Mike Thompson: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. When I spoke earlier, I asked: What are you afraid of? Why won't you bring these…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. When I spoke earlier, I asked: What are you afraid of? Why won't you bring these bills to the floor? I think back to when I met with the parents of some of the children who were killed in one of the most horrific incidents in our country, the terrible, terrible incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and listening to the parents and hearing their stories, and I can't help but think to myself: Are you more afraid to bring this bill to the floor for a vote than those kids were hiding for their lives in those classrooms? Are you more afraid than those movie-goers in Aurora, Colorado, who were hiding, trying not to be killed? Are the people who were praying in Charleston when they were gunned down, are you more afraid; is this more frightening than what they experienced or San Bernardino or Orlando? What is stopping you from bringing commonsense, pro-Second Amendment gun violence prevention legislation to the floor for a vote? Gun owners are for this. I am a gun owner. I have told you that before. As a matter of fact, I am proud to say I am one of the 26 Democrats who were labeled by the rightwing media for being hypocrites because we owned guns and we want to pass gun violence prevention legislation. As a matter of fact, I bought a gun. I bought it before the break but picked it up during the break because, in California, not only are you required to get a background check, but there is a cooling-off period that they require.…”