Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Madam Chair, I had submitted an amendment which I was going to move to withdraw. Instead of adding complication, I'll just discuss the amendment that I would have introduced and try to be right to the point.

My colleague Rául Grijalva and I and several Members of the Congress are concerned about the impact of the ``stop shoot first laws'' amendment. That's what we call it because we're concerned about the shoot first amendments.

This amendment would have encouraged States to repeal shoot first laws by imposing a 20 percent penalty on Byrne/JAG grants for States with these laws. The shoot first laws make our country less safe, undermine our criminal justice system, and encourage vigilantism. These laws allow armed individuals to confront unarmed people in public and, in some tragic cases, even shoot them in cases where such a confrontation could have been avoided.

Ten years ago, State shoot first laws were basically unknown. Then groups like the National Rifle Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) began promoting shoot first laws in States around the country. ALEC is an organization that ghost-writes bills for State legislators who hold a certain political perspective. And their efforts are paid for by and large by global corporations and are spread in States across the country.

In 2005, ALEC and the NRA convinced Florida to pass the first shoot first law. And since then, they have convinced 23 more States to enact similar laws. The shoot first laws are unnecessary. Americans already have the right to self-defense. Even more, as the Trayvon Martin has tragically highlighted, shoot first laws make it harder for law enforcement to do their job. Despite what was a clear case for trial, George Zimmerman's statement that he had shot in self-defense was enough to prevent prosecution.

Shoot first laws make prosecutions harder because they presume that the use of deadly force is reasonable and put the burden of proof on a prosecutor. With shoot first laws, individuals need only claim that they believed that they were threatened, and the only person who can dispute that is the person who was killed.

These laws also make our States less safe. After Florida enacted its law, the number of justifiable homicide cases in the State per year increased by three times.

While I urge States to repeal these laws, I understand that a point of order could have lied against the amendment, and, therefore, I won't offer it in order to have it withdrawn, but I would like to say, Madam Chair, that these shoot first laws are not good. I wish we could take an approach similar to the .08 law, where the Federal Government would actually withhold financial funds until States complied with .08; .08 actually made our country safer on the roads, and I think repeal of these shoot first laws would do the same.

I wish I could offer this amendment today, but we will do it some other time at a more appropriate place, and with that, I yield back the balance of my time.

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