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THOMPSON, ESTY LEAD BIPARTISAN CALL TO END GUN RIDERS IN APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

April 16, 2015

Washington, DC – U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), vice-chair of the task force today led more than 100 of their bipartisan colleagues in calling on House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to not include legislative language, or "riders" that would block efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills.

"These riders benefit criminals and handcuff law enforcement's ability to reduce gun violence," said Thompson and Esty. "There is no justification for preventing scientific research into the causes of gun violence, or for restricting our ability to track and combat the spread of illegal guns. These riders are nothing more than backdoor legislative tactics designed to protect bad laws that shouldn't be on the books in the first place."

In previous appropriations bills, gun-related riders have been added without open debate and have acted as roadblocks to reducing and preventing gun violence.

These riders have prevented law enforcement from requiring federally licensed firearm dealers from keeping an inventory of their firearms, prevented law enforcement and academic institutions from using gun trace data to better understand the pattern of criminal gun transfers, and stifled scientific research into the causes of gun violence and the means of preventing it.

Thompson's task force recommended that Congress should act to repeal these riders and restore funding for public safety and law enforcement initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence. The task force urged Congress to fund law enforcement's efforts to reduce gun violence, while supporting federal research into the causes of gun violence.

In policy principle number nine found here the task force recommended that Congress remove the Dickey, Rehberg and Tiahrt restrictions.

The full text of the letter is below.

April 16, 2015

The Honorable John A. Boehner The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Speaker of the House Democratic Leader

U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20151 Washington, DC 20515

Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi:

As the House Committee on Appropriations develops each of the twelve Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations bills, we urge that you ensure the Committee's legislation not include harmful legislative language, or "riders," that impact the enforcement of gun laws, the operations of Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL), or research into the causes of gun violence and how to prevent it. Gun violence reduction and prevention is an important and sensitive issue. Given the renewed national focus on gun violence prevention, now is not the time to include controversial appropriations riders that negatively impact gun laws.

Instead, such changes to gun policy must be seriously and properly considered by Congress through the regular order. This must be done in an open and transparent process where a full range of options can be frankly discussed and debated by the proper committees of authorizing jurisdiction and the entire House of the Representatives. Over the past several years, various appropriations riders related to gun policy have had unintended consequences that could have been prevented had these issues been properly and more thoroughly debated in Congress.

For example, the Tiahrt and Rehberg amendments, among others, have prevented law enforcement from requiring FFLs to keep an inventory of their firearms, prevented law enforcement and academic institutions from using gun trace data to better understand the pattern of crime gun transfers, and chilled unbiased scientific research into the causes of gun violence and the means of preventing it.

As the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations process begins through the respective subcommittees, we urge you to support the development of legislation that is free of harmful gun-related riders. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,