Political Quotes

Dick Durbin: “If a gun dealer in the United States has a history of selling guns to criminals--in other words, someone comes in and…”

On the recordJuly 28, 2005
If a gun dealer in the United States has a history of selling guns to criminals--in other words, someone comes in and buys 100 Saturday night specials, ``fill up my trunk with guns''--obviously, not a sportsman or hunter or someone interested in personal defense, but someone who comes in and buys clearly for guns to be sold through straw purchasers to others--if the gun dealer has not even taken the time to check the FBI's Most Wanted list when making a sale across the counter, is this legislation saying that dealer, so negligent in his conduct, cannot be held personally responsible, or responsible as a business, in court for the victims of the gun violence that follows from that negligent act?
Said by
Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

Share

More from Dick Durbin

Oct 13, 2026

To leave here without this being a law finalized to protect these young people … is painful, really painful. I don’t want them to feel like I’m abandoning them.

rollcall.com
Oct 13, 2026

The lack of community involvement and speed with which this project has moved forward raises questions about the role of private interests.

duckworth.senate.gov
Oct 10, 2026

Public executions have no place in a democracy.

huffpost.com
Oct 14, 2026

Transferring immigrants to Guantánamo Bay is simply unlawful, and worse yet, inhumane.

durbin.senate.gov

Other voices in this conversation