[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H1203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING FOR SENSIBLE GUN REFORM
(Mr. SOTO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, I do not rise today for another moment of
silence for Parkland, Florida, for the semiautomatic weapon and shooter
who wielded it already silenced 17 Floridians and injured countless
others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Instead, I rise to make their voices heard. I rise to call for action
on sensible gun reform. The Parkland shooter likely got his
semiautomatic weapon through a private sale or a gun show without a
background check, in spite of a record of mental health issues.
It is time to close that loophole. The Las Vegas shooter used a bump
stock to convert a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic weapon--which
is already illegal. Bump stocks should also be illegal.
Why is nothing happening? In my own home of Orlando, the shooter at
the Pulse nightclub was on the FBI watch list. Imagine if we passed no
fly, no buy and stopped that from happening.
Now is not the time for silence. Now is the time for action, and now
is time for solutions.
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