On the recordMarch 19, 2018
it has been 32 days since the tragedy in Parkland. I think Senator Nelson may be coming to the floor very soon. Frankly, every day since then, there has been a series of tragedies all across this country. On average, 90 people lose their lives every single day to gun violence. There has been, over the course of the last year, a mass shooting, on average, every single day. Most of them aren't covered in the newspaper, but there is an incident in which four or more people are shot, on average, more than once per day in this country. Of course, it has now been more than 5 years since the devastating tragedy in my State, where 20 first graders lost their lives. This is deeply personal to all of us here in this Chamber. It became very personal to me last week when my 6-year old came home from school to tell me about his active shooter drill. He is 6, and he is in kindergarten. In his kindergarten class, they have a small bathroom that all of the kids in the class use. He explained to me that for their active shooter drill, all 25 kids in his classroom--a whole bunch of 5- and 6-year-olds--were shoved inside this tiny, little bathroom together, crunched together, shoulder to shoulder, with the door locked. Imagine how frightening that would be to a 6-year-old child, even if they didn't completely understand why they were there. He said to me when he got home that night: Daddy, I didn't like it.…





