Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

I want to talk tonight a little bit about, number one, why I even came to Congress and why I'm up here tonight talking about gun violence. I just want to give you a little history. On December 7, 1993, a deranged man named Colin Ferguson got on the Long Island Railroad train and changed my life and that of many others forever. As the train pulled into Merillon Avenue in Garden City, he took out a handgun and opened fire on those passengers in the train. He killed six people, including my husband. He injured 19, including my son, who was shot in the head at close range. Thankfully, my son did survive. And while it has been a difficult struggle for him, he has a rich life now with a wife and two children. I consider them my miracles. And I'm very grateful that he did survive.

What I did after that incident was become an advocate for reducing gun violence in this country, to see if I could help others not have to go through the same pain that my family and the other families of the Long Island Railroad massacre went through. As often happens when you become an advocate for a cause, any cause, that led me to work with elected officials and the government to try to change policies that I thought were hurting the American people.

And also as often happens when I discovered that there was only so much you could do outside the government, I ran for office myself. I was never a very political person, but I believed so strongly in this cause that people saw and gave me the chance to be their Congresswoman. The Members of this body embraced me also. That was in 1996. Even though I work hard on other issues like the economy and education, I'm still fighting that this struggle to reduce gun violence is the same battle I had back in 1993 and on.

So let's go fast forward now. From 1993 to January 8 of 2011, on that fateful day in Arizona, six lives were stolen from us, and 13 of our fellow Americans were injured, including one of our own,

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Certainly it hit home for all of us, and it sends a chill down all of our spines. I know I'll never forget that day. The shootings had eerie similarities to our own incident in 1993. Six people were killed and over a dozen injured. Like my son, Gabby was shot in the head at close range. Like my son, she's looking like she's making a wonderful recovery. And we're all rooting for her.

There are a couple more similarities that bear mentioning. In both the shootings, the gunmen used high-capacity magazines that allowed them to maximize their carnage; and in both shootings, the gunman was tackled by unarmed witnesses while they stopped the shooting when he was trying to reload.

I ran for office and entered government to make a difference. I came to Congress to make our lives safer. I have a legislative proposal that I think should reduce the casualties in that supermarket parking lot on January 8.

H.R. 308 is a bill to ban high-capacity magazines like the ones used in Arizona and on the Long Island Railroad. These are devices designed to hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and feed them into a gun. The State law in my State, New York, have already banned magazines holding more than 10 bullets, and that was also the Federal law between 1994 and 2004. So we know that there's precedent for this law on a State and a Federal level. There is no question about its constitutionality.

Unfortunately, most States, like Arizona, don't have limit on high- capacity magazines. This is what allowed the shooter to just walk into a common store and buy the weapon he did right off the shelf. This is a reasonable, commonsense bill that makes accommodations for public safety and gun owners' rights. This includes exemptions for our law enforcements and our military as well for testing purposes or for security guards looking after nuclear facilities.

As I noted, often shooters are tackled and stopped when they run out of bullets in a magazine and stop to reload. That was the case for my family in 1993, and that was the case of Arizona. Maybe if the shooter in Arizona had fewer bullets in the magazine, we wouldn't have had the carnage that we saw. Fewer people would have died. Fewer people would have been injured. We would be looking at one less funeral or a few less life-changing injuries.

Immediately after the shooting in Arizona, there was a lot of talk just about by everyone about putting partisanship and politics aside and working together for the common good. I see this bill as an opportunity to do that. This is not a partisan bill. There is no Democrat or Republican way to become a victim of gun violence. And there is no Democratic or Republican way to reduce it. In the absence of a perfect, nonviolent society, we must make laws to protect the public.

This is a very simple bill, a bill about our public health and our safety. We also have a moral imperative to protect innocent and law- abiding Americans from the threat of dangerous weapons in the wrong hands. In America, we believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To me, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness include being able to go grocery shopping on a Saturday or attend a public event on a Saturday afternoon without being gunned down.

This bill does not take away anyone's right to own a gun. Let me make that very, very clear. This bill does nothing to take away anyone's right to own a gun. I believe in this Second Amendment, and I support law-abiding hunters and sportsmen. But common sense dictates there is no need for the kinds of devices that this bill is addressing other than for killing as many people as possible in the shortest possible time.

Almost 100,000 people a year are shot in this country, suicides, homicides, accidental deaths and on and on. That's over 260 people a day. Every single one of those people have families and friends. Think of how many millions of Americans are affected by gun violence every single year. I want to remind us all that we can help lower these awful statistics. We can help save lives, and we can help prevent lives from being shattered.

Now, this bill is getting more and more support every single day. We have over 90 cosponsors in the House and 10 in the Senate. And every day there's another newspaper editorial or a columnist supporting this bill. There are a lot of coalitions, organizations, and leaders out there working to support this bill to reduce gun violence in our country--the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; the Violence Policy Center; the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence; New Yorkers Against Gun Violence; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; the United States Conference of Mayors; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Richard Aborn, who was a former president of Brady; Mothers Against Guns; Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence; States United to Prevent Gun Violence; and many, many more.

