Representatives Valadao, Calvert, Kim help House pass bill that puts gun silencers in California communities
GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, condemned the House passage of the reconciliation bill that removed silencers from the National Firearms Act of 1934. Nearly 100 years ago, Congress enacted registration, background checks and fees for these weapons because they were so dangerous and often used in crimes. But almost a century of precedent was tossed aside by Representatives David Valadao, Ken Calvert, Young Kim and their Republican allies, who voted to unleash these dangerous devices into local communities.
United States Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, Jan. 8, 2011. Six people lost their lives in the mass shooting incident that ended her service in Congress.This vote is part of a growing and dangerous pattern: Republicans in Congress, following Donald Trump’s extreme MAGA playbook, are working to dismantle basic public safety protections. From legalizing machine guns to slashing millions in funding for community violence prevention and school mental health programs, Representatives Valadao, Calvert, Kim, and their GOP colleagues have made clear their agenda values gun lobby profits over American lives.
“Instead of focusing on the safety of American families, Representatives Valadao, Calvert, and Kim voted to make it easier for dangerous people to get their hands on silencers. Silencers enable shooters to cause more violence and damage from the shadows. Law enforcement has opposed efforts to make silencers more accessible for a reason—they’re dangerous and make cops’ jobs harder. For a party that claims to ‘back the blue,’ House Republicans just gave dangerous people a big win and ignored the impact to public safety,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown.
Silencers, also known as “suppressors,” obstruct law enforcement efforts to quickly and effectively respond to active shooters since they make it more difficult to recognize the sound of gunfire and locate the source of gunshots. They also mask muzzle flash and reduce recoil, increasing the risk of multiple-casualty shootings. A silencer was used in the 2019 Virginia Beach shooting that killed 12 people. It has also been reported that the shooters in the 2022 Tops Friendly Market massacre in Buffalo, New York, and the 2023 Lewiston, Maine, shooting that murdered 18 people, tried to purchase them, but were denied.
The National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence has warned “the widespread and uncontrolled distribution of silencers to an unwary civilian population, combined with the sheer number of firearms freely available in America, is a step in the wrong direction and will result in tragedy, including violence directed at police officers that will be difficult or impossible to investigate effectively.”
About GIFFORDS
GIFFORDS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, GIFFORDS shifts culture, changes policies, and challenges injustice, inspiring Americans across the country to fight gun violence.
