Kaine announces support for firearms legislation
Two pieces of legislation before the U.S. Congress deal with firearm safety and research and background checks.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine announced his support for the bills on Thursday, which is National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
"I'm proud to support the CDC Research on Firearms safety or Gun Violence Prevention Act and the Fix Gun Checks Act - two commonsense pieces of legislation to reduce gun violence in our communities and ultimately save lives," said Kaine. "Congress cannot be complacent when gun violence remains so prevalent in American society."
According to a release, a de facto ban on federal funding for gun violence research has been in place since 1996, and though Congress did later restore funding, language in the appropriations bill said the money could not be used to advocate or promote gun control if used for injury prevention and control research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The CDC has the potential to play a vital role in addressing this epidemic," added Kaine. "it's time to put politics aside and provide the agency resources to do its job."
The CDC research legislation would appropriate $10 million annually from fiscal year 2016 to FY2021 for the CDC to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
The Fix Gun Checks Act would address "private sale" loopholes that include gun shows, online sales and similar private firearm transfers by requiring background checks at venues not currently covered by gun laws.
It would also require such sales to go through a federal firearms licensee who is required to run background checks and maintain records on buyers.
State that do not make information electronically available to the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System could also be penalized.
"A more robust background record check system would help prevent people who are legally barred from owning a firearm from obtaining one," Kaine said.
Kaine has been supportive of curbing gun violence for a long time, including several pieces of legislation he has introduced and supporting mental health services.
