Gun Violence is the Leading Cause of Death for American Children

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, there have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days.

We do not have to live like this.

Children are scared to go to school, parents are scared to put their kids on the bus, and teachers are scared that they will have to protect their students from a mass shooter in the classroom. The daily gun violence that often goes unreported by the media, including suicide and domestic violence, impacts neighborhoods in every corner of the country.

We do not have to live like this.

Last Congress, House Democrats passed into law the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in 30 years, but we know that was only a baby step in the right direction. We have seen that evidence- based violence prevention programs, like group violence intervention, can dramatically reduce gun violence. When it was implemented in the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, 3 years ago, homicides by gun dropped by over 60 percent. The expansion of that program to other cities around the country is already yielding results, but we have also seen the fatal impact of guns flooding our streets nationwide and making their way into the hands of criminal or mentally unstable users.

We can't give up. Democrats are working to prevent the bloodshed.

We are offering commonsense legislation that will address the epidemic of gun violence and protect the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun owners.

Democrats introduced three discharge petitions last month to ban assault weapons, require universal background checks, and close the Charleston loophole. The MAGA Republicans running Congress don't want these bills to come to the floor because they would have to make a choice, and voters would see it, whether to side with the gun lobby that funds their program, their campaigns, or to protect our kids and our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues, especially those who claim to be moderates, to have the courage to sign the discharge petitions and force Speaker McCarthy to bring the legislation to the floor and to have the courage to choose kids over guns.

We do not have to live this way.

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