Lincoln’s mayor among hundreds to ask Senate to vote on gun safety legislation

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird says 'words are not enough'

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird says “words are not enough” when it comes to guns in our country.

Gaylor Baird announced on Tuesday that she’s signed a letter along with more than 200 mayors from across the country asking U.S. Senate leaders to vote on gun safety legislation.

“We have been going around in circles about guns for decades,” Gaylor Baird said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “There are common sense gun safety measures we can take at the state and federal levels that repeatedly go nowhere as we offer condolences and condolences and condolences rather than solutions.”

The letter, which was also sent to lawmakers in 2019, was sent by a bipartisan group of 255 mayors from 43 states and Washington, D.C., to the U.S. Senate. The House did already pass two bills more than one year ago, and they are pending in the Senate.

Those include:

• H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Check Act of 2019
• H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019

H.R. 8 would close loopholes in the background check system by requiring all firearm purchases to undergo an NICS background check and increasing law enforcement’s ability to trace crime guns. H.R. 1112 would extend the background check review period deadline from three to 10 business days to help ensure that background checks are completed before weapons are sold.

Gaylor Baird said she hopes federal legislation will also thwart gun violence in Nebraska. Lincoln Police are currently investigating two shootings that happened last month, killing at least two people and injuring several others.