Gun Violence is the Leading Cause of Death for American Children
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, gun violence is the leading cause of death for American children.
Let me repeat that: Gun violence is the leading cause of death for our kids. It is shameful that every Member in this body knows that guns are used to kill our kids and the Republican majority is refusing to take any action to stop this epidemic.
Parents are scared to send their kids to school. They are worried that it may be the last time they see them alive. Kids are being impacted by active-shooter drills and are scared to death that their school will be the next site of a school shooting.
The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force is leading efforts in Congress to compel our Republican colleagues to bring gun violence prevention measures up for a vote.
The American people are with us on this. The only place that gun violence prevention is a partisan issue is right here in this Congress.
A recent FOX News poll shows that the American people overwhelmingly support gun violence prevention measures, 87 percent support universal background checks, 81 percent support raising the legal age to purchase firearms to 21, 80 percent support red flag laws, and in this same FOX poll, 61 percent support banning assault weapons.
It is time for the House Republicans to join House Democrats in prioritizing saving our kids. Democrats took an important first step in the last Congress when President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was the first major gun violence prevention bill signed in 30 years. There is still more work to do.
We are here this evening to shine a spotlight on the failure of the Republicans to join us in support of policies that will save lives. The Republican leadership's callous inaction is contributing to a mass casualty every day in our country. There have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days in the year.
As a combat veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner, not one Republican can tell me that background checks interfere with our Second Amendment.
When debating background checks, we have definitively refuted every tired Republican excuse time and time again. Republicans have countered with an even more callous response: They respond to every death with deafening silence.
The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force will continue our work to hold Republicans accountable for their obstruction. The leading cause of death of our children and teens demands our attention, and we are demanding that the House pass legislation to help save lives.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I would just remind you that guns are the leading cause of death for children in the United States of America, and we are here today because we can do something about it.
If you look at this other chart, it clearly points out that, again, firearms are the leading cause of death. However, if you look at other factors, the second, motor vehicle accidents, look at the steep decline in the loss of lives from motor vehicle accidents.
It is because we did something. We passed laws, we made cars safer, we reduced the number of children who were killed in automobile accidents by taking action on this floor, and it is shameful that the Republican leadership will not allow us to do that today to curb children's death by gun violence.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, can you give us any idea when the Republican leadership will bring bills to deal with gun violence prevention to the floor for a vote?
I didn't think so.
Scholten).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman mentioned that our Republican colleagues aren't doing anything in regard to guns. It is actually worse than that. They have done something. The Republicans passed a bill, a gun bill, off this floor this year. Their bill would make this gun legal.
Short-barreled rifles have been regulated by the National Firearms Act for decades. They are regulated because they are incredibly dangerous, they are easy to conceal, and they are deadly accurate. They are used in crimes. They are responsible for the deaths of many, many people, and they have been tightly regulated.
The Republicans in this House passed a bill that makes this gun legal. They call it an arm brace. ``Arm brace'' is just another way of saying you are putting a stock on a semiautomatic assault pistol, so you are making it a short-barreled assault rifle. It is lethal. It is immoral. Everyone who voted for that bill and the leadership who brought it to this floor for a vote should be ashamed of themselves.
Tlaib).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining?
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, 30 people every day are killed by someone using a gun. If you add accidental deaths and suicides, that number jumps up to 100 people per day. It costs the American taxpayers roughly $600 billion every year. Gun violence costs almost $600 billion every year. Communities across our country are upended. We already heard that there have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days of the year.
Police officers across the country are taking ghost guns off the streets every single day, guns that can be purchased as a kit so they don't need a background check and they are unserialized. These are guns that are used a lot in crime. Cops are taking them off the streets every day.
This is a serious problem. Our communities are hurting. People are being killed. We need to take action. The Republican leadership in this House needs to bring gun violence prevention legislation to the floor so we can vote it out and help keep our communities safer.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
Mr. Speaker, tonight, members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force have made clear the terrible cost of gun violence on our kids, families, schools, and communities.
We have talked about sad milestones. In 2020, guns became the leading killer of kids in America after overtaking motor vehicle accidents.
