Protecting Our Kids Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Protecting Our Kids Act, legislation in response to the gun violence that is affecting our communities, especially our children.
Mr. Speaker, our communities continue to be ripped apart by gun violence. In the high-profile recent mass shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX shootings, 31 lives were lost, and many more lives were tossed into turmoil because of the actions of armed individuals. It is too easy for guns to end up in the wrong hands.
According to the Washington Post, there have been 61 mass shootings in the month of May alone. It is important that we protect our children and our communities from gun violence.
What is more important than protecting our children? Which is why I again call on the Senate to act on the commonsense legislation the House has already passed to expand background checks (H.R. 8) and our bill to close the Charleston loophole to help keep guns out of the hands of prohibited buyers.
And this week, the House will consider legislation to put in place effective and commonsense protections that can help stop gun violence and contribute to safer communities.
This includes the bill on the floor today that would bar those are under the age 21 from purchasing semiautomatic rifles. The legislation would also largely bar the sale, transfer, or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, create new gun trafficking penalties including for straw purchasers who buy guns to pass on to someone who is prohibited from having one, and would strengthen regulations against hard to trace ``ghost guns'' that are turning up at more and more crime scenes in our communities.
We must do everything in our power to protect our children. Our children must be able to feel safe in their classrooms. Or the movie theater. Or in their place of worship. Our seniors and others must feel safe to go to the grocery store.
This legislation is a start. But there is more that we can and must do, including increasing investments in our children and communities such as my bill to provide grants to community-based organizations to provide deescalation training to help keep conflicts from turning violence or escalating in the first place.
I urge support of this bill.
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