
https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/11/28 ... th-crisis/
I would have added that in some cases, law abiding citizens who are carrying have even saved lives and benefited public safety.WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Tuesday discussed how to treat gun violence as a public health crisis, in hopes of building upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation.
“Across the country, gun violence is a public health epidemic,” Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks.
Senate Republicans pushed back against framing gun violence as a public health crisis and argued that approach would violate the Second Amendment and that the focus should be on mental health.
“The fact is a firearm in the hands of a law-abiding citizen is not a threat to public safety,” the top Republican on the committee, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said.
andDurbin said the Democratic witnesses tapped — who ranged from doctors to public health experts — would help lawmakers decide how to expand the most comprehensive federal gun safety legislation that Congress passed in nearly 30 years, known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Any additional gun safety legislation will be an uphill battle, as Republicans control the House and although Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate, they would still need to pass a 60-vote threshold.
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/some-f ... 4KB2WNPWI/
But Amy Swearer with the conservative policy organization, The Heritage Foundation, doesn’t believe gun violence is a public health issue. She argues categorizing it that way raises constitutional concerns for second amendment rights.
“Doesn’t change the fact that most gun crimes are perpetrated not by ordinary lawful gunowners but by a small subset of repeat offenders who are already prohibited from owning guns,” said Swearer, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.