During Week Marking Anniversaries of Charleston, Pulse Nightclub, and Alexandria Shootings, Senate Appropriations Committee Embraces Gunshot Detection Technology, Rejects Dangerous Gun Riders

June 15, 2018

Committee approves FY19 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill with modest investments for public safety, sends to Senate floor

June 15, 2018 — As the nation remembers the horrific shootings at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, and Congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, V.A., Giffords, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, issued the below statement following the the Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the FY19 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. Despite maintaining funding for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and the omission of dangerous gun riders that plagued the House of Representatives’ FY19 appropriations, the legislation lacks the significant investments needed to protect public safety.

Statement from Robin Lloyd, Director of Government Affairs at Giffords:

“This week, Americans have come together to remember those killed and wounded in the horrific shootings in Charleston, Orlando, and Alexandria. The Senate’s legislation contains important provisions, such as continued bipartisan support to fund our national background check system and a modest increase in ATF’s budget. It’s also encouraging to see the Committee acknowledge the promising ability of gunshot detection technology to help law enforcement and communities better respond to gun violence.

“But these provisions only represent a fraction of the action needed to implement solutions that can help tackle our nation’s gun violence epidemic. Additional investments must be made that will allow communities to address gun violence in a meaningful way. It’s also imperative that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle come together to provide our federal law enforcement agencies the resources they need in addition to removing harmful riders that prevent the effective enforcement of federal gun laws.”

On June 17, 2015, an armed gunman opened fire in the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina killing nine people and wounding another. A year later on June 12, 2015, 49 were killed and 53 wounded at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. On June 14, 2016, six people were wounded at a Congressional baseball practice. Recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detail that in 2016 alone, more than 155,000 people were shot, almost 39,000 of them fatally .

Funding levels in the FY19 CJS bill for Giffords-supported initiatives, bureaus and programs to improve gun safety include:

$1.32 billion in ATF funding, an increase of $23 million from FY18.
$75 million for states to upgrade records to National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), of which $25 million is for the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP).
$71 million for violence intervention and prevention programs within the Department of Justice, along with report language encouraging implementation of trauma-informed initiatives seeking to break cycles of violence. Gun violence can be addressed through these types programs using community-based violence prevention and intervention strategies that are proven to save lives . Giffords previously secured report language encouraging states to utilize the Crime Victims Fund to break this cycle through hospital-based violence intervention programs.
Report language noting the success of gunfire detection and location technology in allowing law enforcement to more rapidly respond to gun crime. The language encourages the Department of Justice to work with jurisdictions to deploy this technology and use the data collected to better address gun violence.

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