Commonsense Gun Safety Legislation

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I share with you and with the American people a conversation I recently had with a group of children's doctors because it has haunted me ever since.

These busy doctors who work at some of our Nation's finest pediatric hospitals and practices took the time to travel to D.C. because they wanted to help Members of Congress understand the ever-expanding and heartbreaking toll that gun violence is taking on children and our communities every day.

They came to D.C. to beg lawmakers, not for thoughts and prayers, but to pass commonsense gun safety laws that will help them stop this epidemic.

We now know that firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for children and teens, but they see it firsthand.

The stories these doctors shared of the injuries and death that they have to deal with on a daily basis were shocking, but what really struck me was the raw pain in their faces and in their voices as they shared those stories.

Think about it. These doctors have dedicated their lives to caring for children, and now they are reeling from the trauma of having to face day in and day out the toll that our Nation's gun violence is taking on those children, knowing that the lion's share of this pain and death is preventable if lawmakers only had the courage to act.

The stories these children's doctors told broke my heart. Today, I share their words with you. One said: ``As a primary care pediatrician in Philadelphia, my heart stops every time I see on the news that a young person has been shot and killed. I fear they are my patient. I am sick that these young people that I watch growing up are being murdered on the streets by gangs. Something must change.''

Another said: ``I am haunted by the image of a child's shoe. My patient, a young boy with autism, was at a community July Fourth celebration with his family when they heard shots. The family ran, and in the chaos that ensued, his shoe fell off and was lost. For weeks after the shooting, this child didn't have the words to describe what he was feeling, but he kept asking: `Where is my shoe?' He was clearly impacted by the events and was having trouble sleeping. Although this child and his family were physically unharmed, the question, `Where is my shoe?' is evidence of a child, family, and community traumatized yet again by gun violence.''

Another is a neonatologist, a baby doctor. She said: ``You might think I would never see my patients be impacted by gun violence, but sadly, I have seen too many families impacted by it. Mothers tell me about close calls they had with gun-related violence. After all, pregnant and postpartum women are more, not less, likely to experience abuse and assault. I have had patients who were born early, delivered frantically in an attempt to save their lives and those of their shot mothers. Patients have fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who are disabled or dead because they were shot. I should not see this so often, babies whose lives start shrouded in trauma because we do not have background checks and red flag policies.''

Another said: ``As a pediatric emergency physician, I face the effects of gun violence daily. I tell devastated parents that their toddler has been fatally shot by a sibling playing with a handgun. I scramble to rapidly transfuse blood into children caught in the crossfire of gang violence. I exit trauma bays covered in the brain matter of teenagers who have made the tragically final decision to end their lives with a gun. And if I am lucky, I find a moment to grieve these losses before moving on to the next patient in need of my care, a child struggling with depression after losing a family member to gun violence. This is my reality. It is heartbreaking, and it must stop.''

Finally, one said: ``I am also a mother, a mother who spends sleepless nights googling bulletproof backpacks every time an AR-15 has turned other mothers' children into sitting ducks at their schools. I should not have to worry that someone with a mental health disorder can go to a store, buy a weapon of mass destruction, and, that same day, shoot my little boys as they sit sounding out letters. But because of our laws, that dull, familiar fear rears its head often when I drop them off at school. It doesn't have to be this way.''

She is right. They are right. It doesn't have to be this way. It must stop. We don't have to live this way.

There are laws that could help turn the tide, and this shouldn't be a partisan issue. Children are being shot every day regardless of their family's party affiliation.

Mr. Speaker, our communities are begging the Republican majority to come to the table and find common ground to pass comprehensive, commonsense, and constitutional legislation that will end this epidemic.

The American people overwhelmingly support background checks, safe storage, red flag laws, and limiting access to assault-style weapons because they understand the Second Amendment is not a suicide pact.

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