It has been two years to the day since a deadly shooting at a constituent event in Tucson left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically injured and six people dead. Today, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is calling on Vice President Joe Biden and his national task force on gun violence to include the Senator’s bills to close the gun show loophole, ban high-capacity magazines, and prevent the sale of firearms to known and suspected terrorists in their recommendations to Congress.

Frank Lautenberg (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
Senator Frank Lautenberg (Stephen Chernin, Getty Images)
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“Two years ago, we were shocked and saddened when a shooter wielding a gun equipped with a military-style high-capacity magazine turned a quiet Saturday morning in Tucson into a scene of unspeakable bloodshed,” says Lautenberg. “Since then, the tragedies in Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, and the killing of individuals in neighborhoods every day across the country have further highlighted the need to enact common-sense reforms to protect the lives of innocent Americans.”

Lautenberg’s legislation would prohibit the manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that have a capacity of, or could be readily converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition, close a loophole in U.S. law that allows guns to be sold, even to criminals and terrorists, by unlicensed sellers at gun shows without conducting background checks and close another  loophole known as the “Terror Gap” that prevents law enforcement from stopping a person on the terrorist watch list from obtaining firearms or explosives.

"On this solemn day, we must vow to defy the odds and make our country safer from the scourge of gun violence,” says Lautenberg. “The Vice President’s task force on gun violence presents an opportunity for us to come together to address the most glaring deficiencies in our gun safety laws.”

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