Police commissioner heads to DC to testify on gun violence: 'We need to make our streets and communities safer'

"We need some change," Gramaglia said Tuesday at Buffalo Niagara International Airport before flying to the nation's capital, where he is scheduled to testify before Congress on Wednesday. "We need to make our streets and communities safer."

Gramaglia and Zeneta Everhart, whose son Zaire Goodman was wounded in the May 14 massacre, will join witnesses from Uvalde, Texas, at a hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday. 

Gramaglia, a 28-year law enforcement veteran who was appointed commissioner in March, will speak on behalf of Buffalo and the Police Department and also as a representative of the Major City Chiefs Association, which advocates for "sensible gun policy." That includes reinstating the assault weapons ban, adopting universal background checks for all gun sales, strengthening the national criminal instant background checks system, supporting red flag legislation to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental illness and histories of violent behavior, and banning bump-stocks and high capacity magazines.

Gramaglia said he planned to speak about the massacre in Buffalo as well as policies that could help reduce gun violence.

"We need some changes to happen," he said. "It's an honor," he said about speaking before Congress.

Still, "I'm very conflicted about it because it's an honor to have this opportunity to speak, but I'm being called to speak because of this racist massacre that happened here locally. I'm going to go there and try to speak for the 13 victims of Buffalo."