Even pro-gun conservatives like Vice President Dick Cheney say that it would be reasonable to discuss reinstating the restriction that was in the assault weapons bill and to do away with the large magazines.

We are also hearing word that President Obama will publicly address the issue of gun violence soon. We don't know whether he will talk about this bill or other measures that I also support, like strengthening our background check system, or closing the gun show loophole, which allows you to buy guns at gun shows without a background check.

But the good news is that people across the country are uniting in an effort to do something to reduce gun violence. I think one of the most important things I can do while I'm here with you is to ask for your help and ask the American people for their help.

We all saw recently from the world events the kind of change that you can make happen when you have the power of the people behind you. And certainly we have done this before. We have come together as a Nation, Democrat and Republican, to pass sensible gun laws in order to save lives and reduce injuries. If you are not a cosponsor on this legislation yet, please become one. If you are still not sure if you want to support this legislation or not, please feel free to talk to me or anyone on staff. Go on my Web site and read the bill. Basically, this is a very narrow bill.

Finally, no matter what we do, whether you support this bill or not, please let's look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves: After the shooting in Arizona, will we sit by helplessly and do absolutely nothing or will we do everything we can to save lives and protect innocent people for the future?

I want to thank you again for listening to me tonight, and I want to say that even if we can save one life, one life, with all of our efforts, than to me it has been well worth it.

My good friend and colleague from New Jersey, Bill Pascrell, who has been outspoken on this issue for many, many years, I appreciate him being with me tonight.

And I thank my good friend.

You know, a lot of times there is a lot of propaganda out there that gun owners don't want to go anywhere with this, but the support for this bill and gun restrictions in general, from organizations and members of the media, are also reflected in public polls.

The Mayors Against Illegal Guns showed that almost 60 percent of all Americans and even 49 percent of gun owners support this bill.

A public policy poll found that 55 percent of the people in Arizona, a State where gun rights are dearly cherished, support more restrictions on guns.

A USA Today poll found that a majority of Americans do support stricter gun controls.

Here is one of the issues that we face all of the time: That the American people support what we are trying to do, but we are not hearing their voices. And I think that is something that the American people can do to make a difference.

I also want to note that Arizona and the Long Island Railroad are not the only recent incidents in which high capacity magazines were used. In Manchester, Connecticut, at a beer distributor, on August 3, 2010, a shooter with a large magazine killed eight and wounded two.

Fort Hood, we all remember that day: November 5, 2009. The shooter killed 13 and wounded 34.

Northern Illinois University on February 14, 2008: The shooter killed five and wounded 21.

Virginia Tech, right here in our neighborhood, on April 16: The shooter killed 32 and wounded 17.

We can go on and on and on, all the way back to Columbine High School, where the shooter killed 13--13 students and teachers--and wounded 23.

Going back to California, a shooter killed eight and wounded six. At Luby's Cafeteria in Texas, the shooter killed 23 and wounded 20.

These were all done by large capacity clips.

My colleague, Congressman Pascrell, talked about health care. My son was shot 17 years ago. His medical bills within a couple of years were over $1 million, but there is the pain that he still has to go through every single day, which our friend Gabby is going to have to go through just to be able to do normal day things: tie your shoes, get dressed. My colleague mentioned $100 billion a year in health care costs.

We know that we can't save every life. I know that. I spent over 30 years as a nurse. I couldn't save every life, but we sure did our best to do everything that we possibly could to make a difference. That's why I stand here tonight and talk about why I feel so passionately about this. Unless you're a victim, unless you're a family member or a friend who has lost a loved one or someone who was injured, it's very hard to describe the pain that goes on for many, many, many years. For those who survive, there is not only the mental trauma that they go through; there is also the physical trauma that they go through, which some will carry for the rest of their lives.

Again, I say there are supporters, and I want to read off a few. They're mainly from newspapers across the country. Here in Congress, everybody talks about red States and blue States. Yet these are States that have people in them. We can disagree, certainly, on where we're going on certain issues, but there are newspapers around the country and editorial boards, which usually would not support any kind of gun legislation, that say it's time, that it's time to have a debate on how we reduce gun violence in this country.

The New York Times reads: As lawmakers in Washington engage this week in moments of silence and tributes to Representative Giffords and the other casualties, they should realize that they have the power--we have the power--to reduce the number of these sorts of horrors and the pain and suffering.

The Daily News noted that the shooter in Arizona squeezed the trigger again, again, again, and again--over 32 times--and that's just the half of it--as blood flowed and as people screamed and dropped to the ground.

