive proceed or denied result within that three days. So im really talking about less than 1 of one business. 1 of the checks. This 1 is so important. There are potentially dangerous people seeking a firearm. We have the power to close the default proceed loophole. A loophole that has forever changed the lives of so many people around this country. We have also provided a platform for private sales. Every licensed lawabiding dealer in this country is at a material disadvantage due to the private laws or lack thereof when it comes to the sale of firearms. It costs the dealer nothing to run a background check. Big misnomer. It costs the dealer nothing to run a background check. We have promoted an environment of a private sales within our f. F. L. Come in, transfer your firearm at no cost, knowing that you can sleep well at night that we have done the background check. We have done the paperwork to make sure you are transferring to a safe or nonprohibited purchaser. You need to train employees. Ask questions. Really screen for the state of mind in which the person is trying to purchase. So much can be told by one just general demeanor. 90 of the crime guns are originating for just 5 of the licensed dealers in this country. How many of those guns are taking advantage of this default proceed loophole. So i advocate for entrepreneurs, Small Business<\/a> owners. I support the Second Amendment<\/a>. But a majority of americans know that the Current System<\/a> is just not enough. Its just common sense. Things need to change. So i urge those to adopt a code of conduct such as the brady code of conduct, implement the simple policies to make sure that prohibited purchasers are not getting easy access to weapons. There is nearlies, a. T. F. Provide them online. There is endless webinars one can take to train their employees. Together we can do this, but we dont need congress to act. F. F. L. s can go above and beyond to put people in front of profits and stop the nonsense thats taking place. Thank you for your time. Ms. Pelosi thank you very much, chris, for once again providing testimony to us. Thank you for your courageous actions, for your courageous statement here today. It was very valued by us, thank you. Dr. Satcher, hero and panel of heroes there, thank you for joining us. We look forward to your testimony. Welcome. Dr. Satcher thank you very much, leader pelosi. Chairman thompson and vice chair robin kelly. Im delighted to be able to join you to discuss this very important topic in the lives of the American People<\/a>. I want to thank you for allowing me to join this distinguished panel. I would like to take the opportunity to make the case for a Public Health<\/a> approach to gun violence prevention. Funds to support Gun Violence Research<\/a> using the Public Health<\/a> approach were removed from the c. D. C. Budget in 1996 while i was serving as c. D. C. Director and before i became Surgeon General<\/a>. At that time congressman dickey from arkansas led the efforts on behalf of the n. R. A. To remove the funds so that for 20 years there have been no Funds Available<\/a> for gun violence prevention he research. Using the Public Health<\/a> approach, we have reduced smoking among americans from 43 at the time of the first Surgeon General<\/a>s report on smoking and health in 1964, to 18 of americans smoking today. We estimate that we have saved over eight million lives of the coast of applying the Public Health<\/a> approach to issues related to smoking. Since 1970, using the Public Health<\/a> approach, we have reduced deaths from Motor Vehicle<\/a> crashes by more than 70 . From approximately 55,000 deaths in 1970 to less than 30,000 deaths today. During that same period, deaths from firearms have continued to rise. Due to homicides, accidental gun deaths, and suicides. What is the Public Health<\/a> approach and why is it so relevant to this issue . The Public Health<\/a> approach begins by defining the problem including its magnitude, nature, and its distribution in the population. Then it goes to defining the cause, the risk, and protective factors for the problem. For example, what are the characteristics of persons who are at greater greatest risk for gun violence deaths . What are the characteristics of the persons who are at greatest risk for committing gun havent crimes . How can we intervene to prevent or ameliorate the problem . For example, does educating people about the risk of guns that come with gun ownership and how to reduce that risk make a difference . And finally, we move to develop and widely implement programs using proven strategies to prevent the problem. For 20 years we have not been able to apply the Public Health<\/a> approach to gun violence prevention. Even congressman dickey today says it was a mistake to remove the funds and he is now has now called for their restoration. Using the Public Health<\/a> approach, we have now eradicated smallpox. We have eliminated polio in most countries. Reduced Motor Vehicle<\/a> deaths. And reduce the smoking by more than one half. We need to bring the Public Health<\/a> approach to bear on gun havent deaths, and we need to do it now. Almost 200 deaths occur each week in america from gun violence. These mostly occur in poor communities, among young minority males, who have easy access to assault weapons and to drugs. Another major concern is the increase in Mass Shootings<\/a> which we are seeing throughout the country. In some ways throughout the world. But make no mistake about it. While there are over 200 deaths a week from homicides in the streets of america, we have had less than 500 deaths total from Mass Shootings<\/a> in the last 15 years. They are both important, but we need to keep that in perspective. We make the following recommendations. Following the advice of now former congressman dickey, who provided the leadership in removing the funds for prevention in Public Health<\/a> research surrounding guns, congress should restore those funds immediately and attempt in some way to compensate for all of the years we have not been involved in this very important research. Secondly, we need to educate the American People<\/a> regarding the magnitude of the problem of homicide, accidents, and suicides by guns. Its very important to appreciate the fact that there are twice the number of suicides in this country each year than suicides. Over half of the suicides are carried out with guns. It is also worth noting that we are losing 22 veterans a day from suicide, most of whom use guns. When other means of suicides are used, they are completed less than 5 of the time. But when guns are used, they are completed almost 90 of the time. Thirdly, we need to reduce the ease of access to guns, especially assault weapons and others, with the specific emphasis on keeping them out of the hands of children and those who suffer from Mental Illness<\/a>. It should be more difficult to get access to a gun than to get licensed to drive a car. Finally, as you have pointed out, we need a bipartisan approach. I have some great memories from my tenure in government. I remember when senator wellston and Pete Domenici<\/a> came together across party lines to cosponsor the Mental Health<\/a> parity act which was presented in my report on Mental Illness<\/a>. I remember the partnership between senators kassebaum and ted kennedy of 1996 and remember the commitment of senator hatch for the Child Health Insurance<\/a> program. So i have great memories but i call upon you today to respond to one of the major tragedies of our time occurring on the streets of america every day. And aggressively promote Research Using<\/a> the Public Health<\/a> approach to prevent gun violence. Thank you very much. Mr. Thompson general satcher, thank you for your t you brought up the dickey letter and i had conversations with former congressman dickey last week right before a press conference we