Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1920

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. I read this bill, and I am not sure the Senator from Indiana really wants to do what this bill says because the bill makes it a priority that this Agency, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms--a priority if there is a request from a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer, a request of the Agency for information questions on regulatory matters, puts timelines on them, deadlines.

It says that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives--the Attorney General shall--shall--not later than 90 days after the receipt of such a request or question make a ruling or determination.

Well, you think to yourself, if this Agency has very little to do with thousands of employees, then perhaps the timeliness of response from the industry would merit some 90-day deadline. But the Senator in introducing this completely overlooks the obvious. This legislation would force ATF to take resources and manpower away from their other activities and put them into answering regulatory inquiries with a 90- day deadline in his bill.

So what are the other duties that will be taking the ATF agents away from? Well, the Senator is from Indiana, my neighboring State, and I am sure when he goes to northwestern Indiana, he hears a lot about the city of Chicago. Well, it was last weekend, on the Fourth of July weekend, that there were 104 people shot in the city of Chicago, 19 died. There were 13 children who were shot and two law enforcement agents.

What is the responsibility of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau when it comes to this kind of mass shooting that is taking place in the city I am honored to represent but breaks my heart to hear those numbers?

They are supposed to be investigating the gun violence. They are supposed to be gathering the information and evidence so they can work with the prosecutors to stop this mass shooting. Unfortunately, the Senator from Indiana said, no, that is not your priority at ATF; your priority is to answer regulatory questions from gun dealers and manufacturers. And you have 90 days to do it, no matter what else is going on. Oh, you may be going after somebody who is guilty in a mass killing and a mass shooting; put it aside. You have a bookkeeping question. That is one of the provisions in here. You have a bookkeeping question that should take priority over anything else you are doing. Stop preparing information and evidence for trial, answer the industry questions on regulations. That is your highest priority--at least that is what your bill says.

So I look at this, and I think, in the reality of gun violence and death and the crimes that are being committed, ATF has the most important role of keeping us safe. I want them to be efficient in dealing with the industry. But that is not their highest priority, as far as I am concerned. The highest priority is to keep America safe and to do something about gun violence.
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Mr. DURBIN. Let me say, initially, I did not mention the issue of the source of crime guns in Illinois. The Senator from Indiana raised it. And since he did, I want to make a record of it

When we trace the crime guns in Illinois, we find an alarming percentage of them coming from gun shows in your State right next to Illinois. The bad guys get on the Skyway, drive over to northwest Indiana gun shows and buy guns at those shows without background checks and come back and commit crime in Chicago and other neighborhoods.

That is a fact. You may not like it; I certainly don't like it. But we ought to be doing something about that instead of worrying about the gun manufacturers and the gun salesmen and whether or not they are going to get special treatment from this Agency.

But let me address the second matter that is before us, and this is Senator Braun's request for S. 1916, Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. I want to set the record straight at the outset. Current Federal law, the Stafford Act, prohibits the Federal Government from seizing lawfully owned guns during a period of a major disaster or emergency. It is on the books. That is the law.

The Stafford Act is also clear that during a major disaster emergency, the Federal Government is prohibited from creating new registration requirements for guns, new prohibitions on gun possession, or new prohibitions on the lawful carrying of firearms. That is on the books already. So current law already protects guns that people own legally during periods of disaster or emergency. But the Senator's bill goes much further than that.

Section 4 of the bill would amend the Stafford Act--get this--to say that the Federal Government also cannot prohibit the manufacture or sale or transfer of guns or ammunition during a disaster or emergency. There are several problems with this.

First, current law has exceptions that allow the government to continue enforcing laws already on the books during a disaster. This includes laws that prohibit convicted felons from possessing guns. Your bill does not make that exception. I am sure you don't want to do that. I hope you will look at your bill. In other words, under the bill, as I read it, during a major disaster or emergency, the government would be barred from any prohibition of gun sales, even from enforcing the current prohibition on the sale of guns to convicted felons.

That doesn't make sense. I am sure that is not what want you want to do, but that is what your bill says. I hope it is not what you intended, and I am sure it is not. So please look at it carefully.

There are also legitimate reasons why the government might need to temporarily prohibit guns being sold in a disaster area. Here is something that is not outlandish. Suppose the background check system has been knocked offline in a disaster area. We wouldn't want felons taking advantage of that situation to walk into a gun dealer and buy guns that they are ineligible to buy.

Current law ensures that the government can't take anyone's lawfully owned guns away from them during a disaster, but there is no clear justification for granting untouchable status to gun sales during the disaster. This bill needs some work. I hope we will not pass it in a hasty manner.

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