[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17755]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      COMMONSENSE GUN SAFETY LAWS

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, yesterday my office hosted the Brady 
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and I met with families whose lives 
have been devastated by gun violence, families who lost loved ones in 
Columbine, at Virginia Tech, at Aurora, and in other incidents. No 
words of mine could ever match the pain that these families felt as a 
result of these losses.
  The recent tragedy in Newtown, unfortunately, is the most recent in a 
long series of mass killings involving guns. But this incident is 
especially horrific because it involved the slaughter of 20 innocent 
children and their teachers. This must mark a turning point in the 
debate over commonsense gun safety laws. It's critical for lawmakers on 
both sides of the aisle to commit themselves to do everything we can to 
end this violence because commonsense gun laws aren't Democratic values 
or Republican values; they're American values. And if our values as 
Americans mean anything at all, then surely all Americans are entitled 
to enjoy their lives and live in neighborhoods that are safe and free 
from gun violence.
  There is lots of talk about a national conversation, beginning a 
dialogue. The time for talking is over. Now we must act: banning 
assault weapons and high-capacity assault clips, fixing our criminal 
background check system, and closing loopholes that allow 40 percent of 
gun sales to go forward without background checks.

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