Gun Safety

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, yesterday, I met with a group of survivors from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL. Two weeks after losing classmates, friends, and teachers, these kids have not given themselves over to grief or cynicism. They organized and resolved to change their country. They went to Tallahassee. They traveled to Washington. They are committed, and they are inspiring.

We just went to the observance of Billy Graham's death in the Capitol Rotunda, and a man of the cloth probably would have said that instead of cursing the darkness, these kids are lighting a candle, which is a beautiful thing to do.

As I was sitting with them, I remembered meeting with the young people who survived the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. I remember sitting with parents of the kindergartners and first graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. I still ache for them and their parents, parents who had presents stashed under the Christmas tree that were never opened. Photos of those beautiful children still sit on my desk.

All of them--the students of Stoneman Douglas, parents from Newtown, parents of the victims in Orlando, Las Vegas, Columbine, Charleston, and everyday gun violence in cities and towns all across our country-- all of them are calling on us to act. The slow-motion massacre of American children must end. The time has come to make meaningful changes to our laws to keep Americans safe from the epidemic of gun violence.

Let me tell you, the students of Stoneman Douglas will not stop until we achieve meaningful change. They know small measures will not get the job done. That is why they told me, every one of them: The Fix NICS bill is not close to enough of what we need to do. Fix NICS has wide support in this Chamber. I am a cosponsor. But it is just the first tiny step that addresses one specific issue. We have a whole host of other issues to address, not one.

It is true that the records of NICS need to be fixed, but it is also true that we need to close the gun show loophole. It is also true that we need to make sure online sales go through background checks so that felons or those adjudicated as mentally ill or spousal abusers can't get guns. Over 90 percent of America agrees with that. But our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are so afraid of the NRA that they can't even embrace universal background checks, which 90 percent of America addresses. Special interest lobbying--the kind of thing President Trump campaigned against, the NRA is doing it. The NRA is doing it.

We need to stop writing bills that address only the last shooting and start making laws that prevent the next one. When you have a sick patient, you don't just treat one symptom; you cure the disease. That is what universal background checks will do. Fix NICS would be a good thing to do, but it is a tiny step when we need a giant leap. It can't be the only thing we do. In fact, the only reason it hasn't cleared this Chamber already is that the Republican Senator from Utah objected to it. Such is the vice grip that the ideologues from the gun lobby have on the entire Republican Party. They are so against what America wants. They are so against what rank and file Republicans want. Even on something as limited as Fix NICS, the gun groups find a way to get in the way.

I believe the priority of this Chamber should be to pass universal background checks. That would accomplish what Fix NICS does and a lot more. President Trump has said that he would push ``strongly comprehensive background checks'' in the wake of Parkland. We Democrats are calling on him today to keep his word. We sent him a letter asking him to support existing legislation, bipartisan legislation, to close the loopholes that allow anyone to purchase a gun at a gun show or on the internet without a background check. These loopholes make no sense. Leaving these loopholes unclosed would be as if we checked someone's ID at the liquor store but not at the bar. That is what you could say about Fix NICS. It would be as if we checked someone's ID at the liquor store but not at the bar. We should have the same checks across the board.

Today, I call on President Trump to come out in support of legislation that would close dangerous loopholes in our background check system. The NRA vehemently opposes that, but I say to President Trump: Show some leadership, buck the NRA. They are way out of touch with the American people, with gun owners, and rank and file Republicans. I say to the President: Show some leadership, buck the NRA, endorse these policies, and you can finally break the gridlock and get something meaningful done.

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