Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | July 20, 2023 12:15 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Tim Briggs |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Body Armor Access |
| Soon, I will introduce legislation to restrict access to body armor within the Commonwealth. In recent massacres, I have noticed the murderers wear body armor which prevents law enforcement from neutralizing the threat early in the engagement. In fact, in the white supremacist fueled massacre in Buffalo a “good guy with a gun,” a retired police officer working security at a Tops grocery store confronted the killer, shot him but the killer continued the attack. The shots fired by the “good guy with a gun” had no effect on the killer because the killer was wearing military grade body armor. Moreover, a killer armed with an AR-15 slaughters 19 nine- and ten-year-old elementary school children along with two teachers at the Robb Elementary School in Texas. The killer was wearing a carrier vest for body armor that may have caused law enforcement to hesitate in neutralizing the threat to the children. Robb Elementary employed security, had surveillance cameras and law enforcement responded almost immediately but could not protect children in a fourth-grade classroom from the power of a military assault rifle wielded by a mass murder wearing body armor. Recently, New York passed restrictions on the sale of body armor, Connecticut strictly regulates body armor possession, under Federal Law felons are prohibited from possessing body armor, Australia prohibits the possession of body armor, the European Union prohibits civilians from possessing military armament including ballistic protection, and in Canada some provinces prohibit possession of body armor without a permit issued by law enforcement. I will not give up on advocating for responsible firearm safety legislation but imposing restrictions on body armor access and possession in the Commonwealth may prevent some deaths when the next mass shooting happens. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |