Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, years before coming to Congress, as many of my colleagues know, I cofounded and served as the executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Twenty years ago, we worked with a bipartisan Congress to pass the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban. It became law in 1996. It was known as the Lautenberg amendment, after the late Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. {time} 1245 Since that time, we have made a lot of progress in preventing domestic violence, but, sadly, there are several Mack Truck-size loopholes that prevent the law from coming to its full effect. In fact, just last week, in a fight against the gun lobby, yet again, over these last 20 years, the Supreme Court upheld the domestic violence offender gun ban in a 6-2 decision. As many know, leaving an abusive relationship is the most dangerous time for a domestic violence victim, and adding a firearm to that situation severely heightens the risk of injury or death. In fact, in America, the majority of fatal domestic violence homicides are committed with firearms. At least 52 percent of American women murdered with guns are killed by intimate partners or family members. Despite impressions from media coverage, mass shootings in which at least four people are murdered with a gun are also typically acts of domestic or family violence.…”