Where I live on Long Island, we have gun violence. It's a suburban area, but unfortunately so many guns and large magazine clips are coming into our communities, and they're bringing with them death and pain. I know gun control of any sort is a tough sell in Congress these days, but commonsense restrictions should be enacted as such large capacity clips play such an obvious role in turning angry outbreaks of violence into massacres.

The Washington Post reads: Lawmakers should also endorse the sensible legislation introduced by myself to outlaw the sales of high-capacity ammunition clips that enabled Mr. Loughner to shoot some 30 bullets in a matter of seconds. A drug abuse history or not, no one, in my opinion, should be able to have the possession of a weapon that could so easily and senselessly be used to slaughter so many of our citizens, our neighbors, in such a short period of time.

The Seattle Times, The Denver Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, the Charlotte Observer, the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal, and The Tennessean are all basically saying it's time to look at reducing the violence that is in our cities, our communities, our towns. One of the ways we can do that is by getting rid of the large capacity clips.

The Arizona Daily Star noted that no one outside of law enforcement and the military needs to fire 30-plus rounds without interruption. Hunters do not. Neither do target shooters or those who carry guns for self-defense.

Let me remind people that a gun that anyone uses that has a clip will still have 10 bullets and one in the chamber. That's 11 bullets that someone can use for self-defense. There is no question that fewer people would have been killed and injured on January 8 if the shooter had possessed a magazine with a capacity of just 10 rounds.

Gail Collins said Congress should have an actual debate about Representative McCarthy's bill to reduce gun violence.

Even traditional, conservative, pro-gun advocate Nick Kristof talks about the contrast of guns with automobiles. He turned it upside down to argue that, in reality--and this is true--for a long time, motor vehicles were dangerous, but slowly, slowly we made them quite safe. The trade-off is that we have modestly curbed individual freedom, but we can save tens of thousands of lives every year. That's a model for how we should approach guns and a public health concern.

I talked about individual leaders who support H.R. 308. It is a long list, and many people have stood up: Mayor Bloomberg from New York City, my great city; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, another member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, also expressed support; I had mentioned Vice President Dick Cheney, of all people, who said it would be appropriate to reinstate a ban on high-capacity magazines like we had before.

Other public officials and individuals around the country also support this bill: The New York Police Department said that a legislative solution to eliminating extended magazines would be best; the President of the Alabama Sheriffs' Association is a supporter; the Minneapolis police chief is a supporter; the Palm Beach County commissioner; the Montana Secretary of State; President Bob Brown, an NRA member and hunter who owns 18 guns, supports my legislation; the nurse who treated Ronald Reagan after he was shot supports this; the fiancee and family of Gabe Zimmerman, one of our own staffers who was killed in Arizona, support this bill.

You mentioned our police officers, Bill. If anybody would be interested, we've had more police officers killed since January of this year until now than we've had in the last number of years. We say that we are there for our police officers. You were a mayor, and I know you stood by your police officers. I know that police officers around the country know when they're facing these large capacity clips and they're outgunned, as they were when we passed the assault weapons bill.

So, Bill, I know you are where I am, and I thank you for the support that you have given me, because we did come in together, but it's people like yourself who are willing to speak out.

Please.

And I thank you again.

I just want to remind the American people who might be listening tonight, I need your help. I can do the battles here. It's so easy to email your Member of Congress or your Senator to say it's time to get rid of the large magazines, because there is no place in America anymore that is safe. This can happen anytime, any place. So I thank you for listening to me tonight, and I thank my friend for standing here with me and talking about it.

I will say, in closing, it's 17 years since the incident happened to my family. There is not a day that goes by that I don't remember what happened, and that's why I continue to fight for this issue. I don't want another family to go through the pain. I don't want to see another person die. I don't want to see someone injured for the rest of their life, and to fight those battles.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the chairman very much for his kind words and for his generosity in allowing us to have this time on the floor this evening to both remember the 26 individuals who were brutally murdered on Friday morning in the village of Sandy Hook in the town of Newtown, Connecticut, but also to start to paint a pathway forward. Right now, Newtown, Connecticut, is grieving deeply. It's going to be grieving for a long time because, frankly, we are just in the process of figuring out what to think about this, never mind understanding how to recover. This morning, at the first of what will be far too many funerals, you could start to see through the darkness a glimmer of how we figure a way out of this.

Little Noah Pozner was buried this morning by his parents and by his family. Noah was an amazing little 6-year-old. Not unlike most other precocious 6-year-olds, he loved role-playing; he was mischievous; he was as smart as a whip. He always talked about what he wanted to do in life, what he wanted to be. One day, he'd say he wanted to be a doctor. On another day, he'd say he wanted to be a police officer. On most days, his mom said he wanted to be a taco store owner. He loved tacos. That was his dream in life.

What we've seen on TV and in newspapers are these faces, the beautiful, gleaming, pure faces of these 20 first graders who perished; and while all of our hearts are just sick with grief, we know that their purity and their love is going to be the inspiration for the little community of Newtown and, frankly, for this whole country and this whole world to figure out how to recover.

