Also participating in the discussion were Dr. Cedric Dark—founder and executive editor of Policy Prescriptions, a health policy publication—and Norri Leder, a former lead with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action, a gun safety group.
So far this year, Finner said there have been over 790 shooting incidents in Houston and roughly 244 deaths because of those shootings. The Houston Police Department has reported 225 cases of non-negligent homicide in the first half of 2022 as well, he said.
In early February, the city launched the One Safe Houston initiative, a $52 million plan to reduce crime. On July 30, the city will host a gun buyback event at 3826 Wheeler Ave., Houston, in which individuals can trade their firearms for gift cards.
"I want to be transparent: Gun buyback programs are controversial with some people. ... If it saves one life, it helps," Finner said at the meeting.
In June, Fletcher joined 233 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives in voting to pass the "Safer Communities Act," which she described as the first major gun control bill in nearly 30 years to pass both houses of Congress. The bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 25.
"We need to talk about what we can do to make us safer and also what we can do to understand the root causes of gun violence," Fletcher said at the meeting.
The bill requires enhanced background checks on gun purchasers under 21 years old, provides grant funding for states to implement crisis intervention programs and closes the "boyfriend loophole," regulating the sale of firearms to individuals accused of domestic abuse, which previously only applied to spouses or cohabitants.
"I think [that is] what we need to do to ensure that no person who has ever committed domestic violence towards another human being is allowed to have a gun," Dark said during the meeting.