had on the hill with a number of medical professionals who brought us petitions signed by thousands of medical professionalists asking us to remove that dickey blockade. And he sent me a letter saying similar to what you said today, he used the analogy that you alluded to in auto deaths. He said we studied auto deaths to reduce those, but it was nobodys intention of doing away with all automobiles. Although automobiles could clearly end doing away with automobiles could clearly end auto deaths. The same thing with guns. What he was concerned about at the time was that it would be used as an effort to do away with all guns. He said thats ridiculous. But certainly solve all gun violence, but its clearly something that most people dont want to do. He called for the repeal of his previous action. And id like to ask unanimous consent to deliver that letter for the record. Ms. Pelosi thank you very much. Mr. Webster thank you, leader pelosi, chairman thompson, vice chair kelly. It is indeed an honor to be with you today and be part of this distinguished panel. The nations attention has been on an alarming increase in Mass Shootings<\/a>, but these incidents represent a small fraction of gun violence in the United States<\/a>. While some policies could reduce the numbers killed or wounded in Mass Shootings<\/a>, my comments today focus on what Research Tells Us<\/a> about how to prevent more of the over 33,000 firearm related deaths each year in the United States<\/a>. There are at least three major ways in which changes to federal gun laws could reduce gun violence. First, Higher Standards<\/a> for legal gun ownership would help. Currently a person can legally buy as many guns and as much am mow as theyd like and carry that around with them in most states almost anywhere they like, even if they have been arrested and convicted for numerous Crimes Involving<\/a> violence, guns, and alcohol. As long as those acts have not resulted in a felony conviction. An individual can also have numerous prior restraining orders or even a current emergency restraining order for Domestic Violence<\/a> and that is not a legal barrier to having or carrying guns in most states. When states have raised standards for legal gun ownership, research has documented reductions in violence. Second, congress could heighten Accountability Measures<\/a> for federally licensed firearm dealers to reduce the number of guns being diverted to criminals. The number of guns that are diverted to criminals is closely linked to whether gun dealers face consequences for not complying with gun sales regulations, according to several studies that i have led myself. But congress has shielded licensed gun dealers from such consequences. Finally, most importantly, background checks and Record Keeping<\/a> for all gun transfers is fundamental to. From criminals. When you couple that those background universal background check requirements with handgun purchase or licensing, not unlike what we get when we go to get a drivers license, they reduce you have to go right to Law Enforcement<\/a> to get them. These measures reduce homicides and suicides. Ill give you some quick examples. Research that i led found that when connecticut adopted such measures in 1995, it led to a significant reduction in both homicides and suicides committed with guns. Conversely, missouri had such a policy in place for decades and chose to repeal that law in 2007. Our Research Found<\/a> that quite abruptly gun divergence to criminals, homicides and suicides increased significantly. If gun laws were irrelevant to criminal use, we would not find these relationships between state gun laws and criminal gun use. We would not see predictable flows of guns from states lacking universal background checks, and other measures of gun seller accountability, to criminals in states that have taken these important measures. States do benefit from having stronger gun sales laws, but stronger federal laws would more effectively reduce gun availability to dangerous people and save more lives. Ms. Pelosi thank you very much, dr. Webster. Thank mayor bloomberg for the support of Johns Hopkins<\/a> in so many ways, but in particular to the work that you have taken the lead on and given us such valued testimony today. As we proceed forward, my colleagues, there are so many of you here, what id like to do just as quickly as possible is to acknowledge all of our members who are here and then take them three at a time, one question each, sometimes we have multiple questions, which deters others the opportunity. So lets see use your time whatever way you want it. Question or statement. A speech disguised as a question. Maybe not that. One or the other. I first want to acknowledge that we are joined by our distinguished chair of the House Democratic<\/a> caucus, xavier becerra, and by the chair of the steering policy committee, rosa delauro. We are also joined by congressman David Cicilline<\/a> who went to the floor to make a statement about gun violence gun safety. Congresswoman hahn from california, congresswoman lowey from new york, a member of the task force, congresswoman esty of connecticut. Congressman peters of california. Congressman takano of california. Congressman scott of virginia, another member of the task force. Both of them vice chairs. Congressman mcgovern of massachusetts. Congresswoman matsui of california. The distinguished Ranking Member<\/a> of the Judiciary Committee<\/a> congressman conyers. Katherine clark of massachusetts. Yette clarke, new york. Congresswoman capps of california. Congressman gallego of arizona, congressman desauliner from california. Congresswoman velazquez of new york. Congresswoman kaptur of ohio. Congresswoman lawrence of michigan. Congressman norcross of new jersey congresswoman velasquez of new york, captor of ohio, congresswoman lawrence of michigan, congressman norcross of new jersey, congresswoman jacksonlee of texas, congresswoman torres of california, congressmanening engel of new york. Members will be coming and going because we have floor action on all of this today. With that im going to recognize our chairman and two vice chairs of the task force, congressman becerra, congresswoman esty and bobby scott for them to put their questions or statements on the record. Ill do my best to keep to the time and be a good role model. Thank you for the testimony with regard to the research that must be done so we can do a better job of preventing gun violence. Its crazy to me that we cant figure out a way to at least do the basic research that gives us better answers and so thank you for having made that clear. Chief dixon, ill pose my question to you. If youre an innocent bystander and someone pulls out an assault weapon, you feel terrorized. It should make no difference who that perpetrator is, if its someone who hates america or hates you because of the color of your skin or hates you because of the content of your character. At the end of the day that person is being victimized and terrorized by someone by use of weapon and im hoping that you can clarify something for us because some people think that terror only applies when its someone who is coming from some foreign country trying to do all americans harm when daytoday some of us live in communities where people live with the thought of terror because their neighborhoods are not as safe or there are too many people carrying weapons for the wrong reasons and i hope youll be able to talk about that. Thank you. Terror comes daytoday and we see it in our communities. When you talk to some of our people who live within our neighborhoods that are strickened by gun violence when they say they have to sleep on the floor, when theyre afraid gunshots will come through their windows, strike their children, strike themselves, so, you know, they live with terror every day. When they cant walk to the stores in their neighborhood because