I've been there on the ground since Friday afternoon almost nonstop, and Newtown is asking itself lots of questions about why it happened to us. What could we have done? Why did this guy do it? As I just said on the House floor, those questions are going to stick around for a while; but what you see in Newtown today is just this over-abundant love. I mean, within hours, the fire station was filled with counselors, filled with public safety personnel, filled with food, filled with everything that could possibly support these families. Those offers of help and those offers of support have just kept on coming and kept on coming.

What has also emerged are the stories of what happened that day. Certainly, the tragedy and the horror is first and foremost; but underneath that is heroism, only the beginnings of which we know right now. This is a great school, first of all. This was the best school in Newtown, one of the best in the entire State, and it's because of a principal named Dawn Hochsprung.

Dawn was a great principal right to the end. She was in a meeting when it happened. She told the people in the meeting to run the other way so that she could run directly to the shooter to try to disarm him. A young teacher, Victoria Soto, had the soundness of

mind to tell her kids to hide in the closet. She told the shooter that the students were in the gymnasium, somewhere else in the building.

She didn't survive, but many of her students did because of what she did.

When you start to hear more snippets of teachers who got their colleagues out the window, of kindergarten teachers who huddled their kids, kept them quiet, hummed to them, read them quiet stories so they wouldn't be overheard, you start to know what kind of community Newtown is, and you start to understand how Newtown survives.

I feel like I've done a lot of talking the last 4 days, both publicly and to families and to community members, and so I want to make sure that this is an hour where those who have been grieving all across the country can come and share their thoughts as well.

We've offered a resolution tonight which expresses both our outrage at what happened that day, but also our great sympathy. It does help to know that people from all around the country, from every congressional district and from every country around the world are grieving with us. Only bits and pieces of that seeps through that wall of misery that surrounds Newtown now; but when it does pierce that veil, it helps.

We're going to have a lot of time over the next few days and weeks to talk about what we do next, and I'm sure we'll have some of that discussion tonight. I'll join that conversation when it's right, and I don't begrudge anybody that has it today. It's important to talk about how we move forward and how we make sure this never ever happens again. For those of us in Newtown, we remember those 20 kids and those six adults--Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Rachel D'Avino, Olivia Rose Engel, Josephine Gay, Dawn Hochsprung, Dylan Hockley, Madeleine Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse Lewis, Ana Grace Marquez- Greene, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Anne Marie Murphy, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria Soto, Benjamin Wheeler, and Allison Wyatt.

I'm going to remember those people for a long time in Newtown. I'm going to grieve with them and their families. We're also going to take their memories, the beauty of those kids, the heroism of those adults, and let it point us, let it point the strong, close-knit community of Newtown, Connecticut, let it point us to a way we can survive.

With that, I'd like to yield 5 minutes to my friend from the Third Congressional District of Connecticut, Rosa DeLauro.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 833.

At this time I would yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

At this point, I would yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).

I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes).

May I inquire as to the time remaining?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We've got a number of speakers, so we'll try to give 1\1/2\ minutes to as many as we can.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).

I yield the gentlelady 30 additional seconds.

At this time I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. Speaker, at this point I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. McCarthy).

I thank the gentlelady.

At this point I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz).

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).

Mr. Speaker, at this point, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

At this point, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo).

I thank the gentlewoman.

At this time, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Chu).

I thank the gentlewoman.

At this point, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui).

I thank the gentlewoman.

At this time, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).

I thank the gentleman.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

I thank the gentleman.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Curson).

I thank the gentleman.

At this point, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. Speaker, I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, at this point, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Clarke).

I thank the gentleman.

At this point, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from California (Mrs. Davis).

At this point, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

I thank the gentlelady for those words.

I am so pleased to have joining us on the floor the Democratic leader. I yield the customary 1 minute to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Pelosi).

I thank the Leader very much. I thank very much my delegation. And I thank all who have come down this evening to publicly express their support for the families of Newtown to help paint us a path forward; and thank you very much, everyone, for your private words as well.

I'll leave everyone with just two final thoughts. First, a thought about Newtown itself.

Newtown is a small town. It's a small town that is very close-knit. As I've said a number of times over the past few days, the pride of Newtown is the Labor Day parade. It's the biggest Labor Day parade in the State, and people from all over the State come to Newtown on Labor Day. Everybody in town spends half the year getting their float or their marching contingent ready--the school groups, the churches, the community and civic groups. It's a slice of Americana out of a Norman Rockwell painting. And that's Newtown. That's particularly Sandy Hook. And the closeness of this community, it makes the grief even deeper because everybody knows everybody. When a school, a community school has this many lost lives, it touches a little bit deeper.

But I think it also paints the path forward to recovery because people are so close, because you don't have to go too far to have somebody be able to reach out and grab your shoulder in order to give you a little bit of a boost, a pathway back. The closeness of Newtown makes it hurt more, but the closeness of Newtown will also make us heal as well.

