"I just want to say that my heart goes out to the families, the victims, and the survivors of this tragedy, and the tragedies that we have seen this year and prior years [from] deaths at the hands of shooters because of gun violence. It's horrific. It just reminds me, and should remind everyone, that there are no more safe places for us to go or for us to send our children…If not this, what next do we have to see and witness before Congress, before …Republicans get their act together and work with us to pass gun reform legislation?”
“I am a legislator from California. We have some of the strictest gun reform laws on the books, and it does not matter if it does not come with it a Federal, national counterpart… I’m in a very deep blue seat, and constituents far and wide ask me am I willing to work bipartisanly on issues that they care about, like gun violence reform. And that's exactly what I did. I joined on to the [Gun Violence Prevention Task Force]. It is a working committee, a working caucus, and I've been talking to Republicans. I've been spending my days on the [House] Floor talking to Republicans, asking them what it will take to bring them to the table…so that we can pass legislation that is bipartisan? You know, Democrats are not in the [House] Majority, or else we would've already done this.”
“[Republicans] say 'I am interested in more red flag laws, I am interested in background checks, [or that] there are certain people that shouldn't have access to guns at all.' Okay, then, get up off your ass and come to the meeting, and let’s talk about what it will take to get you to sign on to a bill or to vote for it… They have to find the courage within their own party to stand up and say this is an issue that we have to tackle and fix, and we cannot just blame it on folks who have mental health issues and blame it on folks who have substance abuse issues because they are not the only ones contributing to this kind of devastation.”
“We've had close to 200 mass shootings this year. Gun violence is the number one killer of teens and children in our country. We have unfettered access to guns, compounded by a mental health tsunami, but also triggered by aggression and hate. So, what you’re also not seeing…are Republicans talking about the vitriol, the hate, the aggression that they are promoting as well. We have got to, like I said, stop silencing and expelling gun reform advocates who are in state legislatures talking about this issue and get to a point where we can have honest conversations about guns and the Second Amendment…We’re solving problems with hate. We are solving problems with guns. We are solving problems with mass shootings. That is not what a democracy should look like, and that is not what America should be turning into. We have an obligation to stand up and talk about these issues, and push, and push, and push Republicans to get it together and wake up to the deaths and the tragedies that are happening in communities across this country.” # # # |