theyre concerned that they may be accosted by somebody with a gun on their way to the store. I think we have to take a look at and needle it down that happens every day. I think some of the coal egs have already mentioned we have Mass Shootings<\/a> but we live with this every day within our communities. We see it every day within our communities and we have to put something in place to slow it down, you know, and bring it to a head so people can live without terror and feel like theyre in their home or in their communities or schools or churches and dont have to worry about these types of incidents. Thank you. Next well go to congresswoman esty from connecticut, vice chair of the task force. I really want to again thank all of you so much for your expertise, for your passion and commitment as we approach the third anniversary in newtown, connecticut, in my district. It is particularly shocking and disappointing thissed about, the house of representatives, which is supposed to protect and defend the American People<\/a> has not taken action. Youve done a pretty good job, i think, already of laying out actions that we can and should be taking. But if you can help us prioritize as members of congress what are the most important things we should be doing and touching a little bit on the importance of federal law . I know that dr. Webster, you talked about the efforts states like connecticut has taken, but i know, for example, my friend and colleague here, robin kelly, we have tough laws in connecticut but people just go across state lines or they arent enforced, chris, as you pointed out. Things arent enforced. If you could talk about those priorities. Federal law, federal resources for research. Better enforcement to help us focus the attention of our colleagues for what we can do to best save lives not only from the every day suicides, the needless deaths in this country that we have an obligation, a duty to address. Thank you very much. Ill take a crack at that. I think the most important thing to do as i indicated a few minutes ago is to extend background check requirements acrosstheboard federally. Theres really no reason not to do that. 90 of the American People<\/a> want that. We have evidence that it does affect criminals and it will help a variety of states reduce gun violence. I think that is clearly the top priority. I think the magnitude of the n benefit that you get from that, however, is directly correlated with whether you raise standards for gun ownership. There are a number of individuals with fairly risky backgrounds that can still pass a background check because the standards are so low. I think the background checks would have even greater effect on Community Safe<\/a>ty and focus on risky behavior. Histories of risky behavior. Weve talked about Domestic Violence<\/a>, but if you have other ideas . Sure. Domestic violence is a great example. So right now federal law covers a victim if they have a final restraining order for Domestic Violence<\/a>. We know from research, however, that the time in which the victim is really at greatest risk is right at that emergency level when theyre seeking protection. So that would be a very important gap to fill. The other important areas focusing on misdemeanor violence. Quite a lot of serious acts of violence get pled down and someone agrees to a lower level of misdemeanor act of violence. You dont necessarily have to have lifetime prohibitions for all of these matters. Risk of violence goes down fairly dramatically when someone gets into their 30s, 40s, 50s, so even temporary measures on individuals based upon their not being lawful of their violent acts you would expand the effects of your gun policies including background checks. Thank you very much. Ranking member scott . Thank you very much. I want to welcome chief dixon from the Third District<\/a> of virginia. Rather than wait for him to get activated, if dr. Satcher or dr. W webster can talk about the importance of using Public Health<\/a> Research Based<\/a> approach and what we can expect in terms of Solutions Using<\/a> this approach. Well, let me begin. I think we have to remember how far weve come using the Public Health<\/a> approach to deal with issues such as smoking and health. Where as i said before, we now estimate that we save 8 million lives in this country because of using the Public Health<\/a> approach where we, in fact, worked with the federal government to state and locals to define interventions that we can then test to see if they work. Some of the interventions for smoking and health started at the state level. California, i believe, was the first state to restrict smoking in public places, but now most of the states do and, again, when i released the report on women and smoking, california was the only state in which lung cancer deaths were not increasing in women. So i think when it comes to gun violence, its really critical, number one, there be leadership at the federal level. The fact that the money was taken from the cdc budget to do research in this area, and i hope you remember that what happened we funded research that showed when you compare cities where people had guns and owned guns in their homes with cities where they did not, contiguous cities, the risk of deaths in the home with the guns were much greater. They were three times as great for things like homicide, spousal homicide, accidental deaths, and five times as great for suicide. As i mentioned before, when it comes to suicide, when people use guns, they are effective almost 90 of the time. When they use drugs theyre effective about 5 of the time. Ive seen many patients in the emergency room who have taken an overdose of drugs. We pump their stomachs. We refer them to Mental Health<\/a> specialists. Many are doing great today. They had a chance to deal with their depression. If theres a gun involved, 80 to 90 of the time it is fatal. If i could just make a brief response to this important question, too. In addition to the book that i was an editor of reducing gun violence in america ive recently had the pleasure to serve as an editor for three special issues of scientific journals within the past year and a half that focus on gun violence. And im very proud of what weve been able to do with very, very limited resources. We do have answers to some questio questions. However, when you look at the magnitude of gun violence in the United States<\/a>, what it costs our nation not the only in terms of the lives lost, the individuals who have been wounded but the enormous trauma. When you think about that magnitude we have invested so little. Most of the research that weve been able to do and others have been able to do has really been on a shoestring. We dont have the best measures. Theres a whole bunch of things that we could be able to do. We should be able to do to better understand how do individuals get access to guns who shouldnt have them. What measures are most effective in it reducing the possibility they gain access to guns. What can you do to discourage them . Theres a very, very long list of important questions that we only have a little bit of evidence on. We should really tackle this as the major social and Health Problem<\/a> that it is. Thank you so much. This is such a magnificent presentation of reasons why and a path forward for us. Thank you so much. Its such an emotional issue. The intellectual resource you are to us is just overwhelming and comforting. Now i want to yield to the distinguished cochair of the policy committee, congresswoman rosa delauro. Following that the distinct Ranking Member<\/a> who has to go back to some negotiations on the agreement, congressman nita lowey. Well see from there. Thank you very much and thanks to all of you for your testimony and for your commitment. I would follow up briefly since both congresswoman lowey and myself are on appropriations and on the labor, health, education subcommittee. Ive looked at this issue, and the fact is the law does not prohibit the cdc from using funding for research, but its implications in terms of anything that might lead to gun control has served for the last 17 years as a chilling effect. And given the fact that there is the cdc oftentimes gets shortchanged in terms of budget, i think there is a concern that if they were to go down that road, imagine if they were to go down that road and pursue this that somehow there would be less funding available. I just want to make the point i think this was on december 2nd, pbs had this chart. Im going to put it up here, madam leader, and my colleagues have seen this. Mass shootings in america in 2015. 