We've got great leaders as well. Governor Malloy was on the ground within hours, and he basically has not left and has not slept. Pat Llodra, the first selectwoman, has been just an inspiration. The superintendent of schools, the police chief, and the all-volunteer fire department, these men and women

in the fire department, none of them are getting paid, and they've been down at the firehouse, out at the site, in the community almost without end since this incident.

And this final thought. On Sunday morning, Senator Blumenthal and I went to the church service at the local Congregational Church, and a guy grabbed us as we were walking out, gripped our arms tight and said, ``Make sure this never, ever happens again.''

You know, the honest truth is we can't make sure it never happens again, but we certainly can make it much less likely; and we can certainly find ways to make sure that if someone does slip through the cracks and they set themselves on a path of destruction, the path of destruction is nowhere near the scale we saw in Newtown.

We're grieving right now, and we're going to join this process of figuring out where we go from here very soon, but it helps to know that we have the support and the love and the sympathy and the thoughts of the United States House of Representatives. It will help me to be able to bring back this resolution to the people of Newtown and the people of Connecticut. And we know that very shortly we will join you, we will join the President in figuring out a way to make sure that, within our power, this doesn't happen again.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to join my colleagues in honoring and remembering all of the victims of the tragic shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT. My condolences and prayers go to the families and loved ones of the women and children who lost their lives in this senseless tragedy.

I also recognize and applaud the heroic efforts made by the teachers, administrators, and law enforcement officials who acted quickly to secure and protect the lives of the children who survived this deadly encounter.

As the founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus and a senior Member of the Judiciary Committee, I have listened to the tragic testimony of individuals who have survived or lost loved ones as a result of gun violence.

The parents and grandparents who dropped off their children and grandchildren in the early morning hours of December 14, 2012, could never have imagined that by 10 a.m. on that morning they would to have face this tragedy.

This moment will be etched in our memories and will forever remind us of other moments like those of Aurora and Columbine. Moments when lives are needlessly lost due to gun violence.

As we unite in grief, it is time for us to unite in finding a solution. Newtown, CT by all accounts is a small close-knit town. Everyone in Newtown was in some way connected to the students, parents, teachers, and administrators from Sandy Hook Elementary School. And if asked, they would all agree that things like this sad occurrence just do not happen in Newtown.

We must join together in recognizing that things like this can happen in any community and we must immediately begin to address the underlying problems that would lead a young man to take up arms against defenseless women and children.

If we act now and work together, we can work towards preventing these types of tragedies. At around the same time that the children in Newtown, CT faced a deranged gun man, thousands of miles away in China, another man also attacked a group of school children. Again, a tragedy that no one in the community could have anticipated; however, because the man in China was armed only with a knife, he wounded instead of killed 20 children. The lives of 20 children in China were spared because their attacker did not have in his possession a gun.

I believe the solution to these acts of violence can be found by taking a multifaceted approach. There are those who will say that ``guns don't kill people, people kill people.'' The statistics for the harm that people are capable of doing with guns to themselves and others is alarming. People are indeed killing people, with guns. We need to reform how we view guns in this country and also how we address mental health challenges in our communities.

We must act now. This is the right moment to demonstrate that the safety of our children is one of our most sacred priorities. It is imperative that this Congress brings to the House for immediate consideration the following gun safety laws.

First, there must be an immediate ban on all assault weapons.

Second, we must close gun show loopholes which allow for the sale of weapons without a background check.

Third, we must reform our current mental health system to provide support for families to enable them to get immediate assistance for mental health issues. In addition, there should be pathways for families who are facing these challenges to gain emergency access to publicly funded or private counseling services.

Fourth, we must look at the design of primary and secondary schools in which these schools may need to have reinforced bullet proof window and reinforced secure entrances.

Lastly, we must expand current state laws to hold adults accountable and responsible for the security their weapons. We can help to prevent tragedies like this one from happening again.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun violence, claims the lives of over 30,000 people For every person who dies from a gunshot wound, two others are wounded. Every year, approximately 100,000 Americans are victims of gun violence.

In addition to those who are killed or injured, there are countless others whose lives are forever changed by the deaths of and injuries to their loved ones.

In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour.

There were 73,505 Americans treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in 2010.

Firearms were the third-leading cause of injury-related deaths nationwide in 2010, following poisoning and motor vehicle accidents.

Between 1955 and 1975, the Vietnam War killed over 58,000 American soldiers--less than the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average two-year period.

In the first seven years of the U.S.-Iraq War, over 4,400 American soldiers were killed. Almost as many civilians are killed with guns here in the U.S. over the course of 7 weeks rather than 7 years.

Homicide

U.S. homicide rates are 6.9 times higher than rates in 22 other populous high-income countries combined, despite similar non-lethal crime and violence rates. The firearm homicide rate in the U.S. is 19.5 times higher Guns were used in 11,078 homicides in the U.S. in 2010, comprising almost 35% of all gun deaths, and over 68% of all homicides.

