US Rep. Mark Pocan urges people to treat gun violence like a public health emergency

In looking for solutions to the problem of school shootings, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan urges people to take a big picture view. 

“This is a 30,000 foot conversation,” Pocan told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” in reaction to the Dec. 16 shooting at Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School that left three people dead and six injured. “First, we have to accept that no other country on the planet has this problem. And once we accept that this is a uniquely American problem, you figure out what that problem is.”

Monday’s shooting was the second fatal shooting at a school in Pocan’s district this year — the first occurred on May 1 when a 14-year-old student was shot and killed in Mount Horeb after he pointed a pellet gun at officers. 

Pocan said his constituents are worried about the problem and want action. 

“You should (be able to) believe that when you drop your child off at school, they’re going to be safe and they’re going to be coming home at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s happened all across the country way too many times. It’s a uniquely American problem … Until we accept that we have an epidemic of gun violence, and we have not addressed it — this is going to happen in more school districts across the country.”

A Democrat, Pocan has criticized his Republican colleagues for failing to act. But he says that the gun industry is the real barrier to change. 

“These gun manufacturers are the ones that really are at the forefront of stopping us from doing many of the things we need to do to protect our children,” he said. “They are the bad folks out there. And we need to also understand that every time we just, you know, do nothing in response to the gun manufacturers, we are doing something. We’re just making our children less safe.”

For Pocan, one needed remedy is stricter gun control laws, with better background checks and the regulation of accessories that can make guns more lethal.

For people who despair that Congress has given up on taking any action on gun control issues, Pocan urged his constituents to speak up about the problem. 

“The gun lobby in Washington has a lot of money, and that seems to sway a lot of members of Congress and state legislatures,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s your constituents that vote for elected officials, and we have more power. But we have to make this issue as much a priority as we do other issues, and accept that it’s an epidemic. It’s an epidemic of gun violence, and we need to treat it like a public health emergency.”