On Wednesday, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) held a press conference outside the Capitol building about the gun violence prevention legislation.
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00:00Good afternoon everyone. I'm grateful to stand alongside so many champions of
00:10public safety and common sense gun violence prevention and with my
00:14colleagues who will be helping to lead this important legislation. Thank you to
00:18Senator Murphy and Senator Padilla for being here, two great champions for
00:23safer communities. Senator Blumenthal, our other co-lead, is another tireless
00:28champion of gun safety and he will be joining us as well. And to the members
00:33from Giffords, Brady, United Against Gun Violence, and Newtown Action Alliance, I
00:37thank you. These organizations started in honor of survivors of horrific gun
00:42violence have done absolutely tremendous work. We have three brave young people,
00:48survivors of horrific mass shootings that took place at their schools during their
00:54childhood and we are grateful to have their voices and their stories here
00:58today. I'm also very proud to be partnering with Congresswoman Lucy
01:04McBath, one of the foremost champions of gun violence prevention, not just in
01:09Congress, but now I think in American history. With remarkable fortitude, she has
01:15turned her pain into purpose, leading the charge to make our communities safer in
01:21honor of her son's memory. It is my privilege to stand here as California's
01:26new ascendant senator with my senior colleague Alex Padilla to help take up
01:32the torch from one of history's other great champions of gun safety, a mentor and
01:38predecessor, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. Her advocacy on this issue was
01:44legendary, but she wasn't just a champion for protecting communities from gun
01:48violence. She is one of the lawmakers who helped prove to all of us that it was
01:53possible to deliver results. I want to take you back in time to the origins of
01:58this legislation and Senator Feinstein's legacy. 36 years ago in Stockton,
02:03California, a 24 year old man walked into Cleveland Elementary School with a
02:08semi-automatic rifle and shot 36 people, all but one of them children, before taking
02:14his own life. Five children were murdered that morning in Stockton. The oldest was
02:19nine years old. The youngest was only six. This was before Columbine, before Sandy
02:25Hook, before Parkland. This was at a time the deadliest shooting at a school in
02:32American history. And sadly, this was also at a time when politics did not get in the
02:37way of the obvious reaction that any lawmakers should have had in the face of this
02:42tragedy. Four months after this horrific shooting, my great state of California led
02:47the nation by becoming the first state to create a law prohibiting ownership of an
02:52assault weapon like the one that was used that day to murder young innocent
02:57school kids. This is how public policy is supposed to work. In the face of
03:02tragedy, those whose responsibility is to make laws to protect our society must
03:08ensure that steps are taken to protect that heartbreak from repeating. Senator Feinstein
03:14knew this. She had firsthand experience in the wake of gun violence when her colleagues,
03:19Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, were murdered mere yards away at San Francisco
03:25City Hall. Senator Feinstein took the inspiration of that tragedy in Stockton and California's action
03:33to the Senate. And within five years, the United States would follow suit, passing the first and
03:39ever only ever ban on assault weapons in 1994. The result in the 10 years that it was in effect
03:47is clear. An American's likelihood to die in mass shootings fell by 70 percent, 70 percent. Gun massacres
03:57rose 239 percent. The assault weapon, the assault weapons ban saved lives. There is no escaping that fact. And the time since Stockton and since that federal ban expired, we have seen sadly the reality of gun violence only
04:15deepen in America. We have seen the AR-15 and copycat weapons become the weapons of choice for those wishing to do harm. We have seen mass shootings become so frequent that sometimes they fail to even register with the public. Perhaps the most damning indictment is the most
04:33examples of where we are now is the clear reality that our children now live within, and
04:46how normalized that has become. We have seen mass shootings become so frequent, that sometimes they fail to even register with the public. Perhaps the most damning indictment of
04:52where we are now is the current clear reality that our childern now live with, and how normalized that has become. Where previous generations had to duck and cover or stop, drop and roll, this generation knows
05:02to lock the door turn off the lights and text their parents without making a sound consider this
05:09there were college students who survived this month's shooting at florida state university
05:15who are high school students in parkland these students had already survived the
