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Aug. 21—Congressman Joe Neguse along with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted a community conversation on gun violence prevention Monday at Renée Crown Wellness Institute on the University of Colorado Boulder campus.

Neguse and Jeffries shared updates on gun violence prevention efforts in Congress and participated in a discussion with local leaders. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Reiland Rabaka, founder and director of CU's Center for African and African American Studies.

Neguse pointed to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was enacted by Congressional Democrats as the first major gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years, as a clear indication of the progress that's been made in the last few years with regards to gun safety.

"A lot of critics and skeptics doubted the ability of the president, again working with the congressional Democrats, to be able to get bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation through the House and through the Senate and to his desk for his signature. Ultimately, he proved them wrong," Neguse said during the panel discussion. "As leader Jeffries said, it's the first step, not the last step and there's a lot more for us to do and I think building partnerships at the local, county, state and federal level really is the only way to do it."

Jeffries, who is the highest-ranking Black American in Congress and first Black American to lead a major political party in Congress since the conception of the United States republic, addressed the issue of gun violence as a "national problem that requires a national solution," urging for the need and support for universal criminal background check legislation.

"There are weapons of war that have no place in a civilized society, and these are weapons of war that are not used to hunt deer, they are used to hunt human beings and hunt and shred children in classrooms and everyday Americans as they go about their lives," Jeffries said. "We're committed with the leadership of Congressman Neguse to do what is necessary to advance the ball. We will not give up, we will not give in until we accomplish these objectives and can make America a safe place for everyone free of the scourge of gun violence."

Negus and Jeffries were joined by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Colorado President Portia Prescott; Front Range Community College President Dr. Colleen Simpson; Dr. Beverly Kingston with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at University of Colorado; and Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty.

When asked what he felt was the root cause of the increase in juvenile gun crimes throughout the country and how best to address it, Dougherty responded by saying the most important question to ask is, 'how are the kids getting the guns?' He added the best way to address the issue is through "vigorously" prosecuting gun cases and fighting for legislative change.

Dougherty also spoke about plans in September to give out 400 gun safes for free in Boulder through a federal grant, as well as the high success rates he's seen through restorative justice and diversion programs offered by the Boulder District Attorney's office.

"Gun violence is an epidemic and a crisis throughout our country. No community is immune to it, including Boulder. We've all seen that," Dougherty said in an interview with the Camera. "But it's going to require more than just Boulder to respond to it, so we need people at the local, state and federal levels to come together to do exactly what we're talking about in this room: find meaningful solutions that are going to put an end to the tragic deaths we have in the United States everyday."

Others amongst the panel included President of Colorado Ceasefire Legislative Action Eileen McCarron; Co-lead with Moms Demand Action Colorado Carol Callicotte-Belmon; executive director with DeAngelis Center Shawna Fritzler, along with CU Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano; CU President Todd Salimann; Dawn Reinfeld with Blue Rising Together; and Tom Mauser, spokesperson for Colorado Ceasefire and father of Daniel Mauser who died tragically in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

Mauser spoke about how shortly before Daniel's death, his son had asked him if he was aware of the loopholes in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, often referred to as the Brady Bill, which imposes a five-day waiting period before the sale of a handgun to an unlicensed individual. Mauser said two weeks after Daniel asked him the question, he was killed by a gun that was purchased through one of those very loopholes.

"We still have those loopholes. We closed the gun show loophole and the private sale loophole in Colorado, but Colorado is surrounded by five states that don't have those laws," Mauser said during the panel discussion. "I think it's really important to take those next steps to close those loopholes and have universal background checks. It is just shameful that we have over 90% of Americans supporting that yet we can't get it through Congress. Does Congress represent the people or not?"