Hank Johnson: “My topic today was going to be on the issue of gun violence, mass shootings, the need for Congress to take some action…”

“My topic today was going to be on the issue of gun violence, mass shootings, the need for Congress to take some action to keep America safe, the fact that 90 percent of the people of this country want Congress to take some action. I was going to speak about that today. But I would be remiss, as a Black man in America, to pass up the opportunity to comment about life as a Black man in America, in an urban setting, particularly when it comes to police community relations, you see, because we live in a gun culture, and nowadays, everybody has a gun. Some folks have a culture of growing up shooting, hunting. Nothing wrong with that. Take the kids to the gun show, the family, on a Saturday afternoon. And at the gun show there is a bunch of unlicensed gun dealers there selling weapons of mass destruction to any and everybody. That is a part of the culture because everybody wants a gun. Well, it is time for universal background checks. That is a simple piece of legislation, closing the gun show loophole, which that loophole is bigger than the Goodyear Blimp traveling sideways. That loophole is so big that you could fit the Goodyear Blimp through it sideways, and it is worth nothing because unlicensed gun dealers can sell guns to any and everybody. Any and everybody can purchase a gun over the Internet, no background check required. We need to close that gun show loophole by passing legislation that enforces the notion that there will be universal background checks.…”