The recent shooting at a Grand Blanc Township, Mich., church which killed four people is another tragic reminder of Congress’ failure to protect Americans from gun violence.
I took office just weeks after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 children and six adults were murdered in a barbaric act of gun violence.
After this tragedy, I believed Congress would finally feel compelled to reform our gun safety laws. If this slaughter of children didn’t move every person to work to prevent any other community from being torn apart by gun violence, then what would?
Yet Speaker Paul Ryan, and every Republican speaker since, could not summon the courage to let Congress vote on any number of bipartisan gun safety proposals that would save lives. Democratic majorities in the House passed legislation, but Senate Republicans refused to allow a vote on any of them. It is reprehensible that countless more Americans at schools, grocery stores, nightclubs and places of worship have endured the same, preventable unimaginable terror in the ensuing 12 years.
Words could not express the pain and trauma Grand Blanc is feeling after the church shooting. It happened during their Sunday service. They were praying when shots rang out. I hope their faith and trust in God brings them some peace in time.
As a person of faith, I know the power of prayer. It’s important. Sharing our thoughts and prayers after a mass shooting expresses our grief and compassion as human beings. But prayer is not a substitute for action to prevent further gun violence.
As a lawmaker, it’s my job to write and pass legislation that addresses the challenges we face. Since 2013, I have been a consistent, vocal advocate to end gun violence.
In 2016, I broadcast the Democratic anti-gun violence sit-in on the House floor, sharing our demand for votes on gun safety laws. When Republican leaders still refused to act, I read the names and ages of gun violence victims on the House floor to highlight the human cost of their persistent inaction. I did this more than 20 times but stopped after the frustrating realization that it wasn’t moving my Republican colleagues to act.
The progress we have made is real, but insufficient. I introduced and passed the STANDUP Act to encourage states to implement suicide and violence prevention training in schools. The evidence shows these programs save lives. I’ve also voted for every gun violence prevention measure that’s come before Congress, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, which was the biggest step forward for gun violence prevention in decades.
We must do more. Our national epidemic of gun violence has terrorized us and taken too many lives. I stand more than ready to ban assault weapons, limit magazine capacity, ban ghost guns, prohibit concealed carry reciprocity, close the bump stock loophole, and raise the age someone can purchase a gun from 18 to 21.
Like the shooter who killed four people and injured eight others in Grand Blanc Township and the shooter who killed Charlie Kirk, nearly all shooters exhibit or share threatening and disturbing signals prior to the attack. These people should not have been able to purchase or obtain a gun.
Current loopholes make it too easy for criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill to access firearms. Expanded background checks and red flag laws can keep guns away from individuals who may harm themselves or others. An assault weapons ban would keep guns designed for combat out of our communities. Ghost gun restrictions would prevent a person from building an untraceable gun at home — the fastest growing gun safety problem.
Most Americans support these common-sense reforms that languish in Congress. In 2024, Gallup reported that 56% of Americans support stricter gun sales laws and 52% support an assault weapons ban.
We can’t bring back lost lives but we can work to save others. To my congressional Republican colleagues, I ask you: Follow your prayers with substantive action. We have a responsibility as lawmakers to enact stronger gun safety reforms. Otherwise, we fail the victims and their families, we fail our children, and we fail all Americans who deserve more than just our “thoughts and prayers.”
Peters, a Democrat, is a former environmental attorney who represents California’s 50th Congressional District. He lives in Bird Rock.