Gun Violence

Floor Speech

Mr. MURPHY. Madam President, last week Target stores announced that they were going to initiate a new policy in their stores across the country. They were going to politely ask all of their consumers to refrain from bringing guns inside their stores.

This is a picture of one of their customers bringing what appears to be a semiautomatic rifle into a store in order to buy Oreos. Their statement read like this:

As you have likely seen in the media, there has been debate about whether guests in communities that permit ``open carry'' should be allowed to bring firearms into Target stores. Our approach has always been to follow local laws, and of course we will continue to do so, but starting today we will also respectfully request that guests not bring firearms to Target--even in communities where it is permitted by law.

We've listened carefully to the nuances of this debate and respect the protected rights of everyone involved. ..... This is a complicated issue, but it boils down to a simple belief: Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create.

I am thankful that Target has taken this position. I am hopeful that other retail stores across the country will follow suit. My only point of disagreement is that there is any nuance to this debate. My only point of contention is that there is anything complicated about whether this is appropriate for workers across retail stores and restaurants in the United States or the little kids who come in and shop there on a regular basis.

Here is what the NRA had to say about this. The NRA released a statement that said:

Let's not mince words, not only is it rare, it is downright weird and certainly not a practical way to normally go about your business while being prepared to defend yourself--talking about bringing firearms into stores--to those who are not acquainted with the dubious practice of using public displays of firearms as a means to draw attention to one's self or one's cause, it can be down right scary. Using guns really to draw attention to yourself in public not only defies common sense, it shows a lack of consideration and manners.

That was the NRA's position for a couple of days, until a handful of NRA members got upset and started tearing up their membership cards, and then the NRA's top lobbyist apologized for that statement and effectively withdrew it. Luckily, Target some weeks later changed their policies.

That is weird. That is scary. That is inappropriate. It is this policy which we have perpetuated by our inaction in this place that allows for the continued diffusion of weapons, many of which are military grade such as the one displayed here that is leading to the spiraling rates of mass gun violence across this country.

We went for a stretch in January or February where there was a school shooting almost every other day that school was open. We expect now to pick up the newspaper and read about another mass slaughter somewhere in this country, and we wonder why it is happening. There are guys buying Oreos with an assault rifle strapped onto their shoulder, and that debate is nuanced and complicated about whether we should allow it.

The gun lobby's position speaks to this mythology--that is charitable, a lie to the cynics--that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. That is not what actually any of the data tells us. The data tells us if you have a gun in your home, you are much more likely to be the victim of a gunshot from that gun than you are to ever use that on an assailant. If you are a woman, for instance, you are five times more likely to die as a result of domestic violence with a gun if it is in your home rather than if you are in a home without a gun. Health Affairs came out with a study of 50 States. A longitudinal study of experience related to rates of gun violence and rates of gun ownership found that for every percentage increase of gun ownership in a community, there is a percentage increase in gun violence.

There have been 79 shootings in Walmarts in the last year--79 shootings in Walmarts, of all places, in the last year.

I am glad Target made the decision to take guns out of the workplace.

Senator Blumenthal will speak after me. Senator Blumenthal and I sent a letter to Target asking them to make this change in policy, and I am glad they did.

It appears we will have debate this week on a piece of legislation that will allow for individuals to bring more firearms onto public property throughout this country. It is not a debate about bringing firearms into Target stores; it is a debate about bringing firearms onto public lands.

There is a perfectly legitimate debate to be had about bringing more legal guns onto public property, but there is a more important debate than that about taking illegal guns off of our city streets. If the Senate is going to spend a week debating a bill about gun policy, then we should be talking about getting rid of illegal guns. We should be talking about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. We should be talking about stopping the epidemic of gun violence across this country.

These are the numbers: 31,000 people are killed by guns every year, 2,600 people are killed by guns every month, and 86 people are killed by guns every day. If we are going to be talking on the floor of the Senate about guns this week, we should be talking about how to stop another Newtown, another Aurora, another bloody Chicago summer.

The bill we are being asked to debate this week is a gun bill that does nothing to stop the scourge of gun violence across our country, and I for one cannot vote for it. I cannot vote for it because there are not only families still grieving in Newtown, but every single day there are families grieving across this country, such as the families associated with a young man by the name of Michael Mayfield in Baltimore, MD. Michael was killed earlier this year. He was an outstanding student. He was passionate about being a member of the Junior ROTC. He was a gifted baseball star in Baltimore. The paramedics found Michael shot in the head inside a vehicle in Northwest Baltimore and took him to a local hospital, where he died. He left his house at about 6 o'clock, and somebody walked up to him on the street, shot him four times in the head, and then fled on foot to an awaiting car up the street. He had been accepted to college, and he was due to start there this fall, but instead of going to his graduation, his family and friends--hundreds of them--went to his funeral.

Paul Lee was killed some weeks later in another school shooting at Seattle Pacific University. A delusional young man started shooting and killed Paul, who was described as easygoing and energetic. A friend and dorm mate of his said he was adored by everyone and affectionate with everybody. He loved to dance. He was a member of Seattle Pacific University's hip-hop club, and his friend said he would walk around his dorm doing the robot. At a makeshift memorial to him outside where his funeral took place, one friend wrote, ``Keep dancing in heaven.''

Kristjan Ndoj, a 15-year-old from Connecticut, was out on his bike one night. When the clock approached 8:45, two gunshots were fired from a wooded area near his house and struck Kristjan in the head and leg, dropping him onto the driveway at Agawam Trail. He died 5 days later. Police say the shooting may have involved trouble over a teenage girl.

The casualness of violence in this country and the idea that a dispute over a teenage girl would result in the death of a 15-year-old is directly connected to our casualness about guns in this country. If we are so casual as to think someone needs to be armed when they go to buy Oreos at a Target, it stands to reason that some kids may think they can have a casualness about settling disputes with guns as well.

I will not be voting for cloture today because we are long overdue to make a statement in the Senate about the tens of thousands of deaths happening due to guns all across this country. Everyone has a role to play in trying to stem this epidemic of violence. Target has a role to play, and they stepped up last week by taking guns out of their stores. Our hospitals and our mental health professionals have a role to play. This is not just about the number of guns out in our communities, this is also about getting resources to very troubled kids. This Congress has a role to play as well. Our role is to have a debate about how we can take guns out of the hands of criminals, take military-style assault weapons off the streets, and give real resources to people who want to help these troubled individuals. That is the debate we should be having on the floor of the Senate this week if we really want to honor all of the voices of these victims.

I yield the floor.

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