355 shootings, 462 killed, 1,312 people injured. If this isnt a national problem, i dont know what constitutes a national problem. If i could pursue the research and data piece for a second, what should we be looking for . What can we what is the best kind of data that would allow us to proceed, to be able to examine this . And those of us who can help to have some effect on the programming given that congressman dickie, who introduced this, has recanted on this prohibition, what should we be looking to do specifically, if you can help us out with that . Thank you. I think a number of important things we could examine, one of the biggest gaps is we know very, very little about nonfatal gun violence. We do not really have a system in place that would enable a researcher like myself to do comparative studies over time and place to understand what policies are most effective in reducing nonfatal gun violence. So that is one huge data gap. There are other important studies that need to be undertaken. I think that we need to know more about the path that guns take from their initial sale until they are used in Violent Crime<\/a>. We need to understand how the connections, in essence, between what we think of as the formal market of licensed gun dealers and where do the connections occur to an underground market and what effect does that have . It appears as though there is pretty substantial differences in the street price of guns depending on how stringent the gun laws are in a city. But we really dont have systemic data to allow for careful study of that really key piece of information. If we are constraining the supply in this highrisk environment of an underground gun market, we should see greater and higher prices consistently and how do people respond to those prices . So thats a few pretty fundamental questions we could begin to answer and then lastly maybe dr. Satcher wants to say more on this but suicides outnumber gun homicides almost 21. So better understanding, what are the most effective ways to limit firearm availability so that you can save lives . Theres a lot of evidence that suggests to indicate that measures to restrict access can work but we still need to know a lot more. I agree. The only thing i would want to it add, again, what we need to be able to do is to allow for model interventions to occur at different levels, local and state and then evaluate. We call it evaluative research. Evaluate the impact of those on gun violence and deaths especially concern for the killings taking place in our streets of america. A lot of these young people are really under 18 years of age. You know, its not illegal to smoke if youre 18. And yet they have assault weapons. We need to keep them out of the hands of children and out of the hands of the mentally ill. We take care of Homeless People<\/a> in clinics in terms of Mental Health<\/a> and 60 of those are veterans. In this country today, of course, 22 veterans commit s suicide every day. They complete suicide every day and we really need a model for how we can intervene in terms of treatment and all the intervention that is would dramatically we deuce this. They paid a great price. They have defend ed our country. They have suffered traumatic shock and then they come back, many of them, and theyre suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, have a break yum of their families and 22 suicides a day. We can intervene. We need to get that kind of Research Funded<\/a> and i know you say the cdc could Fund President<\/a> obama, of course, in 2013 asked for a lifting of the freeze on the funding of this kind of research. So whatever the mechanism there has been a freeze on the kind of research. Thank you. Thank you. And i want to thank the chairs, the cochairs, everyone who is here today on this outstanding panel. Dr. Satcher, leader pelosi and i were there. Good to see you 20 years later. We welcome its never too late for him to reverse his stand and i just hope that his colleagues listen carefully and finally do it. We havent seen much action, but its good to see you and the entire panel. I also want to say four times over the past five years i offered an amendment to the appropriations bill that would allow the department of justice to prevent those on a terror watch list from legally purchasing a firearm. These are sensible gun laws. Youve heard that again and were still not getting a response from the majority on the committee or in the house. But id like to direct my question to police chief dixon. I have been very concerned with my colleagues about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, domestic abusers, mentally ill, suspects on the it terrorist watch list. Id like you to repeat again for us from a state and local Law Enforcement<\/a> perspective what should we be focused on in the fight against gun violence prevention . How can we help you do your job . We know jay dickie raised his issue again and ive been talking about the terrorist watch. What else can you contribute to this discussion . I thank you all for your service and i thank you for trying to keep us safer. Thank you very much. Without question background checks is one of them. What we have to do in Law Enforcement<\/a> and with the leadership from the federal government to start looking at what we do and our strategies from evidence based approach to it so we can know exactly what works and how it works and take the emotion out of it and put some factual pieces in it and implement our strategies around that in order to make sure were effective when we do these things. Most of our governments are limited in our resources so we have to be very effective in our approach to doing these things. Again, background checks is an excellent place to start with it. Thank you very much. And thank you again. As congresswoman lowey said, we were all on the committee when all of this happened. Dr. Satcher knows that. But one other thing i learned earlier, going back over 20 years on the committee, a mom of five, i was interested in the head injuries of children. Now ive had five children and now i have nine grandchildren, and it still haunts me that when i ask the question about why we couldnt have research in head injuries in little children it was always opposed. I thought, whats the matter with you all . Head injuries in children. It was opposed because there were so many head injuries in little children from gun violence. And so while the dickie amendment was high profile, there were other insidious ways there was a prevention of research that we havent fully corrected, as you know. I want to now acknowledge, this group is so enthusiastic, theyre on the floor making their one minutes and they were the earliest to arrive. So we will go to congresswoman matsui, Katherine Clark<\/a> of massachusetts and congressman de saulnier. I want to thank the panel for your enlightening discussion here today. I want to talk about something else. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle repeatedly reject all calls for increased gun control and, instead points to Mental Illness<\/a> as the root cause of the gun violence epidemic gripping our country and although i do believe that we must and i do believe this, improve access to Mental Health<\/a> in this country, i do not believe it can adequately reduce gun violence in this country. In fact, the vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent and never will be and the continued efforts to blame gun violence on the mentally ill only stigmatizes the mentally ill. Now, dr. Satcher, thank you so much for your service. You are truly a hero on this. There are studies that indicate other factors such as a history of violent behavior and the availability of firearms are better risk indicators for violent behavior than Mental Illness<\/a>. Can you speak about what in your research and in your experience have you found to be the leading risk factors for gun violence and what types of interventions do you suggest would be best to prevent or ameliorate the current gun violence epidemic . Well, thank you for that question. First, let me respond to your comments about Mental Illness<\/a>. I think its really critical when i released the Surgeon General<\/a>s report on Mental Health<\/a> in november 1999, one of the points that we made was the fact that so Many Americans<\/a> suffer from mental disorders. So many of us suffer from mental disorders depression, et cetera. The problem is that less than onethir onethird of those people are getting the treatment they need. Just as things go wrong with the heart, the lungs, the kidney and the liver, things go wrong with the brain. We dont mean to in any way minimize the fact that there are other causes but when people have Mental Health<\/a> problems and they dont get the treatment they need, many of them end up in jail. At one point we said there were more mentally ill people in the lang lan county jail than any Health Facility<\/a> in this country. The point were trying to make is mental disorders are common. They lead to suicide, but they also lead to a lot of homicides. A lot of kids on the street have Behavioral Health<\/a> issues and those Behavioral Health<\/a> issues a associated with drug use lead to violent behavior. So i agree with you that we cant blame the mentally ill and one of the points we made in our report was we cant just say that mentally ill people are more violent than others because there are many other people who commit Violent Crime<\/a> who are not mentally ill but there are also many people out there who have not been diagnosed and so every day in this country they do commit crimes because of their behavioral Health Problem<\/a>s and if they had access to treatment they would not commit them. I think when kids are killing each other, they look like each other, living in the same neighborhood, i think thats a behavioral Health Problem<\/a>. I guess it depends on how you define it. I define that as a behavioral Health Problem<\/a> that we need to intervene. One of our programs is a quality parenting program. Parents of children from 0 to 5 and a major focus of our program has to do with brain health, has to do with the fact proper nutrition and lack of exposure to toxins, many of these kids will do much better in school, will perform much better, and are much less likely to commit violence. There was even a study, a home study that showed that when there were nurse visitations after birth in communities of high violence, there was a 50 decrease in violence in those communities. I didnt mean to go on like that but i am sort of passionate about whats happening to our kids on the streets of america. Thank you, leader, and many thanks to the chairman and cochairs of this task force for bringing you all together and i thank you all for your testimony. And just would like to echo the words of chief dixon that enough is enough. I am thankful for the research you do in making sure that congress is no longer complicit in the silence around this Public Health<\/a> epidemic. I will direct this question to you. Given your experience as a gun dealer, if we were to look at universal background checks, what do you think the impact on safety, availability for legal gun owners would be . It would be huge. Every red dot on the map that was shown there was a firearm that could have been purchased from my state legally. Theres nothing more common sense than that. We passed laws we were going to require licensed dealers, law abide iing dealers in order for them to conduct business, they would have to run background checks and they would have to receive a perceived result or a default proceed after three days. Theres nothing more disheartening than seeing a transaction take place at a licensed dealer at a gun show, an individual sits there, is filling out their paperwork and immediately get a response back denied, and they walked to the table two feet down for an individual who has got firearms laid across, points at one, hands over a few hundred dollars and walks away with a firearm. Its unbelievable, absolute ly unbelievable someone we are deeming as a prohibited purchaser, a dangerous individual can legally access a firearm. And take the business away from law abiding dealers. Thank you very much. And, dr. Satcher, i just wondered if you knew of any other area around Public Health<\/a> or injury that have seen the kind of restrictions on research that weve seen around gun safety and gun violence. [ inaudible ]. I dont know any other area. I was director from 93 to 98 and then secretary for health. During that time and since that agco other area of restrictions in terms of research. We allow scientists to be scientists. We have a long history of scientific issues. But in this area, i think we have suffered tremendously. We have lost a lot of lives that could have been saved, the fact that we have not promoted the Public Health<\/a> approach to this issue of gun violence. Thank you, and i yield back. Thank you. We hear now from congressman de saulnier and then congresswoman Yvette Clarke<\/a> of new york and Sheila Jacksonlee<\/a> of texas. Thank you, madam leader. I want to thank you and the chairs and the panel. This is wonderful and frustrating because it appears so obvious. Why we cant do similar actions as the Surgeon General<\/a> mentioned when it comes to tobacco and automotive why this is so problematic. Chris, i had a question in california where im from and, first of all, thank you for your courage. I remember seeing a program where a gun dealer i think was on frontline offered to sell Smart Gun Technology<\/a> and he was so bullied by people who didnt want the Technology Just<\/a> to be available for sale. That he pulled it from his store and said he would rather be shot with a traditional gun than offer a smart gun for sale. I can only imagine the kind of pressure youre under. My questions are around gun shows. In california, where im from, youre required to have a background check. If you could give me background in your experience on states that dont require background checks at gun shows, can you buy a gun at a gun show and bring it into a state like california that requires the background check, getting around it . And are background checks at gun shows problematic . Are they difficult or as easy as you described in your instance . Sure. Ill start with the second question as far as how we do the background checks at a gun show. Youve got really two forms of doing it. You can call it in. It takes about 90 seconds. Theres then an 800 number we can call in, voice that information to a live represe representative. They run the check, get the result back fairly quickly. Youre noticing more and more people, the individual can actually type it in to themselves. An electronic copy of the 4473. Very, very simple. Very quick. Never had an issue at remote gun shows. As far as the private transactions that take place, i believe the law in arizona is the individual that wants to do the purchasing is suppose d to show theyre at least a citizen of that state. Theyre supposed to show some form