New in Congress, Lucy McBath goes from sadness over gun death to championing new gun reform
The Georgia lawmaker has turned her grief into possible new legislation to address the very thing that killed her son years ago
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On Tuesday, freshman U.S. Representative Lucy McBath, whose teen son Jordan Davis was shot and killed for playing loud music at a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station, fulfilled a campaign and personal promise when she co-sponsored a bill to strengthen background checks for the sale and transfer of firearms, the AJC, reports.
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Today I stood with my colleagues to co-sponsor legislation implementing universal background checks, a measure supported by 97% of Americans.
For my son, my family, and the countless others impacted by gun violence – we WILL fix this broken system. https://t.co/HbBfBLAgfb
— Lucy McBath (@lucymcbath) January 9, 2019
“Too often sales without background checks, including unlicensed sales and online sales, have allowed guns to end up in the hands of violent criminals,” said McBath during a Capitol Hill press conference.
Since the 2012 murder of her son, McBath, who represents Georgia’s 6th congressional district has channeled her pain into activism, advocating for justice for Jordan, becoming a spokesperson for gun control, and joining the Mothers of the Movement in support of Hillary Clinton.
This is the first piece of legislation McBath has co-sponsored since taking office. She was joined by Democratic lawmakers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was shot in in Tuscon, Arizona. The bill was introduced on the eight year anniversary of when Giffords was shot.
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The House Democrats are hopeful that the bill was pass during the first 100 days of the new Congress.
“By closing these loopholes and expanding background checks, we will make our communities safer,” McBath said.
“Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do what’s right, the courage for new ideas,” Giffords said at the news conference, ABC reports.
“This is a very important step forward to make sure our communities are a bit safer,” Rep. Mike Thompson, D-California, chair of the Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, who wrote the legislation, told ABC News.
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