INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana state lawmakers wrapped up a meeting Wednesday in Washington, D.C. with other state leaders and senior White House officials. The topic? Preventing gun violence in their communities.
Among those lawmakers from Indiana was one who represents Indianapolis.
State Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-District 87, said she was invited, in part, because of past legislation she's worked on that dealt with gun safety and preventing gun violence.
The invitation to the nation's capital came on the two-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which among other measures, provided federal funding to communities for violence prevention initiatives, crisis intervention services and school-based mental health services.
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The law also made it a federal crime to buy a gun for someone who can't own one.
"That's keeping guns out of the hands of the violent people who should not have guns," said Hamilton, who was joined by Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-District 6, and Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-District 3.
All three were among legislators from across the country who discussed strategies for reducing gun violence in their states.
Wednesday's gathering comes days after the United States surgeon general declared gun violence an urgent public health crisis and called for a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use.
The surgeon general also called for universal background checks to buy guns, and penalizing people who didn't safely store their weapons.
In past sessions, Hamilton has been part of proposed safe storage legislation and said that conversation needs to continue.
"Maybe there are baby steps, it seems like maybe it's simple, but maybe we could also start with to get the conversation rolling, a tax exemption for the purchase of those items, maybe some grant dollars to help expand access to free safe storage for folks in the community," said Hamilton, adding that state leaders need to be more proactive in tapping into the federal funding that's available to communities for gun violence prevention programs, particularly programs that reach out to young people.