MIDDLETOWN – Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY-18) held a public forum in Middletown on Saturday to discuss ways to prevent gun violence.
The forum was attended by a mix of students, area residents and public servants.
A smaller sized group allowed for a more open-discussion approach.
Gun violence has been a core issue for Maloney, who voted for H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Check Act, and H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act. However, both those House bills died in the Senate as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not brought either bill up for a vote.
Maloney wrote a letter to McConnell on Friday, September 13, expressing his displeasure with that fact here.
“I write to express my extreme disappointment over the lack of action from the United States Senate on the issue of gun violence prevention. As the Majority Leader in the Senate, you have an obligation to the American people to address this crucial issue and I strongly urge you to bring up legislation immediately,” Maloney wrote.
The lawmaker stressed the need to find common ground with those who are less inclined to support gun reform. “Just because someone owns a gun doesn’t mean they are part of the problem. There’s all kinds of people they are never going to hurt anybody, even if they own firearms that as lethal as the ones used in mass shootings.”
Maloney also conceded during part of a back and forth with an attendee that enforcing laws like the ones proposed are hard to enforce. “That doesn’t mean we aren’t clear on the law of what’s right and wrong.”
The initial public forum which spawned Saturday’s gathering, as well as others in Beacon and Brewster, was held in Poughkeepsie following the Parkland Florida shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School. More than 200 people turned out for that initial gathering prompting the subsequent forums.
Maloney’s office has also announced the Cold Spring Democrat plans to meet this month with sportsmen and other gun owners to seek more common ground in the ongoing, largely partisan debate on gun violence prevention.