05:19deadliest high school shooting in our history this is the sad legacy we are leaving this generation
05:26they've been raised to expect now that washington will do nothing to stop these killers and these
05:33killings that thoughts and prayers is the best that those in power can manage for our kids for our
05:42communities we cannot let that be so we must continue to keep the pressure on to build on the
05:49success we found in the last administration to find common ground on gun safety and to remind people
05:55that this common sense measure has already proven to save lives before we cannot allow another
06:02student another family another community to become the next in that horrible club that includes
06:09stockton san bernardino thousand oaks monterey park poway fresno and far too many other communities
06:18in california and across the country the time to act on this life-saving legislation is now
06:25not tomorrow not next week and not when the next tragedy strikes i now turn over the microphone
06:31to the great champion for ending gun violence in america congresswoman lucy mcbath
06:42well thank you so much senator schiff and we really really do miss you over in the house but
06:47we're so grateful that we continue to have champions like these that are standing with me
06:53in the senate and we promise that we will do everything that we can in our power in the house
06:58to combat these egregious pieces of legislation that are going forth so that we can save lives because
07:04we know that we have our champions in the senate and we're grateful for you good afternoon everyone
07:11i am really honored to be with you today i'd like to thank senator schiff and senator murphy
07:17senator blumenthal and senator padilla for their support for gun safety legislation in the senate
07:25and for joining me here today i also want to thank the more than 100 house members who have signed on
07:33as an original co-sponsors of our bill and each of you who are here to cover today's
07:41reintroduction of this really really critical and important legislation at a time when we are fighting
07:50on countless fronts against attacks from the trump administration we must not lose focus on our mission
08:00to end gun violence here in america and to save lives i came to congress
08:08congress because i lost my son due to gun violence the senseless act of gun violence
08:19in my advocacy to prevent more of these tragedies from happening i've met scores and scores and scores of
08:29of survivors and heard story after story of the change that we need because of the carnage of assault weapons
08:41and the harm and the damage that they cause all too frequently these are the weapons of choice
08:50for school shooters in america and they are disturbingly easy to access this is uniquely an american problem
09:04assault weapons were designed for one purpose only to carry out massive lethal attacks by sustained
09:14rapid fire shooting in just a very short period of time truly these are weapons of war made for simply the
09:26battlefield and not our streets not our schools not our communities too often we hear from gun safety
09:37opponents that partisanship is what prevents us from reinstating an assault weapons ban i'd like to remind
09:48those opponents that this is a policy on which president jimmy carter and ronald reagan shared the same opinion
09:58together with gerald ford these former presidents wrote congress in support of a federal assault
10:06weapons ban in may of 1994 and for the 10 years following this country had a bipartisan assault weapons ban on the books and it was working
10:23we have the data to show that this policy saved lives a 2019 study examined american mass shooting fatalities
10:34from 1981 to 2017 during the 10-year federal ban from 1994 to 2004 mass shooting fatalities just as it was stated moments ago
10:50were 70 percent less likely to occur so why why then do our republican colleagues continue to refuse to act
11:04this is the campaign support from the nra worth more than the lives of the very constituents that they swore an oath to protect and serve
11:19is fear of a political challenge an unacceptable answer to give to grieving parents who have lost their
11:27children in their children in a school shooting i challenge those who believe that this epidemic of gun violence is too great a challenge for our deliberative body to solve
11:42the republican majority has been mum in response to more than 100 daily gun deaths in our country
11:54more than 100 people in this country die every single day and they are silent and they have continued to dig their heels
12:05dig their heels in the ground while our families continue to be ripped apart
12:11we owe it to the american people to seek solutions
12:16to this problem to seek solutions to their pain and to the carnage into the broken families in the broken
12:24communities not hide behind the gun lobby and its waning influence
12:34as we reintroduce this legislation today we will continue to advocate for banning assault weapons
12:43to every legislator on this hill who will listen and for those who refuse to listen don't worry we are
