KOUTOUJIAN CONVENES 5th POLICY ROUND TABLE: A DISCUSSION ON REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE

Koutoujian Joined With Community Leaders—Including Anne Marie Crowell of Mother on a Mission—to Discuss Best Approaches to Reducing Gun Violence

Peter Koutoujian convened his fifth and final policy round table for the Fifth District last week, a discussion on reducing gun violence.  Koutoujian met with community leaders—including Anne Marie Crowell of Mother on a Mission—and offered his ideas to reduce gun violence.

“Let’s start with the most critical point: we need to ban assault weapons,” began Koutoujian.  “We did it here in Massachusetts and we need to do it again at the federal level.  But there’s so much more we can work on at the same time—like banning high capacity clips, instituting mandatory and universal background checks, and increasing our mental health screenings to catch and treat problems before they begin.  These are some of the commonsense reforms Congress needs to institute and the ones I will work to pass from Day One.”

Koutoujian has made reducing gun violence a focal point in his campaign, being labeled the “most vocal proponent of gun control” by the Lexington Minuteman at a recent public forum.  “These aren’t just campaign issues for me.  Fifteen years ago I made my maiden speech from the floor of the Massachusetts State Legislature in support of our assault weapons ban.  When we’re losing 32 Americans per day and 56 children per week to guns, it’s critical that we send someone to Congress who will take the story of our gun control legislation to the floor of the Capitol.  I’m running because I’d like to do that on my first day in office.”

Anne Marie Crowell, a longtime advocate for standing up to gun violence, attended the round table, saying, “Peter has always stood with me in the fight to reduce gun deaths.  More than 15 years ago I lost my son Brian in a terrible accident, and since then I’ve been on a mission to make sure no parent goes through what I did.  The plan Peter put forward is a step in the right direction, and I’m confident that with him in Congress mothers and fathers across the country will have a strong public safety ally and a dedicated public servant.”

The round table was Koutoujian’s fifth and final in a series of policy discussions he’s convened to highlight issues he will tackle in Congress.  Koutoujian began the series with a proposal on mental health and substance abuse before offering his ideas to improve education.  Next he put forward his thoughts on health care in America, drawing on his experience as chair of the Public Health Committee when Massachusetts was implementing a first-of-its-kind health care program that served as the model for the Affordable Care Act.  He convened his fourth round table to discuss women’s issues with residents, where he was joined by grassroots leader and co-chair of Women for Koutoujian, Davina Fankhauser.