[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 181 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7051-S7052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Gun Violence

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, we are here in the wake of yet another 
senseless mass shooting. Again, we continue to watch in horror a 
community torn apart and families seeking solace and comfort, loved 
ones deprived of people close to them forever. We know about that 
feeling in Connecticut because we had been through it in Sandy Hook 
just 5 years ago, almost to the month. Next month will be the fifth 
anniversary.
  Every day in America in communities across this great country, there 
are senseless similar acts of violence one by one, person by person. 
Every day there is a mass instance of people dying of gun violence. The 
danger is that this kind of incident will become a normal way of life 
in America. We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized. We cannot 
lose hope that action is possible. We cannot allow ourselves to succumb 
to this supposed normal. We cannot surrender to fear or complacency or 
hopelessness.
  Our hearts and prayers are with the brave souls who are enduring this 
unspeakable grief and pain. Again, we know about it in Connecticut 
because I remember well that afternoon at Sandy Hook and the days that 
followed when families hoped for numbness. They hoped that the rawness 
and unimaginable pain of that loss would leave. For some, it has 
lessened, but it will never go away for them or for the families in 
Texas or Orlando or San Bernardino or Virginia Tech. The list is a long 
one, and it should include those families in Hartford, New Haven, 
Stamford, Bridgeport and in other communities--not necessarily urban, 
but suburban and rural--around Connecticut and around the country that 
have endured this same grief.

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  Numbness is not the answer. Action is the answer--honoring those 
victims by action. That honor is never too soon. That sense of grief 
will never go away. As much as our hearts and prayers go out to those 
families, we must also honor them with action.
  Our reaction is not necessarily aimed at the last shooting or the 
last death by gun violence. It should prevent the future ones. The trap 
of the gun lobbyists is to say: Well, what you are proposing wouldn't 
have prevented what happened last Sunday in Sutherland Springs, TX. But 
we do know that 26 people might be alive today if the U.S. Air Force 
had done its job. Twenty-six people might be alive today if the U.S. 
Air Force had reported this conviction by court-martial of the shooter 
to the NICS background system. Twenty-six people might be alive today 
if the U.S. Air Force had followed the law.
  There is a law that requires this reporting. It was passed in 2007. 
It requires all courts and all jurisdictions to make that reporting.
  The law here is also clear that the shooter never should have had 
access to firearms. There are laws on the books right now specifically 
designed to help prevent dangerous individuals with criminal records of 
exactly this kind from getting their hands on guns, and that includes 
anyone who has a domestic violence conviction in any court, including 
military court.
  As the author of that legislation, Frank Lautenberg, said at the 
time: It is a very simple principle. Wife beaters and child abusers 
should not have guns. The statistics bear out that principle now more 
than they did ever before. The mix of guns and domestic violence is a 
toxic one. Fifty-five percent of all homicides against women occur 
during domestic violence disputes, and a woman is five times more 
likely to die during a domestic violence dispute if there are guns in 
the house.
  The law also prohibits anyone who has been dishonorably discharged 
from the military or convicted of an offense carrying a sentence of 
more than 1 year from buying a firearm.
  The Department of Defense has a clear legal obligation to have made 
that report. By the way, that obligation includes military court 
indictments as well as convictions, because they may disqualify someone 
from obtaining guns.
  We know today that the shooter in Sutherland Springs, TX, also was 
involuntarily committed to a mental health facility after sneaking guns 
onto an Air Force base and trying to kill his military superiors. That 
person should never have been anywhere near a firearm, let alone having 
the ability to buy one from a licensed firearm dealer, as apparently 
occurred.
  The Air Force's lapse is shocking and inexcusable. It is a lapse that 
may have contributed to, if not directly caused, that shooting because, 
otherwise, that shooter would have completely lacked access to the 
firearms he used so lethally.
  The American people deserve to know why the gunman's conviction was 
not reported in the background check database. The American people also 
deserve to know what immediate steps the Department of Defense will 
take to ensure that every court-martial indictment or conviction is 
reported to the FBI when they disqualify someone from accessing guns.
  The American people deserve action. So I have written to the Defense 
Secretary James Mattis urging him to take immediate action to ensure 
that guns are prevented from falling into the wrong hands. That means 
taking specific, concrete steps to identify an individual whose 
convictions and court-martial disqualify them from obtaining a gun and 
making sure those records are submitted to the FBI. I want to know what 
system there will be for identifying those convictions.
  I am also planning to introduce legislation because enforcement of 
that law should be done and reemphasized and reinforced so that there 
is no question in any mind of anyone in the military about their 
obligation. They must ensure that people who are convicted of 
disqualifying offenses in military courts are reported to the national 
background check database so they are prevented from having access to 
these firearms by purchasing them from licensed firearms dealers.
  As of now, the background check law applies only to those licensed 
dealers. We need to extend it to include all firearms sales. We need 
other commonsense measures to prevent and stop gun violence, but at 
least the military can be compelled to honor this obligation. I know 
its heart is in the right place, and I know they will diligently reform 
what they need to do largely on their own because they recognize that 
obligation.
  We have an obligation, as well, to enforce all of these laws more 
diligently. As a law enforcement person, one who was the State attorney 
general for 20 years and the U.S. attorney before then, I am proud of 
the State of Connecticut for classifying domestic offenses so they can 
be disqualifying under the law. Connecticut is only one of a handful--
perhaps three States--that have that disqualifying classification, so 
the States need to do better as well.
  The simple, commonsense fixes to help enforce laws that are already 
on the books to keep America safe will enable the law to be real and 
effective. If it is unenforced, it is dead letter. It must be enforced. 
We need better enforcement, and we also need better laws.
  I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join in this 
effort, and I hope this new legislation will be bipartisan, just as we 
grieve together regardless of party.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I first wish to thank my friend, the 
distinguished Senator from Connecticut, for his very important words.