The US House Committee on Oversight and Reform started an investigation in order to stop gun violence in the country, its chairman Elijah Cummings said on Friday in a letter to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Regina Lombardo
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2019) The US House Committee on Oversight and Reform started an investigation in order to stop gun violence in the country, its chairman Elijah Cummings said on Friday in a letter to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Regina Lombardo.Last weekend the United States faced the latest in the series of mass shootings. At least 22 people were killed and more than 20 wounded after a gunman opened fire in a Walmart shopping center in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday evening. Less than 24 hours later, a gunman on Sunday killed nine people and wounded 27 others in a separate shooting in Dayton, Ohio.
"Gun violence has caused communities across the country to suffer from the tragic loss of lives as well as the erosion of security in our public spaces, places of worship, offices, and our children's schools. This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked," Cummings said.
He notee that his panel is investigating the gun violence. To do so, lawmakers requested ATF to provide documents about the most suspicious gun dealers who sell the large amount of weapons involved in crimes in past five years, Cummings said.
He added that the list of such dealers is not too big, and that many guns involved in crimes are sold by Federal firearms licenses to unlicensed sellers who transferred it to criminals.
"The Committee is seeking to better understand enforcement efforts with respect to [federal firearms licensees] that sell large numbers of guns that are used in crimes, including homicides, Cummings said. "This investigation will inform Congress's ability to make changes in federal law that save lives."
US President Donald Trump said in a statement on Friday that "serious discussions" are taking place between congressional leaders on implementing meaningful background checks for individuals purchasing firearms in the United States. He expressed the confidence that lawmakers will get a "very good package" of gun control measures.
