[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 48 (Thursday, April 11, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2571-S2572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               GUN SAFETY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, life can change in a moment. In Carson City, 
NV, a little over a year ago--actually, time goes quickly; it was in 
September of 2011, September 6--shortly before 9 o'clock in the 
morning, a deeply disturbed man with an automatic weapon stepped out of 
his car outside of a Carson City, NV, restaurant. In the few brief 
seconds that followed, he fired nearly 80 rounds from an automatic 
weapon, spraying bullets over the parking lot and into an IHOP 
restaurant that was packed with customers for breakfast. He killed four 
people instantly, wounded seven others, and then he took his own life 
after that. That took 85 seconds. In those 85 seconds, 5 lives ended, 
and countless more were altered forever.
  Three Nevada Army National Guardsmen were on their way to work that 
morning: 31-year-old SFC Miranda McElhiney, 38-year-old SFC Christian 
Riege, and 35-year-old MAJ Heath Kelly. Florence Donovan-Gunderson, who 
was eating breakfast with her husband, was also killed--murdered.
  In 85 seconds, Carson City joined the likes of Tucson, AZ, Fort Hood, 
TX, Blacksburg, VA, Columbine, CO, and scores of other cities and towns 
in America rocked by mass shootings in recent decades. And as were 
those other cities and towns, Carson City was left asking, Why? Maybe 
we will never know.
  The gunman had been diagnosed earlier with schizophrenia. He had been 
involuntarily committed by law enforcement officials to a mental 
institution. He recently confided to a priest that voices he heard in 
his head told him to continue to do bad things. A lot is not clear.
  What is clear is how the shooter obtained two assault rifles, two 
handguns, and almost 600 rounds of ammunition he took to the IHOP that 
day. I don't know--no one really knows--what happened. It is not clear 
what happened. Where did he get those weapons--two assault rifles, two 
handguns, and about 600 rounds of ammunition that he took with him to 
the parking lot to start shooting people?
  Even though all of that is not clear in terms of how he obtained 
those assault weapons, this much is clear: We have a responsibility to 
do everything in our power to keep guns out of the hands of those who 
suffer from mental

[[Page S2572]]

illness. I think it is clear we mean severe mental illness. Within our 
families we all have individuals who have periods of time when they are 
depressed. We must keep weapons out of the hands of those with 
illnesses that make them a danger to themselves and others. We have a 
responsibility also to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals--
convicted felons.
  The measure before the Senate today would institute universal 
background checks that would prevent people with severe mental illness 
from buying firearms--those with severe mental illness; I want to make 
sure we stress that--and criminals. This legislation would also crack 
down on anyone who buys a gun to funnel it to criminals and it would 
give schools the resources to improve security to keep children safe.
  This bill won't stop every madman determined to take innocent lives. 
I know that. We all know that. Nor is this bill the only suggestion to 
prevent gun violence. In the coming days we will debate other proposals 
to make Americans safer.
  An assault weapons ban will be debated and voted on. Improvements to 
our mental health system will be debated and voted on. A ban on high-
capacity clips such as those used to kill four people in Carson City at 
the IHOP, and how the man in Columbine, CO, was able to get a magazine 
with 100 bullets in it--that is the only reason the people in Colorado 
weren't massacred even more. The gun jammed.
  There are powerful feelings about each of the proposals I have 
mentioned, both strong support and strong opposition. But whichever 
side one is on, we ought to be able to agree to exchange thoughtful 
debate about these measures. Let's engage in it. We ought to be able to 
agree to a careful examination of the culture of violence that is 
growing in this Nation.
  I am pleased a number of reasonable Republicans have joined Democrats 
in welcoming this debate saying they are not going to debate cloture. I 
hope we have enough to have cloture invoked. I feel fairly confident 
that, in fact, is the case.
  As I have indicated for the last many weeks, we are going to have an 
open amendment process, as much as possible, on this bill. As always, 
the process will depend on the goodwill of all Senators. Somebody could 
come and do all kinds of things to stop us from doing anything on the 
bill. I hope that is not the case.
  Once we are on the underlying bill, the first amendment, as I have 
indicated, will be on a substitute compromise background check proposal 
offered by Senators Manchin, Toomey, Kirk, and Schumer. I thank the 
Senators for their diligent work on this issue. They have been working 
a long time.
  I am hopeful we will be able to debate and vote on a reasonable 
number of amendments offered by Senators who feel passionately about 
reducing gun violence or respecting Americans' second amendment rights. 
I also respect those who want to weaken the laws that now exist. They 
have a right to try to do that. But three soldiers--Miranda, Christian, 
and Heath--and Florence, who was not a soldier but was one of those 
killed--deserve some attention. There were seven people who were hurt 
as a result of these bullets as well as those killed. That was a 
terrible day in Carson City. Each one of them deserves a thoughtful 
debate, and they deserve votes.

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