12:51not backing down we know that a majority of the american people are on our side the polling the data the
13:00research shows that as long as these weapons of war remain a threat to our children and our classrooms
13:10and innocent civilians in grocery stores and civilians in our movie theaters and those in our houses of
13:17worship i refuse to stay quiet i owe my son that legacy and for all the families like myself that have lost
13:28loved ones due to the carnage of gun violence i promise you we will never back down and we will never stop
13:36fighting for you
13:43and now at this time it is my honor my privilege to introduce to you a champion of gun violence
13:49prevention senator murphy
13:54well lucy thank you so much you are a hero to so many of us and you are right to remind our
14:03opponents the gun lobby republicans who choose to continue to stay silent that we are never ever
14:08giving up this is the moral cause of our country to make sure that our children do not fear for their
14:14lives when they walk out their door every morning to walk to school or well while they sit in school
14:21it's really hard to explain the power of a modern assault weapon an ar-15 or an ar-15 variant the image that
14:30comes to mind for me is the image in the hallways of that school in uvalde texas inside a classroom was
14:40one frail young man with an assault weapon outside that classroom were 300 armed law enforcement guards
14:51and officers cowering afraid to open the door to that classroom because they feared not that young man
15:01but they feared the single weapon that he had in his hands one ar-15 up against 300 armed officers
15:12and the ar-15 won that day and there are dozens of children who are dead so we are here today to just
15:21tell you that we're not giving up this bill is important it will save lives you heard what
15:25happened for the 10-year period when this country came together on a bipartisan basis and decided to
15:31ban assault weapons but we continue to have proof after proof that when we change the laws to make
15:36it just a little bit harder for dangerous people to get their hands on dangerous weapons we save lives
15:41in 2022 after 30 years of the gun lobby running this place we fast we passed the first meaningful
15:48anti-gun violence legislation in three decades it included a provision that made it a little bit
15:53harder but meaningfully harder for young buyers to get their hands on assault weapons that effectively
16:00imposed a three-day waiting period it made a number of other meaningful changes in our gun laws and guess
16:05what has happened since we passed that law school shootings in this country have dropped by 23 percent mass
16:12shootings have dropped by 25 percent urban gun crime is down by 20 percent we have shown whether it be back
16:21in 1994 or in 2022 that when we pass common sense gun laws that still allow for law-abiding citizens to
16:32get their hands on a weapon to protect their home or to shoot for sport
16:35we save countless numbers of lives so we are going to keep pressing because not only is the assault
16:46weapons ban the right thing to do it is the popular thing to do every single year when you go into the
16:51field and ask americans what they think of an assault weapons ban of just making sure that these weapons
16:57designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible are solely in the hands of the military and law
17:03enforcement by increasing numbers they tell congress that it's time it's past time to stand up and do
17:09the right thing by our kids so i'm really glad to be here i thank senator schiff for spending the time
17:16to honor the work that diane feinstein did to bring us to this moment we have momentum to pass this bill
17:24in part because diane feinstein stood up to the gun lobby passed that bill in 1994 and we have the data
17:31we have the information at our hands to know that the assault weapons ban works so we stand in her very
17:38big shoes today we stand with literally hundreds of thousands of parents and students americans from
17:47every part of this country who say it's time it's time for us to put our kids before the profits of
17:53the gun lobby so thanks senator schiff thanks lucy for making this a reality making this a priority
18:00every single day i get to wake up and do this work with the man that i was standing next to in that
18:06firehouse in sandy hook a lot of things that we saw and heard that day we both wish we didn't see
18:13and hear but it changed both of our lives my senior senator senator dick blumenthal
18:20uh thank you thanks chris thank thank you senator murphy senator schiff uh
18:27uh chris is right we went through the heartbreaking trauma the sickening
18:36experience of going to the firehouse after that sandy hook massacre and meeting the parents
18:45of those children i had been involved in this issue since the early 1990s as attorney general to
18:52the state of connecticut when connecticut passed its assault weapon ban and it was attacked in the
19:00courts i went to court tried the case argued it in the state supreme court after we won it in the trial
