[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15310]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        LAS VEGAS MASS SHOOTING

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to voice my support for 
the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas.
  This mass shooting was the worst in our Nation's history. There are 
more than 50 dead and more than 500 wounded.
  It should shock every American that one individual, with easy access 
to weapons and ammunition, can inflict such devastation.
  Sadly, it was only a little more than a year ago that we also 
experienced what had then been the worst mass shooting in our Nation's 
history. That was when 49 people who were enjoying an evening of 
dancing with friends and loved ones were massacred in Orlando.
  Just 6 months before that, 14 people were killed and more than 20 
injured in San Bernardino.
  Two years ago, on October 1, 2015, an assistant professor and eight 
students were murdered at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR.
  In 2013, 12 people were fatally shot at the Navy Yard, less than 2 
miles from where I stand today.
  On December 14, 2012, 20 children had their lives taken at Sandy Hook 
Elementary School.
  These massacres have not and will not stop unless we do something. I 
believe we must acknowledge that these shootings are possible because 
of our Nation's weak gun laws.
  Our laws permit criminal and domestic abusers to easily obtain 
weapons at gunshows and on the internet without a basic background 
check.
  We know background checks work. States that require background checks 
on private handgun sales see fewer women killed by their partners and 
fewer law enforcement officers killed with handguns.
  It is time we expand background checks to cover sales at gunshows and 
on the Internet.
  We are still learning about what happened in Las Vegas, but we do 
know that the shooter had more than 10 rifles in his hotel room and 
that he may have used an assault weapon.
  Today in the United States, military-style assault weapons may be 
sold legally to civilians. Assault weapons are not needed for either 
hunting or self-defense.
  They are weapons of war designed to kill large numbers of people in 
close quarters.
  This is not sustainable--and the public agrees. Just last year, a 
poll showed that 57 percent of Americans favor a ban on assault 
weapons.
  In fact, from 1994 and 2004, we had laws that prohibited anyone from 
getting an assault weapon. I believed then and I believe now that those 
laws made all of us safer.
  Unfortunately, right when the positive effects of those laws were 
taking effect, they were allowed to expire. Now, time and again, we 
have felt the costs of our inaction.
  It is time that we finally take steps to ensure that other 
communities do not experience the pain that Sandy Hook, Washington, San 
Bernardino, Roseburg, Orlando, and now Las Vegas have gone through.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in remembering the victims of this 
attack and will support legislation to prevent any of us from once 
again having to rise to remember what will be another worst mass 
shooting in our Nation's history.

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