During his minicamp media availability on Tuesday, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had quite a bit to say about gun reform, in the wake of so many recent mass shootings.
“You know, with everything that’s going on, if you’re not going to outlaw everything, you’ve got to at least make it harder to get all those crazy guns that everybody’s using. I don’t think you should be able to just walk in there and buy one — you’ve got to go through a rigorous process to be able to buy something like that, I think. Hopefully, the people that get paid to make those decisions figure that out. My job is to play football, but hopefully, the politicians can figure that out.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow, on gun reform: “If you’re not going to outlaw everything, you’ve gotta at least make it harder to get those crazy guns that everybody’s using.” Here’s his full response, via @bengals: pic.twitter.com/xJo1dOWsBA
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) June 14, 2022
Reform has been split among party lines. On June 12, a bipartisan group of senators announced a deal on gun legislation that doesn’t go as far as Democrats would prefer, but it appears to be at least a first step in the right direction.
The proposal is vastly more limited than changes pushed by President Joe Biden to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, add universal background checks and raise the minimum age to buy guns to 21 years old. Still, he urged immediate passage in both chambers.
“Obviously, it does not do everything that I think is needed,” Biden said, “but it reflects important steps in the right direction, and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.”
The new proposal includes:
- Support for state crisis intervention
- Investment in children and family mental health services
- Protections for victims of domestic violence
- Funding for school-based mental health and supportive services
- Funding for school safety resources
- Clarification of definition of federally licensed firearms dealer
- Telehealth investments
- Penalties for straw purchasing
