Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard is one of six Indiana mayors and 262 nationwide urging Congress to quickly tighten gun safety laws.
Brainard, the only Republican mayor in Indiana to sign the letter, is joined by Democrats Joe Hogsett of Indianapolis, Karen Freeman-Wilson of Gary, John Hamilton of Bloomington, Tom Henry of Fort Wayne and Pete Buttigeig of South Bend.
“It makes sense to me that we would want to strongly encourage Congress to pass legislation to close the loopholes that make it possible for those with criminal backgrounds or a violent past to legally purchase weapons,” Brainard stated in an email. “There have been too many senseless killings of innocent people by those who have been able to easily purchase weapons, and it needs to stop.”
The letter, dated Aug. 8 and posted on the United States Conference of Mayors home page, requests that senators return early to Washington, D.C. to address bipartisan gun safety legislation already approved by the House of Representatives.
H.R. 8, which passed the house by a 240-190 vote Feb. 27, tightens the background check system by requiring all people purchasing a firearm to undergo a background check and banning unlicensed transfers of guns through unregulated secondary sales.
The house approved H.R. 1112 Feb. 28 by a vote of 228-198. It would extend the background check review period deadline from three to 10 business days.
The letter was written just days after mass killings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. It states that there have already been more than 250 mass shootings in 2019.
