Family members and loved ones of the Charleston church shooting, which took place last month in South Carolina, travelled to Washington on Wednesday to urge lawmakers in Congress to push for a vote on legislation that expands background checks on gun sales, according to Reuters.
"I'm a firm believer that our Congress is full of good men and women who felt the pain on June 17 of the murders of the Emmanuel nine, but they haven't allowed that pain to translate into doing something about it," said Pastor Thomas Dixon, a community activist in South Carolina, who was in Washington on Wednesday. "They have not allowed that pain to translate into passing H.R. 1217, which we all know is going to benefit our nation," according to The Huffington Post.
Andre Duncan, whose aunt, Myra Thompson, was killed in the shooting said he believes the tragedy "made Charleston much stronger than it ever was." Thompson died along with eight others after a racially motivated gunman opened fire at the historic Emanuel AME Church, as HNGN previously reported. Duncan said he "will not rest until legislators do what is right by expanding Brady background checks," NBC News reported.
The bill, introduced by Reps. Mike Thompson and Peter King would impose more stringent gun laws by expanding background checks on thousands of gun sales online and at gun shows, making it difficult for people with a criminal history to purchase firearms.
The legislation would expand upon the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, named after President Ronald Reagan's press secretary James Brady, who was shot during a 1981 assassination attempt on the President.
