Mike Thompson: “I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him also for taking the time and the effort to put this Special Order…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him also for taking the time and the effort to put this Special Order together on such an important issue, important to all Americans. I was a little bit taken aback. I came down to the floor early to participate in this Special Order, and I heard my friend from across the aisle who preceded us in Special Orders talking about the effort on the part of Democrats today in our 1-minute remarks of pushing for a vote on the issue of gun violence prevention. Mr. Cicilline, I think, laid it out clearly what it is we are trying to do. We want a vote on two bills. One is a bill that would require background checks for anyone who purchases a firearm through a commercial sale. So it would expand existing law that says that you have to have a background check if you purchase a firearm at a licensed dealer to include other commercial sales: ads in a newspaper, online purchases, or gun show purchases. Then the other bill is the bill that has been referred to as no fly, no buy, that says, if you are too dangerous in the eyes of the FBI to fly on an airplane, then you shouldn't be able to go into a gun store, pass a background check, and buy any gun that you want. My friend from across the aisle said that this was clever and cute. Mr. Speaker, make no mistake about it: this is not clever nor is it cute. This is serious business. People are dying every day at the hands of someone using a firearm.…”