Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Parkland mayor is lobbying for gun background check bills in Washington.
Hunschofsky pushing for gun background checks to cover private sales
Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky is part of a bipartisan group of mayors who are pushing the White House and U.S. senators this week to expand gun background checks to cover private sales.
She met with senior White House staffers on Monday and testified Tuesday at a forum organized by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The congressional hearing was intended to pressure Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on the background check bills.
Congress returned Monday from a monthlong recess, and Democrats are vowing to make gun bills a top priority. The Democratic-led House has passed a bill that would expand background checks to cover private sales, along with a bill that would extend the background check review period deadline from three to 10 business days. The Senate has not taken up the measures.
Hunschofsky saw the toll of gun violence firsthand when a gunman killed 17 students and staff on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“As a mayor, these things are personal for us. … These are not just random people who are affected,” Hunschofsky told lawmakers. “These are our friends and our neighbors.”
Federal legislation is needed to shore up a loophole in Florida’s red-flag law passed after the Parkland school shooting, she said. The red-flag law allows law enforcement to seize guns from people suspected of being a danger to themselves or others. But Hunschofsky said those people still can buy guns through private sales without having to go through a background check.
The delegation of mayors also included Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
In an Aug. 8 letter to McConnell, 278 mayors endorsed the gun background bills. Signatories included the mayors of Davie, Doral, Gainesville, Hollywood, Fla., Lauderdale Lakes, Orlando, Pembroke Park, Pembroke Pines, Pompano Beach, Port St. Lucie, St. Petersburg, Sunrise, Tallahassee, Tamarac, Tampa, Weston and Wilton Manors.