Over a million people have been killed with guns in the United States since 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.

On average, 33 gun homicides were committed each day for the years 2005-2010.

Regions and states with higher rates of gun ownership have significantly higher rates of homicide than states with lower rates of gun ownership.

Where guns are prevalent, there are significantly more homicides, particularly gun homicides.

Suicide

Firearms were used in 19,392 suicides in the U.S. in 2010, constituting almost 62% of all gun deaths.

Over 50% of all suicides are committed with a firearm.

On average, 49 gun suicides were committed each day for the years 2005-2010.

White males, about 40% of the U.S. population, accounted for over 80% of firearm suicides in 2010.

A study of California handgun purchasers found that in the first year after the purchase of a handgun, suicide was the leading cause of death among the purchasers.

Firearms were used in nearly 44% of suicide deaths among persons under age 25 in 2010.

More than 75% of guns used in suicide attempts and unintentional injuries of 0-19 year-olds were stored in the residence of the victim, a relative, or a friend.

The risk of suicide increases in homes where guns are kept loaded and/or unlocked.

Unintentional Deaths and Injuries

In 2010, unintentional firearm injuries caused the deaths of 606 people.

From 2005-2010, almost 3,800 people in the U.S. died from unintentional shootings.

Over 1,300 victims of unintentional shootings for the period 2005- 2010 were under 25 years of age.

People of all age groups are significantly more likely to die from unintentional firearm injuries when they live in states with more guns, relative to states with fewer guns. On average, states with the highest gun levels had nine times the rate of unintentional firearms deaths compared to states with the lowest gun levels.

A federal government study of unintentional shootings found that 8% of such shooting deaths resulted from shots fired by children under the age of six.

The U.S. General Accounting Office has estimated that 31% of unintentional deaths caused by firearms might be prevented by the addition of two devices: a child-proof safety lock (8%) and a loading indicator (23%).

For years, I have introduced and reintroduced gun safety legislation and supported the efforts of my colleagues who have also worked diligently to protect the lives of our nation's children through adequate gun safety.

I re-introduced H.R. 277 the Child Gun Safety And Gun Access Prevention Act of 2011. This legislation would prevent anyone under the age of 21 from being eligible to own a handgun and would prohibit youth from possessing semiautomatic assault weapons.

Under this legislation parents and supervising adults will be held accountable if a juvenile is able to gain possession of dangerous firearms that are located in their household.

The statistics are clear, firearms in a household must be properly and adequately stored.

A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in a completed or attempted suicide (11x), criminal assault or homicide (7x), or unintentional shooting death or injury (4x) than to be used in a self- defense shooting.

Higher household gun ownership correlates with higher rates of homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings.

Keeping a firearm in the home increases the risk of suicide by a factor of 3 to 5 and increases the risk of suicide with a firearm by a factor of 17.

Keeping a firearm in the home increases the risk of homicide by a factor of 3.

A 2009 study found that people in possession of a gun are 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault.

My legislation also requires a parent to accompany a minor when attending a gun show.

Our focus should also be on the owners of guns. Parents need to keep guns and ammunition out of the reach of teenagers. Parents should be responsible for securing from their minor children access to dangerous firearms.

Further, my bill is a preventative measure, my legislation encourages school districts to proved or participate in firearm safety programs.

It also addresses the underlying concerns related to violence and suicide. It amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to support programs to promote mental health services among all children and their families and to provide early intervention services to ameliorate identified mental health problems in children and adolescents. This is a multifaceted approach to address this multifaceted issue.

As in years past, I once again will join Senator Dianne Feinstein in advocating for additional gun safety laws. I support Senator Feinstein's bill which she intends to introduce once again in the 113th Congress to ban the sale of automatic assault weapons and ban the sale of big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets. I appreciate Senator Feinstein's leaderships and will continue to join her in advocating to pass this legislation in the 113th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, it is our responsibility to do all that we can do to reverse this level of gun violence. We must pass common sense gun safety.

The previous question was ordered.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in support of his very important resolution--to condemn the acts of a lone gunman in Newtown, Connecticut, and to offer condolences to the families and members of the community.

I join him in the words of this resolution of saluting the courage of the teachers and administrators who gave their lives to save the children in their care and to thank the first responders who arrived on the scene to not only get survivors to safety but to end the succession of killings that were happening. Those first responders, Mr. Speaker, leave their homes every day knowing they're going to face danger, and they did that day as well; but in the face of it, they were heroic, as were the teachers and a counselor and the principal of the school.

This has all been made very clear to us by our colleagues: Congresswoman DeLauro for whom children and the prevention of violence has been a priority for her; of course, Congressman Murphy, Senator- elect Murphy, who represents this district with such distinction and such compassion; Congressman Courtney; Congressman John Larson; and Congressman Jim Himes. All of them spoke with such beauty at our service earlier, at the candlelight service. It was so moving to hear their connections to the people there. Their words were universal.

