Gun Violence

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to speak about three amendments to this bill that I think would help keep America safe from gun violence. After so many tragedies, including the mass murder earlier this month in Orlando, this Chamber has had one opportunity after another to do something about the gun violence crisis, and last night was our most recent chance.

The American people are watching us, waiting to see what we will do, wondering if this time, after yet another mass shooting, after yet another hateful, angry person was able to have such easy access to a weapon of war to use it to quickly kill a crowd of innocent people-- maybe this time the Senate would act.

But, no, this Chamber did nothing. The Senate didn't pass a single bill, not even a bill to prevent someone on the terror watch list from buying an illegal gun--not one. How many innocent people have to be killed by guns in this country before Congress is actually convinced to act?

The Senate failed the American people last night, and there is no other way to put it. We aren't listening to our constituents who are desperate for Congress to act.

This Chamber hasn't done anything to help keep the American people safe in the aftermath of so much violence. Every time a mass shooting happens somewhere in America--just like the one that occurred in Orlando--we hear the same calls for stronger, better, tougher laws. The American people overwhelmingly support them and nearly every time the gun industry and its powerful lobby do whatever they can do to block these bills to protect their own profits.

It is the same cycle over and over again. Someone with no business handling a powerful deadly weapon of war has easy access to that weapon and then uses it to kill many people--quickly. We have to make it harder for hateful, violent, radicalized people to get their hands on weapons of war. The only way to change this--the only way--is if Congress fulfills its responsibility to protect the American people and pass new laws that help keep us safe.

I have three amendments, new amendments, that have not been voted on this session. They are three amendments that actually could keep more Americans free of gun violence.

First is a law enforcement bill. It is a bipartisan gun trafficking amendment which would finally make gun trafficking a Federal crime. One would assume that bringing weapons up I-95 and selling them out of the back of a truck to a gang member in New York City would be illegal, that it would be a Federal crime. It is not. It is not a Federal crime to do that.

This bill is called the Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act. It is named after two teenage girls who lost their lives because of gun violence in their neighborhoods. They were playing with friends, minding their own business, and a stray bullet shot them both down. Nyasia was killed in Brooklyn. Hadiya was killed in Chicago. These were two young girls. I met Nyasia's parents. They do not understand why their daughter had to die.

Right now, there is no Federal law preventing someone from loading up a truck in Georgia, driving it up I-95, and reselling those weapons in a parking lot in Brooklyn to a gang member or other dangerous people who aren't eligible to buy guns anywhere else. This amendment would change that. It would give our law enforcement the tools they need to get illegal guns off the street and to prosecute those who are trafficking guns.

The second amendment I would offer would require weapons dealers to keep physical inventories. This is something law enforcement has asked for. Without accurate inventory, it is impossible for law enforcement to know whether illegal gun sales are taking place or even if weapons have been stolen from that store.

There are just a small number--a very small number--of bad gun dealers, but our law enforcement officials have a right to be able to find out who they are, why they are selling these weapons out of the back of their gun sales places and then selling them directly to criminals who drive them up I-95 and sell them to gang members in Brooklyn or the Bronx or in Harlem or in Buffalo.

The third amendment is also a law enforcement amendment, something asked for by law enforcement. It would allow the ATF to ban foreign imports of military-style weapons, which tend to be used in crimes.

Right now, many weapons with military-style features not intended for hunting, including those with high-capacity magazines and laser sights, are being dumped into the U.S. marketplace by foreign arms manufacturers. This amendment would help prevent those dangerous, military-style weapons from flooding our streets and ending up in the hands of criminals.

No one in America should have to go through his or her daily life in fear of an angry, radicalized citizen who can easily buy a weapon of war and use it on innocent Americans. All of these amendments would help law enforcement do their jobs--be able to find criminals who are trafficking weapons, be able to find that small percentage of bad gun dealers and shut them down, and make sure foreign companies aren't flooding our market with illegal military weapons. These three changes would make a difference. They would help our law enforcement community keep our communities safe.

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