Another dark milestone has been the 389 mass shootings already this year. We have had more mass shootings by mid-July this year than we had in all of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
We know it doesn't have to be this way. We know that States with the most gun violence prevention laws have half the death rate for children and teenagers compared to States with the least gun violence prevention laws. The States can't do it alone.
These weak national gun safety laws make it much too easy for people who are a danger to themselves or a danger to others to access guns regardless of where they live.
According to the ATF gun-tracing database, the largest source of out- of-State guns used in crimes in my home State of California is Arizona, a State with over twice the gun death rate whose gun laws are rated an F.
Likewise, New York, a State with the fourth lowest gun death rate, has guns pouring in from Georgia, which, you might have guessed, has an F rating as well for their weak gun violence laws and over three times the gun death rate.
Similarly, gun deaths in Illinois are fueled by guns from Indiana, Missouri, and Wisconsin, States whose gun laws are rated F, F, and D- plus, respectively.
Members of our task force have been calling on the Republican leadership to bring commonsense gun violence prevention bills to the floor to protect our kids and keep our communities safe.
Mr. Speaker, tonight, we have been on the floor for 30 minutes focused on gun violence prevention. That is 30 more minutes than Republicans have scheduled to debate gun violence prevention bills on the House floor this entire Congress.
Tonight, you heard from Army veterans, Marine Corps veterans, combat veterans, hunters, gun owners, and moms and dads. We say: Enough. We need to pass laws that will help keep our children and our communities safe.
We will continue to fight until Republicans join us in stopping the gun violence epidemic or until Democratic leadership in the next Congress can resume our work and pass the gun violence prevention legislation that has proven to save lives.
Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman very much, and I want to join the stellar Members from so many different backgrounds to add another 2 minutes to that 30 minutes and emphasize that it is now 32 more minutes than we have had an opportunity to discuss gun violence--gun violence against our children.
I am reminded of the late John Lewis, and as I look to the front, Mr. Speaker, where you are, I am reminded of the overwhelming impact that gun violence had just a couple of years ago when he was alive, so much so that Members took to the floor--the actual floor--and sat down on the floor because the pain was so deep.
I remember the tear that President Obama shed as he had to speak about Sandy Hook. I remember going to Uvalde within days of 19 children and teachers being slaughtered. Yes, Mr. Speaker, they were slaughtered with an AR-15 that a young man was able to get online and have shipped to him without any background check of sorts and without any supervision. He was able to recklessly shoot his grandmother in the face and leave his house to go to an elementary school just a few blocks away.
One could not expect law enforcement initially to know what was going to happen. One thing we do know is that if that young man had not had an AR-15, those little babies in Uvalde, where parents are still in such abject pain, would still be alive.
We also know that as I worship with them, as I hug them, they have now become, through their own advocacy, absolutely incredulous that we in this country have not been able to pass bans on assault weapons. I support bills like the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, which impacted Kimberly Vaughan, a 14-year-old who died in Santa Fe because another young man was able to get guns that were left at home.
I think I am here as a mother and as a Member of Congress who has been here since Columbine. I remember being on the Columbine task force to see what we could do about guns. I have been through Sandy Hook, Parkland, Santa Fe, Virginia Tech, various churches, synagogues, and temples that have seen gun violence--and dance studios.
I don't know what it takes for this Congress to come together. No one is trying to take away anyone's firearms. The Second Amendment is constitutionally present. It is in place. None of the language in the Second Amendment prevents us from having a reasonable, safe regulatory scheme that will help save all of our lives.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman very much. As the vice chair of the gun task force and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, we are waiting and ready to take up bills as we did with the Protect our Kids Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. There is still a lapse of real bills that further need to be in place to change laws. The waiting period, the issue of universal background checks, and storage bills are really crucial to saving lives.
The last point I will make is that we often use mental illness. Let me say that we pray for people who suffer from mental health concerns, but other countries around the world have people who suffer from mental health concerns, and I do not label them in generality. These are human beings who fight every day to survive. That is not a good excuse for saying that is what is causing gun violence. It is not.
In tribute to my colleagues who come from cities like Chicago and other cities where there is handgun violence, individual violence, and domestic violence, you need to have a response to just plain gun violence. That means we have to debate on this floor and find a common solution.
