[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 173 (Thursday, October 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6839-S6841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise to address the latest mass 
shooting in our country. This one took place last week in my own State 
of Maryland, in the city of Edgewood, in Harford County, which is 
northeast of Baltimore.
  In this case, the suspect gathered coworkers at his place of 
business, Advanced Granite Solutions, and began shooting. He killed 
three coworkers

[[Page S6840]]

and critically wounded two others who remain in critical condition at 
the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The suspect then fled to Delaware.
  According to an article in the Baltimore Sun, he shot an acquaintance 
in the head at a car dealership. The victim was in stable condition and 
later identified his attacker to police. The suspect was finally 
arrested after a brief foot chase, and police said the suspect threw a 
gun at them after spotting law enforcement approaching.
  This terrible shooting in Maryland came a few weeks after the worst 
mass shooting in modern U.S. history, which occurred in Las Vegas, NV, 
on October 1. This mass shooting from a hotel room targeting 
concertgoers at an outdoor music festival left 58 dead and more than 
500 people wounded, with dozens of victims still in the hospital today, 
some of whom are in critical condition. These are just staggering 
numbers. But I want to put a human face on this for my colleagues and 
talk about one Marylander who was injured in the Las Vegas attack.

  The Baltimore Sun shared the story of Tina Frost. Tina is a native of 
Crofton in Anne Arundel County, MD. She is a 2008 graduate of Arundel 
High School in Gambrills. She was a star soccer player in school, and 
she now lives in California and works at the accounting firm of Ernst 
and Young.
  The story begins:

       Before a bullet from 32 stories above cut through her face, 
     Crofton native Tina Frost drove from San Diego with her 
     boyfriend to see one of her favorite country artists in Las 
     Vegas. . . . Becky Frost said her 27-year-old sister had lost 
     her right eye and was in a Las Vegas intensive care unit 
     after a two-hour surgery. [She] said her bubbly and 
     charismatic older sister was in a coma that the family 
     expected to last about a week. Another sister wrote on 
     Facebook that the family was waiting to see the extent of the 
     brain damage. ``We're sticking together and praying,'' Becky 
     Frost said.

  Tina Frost did wake up from the coma and was recently transferred to 
Maryland for additional surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. 
According to family members, she underwent a second successful surgery 
last week. The family's website update said: ``We are thankful Tina is 
still being a true fighter and warrior!''
  Today, I want Tina and the entire Frost family to know that they are 
in our thoughts and prayers. I understand that their community has 
already been raising funds to help defray Tina's medical expenses for 
her recovery.
  This is just one example of hundreds who were victimized in Las 
Vegas. I am just heartbroken by the terror in Las Vegas. With the 
entire country, I am grieving for the senseless loss of life and 
praying for the victims, their families, and all those who were injured 
like Tina Frost, whether by gunshots or the chaos that ensued.
  Much thanks also goes to the first responders, including our police, 
fire, ambulance, and emergency medical workers, who saved countless 
lives by helping those around them and running toward danger instead of 
running away from it.
  Thoughts and prayers console victims and their families, but actions 
speak much louder. We must be outraged at this latest shooting, and we 
must act. Congress must act. States must act. Weapons of war should not 
be in the hands of civilians. We see the deadly results in Las Vegas 
just as we have seen before in Orlando, Blacksburg, San Bernardino, 
Aurora, Sandy Hook, the streets of Baltimore, and elsewhere across this 
great country. We need to do everything in our power to stop the 
carnage of these shootings. How high does the death toll have to get 
before we enact real, bipartisan reforms that will make the American 
public safer and reduce the risks that come from allowing such easy 
access to dangerous weapons primarily designed for the battlefield? 
Assault weapons are not needed to hunt deer or ducks; they are only 
meant to kill people, and they do far too often in this country.
  I urge my colleagues to be bold and fight to break the cycle of what 
could only be described as a callous disregard for the victims of gun 
violence. More talk will not save lives; only action and real change 
and Federal and State laws can.
  This attack and others like it in recent years tear at the heart and 
leave us angry, frustrated, and confused. We as a nation must resolve 
to stop those who wish to do harm to Americans from committing, 
encouraging, and abetting acts of terror. We as a nation, as a 
community, and as an American family must take action to change minds, 
hearts, and finally change policies. We can stop others and save lives 
by taking immediate action.
  I was disappointed that Congress missed yet another opportunity to 
enact commonsense, reasonable gun safety measures after the June 2016 
shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, which killed 49 people 
and injured 53 others. The mass shooting in Las Vegas has now sadly 
surpassed those numbers.
  In the Las Vegas massacre, Stephen Paddock used a bump fire stock 
device, which allowed a semiautomatic rifle to fire at a rate similar 
to that of a fully automatic weapon--a rate of about nine bullets a 
second. Fully automatic weapons are generally illegal under current 
law. Paddock also stockpiled a virtual arsenal in his hotel room, as 
police found 23 firearms in the room. Police also found a large 
quantity of ammunition, including numerous high-capacity magazines 
capable of holding up to 100 rounds apiece.
  The preliminary assessment--with the understanding that the 
investigation is still ongoing--from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives is that the shooter legally purchased all these 
guns, bump stocks, and ammunition. It is outrageous that a mass shooter 
was legally able to purchase a device designed to convert his gun into 
a military-style weapon with no legitimate civilian use. It is 
outrageous that a mass shooter was legally able to purchase high-
capacity magazine clips with no legitimate civilian use. These are 
weapons of war. You don't need them for hunting, and you don't need 
them for self-defense.
  Earlier this month, I convened a roundtable meeting with law 
enforcement officials at the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in 
Prince George's County, MD. The group included officials from the 
local, State, and Federal levels, including the sheriff, police chief 
of Prince George's County, State delegates, the State attorney general 
of Maryland, and representatives of the U.S. attorney's office.
  Maryland has progressive laws on gun safety and has taken steps to 
ban weapons of war and high-capacity magazines that have no legitimate 
civil purpose. The group echoed the concern to me that if Maryland has 
strict laws relating to gun safety that protect both the public and 
police officers, what is to stop someone from driving over the border 
to one of our neighboring States in order to procure guns? That is why 
we need a strong national law to protect all Americans, and Congress 
should act on commonsense gun safety measures.
  What can we do in Congress? I have cosponsored the Automatic Gunfire 
Prevention Act, which Senator Feinstein introduced. In the Las Vegas 
shooting, the gunman was able to unleash hundreds of rounds of gunfire 
on the crowd, likely by using the bump stock device.
  Fully automatic guns or machine guns are already banned for civilian 
use under the National Firearms Act, but a loophole exists that allows 
for these bump stock devices, as well as similar accessories, to 
convert semiautomatic weapons to emulate automatic weapons. Senator 
Feinstein's legislation would close the loophole in current law that 
allows conversion devices and accessories to be available to the 
public. The bill bans the sale, transfer, importation, manufacturing, 
or possession of bump stocks, trigger cranks, or anything that 
accelerates a semiautomatic rifle's rate of fire. Semiautomatic rifles 
typically have a rate of fire of 45 to 60 rounds per minute; a bump 
stock could increase the semiautomatic rifle rate of fire to 700 rounds 
per minute or 9 per second.

