Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman for yielding time. This really is about saving lives. Eight children a day die from gun violence.…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding time. This really is about saving lives. Eight children a day die from gun violence. In addition, 40,000 Americans die from gun violence throughout the year. I thank Congressman Thompson of California for making clear what we are saying here today. A veteran can buy a brace any day of the year. We love, respect, and admire our veterans. However, at the same time, we respect our first responders, police officers, firefighters, and others who are on the front line or former combat officers who say that we don't need automatic weapons in the hands of civilians. There is no hunting purpose. There is no purpose. You haven't lived until you see a shoot-out in your district between a criminal with a ghost gun against police officers. That is what we are trying to prevent. I don't want to see that in Houston, Texas, ever again. A person can buy the brace without a background check. When it becomes a dangerous weapon, when that brace changes the gun's legal status and makes it, in essence, the same that caused a mass shooting at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket, then the stabilizing brace and a shorter barrel made a pistol under Federal gun regulations. Saving lives is why I am standing here on the floor. Protecting police officers and protecting firefighters is why I am on the floor. The highest calling that I have on the floor is protecting children and stopping Uvalde, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Santa Fe, and the list goes on.…”