Gun Violence

Floor Speech

GUN VIOLENCE -- (Senate - February 04, 2008)

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, the flags are at half-mast today in the village of Tinley Park, IL.

They will be lowered for 5 days, 1 day for each victim of the tragic and senseless shootings that took place last Saturday.

Five lives were cut short that morning: Carrie Chiuso, of Frankfort, IL, a social worker and counselor of high school students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, dedicated to her community and to her family; Rhoda McFarland, of Joliet, who had served as a nurse practitioner in the U.S. Air Force and who was engaged to be married; Jennifer Bishop of South Bend, IN, a nurse who had worked for 13 years saving lives at South Bend Memorial Hospital; Connie Woolfolk, of Flossmor, IL, a working mother, with a 16-year-old and a 10-year-old; And Sarah Szafranski, of Oak Forest, only 22 years old, a young woman who had just recently graduated from Northern Illinois University and started on a promising career.

We offer our support and our prayers to the friends and families of these victims. We mourn with them in their time of loss.

There are also reports that a sixth victim was shot in this robbery attempt and that she has survived. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family as well.

An investigation by law enforcement authorities is underway, and we hope that the person or persons responsible for these killings will be swiftly brought to justice.

Edward Zabrocki, the mayor of Tinley Park, said, ``This is a tragedy that should not happen to any town.'' He is right.

After a gun-related tragedy, we often hear that now is not the time to talk about gun violence in America. But when is it time?

In America, we lose 81 people to gun violence every day--81 people a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

In 2004, the latest year for which the Centers for Disease Control has complete information, 29,569 people died from gun violence in America. That is more than twice as many people who died that year from HIV/AIDS.

And that doesn't count those who are wounded by gunfire. In 2004, 64,389 people were injured by gun violence. That is an average of 176 people every single day.

Firearm violence is at epidemic levels in this country. No matter who we are or how safe we think we are, any of us could be among the dozens of victims each day who end up on the wrong side of a gun.

We need to change the way we talk about gun violence in this country. It is time to move past the stereotypes of ``gun nuts'' and ``gun grabbers'' pitted against each other. The majority of those who own guns in this country obtained their guns legally and use them lawfully.

But we also need to recognize that every year tens of thousands of shots in this country are fired at human beings. And while some are fired lawfully in self-defense or in the line of duty, thousands of gunshots end with suicide, homicide, assault, or accidental death.

We need to reduce these violent shootings, without placing undue burdens on the legal uses of guns.

Here are some principles that should guide us:

No. 1, those who own guns have an obligation to store those guns safely.

No. 2, those who sell guns have a duty to sell them only to those who are authorized by law to purchase them. Whether you are selling at a store or a gun show, you should not turn your head the other way and ignore a buyer's background.

No. 3, those of us who make laws have a duty to balance the rights of people to own and use guns safely and legally with the need to prevent gun violence.

We have had too many funerals for Americans like Carrie Chiuso, Rhoda McFarland, Jennifer Bishop, Connie Woolfolk, and Sarah Szafranski. Too many American lives suddenly and brutally cut short. Gun violence is an epidemic in this country, and each of us needs to take seriously our responsibility to end this violence.

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