19:06court and connecticut had an assault weapon ban but we all know that guns have no respect for state
19:16boundaries the strongest assault weapon ban by any state is no better than the weakest in another state
19:29and that's why we need this national law a national law will save lives and my thanks to senator murphy
19:41for championing the bipartisan safer community act we know from the numbers that he just gave you
19:50the numbers tell you these measures work keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people
19:57dangerous to themselves because they want to commit suicide or dangerous to others and you save lives
20:03but what is so searing and profound for me are the faces and voices of the victims in their name we need
20:14to honor their loss with action honor with action we can save lives if we take the lessons from the laws
20:27that have been passed and in connecticut where we have a stronger assault weapon ban we have ethan's law
20:35requiring safe storage we have a better background check bill we have a red flag statute the combination
20:47of these measures has reduced gun violence dramatically
20:53these laws work they save lives we ignore that lesson at our peril but more importantly at the peril of
21:05children and moms and dads and others who are the real victims and the trauma of assault weapon
21:15injuries and death is not just the individuals who are injured or killed it is also the trauma of seeing it of
21:30hearing about it of experiencing it when kids learn or watch it and that trauma seeps into the consciousness
21:42of america and affects all of us so i'm grateful to stand here with senator schiff thank you for
21:51continuing to champion this measure in the great tradition of dan feinstein and chuck schumer who has
22:00been an advocate of it staunch and steadfast and my hope is let me just say finally that this measure will in
22:09fact be bipartisan i know it sounds naive or futile but i still believe as i did back in the 1990s that
22:23gun violence prevention is not red or blue it is american and america is uniquely dangerous from gun violence
22:34among the industrialized countries we have higher rates of gun violence and deaths than any other
22:41major developed country and we need to make it bipartisan i feel that we will and i have the honor
22:50now of introducing senator schiff's partner in this effort uh senator alex padilla who has been
22:58an advocate for from his first days in the united states senate thank you alex for being here
23:07thank you senator blumenthal uh
23:11i think uh also thank my colleagues uh that are working so hard and diligently to reintroduce this
23:20assault weapons ban and we're going to keep fighting keep fighting keep fighting
23:25until we get it passed and signed back into law senator schiff my partner in california senators
23:32murphy and blumenthal representative mcbath thank you for your passion for your commitment and a big big
23:39thank you to all the gun safety advocates and survivors that are here bringing your stories to the halls of
23:47congress trying to appeal to the hearts and the minds of our republican colleagues
23:55senator blumenthal i'll tell you i've been committed since day one in the senate it's because
23:59of my background in the state of california which like connecticut has an assault weapons ban
24:06was the first in the nation decades ago as you heard from senator schiff
24:09and the numbers don't lie the assault weapon ban works fatalities are down because their lives have
24:19been saved the number of incidents have been reduced but as you pointed out state laws stop at the state
24:28line and as long as it's easy for someone in california to leave the state and bring back an assault
24:36weapon or somebody from a neighboring state to come to california with an assault weapon we're still at
24:43risk and so we need a national ban as we had once upon a time under the leadership of our predecessor
24:51senator feinstein we're at a point where each year a new town in america is added
25:01to a heartbreaking list a list that includes columbine newtown parkland uvalde monterey park and many many
25:17more now i stand here not just as a senator but as a proud father of three school-aged children
25:24it was troubling enough the first time one of my kids came home and i asked them so how was school
25:33today in california we're not unfamiliar with fire drills and earthquake drills
25:41but when a child comes home explaining to parents what an active shooter drill is at school
25:49it should make us all mad that that's what we are living in the united states of america in the year
25:582025. it doesn't have to be this way let alone the thought that there's been shootings in schools
26:10elsewhere in america and it can happen in your own community if it can happen anywhere in america
26:16america it can happen anywhere in america
26:23and when it happens
26:26our republican colleagues may offer their thoughts and prayers
26:33but sadly that's it they'll offer thoughts and prayers and then sit back and do nothing if they do
