Elizabeth Furse: “Thank you so much. I come to the floor today because the most dreadful tragedy has occurred in the City of Portland.…”

“Thank you so much. I come to the floor today because the most dreadful tragedy has occurred in the City of Portland. Yesterday a policewoman, Officer Colleen Waibel, was shot and killed by a man with an assault weapon. Another police officer was gravely injured by the same man with an assault weapon. These officers were wearing bulletproof vests but the bullets used by that man struck through those bulletproof vests and killed Officer Colleen Waibel. I am here to say that I am sick and I am tired of the tyranny of violence. I am sick and I am tired of the tyranny of guns. And I am here to say that I am really sick of the NRA. There are too many guns in the hands of violent, uncaring people, people who hide behind a constitutional amendment that they misinterpret. Why should our great police officers be in jeopardy every time they go out on the street to protect us because there are people out there with guns such as this man had? It is enough. We have had enough. We are not civilized if we cannot contain civil strife on our streets. I am here to pledge to the people of my district, whose lives are every day threatened by these same guns, that I will do everything in my power to see that assault weapons no longer threaten us all. We have allowed those who support this unlimited use of guns to threaten, to badger and to coerce us for too long.”