Elected officials on both sides of the aisle in State legislatures, Congress, and the White House agree we must raise the minimum age to purchase these weapons of war.

Now, the universal criminal background check is backed by more than 95 percent of the American people.

Let me be clear: there is no constitutional impediment to passing lifesaving gun laws.

Congress must take immediate action to repeal PLCAA.

I urge Congress to find that courage, to show leadership on this life-and-death issue, and to act, now.

Ninety percent of federal background checks take only a few minutes, but in thousands of cases three days is not enough time to complete a check.

So please tell me what is the harm in studying it?

Instead, I would urge my colleagues across the aisle to focus on enforcing the laws we already have.

The new gun control restrictions currently being considered by the Democratic majority in H.R. 8 would not have prevented my shooting.

There is no constitutional impediment to passing life-saving gun laws.

Stand up to gun corporations that control State legislatures and Washington to protect their profits and not protect American lives.

I am grateful to Congresswoman Debbie Dingell for introducing H.R. 569, the Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act of 2019.

Congress should pass legislation incentivizing more states to pass these life saving laws and providing funds for implementation and education.

I implore you and your colleagues to pass legislation that will make us all safer by strengthening our nation's gun laws.

Now the question is, why am I saying that? Because we have an opioid epidemic, and the President just declared it a public health crisis.

Instead, whether intentionally or not, the gun control proposals in H.R. 8 could turn law abiding citizens into criminals while also failing to achieve the stated purpose of reducing gun violence.

So, for those who would have you believe, oh, that the bad guys are never going to try to go buy a gun, nonsense. Utter nonsense.

We must invest in our collective future.

If only one life is saved, that is enough for me. It darned well ought to be enough for every single Member of this Congress.

Based on similar gun control measures in states like California, H.R. 8 would not deter a criminal from engaging in criminal activity, and it won't decrease gun crime.

The only thing standing in the way is the lack of political will.

I am grateful to Congressman Mike Thompson and this Committee for prioritizing H.R. 8, the bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.

We are going to pass background checks because it is supported by over 90 percent of the American people, and it can help save a life.

The American people understand that we need to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, and yet it is 20 years later and we at the Federal level have shamefully done nothing about this issue.

Congress must do more to restrict access to these deadly devices, which includes ensuring that a teenager cannot easily purchase these exceptionally lethal firearms.