Curbelo reaffirms gun-safety stance following visit to Fla. high school mass shooting site

Credit: Office of Congressman Carlos Curbelo

U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) on Feb. 23 made what he called a “moving and sobering” visit to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where earlier this month a teenaged gunman used a semiautomatic weapon and killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen others.

“I walked-through the horrifying events that took place there [on Feb. 14], and I witnessed the outpouring of love and support from so many people who have deposited flowers, candles, and left beautiful messages in memory of the victims.” said Rep. Curbelo following his visit. “The best way for elected officials to honor the fallen and their families is by taking meaningful action to prevent these tragedies in the future.”

Steps to be taken could include tightening gun regulations, ensuring law enforcement agencies have necessary resources to assess and intervene in threats, and ramping up investments in mental health and school security, Curbelo said during his meeting with Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) Superintendent Robert W. Runcie, Broward County School Board Member Patti Good, and BCPS Special Investigative Unit Chief Robert Hutchinson, according to the congressman’s staff.

“It won’t be easy, but we must make progress on all these fronts,” Curbelo said. “The voices and the engagement of students, parents, teachers, administrators, law enforcement, and every caring citizen will be decisive. We will not accept a country and a culture of violence where the loss of innocent life becomes commonplace.”

Rep. Curbelo met on Monday with Marjory Stoneman Douglas students, who are in Washington, D.C., advocating for gun-safety legislative changes, according to his office.

On Feb. 20, Curbelo signed on as the first Republican cosponsor to the Gun Violence Research Act, H.R. 1478, introduced on March 9, 2017 by U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL). H.R. 1478 — which proposes eliminating a prohibition on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from using federal funds to advocate or promote gun control — has 135 cosponsors, including Curbelo, U.S. Reps. Ryan Costello (R-PA) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and is under consideration by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

Rep. Curbelo also supports strengthening the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, as well as requiring social media companies to collaborate with law enforcement on ways to identify threats without violating personal freedoms.

Last year, Curbelo also introduced H.R. 3999, a bipartisan bill that would make it a crime to manufacture, possess or transfer a part or pieces intended to increase semiautomatic rifle rates of fire, but which just fall short of converting such a rifle into a machine gun, according to the bill’s summary.

U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Ryan Costello (R-PA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Fred Upton (R-MI) and Lance were among the 29 cosponsors of H.R. 3999, which Curbelo introduced on Oct. 10, 2017. The bill awaits consideration by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.