As the President said last night, this could have been happening any place. We can't tolerate this anymore, he said. These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change.

To change our Nation is already beginning--to reassess the options before us. Leaders from both parties have

stepped forward to put forth a series of steps on the table--from restoring the ban on assault weapons and assault magazines to strengthening the system of background checks. Again, we must address the challenge of mental health and keep weapons out of the hands of those in danger so as not to do harm to themselves and to others.

The voices of reason cannot be silent. Through administrative and legislative action, we must limit the proliferation of weapons ammunitions that have no other purpose than to kill citizens. Our colleagues through the course of the evening--and Congresswoman Maloney just before me--talked about legislation that we could pass immediately, that which the American people expect us to do, and that is to ban assault magazines. Of course, we want to ban assault weapons but also ban assault magazines. proliferation of weapons ammunitions that have no other purpose than to kill citizens. Our colleagues through the course of the evening--and Congresswoman Maloney just before me--talked about legislation that we could pass immediately, that which the American people expect us to do, and that is to ban assault magazines. Of course, we want to ban assault weapons but also ban assault magazines.

Why is it that somebody needs a magazine with 20 shots in it and could have two of those, and then 40 lives are at risk? Why is it? I'm not even asking that rhetorically. I'm asking it of those who are advocating that we shouldn't make this change. Haven't we crossed a threshold when children in school are not safe, when people who go to the theater in Aurora have someone come in and just kill them? I mean, just to use those words is very hard.

I don't know what words we could ever use to comfort the families of Newtown, Connecticut. As a mother and a grandmother, I find it--you said ``unfathomable,'' Congresswoman Maloney--unspeakable, unthinkable, just impossible to imagine how they go forward; but hopefully, God will give them the strength and the courage to do so.

It reminded me of a time before I was in Congress. I had the invitation of President Carter to visit Italy with a delegation--with Geraldine Ferraro, Italian American Members of Congress, Mario Cuomo, etc. We went there to deliver assistance from the United States Government after an earthquake in southern Italy. In one of the villages we visited, there was a rehearsal for first communion going on in the church, so just about every 7-year-old in the village was in church, practicing for first holy communion. When the earthquake hit, the roof came down, and every 7-year-old in the village was gone. It was impossible to console the people there. Not only had they individually lost their children, which is unthinkable, but the whole town had lost that class--their future, their new growth, their hopes, their babies.

So I really transform my thinking about how fragile life is. This was a natural disaster. What happened in Newtown, Connecticut, was a personal decision about someone whose judgment was thoroughly impaired. How could he do it? Because he had his own problems. How could he do this? Because he had the guns. He had the assault magazines to do it. That's how he could do it.

So let's at least try to mitigate, for circumstances that we may not be able to control entirely, the mental condition of someone, but at least limit the capacity to kill that that person has.

Just hearing the reaction to the expressions of sympathy to the families, to see the President read the names and hear the sobbing, this is something that will scar our country. If we can do something to prevent it from happening again to this extent, maybe we can't prevent it all from happening, but if we're going to take care of our people, we have to take care of them in many ways--address the issue of violence, address the issue of mental health, address the issue of where mental health and assault magazines comes together.

Some people are calling them high capacity or whatever. They're assault magazines. They make every weapon an assault weapon that they are compatible with, whether it's a pistol or rifle or whatever it is. So yes, we want to ban assault weapons, but these assault magazines make every weapon that they are compatible with an assault weapon.

It doesn't take a whole lot to figure out what we need to do immediately, and then maybe do more later. But wouldn't that be a comfort to these families to know that although they lost their babies, their little angels, their precious darlings gone to heaven, that something would come of it to prevent this from happening to others.

I always wondered in the Bible when Christ says:

Suffer little children, and come unto me. Suffer little

children, and come unto me.

I guess it was an interpretation of the word ``suffer,'' allow little children to come unto me. But Christ was calling children to Him. He used the word ``suffer.''

These children, their lives are gone. Their families are suffering. The other children in the school, in the neighborhood, children who just have heard about this, they're suffering, too; suffering about what it feels like to go to school and not be sure you're safe, staying up at night being sleepless in terms of being scared of what could happen.

Let's stop the suffering of our children, whether it's taking their lives, scaring them from going to school or keeping them up at night, giving them nightmares over their safety. These little children did suffer, and they did go on to heaven, a better place. It's the timing we have a problem with. Far too soon, far too many, for a reason that we can do something about.

So I commend my colleagues for how they came together, led by the community coming together, the community of Newtown and Sandy Hook, such an inspiration to the country, so strong, so courageous, so sad. Let's show them that not only do we offer words, we offer action, and that action will take the form of passing this legislation to ban assault magazines, to do so in a timely fashion, so that in a non- untimely fashion we won't lose any more lives.