of identification but, again, theres no enforcement of these rules. Again, ive noticed on numerous occasions, say an individual from california sits down with my fatherinlaw, im visiting family. I have a california i. D. , id like to purchase that handgun. The response is, im sorry. I cant conduct business with you. They then go to the table next door and they say, oh, the same handgun, i have cash. There you go. Theres the sale and they walk right on out. And nobody there is liable. Theres no liability. So the private transactions are a killer. They really are a killer. Ill tell you speaking with other ffls, publicly very, very few want to take this stance. However, behind closed doors, every ffl knows universal background checks is a windfall for their business and industry. But theyre afraid to say that publicly . What are they afraid of . Clientele. What are they going to think . Back to the gentleman of referenced with the smart technology. Are people not going to want to do business with me . My fatherinlaw and the business he runs and the way i consult and advise him, weve attracted a Different Group<\/a> of law abiding gun owners. Again, an overwhelming majority, polls will show, that gun owners, nra members and average americans agree with stronger gun safety policies. And they like doing business with dealers who are doing just that. It still inhibits most of your colleagues from doing it. Thank you very much. Chris, my impression is you meant they have to be a resident of the state, not necessarily a citizen of the state, a resident. Thank you. Congresswoman clark of new york. Let me thank our chairman and vice chair and all of our witnesses for bringing their expertise to bear on this really a vexing issue in our nation. A vexing issue to me. I want to put my question in context to dr. Satcher and dr. Webster. Were talking about the Immediate Impact<\/a> of gun violence on individuals and their families. I wonder given the climate created by the frequency of gun violence, the effect on survivors, witnesses to gun violence, and the Mental Health<\/a> of communities where these activities are prevalent, can you give some insight into sort of the Mental Health<\/a> prospects for people who are in these environments who have experienced this . I, myself, was a member of the new York City Council<\/a> and witnessed my colleague get gunned down. And every time theres a gun incident, no matter whether its through the television or in a community, i can revisit that moment where i was standing at the time that he was gunned down. I wondered whether this is common and what that means for the general wellbeing of our civil society. Congresswoman, im happy you raised that issue. I think while we lose way too many lives to gun violence and our hospitals and Trauma Centers<\/a> are, at least in some urban areas, are really overrun with the injured, the bigger problem really is the trauma thats left behind, and it affects many of us. It affects our Mental Health<\/a>. It affects our physical health. It affects the risk of future violence. If you are witness to gun violence, your sense of danger and apprehension goes up. Youre more likely to assume that someone means you harm and may act accordingly. You may be more likely to carry a gun. A variety of things happen when you witness gun violence particularly in a very direct way that is very unhealthy for our minds and restricts our way of life. I can tell you in the east Baltimore Neighborhood<\/a> thats in the shadows of our School Public<\/a> health that mothers will tell me they wont let their Children Play<\/a> outside. A very healthy thing you would want children to do. They dont feel comfortable doing because theyre afraid of, if not witnessing violence, actually being a victim of gun violence. So it is really an enormous problem and if were going to really address it, we have to recognize we have to go beyond the wounded, the physically wounded, and address the mental wounds as well. Id just like to agree with dr. Webster. I served on the World Health Organizations<\/a> commission on social determinants of health. Clearly the environment is a major determinant of health especially Mental Health<\/a>. I could give a lot of examples. When we talk to veterans, if you want to take an extreme example, who have been sent in to war zones where theyre always on the frontline. Theres no clear distinction. Violence is everywhere. It accounts for the fact were having 22 suicides a day in the population. But i think clearly many of us now feel violence begets violence. There are some people, some of my colleagues in chicago, who are even saying its like an infectious disease. It spreads throughout communities, so i think youre absolutely right. It is and the Mental Health<\/a> component of that is very important. So if we can improve the environment, many people will benefit and ill just again recall that study that was in my report on Youth Violence<\/a> prevention in 2001. This was after columbine and after columbine shooting congress and the white house requested that i do a report on Youth Violence<\/a>. And we did a report. We didnt get the response that we were expecting. We thought that people continued to be up in arms, but we tend to forget pretty easily in this country. You have a shooting, a mass killing. Were upset and then we forget about it. So after the report came out it didnt get the kind of response that we had hoped, but what we, among other things in that report, getting back to your point, on a positive side, we showed that if we supported mothers as they came home from delivery and had a nurse visit, you know, frequently over the First Six Months<\/a> to really work with mother and child, there was a 50 decrease in the risk of violence in the population. Thank you very much. Thank you, congresswoman clarke, for sharing your story with us. So poignant. I spoke out of turn. The next speaker is mr. Norcross and then congresswoman lee and then were going to the first person, mr. Cicilline, and then well hear from mr. Engel. I want to acknowledge Chris Van Holland<\/a> was with us earlier as well. Mr. Norcross . Thank you, leader. But, mr. Norcross, if i may, because i see the clock is at 12 30. Our chairman has to be on the floor. Im going to yield to him for just one moment. Thank you, leader, and thank you to everyone for coming out and taking this issue so serious and distinguished panel, thank you. You guys were fantastic. The leaders right. Im leaving now because the Majority Party<\/a> will not take up these bills, so im leaving to go up to the floor to see if i cant create a little mischief to make them maybe reconsider and take up some of these bills that every one of you have told us will do so much to improve the situation around gun violence. So thank you again. I look forward to working with you more. Chris, i look forward to seeing you at our hearing in california, thank you. Mr. Norcross . Thank you, leader. I should start out by saying i am a new jersey firearms i. D. Card holder. I chaired Public Senate<\/a> and i know there is a great distinction between the sportsmen and the issues were talking about today. But new jersey, we did it in a bipartisan fashion, preventing those on the terrorist watch list from actually purchasing a gun. But very quickly, chief, is there any scenario that you could imagine that you would ever allow somebody who is drunk to get behind the wheel of a car . None whatsoever. If i gave that clearly drunk person a set of keys, is there an issue with that . It would be a big issue. So is there any way from a Public Policy<\/a> standpoint that you would allow somebody on the terrorist watch list to purchase a gun . There should be no reason to allow anybody on the terrorist watch list. Youre on the watch list for a reason, and you already have the tendencies and the investigation by the federal government have shown that you have possibilities or connections. So why give the two to the person, why give the keys to the drunk driver . If i were to aid or abet somebody on the terrorist watch list in new jersey getting a gun, would that put me at risk . You would be part of the crime. Exactly my point. I yield back. