[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 174 (Wednesday, December 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H8870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE RECENT ATTACK IN COLORADO SPRINGS

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, last Friday, a Planned Parenthood clinic 
in Colorado Springs became the target of the 351st mass shooting in the 
United States this year.
  Three people were killed: an Iraq war veteran, a mother of two, and a 
local police officer. They are now among the more than 12,000 Americans 
who have died in gun-related incidents since the start of the year.
  The shooter in Colorado Springs is reported to have used a 
semiautomatic, AK-47-style firearm, an assault weapon that has its 
origins in Stalin's Soviet Army.
  This firearm and others like it are weapons of war, not tools for 
self-defense. They serve no purpose other than to kill. And we can no 
longer permit the proliferation of and easy access to these weapons in 
the United States.
  That is why, in the coming weeks, I will be introducing legislation 
that reauthorizes the Assault Weapons Ban. During the 10 years this ban 
was in effect, localities reported as much as a 72-percent decline in 
gun crimes involving assault weapons.
  Today, 59 percent of American voters support a ban on the purchase of 
semiautomatic and assault weapons. The only thing that stands in the 
way is Congress' failure to act. The time for action is now.

                          ____________________