We Need to Close the Loophole

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart. Our country is grieving. Innocent lives have been lost. Some of those were the brave public servants, public safety servants who were sworn to protect us. Families have been forever changed by the loss of a loved one, and concern and frustration have visited every corner of our country.

As we move forward from last week's tragedies and work together to build a better nation and a brighter future for every citizen, let us remember that, as Members of Congress, each of us has a unique opportunity to effect meaningful change. We have the opportunity to pass legislation that can help put an end to gun violence that claims the lives of more than 30 Americans every day.

We can't continue to stand by and allow this epidemic of gun violence to continue devastating our communities. Whether it is in a movie theater, on a college campus, at an elementary school, in a church, in a nightclub, or on the streets of our cities, far too many innocent lives have been cut short by someone using a gun.

Let me give you some numbers:

3\1/2\--the number of years since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School;

34,000-plus--the number of people killed by someone using a gun since Sandy Hook;

1,196--the number of mass shootings in our country since Sandy Hook;

31--the number of moments of silence observed by this House for victims of gun violence since Sandy Hook;

525--the number of days the House has been in session since Sandy Hook; and, most sadly

Zero--that is the number of times we have voted on gun violence prevention legislation on this floor.

Think about that; 34,000 people killed by someone using a gun, and the lives of their loved ones forever changed.

One of the 34,000 people killed by someone using a gun since the tragedy at Sandy Hook was a 10-year-old girl named Samantha. Her mother, Catherine, was brave enough to share her story last week on the steps of our Capitol. Catherine and her 10-year-old daughter were shot by a man who couldn't pass a background check, but because of a glaring loophole, he was able to buy a gun online without having to pass a background check. He used that gun to shoot Catherine and to kill Samantha.

My bipartisan, pro-Second Amendment bill, H.R. 1217, would close this loophole and require a background check for all commercial gun sales, including those online, at gun shows, and through classified ads.

Background checks are our first line of defense when it comes to stopping dangerous people from getting firearms. We know that they work. Every day, 170 felons are stopped from buying a gun because of a background check, and 50 domestic abusers are stopped from buying a gun because of background checks.

Everyone says they want to keep guns away from dangerous people, but the only way to know if someone is dangerous is to conduct a background check. Without background checks, how do you know if a person buying a gun is a criminal or dangerously mentally ill? If the man who killed Catherine's daughter hadn't been able to easily bypass the background check by going online, Catherine's tragic story may have been different. It is long past time for the Republican leadership in this House to give us a vote on H.R. 1217.

Just as important for the safety and security of our country and fellow Americans is H.R. 1076, bipartisan, pro-Second Amendment legislation to prohibit those on the FBI's terrorist watch list from being able to legally purchase firearms.

This debate isn't a choice between respecting the Second Amendment or reducing gun violence; it is about this Congress doing both.

Mr. Speaker, give us a vote.

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