Courtney Remarks on House Passage of Legislation to Address Gun Violence

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), voted to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 8), which passed the House with a bipartisan majority by a vote of 240-190. Congressman Courtney is a cosponsor of the legislation, and has been a strong supporter of addressing the gun violence epidemic in our country.

"The Connecticut delegation has stood united in support of action to address gun violence," said Congressman Courtney. "When Congress refused to do its job – refused to even hold a single hearing on gun violence throughout the duration of previous Republican-controlled Congresses despite the cascade of mass shootings that seem to follow one after the other – the Connecticut delegation remained steadfast in demanding a legislative response to gun violence. In June of 2016, we had a sit-in on the House Floor, organized in part by my colleague John Larson, protesting the lack of action to prevent gun violence. Today, nearly three years later, we finally got the vote on gun violence prevention we were seeking that night. It's a great day for our country, and a great day for the state of Connecticut."

H.R. 8 expands background checks to cover nearly all sales and transfers of firearms. Passage of the bill represents the first major House vote on gun violence prevention in the last 25 years.

In June of 2016, Congressman Courtney joined Members of Congress for the nearly 24 hour-long sit-in on the House Floor in support of universal background checks. Click here to read more.

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