Jaffee Signs Letter Urging Reduced Gun Violence

Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee (D-Suffern) joined with 62 other state legislators in signing a letter to Senate and Assembly leadership calling for action to reduce gun violence.

The letter is a repsonse to the shootings that left 26 people dead, 20 of them children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.

The letter calls for the passage of a plan including the following measures, all endorsed by New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and the Violence Policy Center:

• Require universal background checks on the sale of all guns
• Strengthen assault weapons ban
• Strengthen high capacity ammunition magazine ban
• Require microstamping of guns to help law enforcement solve gun crimes
• Require gun licenses to be renewed every five years
• Improve gun dealer regulations
• Regulation of ammunition sales
• Limit personal gun purchases to one a month

"Now is the time to strengthen our resolve," Jaffee said. "We in government must join together to enact stronger, sensible gun laws that will protect our communities and our children from these horrific acts of violence. There is nothing more important. We owe it to our precious children, to their families, to their teachers, to ourselves as a nation and a civilized society."

Jafeee is a member of the New York chapter of State Legislators Against Illegal Guns (SLAIG). 

A copy of the letter is attached to this report.