August 5, 2019: State Bar Association Mourns with Nation for Victims of Recent Mass Shootings
8.5.2019
NYSBA Task Force on Mass Shootings and Assault Weapons to Propose
Policy Solutions
New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) President Hank Greenberg issued the following statement in response to the two mass shootings this past weekend that tragically ended the lives of 31 people and injured dozens more.
“The New York State Bar Association recoils in horror, as all Americans do, at the mass shootings this past weekend in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas. Our hearts break for the victims and their families. The senseless loss and suffering must not be in vain. Policymakers must act to avert similar massacres from occurring in the future.
“We are in the midst of a mass shooting epidemic in America that has left more than 520 people dead and at least 2,000 injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive. There have been 251 mass shootings in this country during 2019 alone.
“In an effort to find solutions that stop this tragic bloodshed, NYSBA’s Task Force on Mass Shootings and Assault Weapons is preparing a report that aims to recommend statutory and regulatory reforms while still protecting an individual’s right to lawfully possess firearms. That report is expected to be presented to NYSBA’s House of Delegates in the coming months.”
This is not the first time NYSBA has studied the issue of gun violence. A Task Force on Gun Violence, formed in 2013, focused on public education about gun laws and the Second Amendment, as well as supporting federal efforts to collect and share data on gun violence, which had been stymied by Congressional actions. The 2015 report from the task force addressed the absence of gun violence data, including why that information is missing, as well as other issues and proposed corrective actions to enable lawmakers and policymakers to make informed judgments about gun regulations.
Since that report was issued, NYSBA has worked to reverse restrictions on the collection of gun violence data. In 2015, NYSBA declared its support for greater data collection on gun violence and issued a memorandum in support of the repeal of the Dickey Amendment, which in effect, forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop its research into firearm violence.
About the New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. Since 1876, NYSBA has helped shape the development of law, educated and informed the legal profession and the public, and championed the rights of New Yorkers through advocacy and guidance in our communities.
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Contact: Christian Nolan
518/487-5536
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