On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the floor of the Senate, saying that the Senate will address the issue of the “epidemic of gun violence” in America.
Referencing the shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people last week, as well as the shooting in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday that claimed the lives of 10 people, Schumer said: “We cannot seem to finish grieving one tragedy before another takes place. It is a reminder that we must confront a devastating truth in the United States: an unrelenting epidemic of gun violence steals innocent lives with alarming regularity.”
Schumer continued, “Even amidst the pandemic, gun violence has not receded. In fact, confoundingly, it is has grown even worse. 2020 was one of the deadliest years for gun violence in two decades, a reminder that most gun violence doesn’t even make headlines, but nonetheless causes immeasurable devastation to communities from one end of our country to the other. So we have a lot of work to do.”
He added, “I have already committed to bringing universal background checks legislation to the floor of the Senate. There is a hearing today in the Senate Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Durbin’s leadership, to examine several common-sense proposals to reduce gun violence.”
Schumer then pointed to previous Republican control of the senate, saying, “Two summers ago, the Republican Leader, then the Majority Leader, promised there would be a debate in the Senate on gun violence. But it never happened. It never happened. This Senate will be different. This Senate is going to debate and address the epidemic of gun violence in this country.”
He concluded, “Today our hearts are with the people of Colorado, and with everyone whose lives have been touched by gun violence.”
President Joe Biden has also weighed in on gun control reform measures since the shooting occurred, adding that he will honor the victims.
The Daily Wire reported:
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future,” Biden said.
“We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again,” he added. “I got that done when I was a senator. It passed, it was the law for the longest time and it brought down these mass killings. We should do it again.”
“This is not — it should not be — a partisan issue. This is an American issue,” Biden continued. “It will save lives, American lives. We have to act.”
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed bills regarding gun control reform. The Daily Wire reported that if they are signed into law, the bills “would mandate background checks on all gun purchases and extend the time federal officials may hold up a purchase to look into the buyer’s history.” While Democrats stated that the bills were needed in order to keep weapons away from criminals and stop mass shootings from occurring, opponents of the legislation have said “that neither bill would have stopped any of the most notorious mass shootings of recent history.”
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday that was scheduled before the shootings in Colorado and Georgia, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas took a strong stance against Democrats’ attempts to use the momentum of shootings in order to push legislation.
“Every time there’s a shooting, we play this ridiculous theater where this committee gets together and proposes a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop these murders,” Cruz said, according to The New York Times. “But what they propose — not only does it not reduce crime, it makes it worse.”
The gun control legislation previously passed by the House is now in the Senate where it is not expected to receive the 60 votes needed in order to make it through.