U.S. Sen. Maxie Hirono (D-HI) recently took the floor at a Judiciary Committee hearing to stress the importance of restricting widespread civilian access to military-style assault weapons as the country faces a surge in gun violence.
“As a public health issue, shouldn’t we be able to have a lot more information about incidents of gun violence?” Hirono said at the July 20 hearing, quoted in a press release from her office. “Gun death is the highest cause of death for young people in our country, you would think that we would want to better understand the causalities and what we can do.”
During the hearing, Hirono spoke with RAND Corporation Senior Political Scientist Dr. Kyleanne Hunter about how essential it is to create gun safety legislation based on transparent data collected from past gun violence incidents.
Hirono also voiced her concern about the potential for more relaxed gun laws throughout the nation due to the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which overturned the state law that said individuals could not carry a concealed firearm without a license for self-defense purposes. She further expressed doubt on the likelihood that the Court’s right-wing majority would support national or state bans on assault weapons or large-capacity magazines.
A longtime advocate for stricter gun safety measures, Hirono has intensified her efforts in the wake of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y.; Highland Park, Ill.; and Uvalde, Texas.