Bill Pascrell: “to the gentlewoman from Michigan, I need to respond because no one is suggesting in this body today that we change the…”

“to the gentlewoman from Michigan, I need to respond because no one is suggesting in this body today that we change the right to bear arms, and to suggest that those who oppose this legislation are aiding criminals and terrorists and hurting our Armed Forces and uniformed law enforcement is incredible pap. That is what it is; and as a vet, I resent it. Those who profit from the sale of guns have the ultimate responsibility to safeguard the American public by ensuring that their weapons do not get into the wrong hands, but we all know that this is often not the case. We have all heard on far too many occasions stories of dealer negligence that results in tragic consequences. Take the case of David Lemongello. David is a graduate of Bloomfield High School in my district, had his career as a police detective, his lifelong dream, cut short from the injuries he sustained at the hands of a career criminal with a gun. And where did the gun that shot David three times come from? How did a criminal get his hands on the gun that ended David's career? It was thanks in large part to an irresponsible gun dealer. The criminal got it from a gun trafficker who bought it along with 11 other handguns from a West Virginia gun dealer. Do my colleagues not think that if someone comes into a gun shop with thousands of dollars and purchases a dozen handguns that an automatic red flag should go up?”