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7/2/2024
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Sen. Euer, Rep. Boylan attend White House gun safety convention
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STATE HOUSE — Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Dawn Euer and Rep. Jennifer Boylan attended a White House meeting dedicated to state-level legislative gun violence prevention efforts last week.
The event brought together state legislators from across the country to strategize with each other and with senior White House officials on effective policy solutions to the gun violence epidemic plaguing the country.
“Rhode Islanders and all Americans deserve effective action to address endemic gun violence in our country. We are very grateful to the White House for providing support and resources to those of us working hard toward this goal at the state level. Sharing ideas and strategies with our colleagues in other states and being connected to each other will help us succeed at passing strong legislation to reduce gun violence,” said Chairwoman Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown).
Said Representative Boylan (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence), “We are energized to continue the important work of ending gun violence in our communities after meeting with legislators from across the county who share our commitment. Every Rhode Islander deserves to be safe from gun violence, and while we took concrete steps toward this goal in this last legislative session, there remains more work to be done when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.”
Longtime advocates for the reduction of gun violence, Chairwoman Euer and Representative Boylan
were cosponsors of the Safe Storage of Firearms law (2024-S 2202aa, 2024-H 7373A) sponsored by Rep. Justine A. Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) and Sen. Pamela J. Lauria (D-Dist. 32, Barrington, Bristol, East Providence) that was signed into law in June.
According to a report from Everytown, states that have safe storage laws have rates of unintentional shootings by children that are 34% lower than states that do not have safe storage laws in place. Firearms are also the most lethal method used in suicide deaths, with a fatality rate of about 85%.
Representative Boylan also introduced a bill (2024-H 7216A, 2024-S 2446) last session with Sen. David P. Tikoian (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, Lincoln, North Providence) to aid law enforcement in solving gun-related crimes by taking advantage of a national ballistics analysis database. Chairwoman Euer was a cosponsor of the bill in the Senate.
While the bill did not pass last session, Representative Boylan says it remains one of her top legislative priorities next year.
White House officials also presented a report on the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which became federal law in 2022, which made investments in community safety, school safety and mental health and increased background check requirements and tightened restrictions on gun trafficking and the purchase of guns by those convicted of domestic violence. The report showed that violent crime in the United States has dropped since its passage to an almost 50-year low.
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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