February 23, 2018

Duckworth Statement on Gun Violence

 

[CHICAGO, IL] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement on gun violence:

“I’m proud to join the brave young survivors of last week’s mass shooting in calling for something more than thoughts and prayers. Pragmatic, bipartisan solutions do exist—the bills are already written—and Congress can act, as it has in the past, to protect our children from all sorts of things that could kill them. Car-seats, lead-free gasoline, raising the legal drinking age—these are all things Congress has implemented to save our children. There is no reason we cannot decrease the lethality of firearms available to civilians or prohibit devices that essentially turn legal firearms into illegal, fully-automatic weapons.

“That’s why I was part of the 2016 House Floor sit-in on gun violence, supported Senator Feinstein’s bill to prevent the sale of bump stocks and helped introduce the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017 as well as bills to ensure universal background checks. These are bills I would vote for today, would have voted for last week and will vote for any time Republican leaders in Congress finally realize there are too many victims of needless gun violence. Unfortunately, there are only two individuals with control over what we vote on—the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate and the Speaker of the House. However, I can promise that I am ready to vote yes on these commonsense proposals if the Republican Leadership in Congress agrees to allow a vote.”