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Norcross. Ms. Jacksonlee . Thank you, madam leader and to both mr. Thompson and ms. Kelly. I thank you very much for your leadership. Gentlemen, thank you for your testimony, passionate and informative. Chief, thank you, you help a lot as we deal with these issues. Im the Ranking Member<\/a> on the crime terrorism Homeland Security<\/a> investigations committee, a committee of which these bills should come through. Common sense legislation, let me ask two direct questions to chris. Thank you so very much for your leadership and your gun ownership and your i. D. And all. St. Emanuel church, mother emanuel in south carolina, the individual that massacred nine worshippers went to a gun dealer who sent his materials in for a gun check but got, if you will, anxious i shouldnt say the word anxious. Got out of sorts, maybe greedy. And before that gun check came back in, and its a three day, as you well know, that gun was sold. Would you comment on the discretion and the reasonableness of gun owners excuse me, gun owners who may sell or store to be sensitive to the importance of at least that law thats in place and then, dr. Satcher, would you dig in the weeds for me, please, on this whole question that has said guns dont kill. People do. Chris, thank you so much. I have one minute on the floor so i may be running off. I want to thank you very much. Thank you. I yield back. Its putting people in front of the profits. As i mentioned in my first remarks, were talking about less than 1 on average of transactions that take place within a licensed dealers store. Its greed. Its greed. Theres no reason to execute a transaction with an individual if a background check has not come back with the definitive proceed. Ive had background checks come back to me as late as six months later. Thank you. A call say iing, by the way,t came back denied. Did you transfer weapon to xyz, and ive always been very, very proud to say, no, we have not. We were waiting for you to give us a call. It had no Material Impact<\/a> on our business. It kept our community and our neighbors safe. Yes. And its not a lot to ask of all licensed dealers to take that one step to let the brady system work to come back with the result. [ inaudible ]. Ive heard many times the statement guns dont kill, people do. The fact of the matter is people with guns kill. Im just thinking about something now thats really troublesome. Weve had at least four children under the age of 7 to die if georgia since october when they found guns, you know, that somebody had placed in the home and left them so that the child could reach them. I hope we can end that soon, and i think it requires a certain amount of diligence in terms of protecting children from guns. Many of the examples, going back to the suicide example, people who even people who want to kill themselves because theyre depressed, succeed only 5 of the time if they dont have a gun. However people with guns succeed 80 to 90 of the time in committing suicides. What an important point. What an important point. So whether its suicide or homicide, guns in the hands of people can be very dangerous. Thank you so very much. Congressman cicilline . A real champion on this issue as well in the congress. Thats why he was the first one here and then spent his time on the floor where many members including congresswoman jacksonlee, who will go now, are making one minute on the floor. Thank you for your leadership and to the task force. I want to say thank you to the witnesses. You have provided extraordinary testimony and very helpful. I just want to put my question in this context. The Small Arms Survey<\/a> done in 2007 from the number of civilian owned firearms in the United States<\/a> was 88. 8 guns per 100 people, meaning that americans make up roughly 4. 43 of the worlds population and own about 42 of the privately held firearms. As a point of reference the second ranked nation was yemen which has been torn apart by civil war and where there are 54. 8 guns. And you said, chris, in your testimony this youve adopted the policy of not selling guns until the background check comes back, and i applaud you for that. There were between 2010 and 2014 1 15,029 sales to prohibitive buyers. That means 15,000 people bought guns that were prohibited from buying them. And so my question to you is would it also be helpful if when that check comes back and says the person is a prohibit ed buyer, that local Law Enforcement<\/a>, the local office of the fbi be notified because now you have a person who is a felon, potentially, or some other disqualified person that has a gun and theres no notice to Law Enforcement<\/a> to do anything about it. As far as i understand, again, ive been ive the pl always when i get that phone call, have you transferred this item, this person is denied, of saying no, we have not transferred that firearm. As i understand it, there is then a followup that the atf contacts local Law Enforcement<\/a> or their local field agents where they do go they collect the 4473 paperwork that we filed. They use that information to contact the purchaser, the prohibited purchaser. And then gentry to locate that firearm. I dont know with what regularity that happens or with what rate of success. But i do believe there is language in there that that is a standard practice. Thank you. Thank you very much, congressman, for your leadership and for your presence on the floor and here. Because, as you see, our chairman went to the floor to organize us, im going to have to join him momentarily. With your permission though to our distinguished witnesses, we have a couple more colleagues who would like to ask questions. Congresswoman kelly, our vice chair of the caucus, will reside. I just want to join all of our colleagues in thanking you so much for being here. So many of you have mentioned issues of great importance and supplied us with great justification for how we should go forward. You give us hope. I always tell the story of when i was in my district visiting a childcare center, and a balloon popped and a 4yearold child shouted, drop. Drop. Think of the atmosphere in which he was raised that that would be her response. I think you for your focus on children and on our veterans. We owe them both so much, the as m pir rags of our children and our veterans. Thank you, chief, chris, dr. Webster chris kitaeff, i didnt want to say it incorrectly, we are so honored to have all of you here. Thank you, i yield to vice chair kelly. Thank you, leader. Now we will hear from congressman engel from new york. Thanks very much. And thanks to the leader and mr. Thompson, miss kelly, all the people who have put this together. These are obviously very important questions that congress should be dealing with. But we arent. And nobody benefits, obviously, when we put our heads in the sand. San bernardino was the latest evidence that dangerous killers have no trouble getting ahold of assault rifles, handguns and massive amounts of ammunition. You know, i heard some of my colleagues say with the recent events in San Bernardino<\/a> that if we had background checks or other laws it wouldnt have stopped the killers from getting ahold of guns. I was here in this congress back in 1994 when we passed a ban on assault weapons. If that ban had still been in effect and not allowed to expire, the killers in San Bernardino<\/a> would have not have been able to get them to have their mass killings carried out. So all these killers have no trouble getting ahold of assault rifles. It happened with farook and malik. It happened with