Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) joined three other representatives Tuesday in introducing a bill that calls for renewed congressional action in dealing with the growing impact of gun violence on American communities, according to a press release.
The resolution was introduced to coincide with the first National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, during which many elected officials wore orange to show their support.
“When nearly 90 people a day die from gun violence, inaction is not an option,” Lowenthal said in a statement. “If this many people died every day from a disease, we would call it exactly what gun violence is: a public health epidemic.”
Reps. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), Elizabeth Esty (D-Connecticut), and Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), also introduced Tuesday’s bill.
All four representatives are members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which is chaired by Thompson, who established it in December 2012.
Esty represents Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults were killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on on December 14, 2012.
Capps represents the incorporated community of Isla Vista in Santa Barbara, where seven people were killed in a mass shooting in 2014.
This latest bill is one of many introduced to Congress aimed at reducing the prevalance of gun violence, according to the press release. None have been brought to the House floor for a vote.
“The only thing more heartbreaking than the damage gun violence has done to families across our nation is the fact that Congress has failed to do anything meaningful about it,” Lowenthal said in a statement.