  I have also cosponsored the Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device 
Act, also known as the Keeping Americans Safe Act, introduced by 
Senator Menendez. It prohibits the possession or transfer of large-
capacity ammunition magazines--more than 10 rounds per magazine--with 
limited exceptions for law enforcement personnel. Senator Menendez's 
bill authorizes a buyback program for high-capacity magazines using 
Byrne JAG grants.
  To me, these two bills represent a practical, commonsense approach to

[[Page S6841]]

promoting gun safety and reducing the threat of gun violence without 
impinging on the rights of legitimate owners.
  As NBC News recently reported, more Americans have died from gunshots 
in the last 50 years than in all the wars in America's history. Since 
1968, more than 1.5 million Americans have died in gun-related 
incidents, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention.
  I have also cosponsored the Background Check Expansion Act, 
introduced by Senator Murphy. This bill would expand Federal background 
checks to cover the sale and transfer of all firearms by private 
sellers, just as licensed dealers are required to do so under the 
existing Brady law, with certain limited exceptions.
  Under current law, unlicensed or private sellers are not required to 
conduct a background check prior to transferring a firearm. This is 
outrageous, and Congress should act right now to close this dangerous 
loophole. It should not matter whether you buy a gun at a local gun 
store or a gun show or the internet--you should have to pass a basic 
background check to make sure the guns are kept out of the hands of 
people who should never have one.
  Congress has an obligation to act. As I have indicated before, we 
need to act. Inaction is not an option. Many of our States have acted 
as well, including my own State of Maryland, but we need a national law 
that applies to all 50 States to ban bump stocks, prohibit the sale or 
transfer of high-capacity magazine clips, eliminate the private 
ownership of assault-type weapons, and require universal background 
checks for all purchasers.
  The time for action is now. We cannot wait. Congress should come 
together and address the real problem, which is lax gun safety laws, 
and should pass commonsense gun safety measures to protect all 
Americans. Let's not wait for the next mass shooting, when we send our 
thoughts and prayers to victims and then stand by and pretend we are 
helpless and powerless to prevent another tragedy. Let's take action 
now.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). The Senator from North Dakota.

                          ____________________