Gun Violence

Floor Speech

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Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I am coming to the floor today to join so many of my colleagues who have spoken over the last day to encourage bipartisan cooperation on commonsense legislation to address the gun violence epidemic that plagues our Nation and my home State of Delaware. I want to thank my colleagues, Senators Murphy and Blumenthal, for their consistent and unwavering commitment in addressing this very real national crisis.

In the aftermath of the tragic mass shooting of Orlando, I have been filled with many emotions, as have so many of my colleagues--grief for the victims and their families, concern for the city of Orlando, grief for the greater LGBTQ community across our Nation and world, anger toward the perpetrator and the extremists who spread hatred, violence, and fear around the world, and a powerful, deep-seated frustration that our government, our Congress, this Senate, has not taken needed steps to keep dangerous and unstable individuals from getting access to guns. The atrocity that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, was more than just a cowardly act of terrorism and a despicable, violent rampage of hate against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters; it was also an attack on the very freedoms in our way of life. From the brave first responders and law enforcement officers who rushed to the scene, to the hundreds, even thousands, of Floridians who lined up in the days since to donate blood, tragedies like these so often showcase the very best and worst of humanity in the same heartbreaking moment.

This mass shooting--the worst mass shooting in American history-- should force us to confront a number of powerful but unanswered questions: Are we going to be a nation that celebrates our diversity or one that stokes fear, division, and hatred? Are we going to engage the American Muslim community in pursuing our shared goal of defeating the scourge of terrorism, or are we going to malign and alienate 1.6 billion people from one of the world's great religions? Are we together going to pass commonsense safety measures addressing gun violence, or is this Senate, yet again, going to accept the status quo?

Our Nation, my State, my constituents, my neighbors, are crying out for the Members of this body to have the courage of our convictions and to address this moment. Regardless of the Orlando attacker's intentions or his background, Congress must act to prevent known or suspected terrorists from having the unfettered ability to purchase high-powered military grade weaponry. That means ensuring that we have a universal system of background checks when a firearm is purchased. It also means ensuring that the U.S. Department of Justice gets notified when a known or suspected terrorist goes to buy a gun so that the Department can investigate or stop a transaction that might immediately endanger citizens' lives.

Today an estimated 40 percent of all gun sales are sold by unlicensed dealers who are not required to conduct any criminal background checks under Federal law. In the aftermath of the atrocity in Orlando, Deputy Attorney General Yates noted that the Justice Department ``would have liked to have known'' that Omar Mateen had gone to purchase an assault rifle.

Our Constitution protects the fundamental individual right to bear arms, but no freedom is absolute, and no one amendment can subvert all the others. Orlando deserved to have the security of a functioning universal background check system that keeps guns out of the hands of people known to be dangerous. So, too, do the people of my hometown of Wilmington.

Earlier this week, late Tuesday night, in my hometown of Wilmington, less than a block away from a business owned by one of my treasured staff members, four young teenagers, ages 12, 13, 15, and 16, were shot. The 15-year-old boy remains in critical condition in Christiana Hospital. He was shot in the stomach, hand, and leg.

Earlier this week in Wilmington, a 15-year-old girl was shot during an argument at a party. There have been so many instances of gun violence on the streets of my hometown in the weeks and months of this year, last year, and the year before that we have become numb to it. We have almost lost count of them. Yet this daily carnage continues in my hometown and in towns all across this country.

Orlando deserves the amount of attention it has received as one of the worst mass American atrocities occurring in history. Yet we cannot forget the week-in and week-out tragedies where one, two, and three individuals are shot in what now seems to be, sadly, routine gun violence all across this country.

We have heard in speeches given by my colleagues about incidents all over our country. From Orlando to San Bernardino to Newtown, from Wilmington to Chicago to Los Angeles, Americans fall victim to gun violence each and every day. It doesn't have to be this way.

Americans are 25 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than people in any other developed country. We can and we must do more to prevent senseless acts of gun violence.

So today, this week, we mourn the lives taken from us too soon in Orlando, and I mourn and many of my neighbors and constituents mourn the lives lost in Wilmington. But we all pray that the families and friends grieving the loss of their loved ones will find strength and purpose in the days to come and will bring encouragement from actions by this Senate.

Tragedies like these don't just draw our attention, don't just hold our gaze, and don't just break our hearts; they also challenge our values as a nation. In response to the atrocities in Orlando, America's message to the world must not be one of fear and anger and isolation as some propose. Instead, I think we can and should take action to protect all of our citizens of any ethnicity, any faith, and any sexual orientation with commonsense gun legislation. I am encouraged to know there have been filed bills that this body will take up and act upon next week and that my colleagues, Senators Murphy and Feinstein, have been able to submit for consideration by this body--bills relating to background checks and to closing the terror gap that I look forward to supporting next week when we return.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues of both parties who have advanced proposals or have come to the floor to participate in an important effort to show the people across the country that we can work across the aisle, that we can listen to each other, and that we can, I hope, legislate.

I specifically thank my colleague Senator Murphy for his discipline, his engagement, and his work in an important filibuster to show the people of our country that we are listening, we are paying attention, we are working, and we will soon take action.

With that, I thank the Presiding Officer.

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