26:41anything it's they actively block our efforts like advancing an assault weapons ban and other common
26:49sense gun safety legislation the country deserves better and for those who hear the false argument that
26:58oh what about the second amendment this is not about the second amendment this is about saving lives
27:06and it's not that complicated as you've heard the the questions are actually very basic should military
27:17assault weapons be on the streets of our communities no should weapons of war be found in our grocery stores
27:27at concerts and houses of worship no
27:35are republican colleagues more loyal to the gun lobby
27:38or to the constituents that elected them to make their community safer
27:44so yes today we are proudly and adamantly putting the assault weapons ban
27:50back on the table because we know these bans can save lives
27:54we know they reduce the number of mass shootings and we know that if we fail to act
28:00more americans more children will die so we're calling on our republican colleagues please
28:08have the backbone have the courage to stand up and protect your constituents protect our communities
28:16have the courage to put people over profits
28:20and to all the advocates that are here and especially those who are watching at home
28:26please don't lose hope
28:31nearly three years ago under senator murphy's leadership we did pass the first gun safety
28:36legislation in three decades in america and we know full well we did not do it alone
28:42we did it because of your voices and your advocacy and your activism you made a difference then you're
28:50going to make a difference again so as long as we're willing to fight for our children
28:57we can't lose hope there is hope call your members of congress organize speak out we can and we must
29:05win this fight thank you very much so uh i wish that uh matt holden's story didn't exist um matt holden was
29:18in a nearby classroom in sandy oak elementary the morning of that shooting a story that he can tell
29:26but he remembers being told to be quiet huddled in a corner by the janitor as the gunman was just steps
29:34away he has chosen to take that trauma and demand change so we're really glad here today to be joined
29:44by a number of courageous advocates um including young men and women like matt who have been survivors
29:52of these mass shootings matt is currently a student at george washington university he has been a very
29:59active member of the newtown action alliance and i'd like you to give him a big warm welcome
30:09thank you i want to thank senator murphy for the introduction i want to thank everyone who came out
30:13today to show support for this cause it really does mean so much to us as survivors well like the senator
30:19said my name is matt holden i'm a student at george washington university an advisory board member of
30:23the newtown action alliance and i'm also a survivor of the sandy hook school shooting
30:2912 years ago when i was just six years old i hid in my first grade classroom as a gunman armed with an
30:35ar-15 in high capacity magazines hunted and murdered 20 of my friends and classmates and six of our teachers
30:43in less than five minutes i've spent every day since trying to live in a world that still allows those
30:51weapons of war to be sold legally to civilians a world where kids like me are expected to survive
30:59to grow up and to somehow carry this trauma like it's normal it is not normal what happened in my school
31:09should have been the moment this nation changed but it wasn't so survivors like me had to become the
31:15change alongside the families from newtown parkland uvali and other communities impacted by ar-15
31:21shootings i have walked the halls of congress we've shared our pain we have begged lawmakers to put lives
31:29before politics and in 2022 we helped pass the assault weapons ban through the house representatives
31:37we did that survivors did that not because we wanted to but because we had no choice
31:49today i want to thank senator schiff blumenthal murphy padilla and representative vic bath for
31:55reintroducing the assault weapons ban of 2025. this bill is the product of years of tireless organizing
32:03by people who lost everything and chose to turn their grief into action it honors the legacy of
32:11senator diane feinstein and it represents the strongest most comprehensive legislation we have
32:17to get weapons of war off our streets ar-15s do not belong in our homes or our schools high capacity magazines
32:27do not belong in our communities these are not tools of self-defense these are tools of mass murder we know
32:36it the gun industry knows it congress knows it i'm 18 now i go to class i study for finals i try to build a
32:48future for myself and my future family but every time i hear about another school shooting
32:54i'm back in that classroom in sandy hook i'm back to being just six years old hiding
33:02listening waiting to die that memory doesn't fade it just hardens into resolve
33:11we don't need thoughts and prayers we need courage we need action and we need every single member of
