Cartwright Named to Gun Task Force

Rep. Cartwright says "My top priority is to take a holistic approach.  Obviously, no one single thing is going to cure gun violence in the United States.  No one single thing could have avoided the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut." 

Rep. Cartwright was named by Chairman Mike Thompson to serve on the task force this week.  "Why was I picked? Probably because I have been an advocate for new gun safety laws," says Rep. Cartwright.

Last year's shooting in Aurora, Colorado turned Rep. Cartwright's attention towards gun safety, Now he believes the violence will continue unless something changes.  "When we have things like that horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut happening we have to try something different.  We have to tweak the laws.  We have to see if we can make things better and safer for our children," he said. 

Despite the increase in mass shootings that we have seen over the past few years, the debate continues to be over 2nd amendment rights.  "I am a staunch advocate of the 2nd amendment.  That's part of the constitution that I swore I would uphold and protect and defend. I intend to do that, but it seems the 2nd amendment was written before they had assault rifles," says Rep. Cartwright.

Rep. Cartwright says the task force already had its first hearing this week, where the Superintendent of Schools of Newtown, Connecticut voiced her concerns.  "It is a process that will involve a fair amount of debate and perhaps some ranker about how far gun safety laws can go, but in the end we need to try something different," says Rep. Cartwright.

The Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force will hold a number of hearings over the next few weeks in hopes of having a set of policy proposals on the table by early February.