Jackie Speier: “I thank the gentleman from Virginia for his articulate commentary about this issue. You know, the time has come for all…”

“I thank the gentleman from Virginia for his articulate commentary about this issue. You know, the time has come for all of us to stop quaking in our boots because the NRA leadership has spoken. You know, I've spoken to a number of my Republican colleagues over the last few weeks, and they are without any kind of rational reason for why they can't support one thing or another. Their beliefs have become so molded by what the leadership of the NRA says. Now the NRA leadership isn't reflecting the NRA membership, and that's what we've got to remember. The NRA membership supports universal background checks. Let me share with you what Wayne LaPierre recently said, actually in a speech over the weekend, to continue to promote what I would call paranoia and fearmongering. He was talking about universal background checks, and he said: It's aimed at registering your guns. And when another tragic opportunity presents itself, that registry will be used to confiscate your guns. The American people know that's not true. A tragic opportunity, that's what he calls that horrific incident in Newtown, Connecticut. Opportunity? He has lost all sense of reality. We owe it to every American to do something rational around gun violence prevention. And I am not going to stand here and be cowed by NRA leadership and not do what's right. And oh, yes, I have already gotten plenty of threatening Facebook pronouncements. I don't care. I owe it to Noah Pozner. I owe it to little Izak.…”