[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 111 (Monday, July 11, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H4579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                              {time}  1215
                     WE NEED TO CLOSE THE LOOPHOLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy 
heart. Our country is grieving. Innocent lives have been lost. Some of 
those were the brave public servants, public safety servants who were 
sworn to protect us. Families have been forever changed by the loss of 
a loved one, and concern and frustration have visited every corner of 
our country.
  As we move forward from last week's tragedies and work together to 
build a better nation and a brighter future for every citizen, let us 
remember that, as Members of Congress, each of us has a unique 
opportunity to effect meaningful change. We have the opportunity to 
pass legislation that can help put an end to gun violence that claims 
the lives of more than 30 Americans every day.
  We can't continue to stand by and allow this epidemic of gun violence 
to continue devastating our communities. Whether it is in a movie 
theater, on a college campus, at an elementary school, in a church, in 
a nightclub, or on the streets of our cities, far too many innocent 
lives have been cut short by someone using a gun.
  Let me give you some numbers:
  3\1/2\--the number of years since the tragedy at Sandy Hook 
Elementary School;
  34,000-plus--the number of people killed by someone using a gun since 
Sandy Hook;
  1,196--the number of mass shootings in our country since Sandy Hook;
  31--the number of moments of silence observed by this House for 
victims of gun violence since Sandy Hook;
  525--the number of days the House has been in session since Sandy 
Hook; and, most sadly
  Zero--that is the number of times we have voted on gun violence 
prevention legislation on this floor.
  Think about that; 34,000 people killed by someone using a gun, and 
the lives of their loved ones forever changed.
  One of the 34,000 people killed by someone using a gun since the 
tragedy at Sandy Hook was a 10-year-old girl named Samantha. Her 
mother, Catherine, was brave enough to share her story last week on the 
steps of our Capitol. Catherine and her 10-year-old daughter were shot 
by a man who couldn't pass a background check, but because of a glaring 
loophole, he was able to buy a gun online without having to pass a 
background check. He used that gun to shoot Catherine and to kill 
Samantha.
  My bipartisan, pro-Second Amendment bill, H.R. 1217, would close this 
loophole and require a background check for all commercial gun sales, 
including those online, at gun shows, and through classified ads.
  Background checks are our first line of defense when it comes to 
stopping dangerous people from getting firearms. We know that they 
work. Every day, 170 felons are stopped from buying a gun because of a 
background check, and 50 domestic abusers are stopped from buying a gun 
because of background checks.
  Everyone says they want to keep guns away from dangerous people, but 
the only way to know if someone is dangerous is to conduct a background 
check. Without background checks, how do you know if a person buying a 
gun is a criminal or dangerously mentally ill? If the man who killed 
Catherine's daughter hadn't been able to easily bypass the background 
check by going online, Catherine's tragic story may have been 
different. It is long past time for the Republican leadership in this 
House to give us a vote on H.R. 1217.
  Just as important for the safety and security of our country and 
fellow Americans is H.R. 1076, bipartisan, pro-Second Amendment 
legislation to prohibit those on the FBI's terrorist watch list from 
being able to legally purchase firearms.
  This debate isn't a choice between respecting the Second Amendment or 
reducing gun violence; it is about this Congress doing both.
  Mr. Speaker, give us a vote.

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