114th Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement on the Dickey Amendment's, which bans gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), inclusion omnibus bill:
A gun club owner and a gun dealer were among those telling a congressman Monday that closing loopholes in federal background checks and increasing mental health help would reduce gun violence.
California U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, chairman of House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, held the hearing less than two weeks after 14 people were fatally shot in San Bernardino.
On Monday, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) held a hearing to discuss ways to curb gun violence, including through bolstering mental health care and background checks, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports
California operates a database to cross-reference certain criminal convictions, mental health records and active domestic violence restraining orders when individuals purchase firearms. About one-third of individuals in the database are included for mental health reasons.
Renewing his call for stricter gun laws on the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, used a tense federal hearing in Sacramento on Monday to advocate for broader background checks and disarming people on a federal no-fly list.
“Rather than take a position of ‘we’ll pass no laws,’ I think it’s time folks took a stand” for tighter gun laws, Thompson said at the outset of a hearing at the Capitol. “If you’re a criminal or you’re dangerously mentally ill,” he added, “I don’t think you should have a gun.”
On the third anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, some gun industry and law enforcement leaders called Monday for the federal government to close a loophole that allows thousands of people to buy firearms each year without background checks.
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) says that although he is a gun owner himself and strongly believes in the Second Amendment, he also believes people on the no-fly list should be barred from purchasing guns.
“I’m a gun owner. I strongly believe in the Second Amendment,” Thompson said during an emotional press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday held by House and Senate Democrats to commemorate the third anniversary of the Newtown, Conn. shootings.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement calling on omnibus negotiators to end the 19-year-long ban on federal research into the causes and best ways to prevent gun violence:
Some people shouldn’t have guns. Terrorists are at the top of that list.
However, a loophole in federal law allows those on the FBI’s terrorist watch list to walk into a gun store, pass a background check and leave with weapons.
The lawmaker who represents the district where a deadly shooting at an elementary school took place three years ago pointedly stood in silence on the House floor Wednesday.
Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), whose district includes Newtown, noted the coming Dec. 14 anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children. She lamented the repeated moments of silence on the House floor for mass shootings instead of legislative responses.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) announced Monday a $1,975,339 Emergency Relief grant for the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid highways and roads on federal lands that have suffered serious damage as a result of the Valley fire.
The funds come from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.