A word to my colleagues in the name of the children who have died, the number one killer of our children in America, and in the name of places like Uvalde and Sandy Hook that comes to mind, Parkland and other places where children have died, we can minimally do something to help our children. Let's do real anti-gun violence legislation. Let's make our children safe.
Mr. Speaker, today, I speak out in support of my bill H.R. 52, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act.
This bill establishes best practices for safe firearm storage to protect Americans, especially children, from improperly stored or misused firearms.
The Kimberly Vaughn Firearm Safe Storage Act is named after one of the victims of a shooting rampage that took place on May 18, 2018, when a 17-year-old student went on a shooting rampage, killing 8 students and 2 teachers and wounding 13 others at Santa Fe High School in Houston, Texas.
The shotgun and pistol used by the perpetrator belonged to his father and were available to him at home.
In 80 percent of gunfire incidents at schools where the shooter is under 18, the shooter obtained the firearm from their home or the home of extended family or friends.
Texas is the state with the second most mass shootings this year so far with a total of 50, and the highest number of mass shooting deaths in the U.S.
Only 3 of 10 adults in households with children report storing all guns unloaded and locked up.
Safe storage practices are also important to keep firearms away from dangerous individuals.
In the last decade, nearly two million firearms have been reported stolen.
An estimated 47,000 guns are stolen each year in Texas alone.
Overall, at least 186,548 firearms were reported stolen in Texas over from 2007 to 2016, which is more than any other state in the nation.
America's gun epidemic is as deadly as ever.
The frequency of firearm violence can largely be accredited to the lack of safe firearm storage.
Previously part of the Protecting Our Kids Act in the 117th Congress with the addition of a tax credit program, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act is an exhaustive solution to improperly stored or misused firearms.
Firearm injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults in the United States.
American children are twice as likely to be shot and killed as they are to die drowning.
However, there are more safety regulations for pools than gun storage.
An estimated 4.6 million minors live in homes with at least one unlocked, loaded firearm.
One in three U.S. households with children have firearms and firearms accounted for nearly 19 percent of childhood deaths in 2021, which is a 50 percent increase since 2019.
Securing firearms protects children in preventing unintentional shootings and firearm suicides.
The spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association noted earlier this year that, ``the NRA supports safe storage for every firearm owned in America, and we educate gun owners to keep firearms away from unauthorized users.''
This is a nonpartisan issue with a bipartisan solution.
On average, 9 minors are killed by improperly stored or misused guns every day.
In my home state of Texas, more than 4,000 Texans are shot and killed each year.
The Kimberly Vaughn Firearm Safe Storage Act is an important bill that will establish best practices for storing firearms.
In particular, the Attorney General is directed to establish voluntary best practices relating to safe firearm storage and publish them on a website and in print.
Second, it will require most weapons to have a clear written notice on the packaging that says, ``Safe Storage Saves Lives'' and how to obtain the best practices established by the Attorney General.
Additionally, the bill will provide grants to states and local governments with a ten-year, $10 million grant program to distribute safe storage devices.
Every year, almost 20,000 children are shot and killed or wounded by a firearm, and 3 million are exposed to gun violence.
The presence of unsecured firearms in the home increases the risk of unintentional and intentional shootings.
It is long past the time to do something about the epidemic of gun violence in our nation--the nation that prides itself on protecting our children and the future generations.
If we want to protect the youth, we must start by learning how to effectively store guns in the homes that choose to have them.
The Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act will help protect our children and adults from senseless gun violence through simple gun storage legislation.
I encourage my colleagues in the House and on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force to push this bill forward so we can promptly and proactively act on preventing firearm violence in America.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks, her good work on gun violence prevention efforts, and her dedication to making sure that we pass the laws that will keep our kids and our communities safe.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, we have had Army combat veterans, Marine Corps combat veterans, hunters, gun owners, gun collectors, and moms and dads on this floor tonight asking and pleading with the Republican leadership to allow gun violence prevention legislation to come to this floor for debate and for a vote.
Mr. Speaker, can you give us any idea when your leadership will be bringing gun violence prevention bills to the floor for action?
Sadly, that is what I was afraid of. Silence. Just like after every mass shooting, silence.
There has to be an effort on the part of this leadership to deal with this issue that is disrupting communities and leading to thousands and thousands of deaths.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source