Gun Control Measures

Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling on Leader McConnell to immediately bring to the floor commonsense gun violence prevention legislation that is supported by the majority of the American people.

We must take action in response to the tragedies that have touched too many communities across the country, including in Gilroy, El Paso, Dayton, Midland, and Odessa just this summer. Time and again, we saw the American people respond with courage--the courage of a mother who shielded her child from gun fire, the courage of first responders who ran into the line of fire to save lives. It is time for the United States Senate to find the resolve to act with courage; the American people cannot afford any more inaction.

There are three bipartisan bills sitting on Leader McConnell's desk that will help to save lives: the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which requires a background check for the sale of all guns; the Enhanced Background Checks Act, which closes the Charleston loophole and gives law enforcement more time to complete a background check; and the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which includes a provision based on my bill, the Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act, to keep domestic abusers and convicted stalkers from buying or owning a gun.

We should also take action to ban the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and encourage States to enact extreme risk protection order laws to allow law enforcement or family members to intervene when a person is a danger to themselves or others. In a nation plagued by gun violence, passing these commonsense provisions will help save lives.

There are more shootings and more tragic losses all too often, and every time, we hear expressions of sympathy, but we have yet to see votes or action. The time has come to act, and we must act now.

Thank you.

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