Mike Thompson: “6 months ago, our Nation witnessed a horrible massacre of innocence in Newtown, Connecticut. In the 6 months since…”

“6 months ago, our Nation witnessed a horrible massacre of innocence in Newtown, Connecticut. In the 6 months since, there are two important facts that we should note: first, nearly 5,000 more Americans have been killed by people using guns. {time} 1020 Second, Congress has done absolutely nothing to reduce and prevent these deaths. The Senate took one vote to expand background checks. Sadly, it failed when a minority of Senators voted against the wishes of 90 percent of Americans. The only thing more disappointing than the Senate voting down this pro-gun owner, anti-criminal legislation is that the House has refused to vote at all. My Republican colleague, Peter King, and I have introduced H.R. 1565, legislation that's identical to the Senate background check effort. We have 3 Republicans, we have 179 Democrats--a total of 182 coauthors. Surely, we need more support from the Republican side of the aisle. But the truth is this shouldn't be a controversial bill, and it shouldn't be partisan. Background checks are something everyone in both parties should be able to agree on. Everyone says they're against criminals, terrorists, and the dangerously mentally ill getting guns. But you can't be against that and be against background checks. Background checks are the first line of defense. Our bipartisan bill strengthens that first line of defense. It's anti-criminal.…”