[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 123 (Wednesday, July 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4887-S4888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1916

  Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further 
consideration of S. 1916 and the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration; further, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

[[Page S4888]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DURBIN. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Let me say, initially, I did not mention the issue of the 
source of crime guns in Illinois. The Senator from Indiana raised it. 
And since he did, I want to make a record of it
  When we trace the crime guns in Illinois, we find an alarming 
percentage of them coming from gun shows in your State right next to 
Illinois. The bad guys get on the Skyway, drive over to northwest 
Indiana gun shows and buy guns at those shows without background checks 
and come back and commit crime in Chicago and other neighborhoods.
  That is a fact. You may not like it; I certainly don't like it. But 
we ought to be doing something about that instead of worrying about the 
gun manufacturers and the gun salesmen and whether or not they are 
going to get special treatment from this Agency.
  But let me address the second matter that is before us, and this is 
Senator Braun's request for S. 1916, Protecting the Right to Keep and 
Bear Arms. I want to set the record straight at the outset. Current 
Federal law, the Stafford Act, prohibits the Federal Government from 
seizing lawfully owned guns during a period of a major disaster or 
emergency. It is on the books. That is the law.
  The Stafford Act is also clear that during a major disaster 
emergency, the Federal Government is prohibited from creating new 
registration requirements for guns, new prohibitions on gun possession, 
or new prohibitions on the lawful carrying of firearms. That is on the 
books already. So current law already protects guns that people own 
legally during periods of disaster or emergency. But the Senator's bill 
goes much further than that.
  Section 4 of the bill would amend the Stafford Act--get this--to say 
that the Federal Government also cannot prohibit the manufacture or 
sale or transfer of guns or ammunition during a disaster or emergency. 
There are several problems with this.
  First, current law has exceptions that allow the government to 
continue enforcing laws already on the books during a disaster. This 
includes laws that prohibit convicted felons from possessing guns. Your 
bill does not make that exception. I am sure you don't want to do that. 
I hope you will look at your bill. In other words, under the bill, as I 
read it, during a major disaster or emergency, the government would be 
barred from any prohibition of gun sales, even from enforcing the 
current prohibition on the sale of guns to convicted felons.
  That doesn't make sense. I am sure that is not what want you want to 
do, but that is what your bill says. I hope it is not what you 
intended, and I am sure it is not. So please look at it carefully.
  There are also legitimate reasons why the government might need to 
temporarily prohibit guns being sold in a disaster area. Here is 
something that is not outlandish. Suppose the background check system 
has been knocked offline in a disaster area. We wouldn't want felons 
taking advantage of that situation to walk into a gun dealer and buy 
guns that they are ineligible to buy.
  Current law ensures that the government can't take anyone's lawfully 
owned guns away from them during a disaster, but there is no clear 
justification for granting untouchable status to gun sales during the 
disaster. This bill needs some work. I hope we will not pass it in a 
hasty manner. And in light of these and other concerns, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Illinois