NEW YORK, NY — Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16) issued the following statement on the need to end gun violence through holistic solutions that put people first. His statement references last month’s shooting death of New Rochelle High School student Julian Oliveros.
Gun violence is an epidemic of catastrophic proportions that is taking our loved ones, our youth, and our neighbors too soon, and we must address it through meaningful and holistic solutions that put the needs of our people first.
Just last week, our community grieved the loss of a 16-year-old boy who passed away after being shot multiple times and it is impossible to understand why more hasn’t been done to prevent these tragedies. This latest instance took a young life too soon, but we have members of our community, of all ages, who work to keep us healthy, keep us safe, help to put food on our tables, educate our youth, run our public transit systems, and so much more — who could find themselves impacted by this crisis. The reality is that gun violence can affect any one of us; it does not only affect one type of person or one type of community. This is a public health crisis and should be treated as such.
In order to prevent gun violence, we must address its root causes: poverty, housing and food insecurity, income inequality, under-resourced public services, under-funded schools and early childhood education programs, and a feeling of despair and hopelessness that too often leads people to pick up a gun that was too easy to access,
To actually end this crisis, we need to put forward holistic and meaningful solutions that aren’t just a band-aid on an open wound. We need to think strategically and creatively to put forward new and bold community based initiatives that will keep our people safe because too many lives have already been lost. Anything else falls short of what it will take to actually end the gun violence epidemic once and for all. On top of localized and coordinated centers to disperse resources and holistically address gun violence in our communities, I ask President Biden, Mayor Adams, and all of my colleagues to join me in urging Republicans in the U.S. Senate to join their Democratic colleagues who are ready to pass H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 — two bills that would make firearms harder to get by instituting new background check requirements to address the dangers and prevalence of ghost guns and gun trafficking.
You can issues all the statements till the cows come home but the truth is our country is in a state of erosion. We are incapable of stamping out the criminal behavior of our society. Sad to watch and frustrating for those trying to maintain civility and those fighting crime.