Katherine Clark calls on Congress to take action on gun control

MALDEN – Katherine Clark vowed on Monday to fight in Congress for commonsense gun control reforms, including reinstating the assault weapons ban, closing the gun show loophole, and instituting universal background checks. She supports President Barack Obama’s call for a renewed focus to get these important protections passed.

“President Obama is absolutely right that men, women and children are dying from gun violence without the headlines,” said Clark, who has made reducing the epidemic of gun violence a key part of her Pledge to Women and Families. “We have to pull together and demand change in Washington, because we cannot continue to let gun violence kill eight children every day.”

At every turn, extremist Republicans in Congress have blocked President Obama’s proposals to get weapons made for war off of our local streets and put up stronger barriers to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Meanwhile, more than 8,000 Americans have been killed from gun violence since the Newtown tragedies, with the Brady Campaign estimating that eight children are killed every day.

“It’s incredibly disappointing that extremist Republicans continue to bow to the National Rifle Association while children die every day from gun violence,” Clark said. “It’s unbelievable that while children are dying every day from gun violence Congress cannot even pass the most basic gun control reform supported by more than eighty percent of Americans: universal background checks.”

Extremist Republicans continue to follow the lead of a national organization that decided after the Newtown tragedy that more guns should be in our schools and more guns should be around our kids. More than eight-in-ten Americans want universal background checks, and a majority of Americans favor bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips. In Congress, Katherine is committed to getting these commonsense reforms passed to keep our families and our communities safer.

“This is a public health threat to our children. If this were any other type of public health threat, we as a nation would respond with an overwhelming reaction,” Clark said. “We need to have that same reaction to get these measures in place and we have to demand action out of our Congress.”

Katherine has spent her entire career standing up for women and families and knows what it takes to beat the NRA. While Katherine was an attorney in Colorado, the NRA came into the state to expand concealed weapons permits and pass a “Make My Day” law, similar to the “Stand Your Ground” laws on the books in about 30 states. Katherine built a coalition of law enforcement, district attorneys, victim advocates and others to successfully defeat the NRA. Katherine knows it’s time to do the same in Congress.

“The time is now to take action on gun control to keep weapons out of the hands of the wrong people and prevent more senseless gun violence,” Clark said. “Progress can’t wait any longer on sensible gun safety measures, because none of us want to live in a country where our children are dying every day from guns.”

About State Senator Katherine Clark
Katherine was sworn in for her second term as a Massachusetts state senator representing Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield and Winchester on January 2, 2013. She was first elected in March 2008 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Senator Clark serves as the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. She also serves on the Joint Committees on Public Health and Public Safety and Homeland Security. Senator Clark is a member of the Advisory Council for the Department of Early Education and Care. In 2011, Senator Clark was appointed to the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy Advisory Board at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Katherine has been endorsed by EMILY’s List, the Women's Campaign Fund, Attorney General Martha Coakley, Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan, State Rep. Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge, and State Rep. Paul Brodeur, D-Melrose. She also has the backing of the Melrose Democratic City Committee, the Winchester Democratic Town Committee, APWU Local 100, IBEW Local 2222, IBEW Local 2321, the United Steelworkers Union Local 12012, Ironworkers Local 7, NAGE/IBPO/SEIU Local 5000, Teamsters Local 25, and the IBEW Local 123.

Katherine and her husband Rodney are raising their three school-age boys in Melrose.