A town hall meeting with 600 constituents was held at Lincoln High School in San Francisco.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other state and federal leaders are taking a more aggressive stand against gun violence.
Representative Jackie Speier said, "We have more guns in the possession of people in the United States than we have population. That's 370 million guns."
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It's being called a preventable epidemic in America -- one that's taking lives every day.
Fifteen-year-old Day'von Hann died in July after being shot during a drive-by in San Francisco's Mission District.
His friend, AJ Santiago, said, "Losing your best friend is really hard and I hope nobody else has to go through it."
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On Capitol Hill, Congress is on a break but, once it resumes, Speaker Pelosi hopes the issue of background checks will be resurrected.
"Background checks saves hundreds of thousands of lives. It is the most effective way to save lives."
Howard Smith is a youth mentor. He's glad this conversation is happening.
"The awareness is helping stir the conversation to create more policies and direct conversations in the right way."
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