[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 92 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
(Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize National Gun Violence
Awareness Month and the 33,000 American lives lost each year to gun
violence.
These tragedies are preventable, Mr. Speaker, and it is truly
shameful that Congress has yet to take meaningful action to address
this epidemic. Even more appalling is the fact that 1,300 of these
deaths are children, young lives cut short by meaningless and avoidable
violence.
Last month I introduced the Child Gun Access Prevention Act, which
would prevent children from accessing guns by holding gun owners
responsible when they leave their firearms unlocked.
Millions of children live in homes with unsecured guns, Mr. Speaker,
and they are at an increased risk of unintentional shootings and youth
suicides. We have also seen the devastation caused when a child takes a
parent's gun to school with the intention of causing harm. A child
should never access a gun unsupervised.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense
legislation. We absolutely must do more to protect our children from
gun violence.
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