DA Singas attending emergency summit on reforming gun laws

Janelle Clausen
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas of Manhasset spoke to Bayview Civic Association members Thursday at the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Company No. 1 on Bayview Avenue. (Photo by Amelia Camurati)

Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas lent her voice in an emergency summit by the “Prosecutors against Gun Violence” coalition in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, in hopes of pushing for “common sense” reforms to gun laws.

The two-day emergency summit comes in the wake of many mass shootings, two of which – targeting a music festival in Las Vegas and a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas – were among the five deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

Singas said that while there, group representatives like herself and legislators like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY) will make various policy recommendations to try and counter gun violence.

“I feel like people always say it’s too soon to talk about reform after a horrific shooting happens,” Singas said in a Tuesday interview. “But I say enough of prayers and thoughts – it’s time for action.”

Among those recommendations are banning bump stocks, which were utilized in the Las Vegas mass shooting that killed more than 50 people, certain armor piercing bullets and silencers.

Singas said the group also opposes the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act,” which would allow states with looser concealed carry laws to bring guns into states with stricter ones, and supports the “Gun Violence Prevention Order Act,” which aims to prevent individuals with mental illness from purchasing firearms from federally-licensed dealers.

“It’s very powerful when a group of prosecutors come to talk to them, because we’re on the front lines and we see what gun violence does everyday,” Singas said. “Every day in our offices, we can recount stories and we have cases that can exemplify any one of these bills.”

Laws lessening background checks “make all our jobs more difficult,” Singas added.

Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, founded in 2014, describes itself as a coalition of prosecutors that aims to advance “prosecutorial and policy solutions to the national public health and safety crisis of gun violence.”

Share this Article