Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Sen. Bob Casey talks about gun legislation during an appearance Monday in Allentown.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey heard from gun control advocates, mental health professionals and the father of a suicide victim Monday during a panel discussion in Allentown on gun issues.
His message to them? That Congress needs to take additional steps to address gun violence, including reducing the number of homicides, suicides and accidental shootings.
Casey's visit to Pinebrook Family Answers, a family services agency serving the Lehigh Valley, came days before the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in which 20 students and six staff members were killed.
During a panel that included a board member from the gun control group CeaseFirePA and a doctor from St. Luke's Hospital who specializes in trauma surgery, Casey said there have been more than 42,000 firearm-related deaths and injuries across the country this year, a figure that doesn't include firearm-related suicides.
The senator listed several rounds of failed votes in the U.S. Senate to ban people on federal terror watch lists from purchasing a gun and to tighten background-check requirements. Although those proposals didn't advance, Casey said the fact those votes occurred suggest to advocates a possibility of consensus for "smart, common-sense reform."
"So what we learned is we are going to need to overwhelm ... [gun-control opponents'] rote opposition," Casey said. "We have our work cut out for us."
Casey said he will keep pushing to expand gun background checks, a provision that Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey also has supported.
In addition, Casey called for banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and a proposal that he introduced after the nightclub shooting in Orlando to prevent those convicted of violent hate crimes from getting a gun.
Twitter @LauraOlson