robert deer and it happens every single day across this country because were averaging more than a mass shooting a day. Let me ask mr. Kitaeff, in your capacity as a gun dealer, if somebody on the terror watch list came into your store, someone the fbi has reason to believe might be a terrorist and he wanted to buy a semiautomatic rifle and a ran a background check on that person, what would happen . Could you unknowingly sell a gun to a suspected terrorist . Is there anything could you do about it . Because i dont know who is on that list, im not asking to know who is on the list, i would not know. He would have to fail the background check based upon the predetermined variables that have been in there or he would have to ask or answer, rather, what i refer to as the no questions on the front of the 4473 incorrectly. These are the questions where it asks, are you you have denounced your citizenship, are you a convicted felon, are you a user of illegal drugs. If at the answers no and indicates that he is buying this firearm for himself, he would most likely pass that background check and leave with the weapon that day and i would have no knowledge that he is deeped a su deemed a suspected terrorist. We are pointing out something people dont realize. Its important for people to know. Let me ask chief dixon. Say this person takes that automatic rifle and does another attack like fort hood or San Bernardino<\/a>. The cop has a service weapon, a handgun of some kind, that beat cop comes up against an active shooting with ar15. That beat cop is outgunned, is he not . Correct. And this active shooter can pierce any body armor that the officer might be wearing, can he not . You are correct again. I think this points out again what common sense gun control legislation would do not to tie anybodys hands, not to go against the Second Amendment<\/a> but common sense legislation. This solution seems easy to me. We need to pass laws to make sure that terrorists cannot buy dangerous weapons. Im signing chairmans thompsons discharge petition. And i hope we can take that common sense step to stop people on the terror watch list from buying guns. Thank you both. Thank you to all our panelists. Thank you. Thank you, congressman. Now last but not least, congresswoman lois capps from california. Thank you. I thank my colleague for hanging in with me. And hanging in in every sense of the word. I left to go up on the floor to speak. We had an occasion to speak for one minute each. And all of us were speaking on this topic on our side of the aisle at least. I relate particularly to the comments i appreciated all of your testimony and the fact that you are here. Dr. Satcher, i have always looked at this gun violence epidemic as a Public Health<\/a> issue amongst other issues. So i related to what you were saying. Its a plague. Its an epidemic that affects families and communities all across 50 states. I do have a question for chief dixon. I want to go back to the my small Beachside College<\/a> community in california just last year experienced this tragedy and the horror of a mass shooting. Six innocent lives were lost. So many were injured. We were all changed forever by the event. Following this tragedy, our community joined the chorus of those who are so rightly frustrated with the status quo and with congress and said, not one more. But there have been many more since. Ive worked on the areas that i can work on. And i introduced a bill called the pause for safety act, a bill that would allow for the creation of a gun violence prevention order system that would set up procedures where families could ask their local courts to intervene and prevent a loved one who is a danger from being armed. Many times family members know that this say pending crisis. And when a person is in crisis, there needs to be some action that those who know can take. Right now, there is nothing. But the pause for safety act closes this loophole, allows a judge to waive the usual process and allow a temporary restraining order so that Law Enforcement<\/a> can go in and protect the community and protect the individual for heaven sakes from themselves. So chief dixon, Law Enforcement<\/a> and First Responders<\/a> in communities across this country are sometimes spread so thin because of a lack of resources and all the time consuming procedures and protocols, how can communities respond with you and other Law Enforcement<\/a> and First Responders<\/a> to better Work Together<\/a> so that we can provide a network of protection in this arena . I think your bill kind of identifies that. Give the families and the community an opportunity to discuss it not only with the court but Law Enforcement<\/a>. This is something who we think have concerns. Even if they dont want to approach it and try to approach it through the courts, let Law Enforcement<\/a> do it. One of the things thats comparison is, when a person gets to a point where they cant drive anymore. Yeah. Law enforcement something you can do. Something that gives us an opportunity to do that. People need to focus on the point, if we are able to save one life that day, we have done our part. I would venture to say we will be able to save many that way. This would be a temporary restraining order . Correct. Could be lifted. Wouldnt go against the person. I see some nods. I appreciate that ive been able to get this out there. It seems like a win win all the way around. But we also have legislation discharge petition which im going up now on the floor now. We have a vote on. I know were going to be wrapping this up. But i so appreciate the ongoing interest and work that you are all doing in this arena. Thank you very much. Thank you, congresswoman. As congresswoman capps said, we have a vote on the floor. But i want to thank the four of you so very much. I want to hug each of you but i have to go vote. Hopefully from this hearing today, that will be more of a push to pass the bills that we have on the floor. Nothing has been called. Ive been here over 2 1 2 years and have not had the opportunity to vote on anything whether background checks, terrorist watch list bill, keeping guns out of dangerous hands. I have a bill that asks the Surgeon General<\/a> to give a report on the cost of gun violence. There are many costs. So thank you so much. Thank you for speaking about the Mass Shootings<\/a> as well as what happens in the urban areas, too. Sometimes that gets lost. Sometimes i compare it to a 747 crashing and a two seater that we talk more about the 747 than the two seater. Its all very, very important. So thank you so much. Im going to have to get you guys to chicago. Thank you. Where he adjourning. Here is a look at our live Coverage Today<\/a> on the cspan networks. At noon, we will have live coverage here on cspan3 as correspondents talk about reporting on war and other world conflicts. At 1 00 eastern, germanys ambassador participates in a conversation about how various countries are dealing with syrian refugees. Cspan2 will have live coverage. Britains defense minister is in washington, d. C. Today meeting with defense secretary ashton carter. They plan to talk to reporters after their meeting at about 3 15 eastern and we will bring you live coverage. This evening, donald trump is holding a Campaign Rally<\/a> at the iowa state fairgrounds in des moines. You can see it live on cspan at 7 30 eastern. This weekend on cspan, saturday night at 9 00 eastern, executives from pandora and spotify on how Technology Impacts<\/a> the entertainment","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801209.us.archive.org\/18\/items\/CSPAN3_20151211_132100_House_Gun_Violence_Prevention_Task_Force_Forum\/CSPAN3_20151211_132100_House_Gun_Violence_Prevention_Task_Force_Forum.thumbs\/CSPAN3_20151211_132100_House_Gun_Violence_Prevention_Task_Force_Forum_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240623T12:35:10+00:00"}