Again, I want to commend the President for his beautiful words, mostly to the families last night and to the community, and the source of strength and inspiration he was. He challenged us to act. Let me just say it again: ``We can't tolerate this any more,'' he said. ``These tragedies must end; and to end them, we must change.''

Thank you, Mr. Murphy, for your leadership.

I appreciate the gentlelady for yielding. Madam Speaker, it is good to see you in the seat this evening.

I support the Second Amendment. I was lucky enough to come into this Congress with my friend from New York, Carolyn McCarthy. She has been a champion for the issue against gun violence.

I am proud to be here tonight supporting her legislation, H.R. 308, the Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act. The McCarthy bill will reinstate the ban on large capacity ammunition feeding devices that existed for quite some time, from 1994 to 2004, as the gentlelady from Long Island has said.

As has already been stated, this bill bans the sale or transfer of high capacity magazines, those holding more than 10 rounds, by non-law enforcement civilians. I state that right now, Madam Speaker, to make it very, very clear, this is an issue close to my heart because I came to this Congress in January 1997 pledging my support to defend law enforcement officials throughout the United States of America.

Many times those who illegally have these guns or have illegal guns, many times they are better armed than our police forces. Just think about it? When we raise our hands, if we are fortunate enough to be elected or reelected, we swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States and life,

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as you heard the gentlewoman just mention. Part of that pledge, or a reflection of that pledge, is how we treat our law enforcement officials besides just patting them on the back. So we want to not only have a law enforcement person, a police officer out there who is well equipped, who is well trained, but is in a better position to defend us than those who seek to destroy property or limb.

It does not make sense. The failure of Congress in recent years to shoulder the ultimate responsibility of safeguarding our communities from gun violence is inexcusable. This is not rhetoric. This is common sense. These magazines, which contain so many bullets that can kill so many people, have no place in our towns, have no place in our cities.

The tragedy in Arizona was a gut-wrenching reminder of what can happen when these weapons are legally available. We are not suggesting taking guns away from anyone who legally possesses them, and I can't emphasize that enough. And I know those who are very close to the gun community are very suspect of anything that will lead to a graduated taking of guns away from the people. That has never been the intent of the gentlelady from Long Island, and certainly that is not my intent whatsoever. And that is not simply an assuaging of the argument; that is the fact. This is not about guns. This is about reason. This is about sanity. This is about peace of mind.

That tragedy will always remain in our minds. Our sister is hurting, and we pray for her recovery. The perpetrator of that heinous crime fired 32 bullets in only 16 seconds. He killed 6 people and injured 13. That did not happen that long ago, and yet, it is out of the country's culture mind. It is not there. It is not discussed. It is almost as if it didn't happen.

Some people have said that it is not the gun but the person who commits the act of violence. While that may be the case, the shooter was taken down while reloading his weapon after those 32 bullets. If there had been fewer bullets in the magazine, he may have been thwarted earlier, saving other lives.

So we are talking about this magazine that we want to take out of anyone's hands. We are talking about potential. We are talking about possibilities. We are talking about risk, and giving more of a chance to protect ourselves. And for a police officer, if a police officer was there, could have been in the crowd, should have been--all valued lives. And those are not the only numbers that are chilling.

Nearly 100,000 people are killed by guns every year. Over 260 people will be killed today by a gun. This results in $100 billion annually in medical, security, and criminal justice costs. There is a reason that local enforcement and the U.S. Conference of Mayors supports this legislation: Because the ban worked when it was in effect for those 10 years. If it didn't work, we wouldn't be here tonight. Records show that while the Federal assault weapons ban was in effect, the number of high capacity magazines collected by police fell dramatically.

This is a return to the same standard we have in many States, including my home State of New Jersey, and the law of the land from 1994 to 2004. There is no question that it is constitutional. This is not a Republican or a Democratic issue. Let's not make it that. This is not about taking all guns away from law-abiding citizens. It has nothing to do with that, either. This is about saving lives. And right now we pray for our own buddy, our own sister, who was just here not too long ago. Where is she? I didn't see her the last few days. She's healing. We thank God she is in the position to heal.

We can do something about this reckless nonsense without violating the Constitution of the United States of America which we have all pledged to adhere to.

I yield back to the gentlelady from Long Island, and I thank you, Madam Speaker.

Will the gentlelady yield?

Madam Speaker, I would like you to take back to your side--and I'll take back to my side--that I know this has been a great leverage issue for the Republican Party. It has been a third rail for the Democratic Party. We were told basically, in so many words, to stay away from it. Look, let's lay our cards on the table.

I think that this is something we can agree to come together on common ground and be a little bit more reasonable about our approach.

I thank you, Congresswoman McCarthy, for leading the way, as usual. You know I will always be there in support of what I think is very important legislation for the sanity of our country.