[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 22, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  (Mr. HASTINGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague, Brad Schneider, just 
said, yesterday we held a moment of silence for those who were killed 
at Santa Fe High School. I have relatives and their children who live 
in Parkland, so these kinds of shootings affect us all.
  Everybody in this country knows that we have a gun epidemic in this 
country. We also know that we have a severe mental health crisis in our 
Nation. In my opinion, it is morally unjust for this Congress to do 
nothing.
  I own a gun. I believe in the Second Amendment. I would stand toe-to-
toe with anyone who would urge that we take guns away from people, but 
I will stand with anyone who says that assault weapons should only be 
in the hands of military and police.
  I cannot understand how we continue to have these moments of silence 
and return to doing nothing. We don't have all of the answers, but we 
do have some of the answers, and to do nothing is morally bankrupt and 
legislative malpractice.

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