Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, just yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock in Atlanta, an armed robber walked into Chick-fil-A to rob the place.

Now, think about that. You are in there with your children, getting a meal in the middle of the day, and somebody comes in with a gun, puts your life at risk. Everybody in the place is at risk.

Did that guy get a background check to get his firearm? We don't know yet, but odds are he didn't because most of these crimes that are committed with a gun are with people who don't--guess what? I have a news flash--they don't follow the law.

Robbing the Chick-fil-A at 3 o'clock in the afternoon in Atlanta is not in accordance with the law. But I will tell you what happened. An armed citizen stopped the robbery using his firearm, a legally obtained firearm, and saved everybody in the place.

Do you know who is happy? The people in the Chick-fil-A are happy that the guy who bought the gun legally was there to save them and their children. That is who is happy.

This legislation, Mr. Speaker, disarms that person who operated his firearm legally. That is what this legislation does. It disarms America. It says to the criminal: Keep on not abiding by the law. You got your weapon illegally. You are going to keep doing it.

It doesn't stop them from doing anything. What it does do is it stops the guy who is going to get his firearm legally and end the crime in his community. That is who it stops.

No charges are pending on that individual in Atlanta who stopped that crime. No charges are pending. He followed the law.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, seeks to punish people who want to follow the law, and that is what is going to happen.

Do you know what is going to happen when we do this? There are going to be more crimes. There are going to be more unauthorized weapons out there, and there are going to be less people out there defending themselves and our community. That is what is happening.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this.

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, we lament the death of our good friend, Mr. Crist's constituent, Mo. We lament it. We especially lament it because when you are in the military and you are on base and you are in uniform, you are prohibited from carrying a firearm. Think about that. Those in our country most well trained to use a firearm lose their lives because they cannot defend themselves, as a regulation by the DOD that says they cannot carry a firearm on base. That is why Mo is not here.

Sure, there is a Saudi terrorist in town that is killing people, but Mo could have stopped that if Mo were allowed to use his skills provided by the taxpayers and desired by him. He wanted to serve his country, he wanted to serve his community, and he should have been allowed to.

This bill is more of the same thing, disallowing American citizens to defend themselves. Unfortunately, Mo is a prime example.

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