Rashida Tlaib: “How many times do we have to come to the floor to demand that our colleagues take action to end the gun violence crisis…”

“How many times do we have to come to the floor to demand that our colleagues take action to end the gun violence crisis that is traumatizing our children and tearing families apart? Since Republicans took power, the Speaker has called not one single vote, not one, to combat gun violence. It is shameful. It is shameful because since then, 934 mass shootings have occurred in our country. Just this past weekend, Mr. Speaker, in the northeast side of our city, there was a mass shooting where 2 people were killed and 19 others severely injured. The victims were all between the ages of 17 and 27 years old. I refuse to accept this as normal or the status quo. I refuse to accept that last month, there was a mass shooting at a Splash Pad with families in Rochester Hills, Michigan, where nine people were shot, including two children, that that is okay, that it is normal. Behind these numbers are real people in our communities, families who are directly, forever being impacted and traumatized by these senseless shootings. Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in our country. It is not just mass shootings. Mr. Speaker, 4.6 million children in our country live in homes with loaded and unlocked firearms. There is a Children's Hospital in Detroit that passes out lockboxes. Recently, a 6-year-old boy in Detroit shot himself in the hand at his grandmother's home after he found an unsecured firearm.…”