Zoe Lofgren: “I have heard from nearly 100 police chiefs and sheriffs in California begging the Congress not to repeal the assault…”

“I have heard from nearly 100 police chiefs and sheriffs in California begging the Congress not to repeal the assault weapons ban. It occurs to me that the police chiefs and the sheriffs know a whole lot more about this than the politicians in this House who have received contributions from the NRA and who are doing the bidding of their funders. The police do not want to face off against assault weapons on the street, but I think if we vote for this assault weapon ban repeal, we are saying it is OK for the police to face off against criminals with assault weapons in the course of their jobs. Earlier in this Congress we passed the Congressional Accountability Act that said we would live by the same rules as those we passed for other Americans. So as we consider this bill, what is missing in this rule is an amendment to remove the metal detectors from the U.S. Capitol. Let us see how we like having citizens armed with assault weapons in our gallery. We should do that if we ask police officers to live with assault weapons.”