Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 8 as well as H.R. 1446.
There is not a single Member in this Chamber who does not mourn the innocent lives lost to gun violence, but I solemnly believe that my Democratic colleagues lack a fundamental understanding of this issue.
I have worked as a surgeon who has done pelvic trauma for close to 30 years. In fact, I will submit that I am the only Member of this Chamber who has ever operated on a gunshot victim. The infinite majority of gunshot victims are shot by criminals who have obtained their guns illegally. They did not apply for permits. They are not a member of the NRA. They are criminals. These bills would do nothing to keep the guns out of their hands.
In all my years as a surgeon, I have yet to see a gun jump up by itself and injure someone. It is either from a crime, a mental illness, or tragically from an accident. Where I live in eastern North Carolina, it is certainly different from New York City, the gun haven of Chicago, or Oakland, but we still have our share of drug-related and gang- related crime.
On the other hand, we have a lot of wilderness that people back home, adults and children, still enjoy hunting. These law-abiding citizens should not have their rights trampled upon. We are all saddened by the loss of life from mass shootings, but, Mr. Speaker, the issue is not the gun itself, but the mental illness borne by the gun holder. A mentally stable person does not shoot innocent people.
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Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 absurdly hamper people's ability to exercise their constitutional right to defend themselves. This sort of broad government overreach does not save lives, but treats everyday law-abiding citizens like criminals.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on these bills. We should not support bills that place the rights of violent criminals above those law-abiding American citizens.
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