(Houston, TX) – Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) convened community leaders for a summit on gun safety, “Working Together for Safer Communities.”

Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), whose district encompasses Parkland, FL, joined her in facilitating the conversation. Other participants included Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, State Representative Jon Rosenthal, Houston Police Department Assistant Police Chief Jim Jones, Moms Demand Action volunteer Norri Leder, and representatives from Students Demand Action, UT School of Public Health, the Michael DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, the City of Houston’s Bureau of Youth, Community Justice Action Fund, and the Houston Area Women’s Center.

Also participating were individuals personally affected by gun violence in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District: Dana Mielke, whose only child Peter Mielke was gunned down during a 2016 robbery in the Bellaire Triangle, and Katherine Parsons, whose husband was shot, along with 10 other individuals, while driving on Weslayan in September 2016.

The participants raised issues and made suggestions concerning many aspects of gun violence, from the lack of funding for comprehensive research to the effects of trauma and post-traumatic stress to gaps in local regulations that leave law enforcement and citizens vulnerable to violence to the need for prevention and early intervention.

“Today’s summit showed the best of this community—participants from across the community working together to solve a complex problem that affects our community and the entire country,” Congresswoman Fletcher said. “Each participant had a unique perspective, raising systemic issues as well as concrete proposals to make our communities safe. I am grateful to them for sharing their ideas, and for their partnership. We can and must work to prevent gun violence here and everywhere.”

Congresswoman Fletcher co-sponsored and voted for H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which expands background checks to cover all gun sales and voted for H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, which closes the loophole that contributed to the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Both bills passed the House in February but the Senate has not taken them up.