On the recordSeptember 17, 2019
we are all coming to the Senate floor this evening to demand that we finally take real steps to address our Nation's gun violence epidemic. This epidemic is wide-reaching and knows no bounds. We need to listen to the students and to the young people who have grown weary from so many shootings at our schools. In my home State of New Mexico in recent years, we have seen gun violence tragically take the lives of high school students in Aztec and Clovis and, just last month, college students in Hobbs. Every student and teacher should feel safe at school. No parent should have to live in fear of their child not coming home at the end of the day. Across our Nation, we have witnessed, with grave horror, mass shooters armed with assault rifles gun down Americans in churches, in synagogues, in concert venues, and in shopping centers. Amid our grief and anguish, Americans have come together to call on their leaders to not let this senseless, heart-wrenching violence continue unabated. They are calling on us to do something. We can no longer accept these horrific shootings as the status quo. In my hometown of Albuquerque, just last Thursday night, five people, including three teenagers, were shot to death in multiple shootings across our city, and six others were wounded. While police are still investigating these senseless acts of violence, no one can tell me that this level of gun violence is somehow acceptable. There are things we can do.…
