Protecting Our Kids Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Madam Speaker, again and again we hear a common refrain when a mass shooting happens, a young man, typically under the age of 21, legally purchases a semiautomatic rifle and murders innocent people. We saw this in Uvalde; we saw this in Buffalo; we saw this in Indianapolis in 2021; and we saw this in Parkland in 2019. In fact, six of the nine deadliest mass shootings since 2018 were by young men who should never have been allowed to purchase these weapons in the first place.

Right now, you must be 21 in this country to buy a handgun but only need to be 18 years old to buy a semiautomatic rifle capable of committing unspeakable tragedies. I served in the military. I trained with these weapons. I know what they can do.

These weapons of war have no place in our neighborhoods, let alone in the hands of an untrained 18-year-old boy. The answer is simple--raise the age needed to purchase these weapons to 21, in line with the age to purchase handguns. We have bipartisan support for this: Democrats, Republicans, gun safety advocates, law-abiding citizens and responsible gun owners, teachers, and veterans, because it is common sense.

Shooting after shooting, we ask ourselves what more could we have done. We debate whether one action could have saved the lives of those children, those mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and neighbors. I am done with that. It is time for action.

Raising the age to buy these weapons won't solve our Nation's gun violence epidemic overnight, but if we can make it just a little harder for someone to get their hands on these deadly weapons, if we can save just one life or one community from this carnage and grief, it will be worth it.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Raise the age to buy these deadly weapons. Enough is enough.

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