Cardin speaks out on gun violence Senator: ‘This is a national public health crisis’

In front of a room full of residents of an Annapolis retirement community, Sen. Ben Cardin first began his town hall with a heavy topic that has recently taken over the public conversation once more - mass shootings.

On Monday morning, Cardin addressed the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. He called it another horrible tragedy to the approximately 60 people gathered at Ginger Cove retirement community.

"People's lives lost by a white supremacist nationalist who believes in hate and acting out on hate," Cardin said. "We have seen this happen too frequently in our community, way too frequently. We saw it in Annapolis, the tragic loss at The Capital Gazette. We've seen it happen in individuals' acts of violence as well as in mass shootings."

"This is a national public health crisis," Cardin said about gun violence.

In less than 24 hours, 30 people were killed and nearly 50 injured in two mass shootings this past weekend. The Ohio shooter was gunned down near Dayton's nightclub district and the El Paso shooter was arrested after a shooting at a crowded shopping center.

Though Cardin's main focus was to have an open town hall, he first called for more action.

"We need to act - we should've acted years ago. We cannot just continue to say the problem is too difficult to deal with. We have got to show the American people, and the world, that we are prepared to do everything we can to keep people safe," he explained.

Cardin said there is no "justification for private ownership of assault weapons," and that the weapons should be removed from the public and the room applauded. He also called for universal background checks and said that though there is more to do, these are important steps, he said.

The Maryland senator also called out leaders, saying that people in leadership should be clear that there is no "room for hate in our community," he said.

In addition to gun violence, Cardin also reviewed his plans for health care by working more on the Affordable Care Act instead of replacing it with different legislation like Medicare for All.

"I want to protect the protections for pre-existing conditions. I want to move forward in getting prescription drug costs reduced. I want a public option under the Affordable Care Act so those who don't like the private insurance marketplace can have the government insurance plan that they know will be there, year after year, with no fear of it leaving the market," Cardin said to The Capital after the town hall.

Residents asked him questions ranging from stronger legislation to tackling infrastructure, voting, prescription costs for generic medication, gun violence and Medicare for All.

One resident also asked about Baltimore and asked about safety in particular for children. Cardin took the chance to also address the comments made by President Donald Trump and the city.

"What President Trump did in criticizing Baltimore and appealing on a racial basis to hatred was an effort to distract. He wanted to distract from a point made by Elijah Cummings," Cardin said. Rep. Cummings, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, had criticized Trump's approach to the border.

Cardin called the president's comments an attempt "to distract from the merits of the argument" provided by Cummings.

"Baltimore has strong neighborhoods and good people ... a city that has an incredible history and a great future," Cardin said.

He pointed out that along with his wife, they walk around the city and recently noticed an increase of young people and young families - a sign that the city could thrive. Still, Cardin did address that there are challenges in the city like quality of education, housing needs, drug problems and gun violence.

Later in the day, Cardin also sat down with health officials from Baltimore Washington Medical Center to discuss healthcare on a more local level, an approach that the president of BWMC found to be a good discussion.

In the meeting, Cardin asked about the Maryland Medicaid waiver program, which provides for more in-home care as opposed to hospital care, and possible changes the officials would like to see in healthcare policies. The response was for stability.

The Senior Vice President and Clinical Integration and Chief Operating Officer Kathy McCollum further explained the need for stability when it comes to policies since "a lot of changes that the industry is being asked to make to improve quality and reduce cost takes a long period of time."

"The concept of stability gives us the opportunity to develop those partnerships or relationships and work with our patients to get the results that we all want," McCollum said.

Hospital officials also discussed a rising challenge for the hospital, when guardians relinquish medical rights over their family member and the hospital cannot discharge them until finding a place to care for the individual.

"We have seen an increase in the number of patients who are coming, who don't have anyone who can make decisions about their healthcare," Karen Olscamp, the president and CEO of the hospital, said. "They don't necessarily have medical needs that have to keep them here but they are not safe for discharge."

Both Olscamp and McCollum agreed that the long process for these patients then presents a challenge.

"It is not only a disservice to that individual that they are in the wrong care setting, but they are using capacity that otherwise would be available to others who really need it for medical needs," McCollum said.

Caption: Sen. Ben Cardin speaks with residents at a town hall-style discussion at Ginger Cove, a continuing care retirement community in Annapolis. In addition to addressing gun violence, Cardin also reviewed his plans to improve the Affordable Care Act.

Joshua McKerrow/Capital Gazette