On the recordNovember 4, 2015
It has been 34 days since the murder of nine men and women at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. It has been 140 days since the murder of nine parishioners at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. It has been 1,055 days since the murder of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the time since then, Congress has done nothing to close loopholes in our background check system and make it easier to identify a dangerous individual before they are able to buy a gun. There are more mass shootings in the United States each year than in any other country, and six of the deadliest shootings in American history have taken place in just the past 8 years. It shouldn't be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. Congress has the responsibility to stand up to the powerful special interests and say, ``No more.'' There is no reason lawmakers in this body should continue to cower before the National Rifle Association. We are the people's Representatives, and it is time to get to work on commonsense reforms that will save the lives of thousands of Americans and put an end to the epidemic of gun violence in our country. ____________________
