1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

Subject: A Concerned Request for Consistency on Public Safety and Gun Violence Dear Representative Bresnahan, I am writing as a concerned constituent who appreciates elected officials being vocal about public safety. However, I am troubled by an inconsistency in your policy positions and public messaging—particularly regarding immigration and gun violence. You've frequently described illegal immigration as a “humanitarian and national security crisis,” and emphasized the threat of criminal behavior by undocumented individuals. Yet data from Texas (one of the few states that tracks immigration status in crime) shows that undocumented immigrants have a lower per-capita homicide rate than native-born Americans. National studies have reached similar conclusions. At the same time, over 9,000 homicides each year in the United States involve illegally obtained firearms, the vast majority committed by U.S. citizens. School shootings, mass shootings, and everyday gun violence—perpetrated with guns often acquired without background checks—continue to devastate families and communities. You have supported policies that loosen firearm regulations, including concealed carry reciprocity and unrestricted private sales, while simultaneously calling for stronger enforcement at the border in the name of public safety. These positions seem contradictory. So I ask you plainly and sincerely: Why are you not doing more to protect American lives from the far greater and more statistically grounded threat of domestic gun violence? Why does your focus remain fixed on immigration, when gun deaths—especially among schoolchildren—continue to rise without corresponding federal action? The safety of American citizens should not be a partisan or selective issue. It should not depend on who the perpetrator is or what their background is. We deserve policies rooted in evidence, not fear. Please reconsider your positions and show leadership in addressing the crisis of gun violence—an issue that kills far more Americans than immigrant crime ever has.