ADVERTISEMENT

Pelosi Asks Ryan to Establish Select Committee on Gun Violence After Las Vegas Shooting

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi / Getty Images
October 2, 2017

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday urging him to pass gun legislation and create a Select Committee on Gun Violence in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Pelosi (D., Calif.) tweeted out a copy of the letter to Ryan (R., Wis.), saying it was "time for action" to address the "daily toll of heartbreak and tragedy in communities across America."

"First, Congress must pass the bipartisan King-Thompson legislation to strengthen the life-saving background checks that keep guns out of the wrong hands. But this is only a first step," she wrote.

"I urge you to create a Select Committee on Gun Violence to study and report back common sense legislation to help end this crisis," she added. "The bipartisan committee would make recommendations to prevent unspeakable tragedies such as the mass shooting in Las Vegas and to restore confidence in the safety of our communities."

Pelosi concluded that any words of comfort to the victims and their families in Las Vegas would be "hollow" without taking "long overdue action."

At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured Sunday night when a gunman opened fire on concert-goers from his Mandalay Bay hotel room, making it the deadliest mass shooting in American history.