Paul Tonko: “Our Nation is in the grip of a gun violence epidemic; yet, even in the face of national tragedy, Congress has failed…”

“Our Nation is in the grip of a gun violence epidemic; yet, even in the face of national tragedy, Congress has failed again and again to act. On January 10, 2018, a student in Denison, Texas, fired a weapon that belonged to an adviser, thinking it wasn't loaded. That same day, a middle school student in Maplewood, Minnesota, fatally injured himself with a gun in a school bathroom. On January 23, 2018, a 15-year-old student in Benton, Kentucky, opened fire with a handgun, killing two people and injuring 18. On February 14, Valentine's Day, 2018, a 19-year-old gunman killed 14 students and 3 faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, using a semiautomatic weapon. Two months into 2018, its tragedies are too numerous to list. For too long we have allowed NRA's gun industry lobbyists to pick and choose our guns laws. I say: No more. Students across America are demanding Congress enact commonsense gun violence prevention, including universal background checks, limits on high-capacity magazines, and a ban on the sale of assault weapons designed not for a hunting field, but for a battlefield. We must not fail them again. ____________________”