Mike Thompson: “I thank the gentleman for his remarks. Mr. Speaker, tonight, members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force have made…”

“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.…”