Jack Brooks: “we have now reached the end of the day on the issue before us. The general debate time has allowed every possible…”

“we have now reached the end of the day on the issue before us. The general debate time has allowed every possible argument to be aired by the proponents who seem to have no qualms whatsoever about taking a simplistic approach to a very complicated issue. Where the debate has veered off into what I consider an unacceptable and mean area is where the self-anointed arbiters of morality have attempted to paint legitimate, law-abiding gunowners as part of the dark force in America who aid and abet the proliferation of violence in our society. Some would have you believe that to vote against this ill-conceived, overbroad, and unbelievably vague piece of draftsmanship is to sanction the terrible scenes of carnage that we all witness on the late news before going to bed at night. This is a terrible falsehood and worthy of the description of the 'big lie'--that if repeated often enough, can cloud reason and clear-headed thinking. Well, it hasn't swayed my mind one bit or the many other Members in this body who know that the problem of violence has to do with the roots of crime, with the pervasiveness of drugs, with violent impulses and malice of heart that leads individuals with no moorings in civilized life to commit unspeakable acts. It is very easy for us sitting here in the Northeast corridor to forget about the rest of the continental United States and the citizens who live there.…”