Rep. Auchincloss Calls to Abolish Filibuster While Unveiling Gun Violence Prevention Legislation

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Filibusters Waste Time by Martha Soukup from Flickr

On Thursday, November 4, 2021, Representative Jake Auchincloss joined Representative Joe Neguse in a press conference to unveil a bill that would prohibit the “sale or disposition” of firearms or ammunition to any person who has been convicted of a violent misdemeanor crime in the last five years. 

The bill, H.R. 5878, is sponsored by Rep. Neguse and co-sponsored by Rep. Auchincloss and seven others.

Rep. Neguse, Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, called for the need to end gun violence such as the mass shooting that occurred in his district in Boulder, Colorado on March 22, 2021. On that date, ten people were killed at King Soopers grocery store when a shooter opened fire.

“The shooter was convicted of third degree assault, a violent misdemeanor. Despite that conviction, the shooter was legally eligible, under state and federal law to buy a gun. . . . Ensuring that firearms cannot be sold to violent individuals is crucial to preventing gun violence and to saving lives,” said Rep. Neguse.

Ms. Jen Macaskill, sister to Ms. Suzanne Fountain who was one of the Boulder shooter’s victims, described the event that shattered her family. After getting her hair done, Ms. Fountain went to the grocery store, said Ms. Macaskill. Ms. Fountain wanted to pick up some items before heading home. Her life ended instantly in Aisle 10. She was a healthy 59 year-old whose life was stolen from her, her sister said.

“She was grocery shopping. We all go grocery shopping. Why is it we can’t be safe in the grocery store?. . . If a law like this had been in place eight months ago, then ten people would not have been murdered that day. We know we’ll never get Suzie back but we don’t want anyone else to go through what we as her family and friends are going through right now.”

Rep. Auchincloss noted that as a marine officer, he spent three months sleeping, eating, patrolling, unloading, reloading and cleaning his assault weapon before being allowed to put a round in the chamber. The weapons were kept behind three locked doors with three separate keys that were given to three separate individuals, “because that is the level of respect that the Marine Corps has for the deadly power of a weapon of war,” he said.



“It is a privilege to get to handle live ammunition that you have to earn with three months of significant training,” he said. 

The idea that a civilian such as the Boulder shooter can access firearms without proper training, without such appreciation for the power of the weapons, but with a record suggesting they could harm others, is “unconscionable,” he said.

Given the long list of proposed legislation on gun violence that has been introduced by members of the House but which has not yet been enacted, Westwood Minute asked Rep. Auchincloss what kind of bipartisan support could be anticipated on this current bill. Rep. Auchincloss noted that the U.S. Senate has repeatedly declined to allow debate or hearings on this issue, despite Americans’ support for legislation that addresses gun violence.

“I believe I owe it to my constituents and to Americans broadly just to speak very directly,” Rep. Auchincloss offered. “We need to abolish the filibuster for gun violence legislation.” This bill and its complement bills should be passed as part of common sense legislation to save lives, he said.



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Getting to Know Representative Jake Auchincloss 

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