Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Senior Member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, issued this statement following the death of Sgt. Chris Brewster, by a perpetrator of domestic violence:

“Over the weekend, the City of Houston lost one of its finest. Sgt. Chris Brewster, a 9-year veteran of the Houston Police Department was shot and kill by an assailant as Sgt. Brewster was responding to a call. My deepest and most heartfelt sympathies are with his family that survives him and the Houston law enforcement family who served alongside with him. I, along with all, especially the many lives touched through his brave service mourn him today. I thank those who helped apprehend the suspect in this matter and that the assailant faces the full measure of justice.

“While we await the criminal justice system to mete out the fate of Sgt. Brewster’s killer, we are beginning to learn about the particulars of the incident that killed Sgt. Brewster. We are learning that Sgt. Brewster was responding to a domestic violence call at the residence where the assailant and his girlfriend lived. We also know that the assailant had a history of mental illness. We also know that this killing did not occur in a vacuum. In September, Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal was shot and killed while in the line of duty and we also know that last week, Police Chief Art Acevedo debated the merits of legislation designed to keep guns out of the wrong hands with Texas’s two United States Senators.

“For many Congresses, I have been a champion for common sense gun safety legislation, wherever it made practical sense to implement legislation. As the lead sponsor of H.R. 6545, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a violence prevention report promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control, one in four women will be the victim of severe domestic violence; one in seven have been stalked by their partner; one in five will be raped; and almost 20% of domestic violence includes a weapon. In Texas, the numbers are no less discouraging. According to recent statistics, the number of women killed by their intimate partners was 10% greater than the national rate. This reauthorization imbues an expansion of prohibited persons who may possess a firearm. Under current federal law, a person is unable to have a firearm if they are or were married to their victim, have children with them, live with their victim or a parent or guardian of a victim. The proposed reauthorization of VAWA contains a provision which would prevent a person convicted of domestic abuse to include current boyfriends, former boyfriends or those deemed to stalk their victim. This one of VAWA’s thoughtful provisions, along with $291 million in grants to ensure the appropriate implementation of these provisions.

“Tellingly, this expansion of persons prohibited from possessing a firearm in the VAWA Reauthorization is the reason why it has not received a vote in the Senate, led by the Republicans, and fueled by campaign donations from the National Rifle Association. The reauthorization prevents current boyfriends, former boyfriends or those deemed to stalk their victim. The boyfriend loophole, had it been in law this past weekend, could have prevented Sgt. Brewster’s assailant from getting the gun which he used to threaten his girlfriend, but which was deployed instead to take Sgt. Brewster’s life. Gun violence has overwhelmed our nation’s communities. We have all grown numb to the spate of mass shootings that peppers our country, in places large and small. But, there are also the everyday incidences of violence. This past weekend, Sgt. Brewster responded to what is historically known is a difficult call: reports of domestic violence. He approached a potentially-dangerous situation made combustible by the presence of a firearm, which arguably would not have been a factor had the Congress passed the reauthorization of VAWA.

“The time has long since passed to control the spate of firearms on America’s streets. We must make it harder for individuals who should not have guns from obtaining them. The victims of our neglect are not always the intended targets of the assailants. Such was the case this weekend, in my hometown of Houston. I mourn Sgt. Brewster’s passing, but hope that his death is not in vain and from his passing, we can do something to stem the tide of gun violence. Enough is enough.”