Assault Weapons Ban of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his great leadership.

Mr. Speaker, each year, more children die from gun violence than any other cause--cancer, auto accidents, or any other cause.

Our Nation has watched in unspeakable horror as assault weapons have been used in massacre after massacre in communities across the country.

Disturbingly, so many of these mass shootings have targeted our precious children in their schools, at the movies, at the malls, and throughout our communities.

That is why I rise today in strong support of reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban Act, a long overdue step to get deadly weapons off our streets.

Make no mistake, we know that an assault weapon ban can work because it has worked before. For 10 years--from 1994 to 2004--our families were protected by a strong assault weapons ban strongly championed in the Senate by then-Senator, now-President Joe Biden. Chuck Schumer led the way over here; Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. I was a relatively new Member of Congress who was whipping for this legislation. It made us all very proud. More importantly, it saved many lives.

During that time, we witnessed gun crime with assault weapons drop by up to 40 percent. Let me repeat, gun violence with assault weapons reduced by 40 percent. Meanwhile, since the ban expired, the number of mass shooting deaths has grown by nearly 500 percent.

It is particularly sickening to now see these same deadly weapons-- are you ready for this--being marketed to children. Here is an advertisement for a JR-15 designed to be a so-called ``smaller, safer, lighter'' version of the horrific AR-15, which has been used to murder so many of their playmates and friends. Look at this, these little skulls with ponytails on it.

The manufacturers stated that their ``goal was to develop a shooting platform that was not only sized correctly . . . but also looks, feels, and operates just like mom and dad's gun.'' Mom and dad's gun. They used that expression.

Indeed, gunmaker WEE1 Tactical launched the JR-15 and said: ``we are so excited to start capturing the imagination of the next generation.''

Indeed, this callousness is disgusting. It is despicable, and it reminds us that the crisis of gun violence requires action.

To the families who are survivors and have suffered from gun violence, we have said over and over again, we will not stop until the job is done. We thank them for sharing their sorrow to help prevent others from suffering in that way. They have turned their agony into action.

Now, whether we are saying we are going from Newtown to Uvalde and everything in between and since, there are so many deaths, so much sorrow, so much hope that we would get the job done. They are responsible for our bringing this legislation to the floor. Their outside mobilization, their advocacy with great intellectual integrity has made all the difference.

Today, House Democrats will vote to reinstate the assault weapons ban with strong protections for children and families. The bill prohibits the sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons, as well as high-capacity magazines. And contrary to what the gentleman on the other side of the aisle said, it requires safe storage for lawfully owned assault weapons already in our communities. It is not about taking guns away from people who should have them, it is about safe storage. Do you have a problem with that?

It strongly supports our law enforcement heroes who should not have to confront weapons designed for the battlefield instead in our communities.

To be clear, this is a very special day in the Congress of the United States that history will record as one designed to save lives.

For his passionate, persistent leadership on this legislation, let me salute Congressman David Cicilline, who has been fighting ferociously on this issue for years and years. To Lucy McBath, who has been, again, a member of the committee of jurisdiction, an intellectual resource, a strategic thinker, and an inspiration to all of us, who turned her personal grief into action and makes a difference, I thank her. I also thank Chairman Jerry Nadler, chair of the Judiciary Committee, for steering this legislation through the Judiciary Committee and to the floor. Also, I recognize, once again, President Joe Biden's longtime leadership on this issue and the beautiful words he expressed about this when we were celebrating the bipartisan safety bill recently.

Mr. Speaker, all those who have had the privilege of serving in these hallowed Halls take a solemn oath to the American people. At the heart of our oath is our duty to protect and defend the Constitution, the American people.

With this legislation, we honor this foremost responsibility. When the House returns in August, we will bring to the floor a robust public safety package beyond this. Let me be clear: House Democrats are for people over politics and say to our friends in this body and down the hall and wherever they are: Your political survival is insignificant compared to the survival of children who are at the mercy of these guns.

We believe that every American deserves to live in a safe community where they and their families can thrive. That is why Democrats are funding our police while making reforms for better law enforcement training and accountability as we give them the tools they need to prevent crime.

We are so proud of the work done by CBC chair Joyce Beatty working with Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Abigail Spanberger to write historic legislation that prioritizes meeting the needs of our law enforcement officers while at the same time having accountability. That is historic. We haven't done that before.

I am more confident than ever that we will pass a package rooted in two of the Democrats' most cherished values: justice and safety.

I urge my colleagues to support the assault weapons ban, recognizing, again, that the survival of our children is more important than the political survival of any of us.

I urge a strong and, hopefully, bipartisan vote to put people over politics by reinstating the assault weapons ban.

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