National Gun Violence Survivors Week
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to honor the sixth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week.
This week, we recognize the unbelievable toll of gun violence in America, and we offer our support to the survivors who are left behind.
No State or city is safe from the epidemic of gun violence. Just yesterday, in Joliet, IL, less than an hour outside of Chicago, seven lives were taken within minutes by a shooter with a gun.
Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans said:
I've been a police officer for 29 years, and this is the worst crime scene I've ever been associated with.
In Highland Park, IL, a shooter with an assault rifle fired 83 rounds in less than 60 seconds at a Fourth of July parade in 2022, killing seven innocent people and wounding dozens before law enforcement could finally even identify where he was. So much for the theory of a good person with a gun stopping a bad person with a gun. When it comes to assault rifles, that is not even in the realm of possibility.
Katie Gillman is one of many of my constituents who was there in Highland Park. She was with her husband and two daughters to see the Fourth of July parade when the shooter opened fire on the crowd. She and her children ran for their lives. Katie still lives in fear that what happened that day could happen again and that she may not be able to protect her kids this time.
She recently wrote to me and said:
For close to a year, I have had a deep-seated fear that my children won't make it through the school day due to gun violence. And each week in the news, there is proof of these fears.
The unfortunate reality is that Americans are forced to worry about whether their kids will be safe from gun violence at school, at the movies, at concerts, and at church--virtually everywhere.
Since 2020, the United States has suffered more than 600 mass shootings each year--almost 2 a day. There is no place in America that has been spared. And guns are now the No. 1 cause of death for American kids and teenagers. Think of that. In the entire world, it is in America that the No. 1 cause of death of kids and teenagers is guns. It is not auto accidents, not cancer--guns.
23, 2024] Illinois' Ban on Assault Weapons Is Working (By Kathleen Sances)
One year ago, the Protect Illinois Communities Act effectively and immediately stopped the sale of assault weapons in the state.
There was no sunset, no grace period. Just an immediate halt to the manufacturing and sale of assault weapons that have increased the number of mass shootings across the country, high-capacity magazines that fire multiple rounds in quick succession without needing to be reloaded and switches that convert legal handguns into military-style assault weapons.
And here's how you measure the success of that law on the heels of its one-year anniversary: Our analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive shows 10% fewer mass shootings in Illinois between 2022 and 2023; gun dealers haven't sold assault weapons in Illinois in the past 12 months and there isn't any evidence of violations by dealers.
Gun dealers are complying with the ban, and that's evidenced by their complaints about the loss of sales, collectively costing dealers millions of dollars, and saving an untold number of lives. In fact, when assault weapons or high-capacity magazines are used in shootings, 155% more people are shot and 47% more people are killed.
Just this week, after multiple public meetings that took place in the fall, the rule-making committee for the Legislature approved permanent rules clarifying how existing assault weapons owners can register their firearms. This makes the process more specific and easier to understand, leaving no room for excuses for not complying with the law.
The reality is that Illinois voters overwhelmingly elected a governor and representatives who were clear on their support for the assault weapons ban to stop the needless bloodshed happening in every corner of our state. They did what we elected them to do, and Illinois became only the ninth state to ban assault weapons.
But the gun lobby doesn't want to talk about the immediate success of the assault weapons ban. Instead, they're using extremists like Darren Bailey to tell people to break the law and not comply, in a flurry of bullets no less. This may rally the conservative base, but there's no doubt that the assault weapons ban is doing exactly what it's intended to do: stop the sale of these deadly weapons in Illinois
In fact, the only people who will be harmed by not filing these affidavits of ownership are the existing owners, whose assault weapons were grandfathered in. If owners successfully file an affidavit, then there will be no question as to the legality of their possessing the firearm. Those who refuse are subject to misdemeanor charges upon first offense and felony charges after that. Thousands of responsible gun owners have already complied.
One year later, we know that the assault weapons ban has saved countless lives from the devastating so-called ``everyday gun violence'' that has become ingrained generational trauma for predominantly Black and Brown low- income communities, and from the threat of mass shootings that have repeatedly killed and maimed children, teachers and families just trying to go about their daily lives. That's why we passed this groundbreaking piece of legislation: to stop people from dying.
One year later, the assault weapons ban is fulfilling its promise.
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it reflects the fact that Illinois decided to change its law a little over a year ago. We decided to finally come to grips with the assault weapons scourge that hit Highland Park and continues to threaten America.
This is an article that was written by the CEO of Gun Violence Prevention PAC, Kathleen Sances. In it, she makes note of the fact that the new law in Illinois is being measured as to whether it has been successful on its 1-year anniversary.
The analysis and data from the Gun Violence Archive shows 10 percent fewer mass shootings in Illinois between 2022 and 2023. She writes:
Gun dealers haven't sold assault weapons in Illinois in the past 12 months, and there isn't any evidence of violations by dealers.
Gun dealers are complying with the ban, and that's evidenced by their complaints about the loss of sales, collectively costing dealers millions of dollars, and saving an untold number of lives. In fact, when assault weapons or high-capacity magazines are used in shootings, 155 percent more people are shot, and 47 percent more people are killed.
That simple, commonsense effort to put an end to gun violence is working in Illinois, thank goodness, but we must do more.
We cannot lose hope. Instead, we should focus on what we can do to address the gun violence crisis. In cities like Chicago, dealing with the drumbeat of gun violence has turned public health professionals into battlefield experts. I heard from doctors in Chicago who were sick of treating gunshot victims on the operating table, 50 percent of whom, if they survive, would leave the hospital and return as gunshot victims again.
They wanted to prevent this gruesome injury scenario from happening in the first place and then repeating. So, in 2018, I brought together the CEOs of the 10 largest hospitals serving in Chicago to talk about how we could help. We formed a group known as the Chicago HEAL Initiative, which has emerged as a national example of how hospitals can collaborate and reach outside their walls to prevent gun violence. Most importantly, they aren't just stitching up physical injuries; they are addressing the emotional scars of their patients.
We must do more for survivors. That means providing resources like the HEAL Initiative to help those who have experienced trauma and preventing weapons of war from causing bloodshed in the first place.
It is time for us to build on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and come together to create real change. Congress must pass commonsense legislation to help keep America's children and communities safe.
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