WASHINGTON, December 16 (Sputnik) — Congress can end the cycle of gun violence the United States has become stuck in by passing legislation imposing tougher background checks on gun sales and banning the sale of military-style assault weapons, outgoing US Senator Carl Levin says.
"Are we willing to say that enough is enough?" Levin asked in an open letter sent to US President Barack Obama Monday regarding what he sees as a "horrific toll" of gun violence in the United States.
"We [the US Congress] should pass a bill making background checks mandatory on all gun sales. We should pass legislation to ban military style assault weapons, so as to stop the flood of these weapons into our neighbourhoods and streets," Levin stressed.
Recent polls cited by Levin in his letter show that 90 percent of Americans support tougher background checks on individuals trying to purchase firearms. The same polls show that over 50 percent of pawnbrokers and gun dealers support tougher restrictions.
Levin's statement was released one day after the two-year anniversary of the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and 6 adults were killed by a lone shooter. Since that time, there have been more than 90 school shootings in the United States, according to statistics gathered by Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control activist group.
