Pelosi calls for gun control measures to mark four years since Pulse nightclub shooting

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday renewed her call for gun control measures to mark the four-year anniversary of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

She noted that the House passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and the Enhanced Background Checks Act, 470 days ago and the Senate has not held a vote. 

“The men and women murdered at Pulse were there to enjoy an evening of music, dancing and celebration in a place of safety and solidarity; they had the right to live free from the fear of gun violence and hate,” she said in a statement.

Pelosi urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to “listen to the will of the American people, end his partisan obstruction and finally bring H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112 up for a vote.”

“As we take time to remember those we’ve lost, we must never back away from our mission to safeguard our communities and end the horrors of gun violence once and for all,” she said. 

June is LGBTQ Pride Month and Gun Violence Prevention Month. Pulse nightclub is a gay bar in Orlando where 49 people were killed when a gunman, who died in a shootout with police, opened fire in the early hours of June 12, 2016.

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act is aimed at strengthening background checks for gun purchases and passed the House on Feb. 27, 2019. A day later, the House approved the Enhanced Background Checks Act, which would close the so-called Charleston loophole and give federal investigators more time to do background checks.