Gun Control Measures

Floor Speech

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Mr. COONS. Madam President, I come to the floor to recognize the critical moment that is before us as a country. We have an opportunity to make real progress on bipartisan gun reforms that will help keep our communities safer while respecting our treasured Second Amendment rights.

America's epidemic of gun violence continues to devastate communities and families across our Nation. Last month, in just August alone, mass shootings in El Paso, in Dayton, and in Odessa claimed the lives of more than 50 innocent Americans. Individual Americans, meanwhile, fall victim to gun violence every single day. Whether through suicide or homicide, they take far too many lives far too early. Just this past weekend, four Delawareans in my hometown were shot, and in 2017, up and down my home State, 111 Delawareans were killed by firearms. Guns are now the third leading cause of death for Delaware's children under age 17.

Folks, these are not just numbers; each gun death is a son, a daughter, a neighbor, a congregation member, or a friend.

In a recent meeting with Moms Demand Action in my office in Wilmington, I listened to young parents who were confronting for the first time the reality of active shooter drills in schools as they sent their children to school for the first time and had them come home and ask questions about why we as parents could not do more to keep them safe in school.

Viewing this ongoing crisis through the eyes of our children--those who are told to be quiet, to hide in a closet, to wait out a moment of sheer terror--is a reminder that our children are scared, that our families are scared, that our neighbors are scared, and that we can and must do more to address this epidemic.

Some of the most crucial steps we take must be taken at the Federal level. Yet, to make progress, the party that controls this body and this floor has to join hands with those of us in my party--those willing to work across the aisle in a responsible way--and lead. Frankly, more than anything else, as has been said by the Republican majority leader, President Trump needs to take a clear and firm position and stick to it. The American people deserve no less. If this body is going to take up and pass gun control legislation, it will require our President to lead.

I think bringing bipartisan bills to the floor here for a vote is a great place to start. I want to talk for a few minutes about one of those bills that I introduced with Republican Senator Pat Toomey, of the neighboring Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, called the NICS Denial Notification Act.

It has a simple objective. For those who are prohibited by law from owning a weapon--those who are convicted felons or who have been adjudicated mentally ill--but who go to a firearms dealer, fill out the background check form, lie on it, and say they are able to buy a gun but get denied, get turned down once that NICS background check is run, what do you think happens with that information? Where does the information go showing that convicted felons are trying to buy weapons once they have been denied?

In my home State, it goes nowhere. In 34 States, it goes nowhere. In States across the country, not just in Delaware but in New York, Kentucky, and Texas, local law enforcement may never learn about a convicted felon who is actively trying to buy a gun and who is often committing another offense by lying about it in that attempt. Our bill would fix that.

It requires Federal authorities to alert State law enforcement of any background check denial so State authorities can decide whether to investigate or to prosecute or to go and pay a visit to someone given this important and imminent sign of an intention to engage in criminal activity.

It also requires our Federal Department of Justice to publish an annual report with statistics about its prosecution of background check denial cases so we in Congress and so folks around the country can better enforce our existing gun laws.

What I hear, time and again in townhalls back home in Delaware, is that folks want us to enforce our existing gun laws more thoroughly and more wisely, and that is exactly what this proposal would do.

In Delaware, I have met with and heard from law enforcement leaders up and down our State. The chiefs of police from our State police, our county police, and our municipal police have uniformly said they would welcome the information of those convicted felons in their towns, in their counties, or in our State who are trying to get their hands on guns.

At a hearing back in May in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Lindsey Graham said this proposal was a painfully obvious bipartisan bill that we should take up and pass. He has committed to me that he would like to see it pass committee. There are a lot of other Senators who agree, not just Democrats like Senators Duckworth, Jones, and Klobuchar but also friends from across the aisle. Senators Perdue, Rubio, and Collins have joined in cosponsoring this, and I know there are other Senators who are eager or who are willing to join in the days ahead. The NICS Denial Notification Act is exactly the sort of commonsense, narrowly crafted bipartisan bill that would pass the Senate tomorrow if Leader McConnell would bring it to the floor for a vote.

Simply put, bills like this and bills such as we discussed at that hearing on the Committee on the Judiciary regarding extreme risk protection orders provide an appropriate way for there to be due process protections for demonstrably mentally ill individuals who threaten harm to others by having their guns removed from them for a brief period or for there to be universal background checks, such as legislation that advanced in the House 6 months ago on a bipartisan basis. These sorts of proposals can help to keep guns away from people who should not have them.

It is clear to me, from poll after poll, survey after survey, and tragic story after tragic story, that the American people want us to act, and they want us to act on background checks. We should vote on the Senate companion to H.R. 8. It is long past time for our leader, the majority leader, to join with the majority of the country and put that bill on the Senate floor.

Just last week, the House Committee on the Judiciary passed the Keep Americans Safe Act, which would prohibit the high-capacity magazines that have been used in so many of these recent, tragic mass shootings. If the leader were to bring this to the floor and it were to pass, it, along with all of the other bills I just referenced, would help to save lives.

It is my hope that our President will see this moment as an opportunity for real leadership and will listen to the majority of Americans, the majority of Democrats, the majority of Republicans, and the majority of gun owners who would like to see us act in a responsible and bipartisan way in order to reduce the easy access criminals have to guns and will take an important step forward in making our country, our schools, our communities, and our families safe.

What I hear back home in Delaware is that the overwhelming majority of Americans are sick and tired of our thoughts and prayers after every shooting. They would be so much more inspired if we actually took the risk of enacting legislation together. I think it is long past time for us to do just that, and I hope we will in the days ahead.

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