[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2453-S2454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Gun Violence

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as our Nation celebrated on July 4th, our 
birthday, with festive block parties, in one example in Baltimore, it 
turned into tragic gun violence in our own backyards and across the 
country.
  It has been a deadly summer so far, and we have only made it to the 
middle of July. In my home State of Maryland, in Salisbury, 14-year-old 
Xavier Cordei Maddox was killed and six others injured during an 
overnight July 4th block party.
  It came just after a horrific mass shooting on July 1st at an annual 
block party in the South Baltimore Brooklyn neighborhood, which claimed 
the lives of a young man and a young woman, while injuring 28 others, 
many of whom are teenagers. Twenty-year-old Kylis Fagbemi died at an 
area hospital, and 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez was pronounced dead at 
the scene.
  Just weeks before the shooting, Gonzalez graduated from Glen Burnie 
High School in Anne Arundel County. Gonzalez had recently decided to 
enroll at Anne Arundel Community College to stay closer to her family, 
according to news reports. Now she is dead.
  I joined Governor Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott in a 
visit to the Brooklyn neighborhood on Independence Day. As I said at 
that time, this is a dark moment for our community and our country. 
People who shouldn't have guns have guns, and they are causing 
irreversible harm.
  Public safety always must be our top priority. Sympathy and words are 
not enough. A comprehensive approach to reducing violence includes 
cracking down on illegal guns, many of which flow from other States 
into Maryland. We must also enact stricter regulations on legal gun 
purchases.
  Mayor Scott of Baltimore summarized the need for action:

       You're talking about a country where it's easier for a 14-
     year-old kid to order pieces to put a gun together and go out 
     and use it and commit a crime than it is for me to get 
     Claritin D from CVS. That's what we should be talking about 
     every day in this country.

  Maryland has been working on this. The general assembly, with 
Governor Moore's signature, recently enacted legislation in Annapolis 
to strengthen gun safety rules regarding carrying concealed weapons, 
restrict the carrying of firearms in sensitive locations such as 
schools and healthcare facilities, strengthen safe storage requirements 
for firearms, and raise the age from 18 to 21 to qualify for a handgun 
permit.
  Following the Brooklyn shooting, Mayor Scott stood up a coordinated 
neighborhood stabilization response within the community under the 
auspices of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. 
This response focused on addressing trauma and stabilizing the 
neighborhood, in partnership with community-based organizations and 
city agencies.
  Our Federal partners also have been working to make Baltimore safer, 
with a focus on reducing violent crime and the homicide rate, 
particularly gun crime. U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek 
Barron recently noted that overall homicides and nonfatal shootings in 
Baltimore are continuing to trend down significantly. While this is 
little consolation to the victims of the recent shootings and their 
families, as of the half-year mark in 2023, homicides were down over 22 
percent and nonfatal shootings were down over 12 percent.
  In Congress, our Maryland delegation has worked to increase resources 
and investments to improve public safety in Baltimore and throughout 
our State. This has included direct resources to local governments, 
community organizations, colleges, universities, and others.
  I have introduced bipartisan legislation to end cyclical violence and 
protect crime victims and have sponsored legislation that boosts 
Federal assistance for State and local witness protection programs. I 
continue to urge the U.S. Justice Department to provide additional 
resources to combat violent crime in Baltimore and throughout the State 
of Maryland.
  It is important to understand that the horrific and seemingly endless 
instances of gun violence are not limited to our State. Sadly, over the 
July 4th holiday, there were at least 538 shootings, in which 199 
people were shot and killed, and 520 were shot and wounded, across a 
total of 43 States and the District of Columbia. This is a national 
problem that must be addressed at the Federal level in conjunction with 
State and local measures.
  President Biden is correct that we have the power to make a change 
and end the cycle of violence caused by guns in our society. He 
recently stated that ``as we have seen over the last few days, much 
more must be done . . . across America to address the epidemic of gun 
violence that is tearing our communities apart.''
  When I heard that half the victims in the Brooklyn shooting were 
under 18 years old, it bought back memories of last summer when a 
masked shooter in Uvalde, TX, killed 19 children and 2 teachers.
  Following that tragedy, Congress formed a bipartisan working group 
and within a month of the shooting passed the Bipartisan Safer 
Communities Act. President Biden signed this legislation

[[Page S2454]]

into law, which finally broke the decades-long gridlock on gun safety 
legislation. It is already making a difference with increased funding 
for community violence intervention and prevention initiatives, 
including some underway in Baltimore.
  The new law strengthens protections for victims of domestic violence 
by adding convicted domestic violence abusers to background checks. It 
creates a new source of funding for States to implement ``red flag'' 
laws, which help to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous 
individuals who should not have access to a firearm. It cracks down on 
criminals who try to evade licensing requirements and makes clear which 
gun sellers need to register, conduct background checks, and keep 
appropriate records. It also strengthens the background check process 
for those under 21 years of age seeking to buy firearms by ensuring 
that officials have access to juvenile and mental health records.
  Importantly, in July 2022, shortly after the passing of this historic 
gun safety legislation, the Senate--I will acknowledge that 
unfortunately it was on a party-line vote--finally confirmed Steven 
Dettelbach to be the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives, ATF. The ATF had not had a permanent Senate-
confirmed Director since 2015, due in part to lobbying by the National 
Rifle Association to keep this position vacant. The ATF now has a 
permanent leader in place who can carry out its critical mission to 
stem the illegal use and trafficking of firearms among other important 
priorities.
  There is no single solution to this deadly problem. We have to attack 
this from all directions until our children and our neighbors stop 
being shot. In addition to battling the scourge of illegal weapons and 
changing the mindset at the community level, there has to be--we have 
to end the knee-jerk reaction of every disagreement trying to be 
settled by the use of handguns.
  It is time--way past time--for Congress to pass commonsense 
additional legislation, such as renewing the assault weapons ban; 
requiring background checks for all gun sales, including unlicensed 
sellers; eliminating the Charleston loophole that allows for a sale to 
go forward if a check is not completed in 3 days; banning the 
importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of magazines 
that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition; raising the minimum age 
for assault weapon purchases from 18 to 21; requiring the safe storage 
of guns; and ending gun manufacturers' immunity from liability.
  These are just a few additional examples we could do right here in 
the U.S. Congress and make a difference. As a community and as a 
Nation, we are not powerless to act. In fact, we have a responsibility 
to do something meaningful to save lives.
  Most Americans support commonsense gun safety action. Saving lives is 
the right thing to do, and it should never be partisan. Gun violence 
affects both urban and rural communities, and daily gun violence 
affects both large and small communities, even when it doesn't make the 
headlines.
  I urge my colleagues to take action now--not wait for another mass 
shooting--to break this ongoing cycle of violence in so many of our 
neighborhoods and communities.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

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