[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H957]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  (Mr. RICHMOND asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, as a resident of Louisiana, the 
sportsman's paradise, I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. 
However, I do not subscribe to the belief that Congress has no role in 
responding to the gun violence epidemic plaguing communities like New 
Orleans, Chicago, and Detroit.
  According to the FBI, 1,464 people were killed by a firearm in New 
Orleans between 2008 and 2011. That's 1,464 families who will never see 
their loved ones again. We can't afford to do nothing. We can no longer 
be the do-nothing Congress. We have a moral obligation to reduce the 
broad epidemic of gun violence in this country.
  So I urge my colleagues in Congress to join with me in standing with 
the victims and families of gun violence to approve legislation that 
invests in our mental health system, institute more rigorous background 
checks, and place a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. 
Even incremental progress means fewer heart-broken families. I don't 
want to see another child fall victim to our selfish efforts to 
preserve what obviously needs to change. I would remind my colleagues 
that the life we save may be our own.

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