[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15398-15399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         STOPPING GUN VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Schneider) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today heartbroken and bone weary 
from the gun violence that continues to wrack our country. Just this 
year alone there have been 273 mass shootings, shootings with four or 
more victims. Every day we read of another child tragically lost.
  Our Nation awoke yesterday to the horrifying news of yet another mass 
shooting, this time in Las Vegas. It is once more now the worst 
shooting in our Nation's history. This violence sears our hearts and 
leaves countless families forever tragically changed.
  I extend my sincere condolences to all those who lost loved ones and 
send prayers of recovery to those wounded. Please know that the 
American people are grieving with you.
  I am incredibly grateful for the extraordinary professionalism and 
bravery of law enforcement and first responders during this attack. But 
our words and prayers are not sufficient for the people of Las Vegas or 
the other victims of daily gun violence across our country. We owe them 
more. We must come together to tackle this epidemic with action. Enough 
is enough.
  There is no one single solution to the gun violence now, nor are 
there any easy answers, but that must not stop us from making progress 
where we can. Incredibly, however, this body is set to consider rolling 
back some of the commonsense regulations we already have in place for 
gun safety.
  It is inconceivable to me that this House is preparing to vote on 
legislation to weaken restrictions on the sale of silencers. Such sound 
suppressors make it more difficult for law enforcement officers to 
identify the point source of a weapon and to react to protect our 
public.
  Why are we considering a bill that makes firearms more deadly and 
makes it more difficult for police to respond?
  But that is not all. There is also a proposal to weaken State 
concealed carry laws with national reciprocity.
  This dangerous legislation would undermine local safety laws and deny 
States their right to establish their own concealed carry safety 
standards. Requiring States to accept the concealed standards of every 
other State will effectively create a dangerous race to the bottom and 
leave the least restrictive State law as the effective national 
standard.
  Mr. Speaker, we should be debating and voting on proposals that can 
reduce gun violence in our communities. We must not allow the 
difficulty of the path ahead prevent us from embracing solutions that 
move us in the right direction.
  Earlier this year, I introduced the Ghost Guns Are Guns bill with my 
colleague, Congressman Espaillat of New York. This bill will address 
the glaring loophole that allows gun buyers to bypass a background 
check by purchasing their weapons as unassembled kits online. These 
kits can be delivered to anyone's doorstep with all the parts needed to 
assemble a fully functioning, totally untraceable firearm.

[[Page 15399]]

  The Ghost Guns Are Guns Act simply says that these weapons should be 
regulated like other firearms and require a background check like other 
firearms. More than 9 out of 10 Americans support background checks. 
This bill is a commonsense step forward, and I urge my colleagues to 
join me in seeking its passage.
  We also face the problem of stolen guns. Last year alone, more than 
18,000 guns were lost or stolen from Federal firearm dealers. Many of 
these stolen weapons were later used in violent crimes. That is why I 
introduced the SECURE Firearm Storage Act, to require all Federal 
firearm licensees to securely store their inventory when not open for 
business.
  The Chicago Sun-Times said this bill was, ``so obviously right, it's 
hard to believe it is even necessary.'' I agree, and I invite my 
colleagues to join me in passing this bill as well.
  These are but two commonsense ideas. I am open to any and all ideas 
to make progress in reducing gun violence in our communities and 
helping make our communities safe--from universal background checks to 
making gun trafficking a Federal crime, to limiting access to high-
capacity magazines and military assault weapons.
  Enough is enough. We cannot allow this epidemic to continue. 
Together, we have the opportunity to save lives. I urge my colleagues 
to join me, and let's take this time to act.

                          ____________________