Fourth Anniversary of the Tops Supermarket Shooting in Buffalo, New York

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, as we stand here, I know the community is trying to heal as we mark the over 4-year anniversary since 10 of our Black neighbors were targeted and murdered while grocery shopping at a supermarket in Buffalo.

I think it is important to understand there was intentionality here and how the killer chose the location. We all know their lives were stolen due to racism, extremism, and the unchecked epidemic of gun violence plaguing our country.

I always must ask this to my colleagues: How many more families need to mourn before Congress acts? How many more children need to lose their lives before we act?

Every day, people are killed by guns in mass shootings, domestic violence incidents, suicides, and preventable accidents. Entire communities are traumatized again and again by this violence.

Far too often, the victims are children. I stand in honor of a 9- year-old boy in Oakland County, Michigan, who accidentally shot himself in the face with an unsecured firearm. I stand in honor of a 6-year-old girl in Detroit, Michigan, who was accidentally shot and killed by an unsecured handgun in March. Even in that same weekend, another 6-year- old girl was hospitalized after she accidentally shot herself with an unsecured firearm. In Wayne County alone, 39 children have been killed or injured since 2020 after finding unsecured firearms.

It is not just mass shootings. It is also a fact that we must take measures to protect and store these guns. Protecting our loved ones, especially our babies, should not be a partisan issue.

I call on this Congress to act on gun safety legislation, including the Safe Storage Saves Lives Act. It would require firearm sellers to provide every purchaser with a gun lock. I always used to raise it and show people that it cost $10 to secure the gun.

The Safe Storage Saves Lives Act would be commonsense gun safety legislation. It is sitting right here in Congress, waiting for a vote. While we wait for a vote, families are grieving loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, I ask and demand that our Congress have the courage to act to end this madness.

Mr. KENNEDY of New York.

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