33:19congress right now to decide if they're going to stand with us the survivors or stand with the
33:27industry that arms the next shooter pass this bill now so that no other child has to grow up with a
33:36a lifetime of trauma thank you um i'm really proud to stand here with matt
33:52of connecticut and others of his classmates his community that have experienced this trauma i want
34:01to be a little be a little bit graphic in in introducing the next person who's going to speak with you
34:10you know uh senator schiff talked about and so did lucy mcbath these weapons of war
34:18the reason why they're weapons of war is not just that they kill but they kill
34:23more efficiently and speedily and rapidly and when a bullet from an ar-15 or an assault weapon type
34:35gun hits a human body it explodes inside it rips apart the organs it in effect decimates
34:50the insides the insides of a human being it produces a wound that is often irreparable with a velocity and
35:03force that is unmatched and produces a scene that is absolutely horrific and a young person like
35:16like alia eastman who has lived through the parkland shooting has experienced that trauma
35:27and still has the courage and the strength to come here and talk about this cause
35:35with the clear-eyed
35:39strength and courage that this movement demands and it is a movement because of young people
35:45like her and matt this movement has gained force in america because of the young people willing to
35:53step forward she not only lost friends at marjory stoneman douglas high school but then she lost her uncle
36:02who was shot and killed in brooklyn new york she has spoken at march for alive she's testified before
36:10the house and the senate she is part of enough founding member a national spokesperson for brady
36:22and she's the co-founder of concerned citizens dc
36:26a graduate of trinity washington university in washington dc she's an accomplished
36:32really extraordinarily impressive young woman and i'm very proud to introduce her to you now
36:46thank you senator bloomingthal for the introduction and thank you everyone for being here today and a
36:55special thank you to senator schiff and representative mcbath
36:59and all the other sponsors for introducing the assault weapons ban of 2025 my name is alaya eastman and i
37:06am a youth organizer and co-founder of team enough in 2018 i survived the deadliest high school shooting
37:13in american history using an ar-15 a weapon built for the battlefield a gunman attacked my high school
37:23marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland florida it only took six and a half minutes from
37:29my classroom to become a war zone six and a half minutes is all it took to murder 14 of my classmates
37:38and three school administrators six and a half minutes is all it took to injure another 17. six and a half
37:47minutes and 150 rounds of ammunition i stand before you not just as a survivor but as a living testimony to
37:58why we're here the reality is clear and urgent banning assault weapons in high capacity magazines is not
38:06political it's a necessary life-saving solution to our nation's disgusting and egregious gun violence epidemic
38:16we should be embarrassed our nation's survivors like myself especially child survivors should not be
38:25able to relate to war stories from our veterans but yet because of the proliferation of these weapons of
38:32mass destruction destruction in our communities we can in shootings where assault weapons or high capacity
38:38magazines are used 155 more people are shot and 47 percent more are killed the expiration of the
38:49federal assault weapons ban in 2004 continues to create devastating consequences for the safety of our
38:55our communities this is bs because we know these laws work in the decade after the ban expired there was a staggering 347
39:08increase in mass shootings and a 239 percent increase in fatalities just look at the deadly shooting
39:17in floor at florida state university just two weeks ago a school where many of my classmates from parkland
39:23attend who now have had to experience their second mass shooting how many lives will it take for change to
39:31finally happen we don't need thoughts and prayers we can't just blame the actions of an individual
39:38when this country continues to put profit over the lives of children your children at fsu the shooter used
39:47a 0.45 caliber pistol pistol pistol to kill two innocent people and devastate the lives of an entire community
39:55what's even more frightening is that he had an ar-15 waiting in his car the same gun used to kill my
40:02classmates if he had returned with that assault rifle how many more innocent lives would we be mourning today
40:09if the shooters from my high school's gun didn't jam how many more innocent lives would we have more
40:18americans are living in fear every day because of these weapons of war communities are forever
40:25wounded commute uh children are afraid to go to school teachers are afraid to go to school and
40:32parents are afraid to send their children to school this isn't the reality we have to live in
40:38the fear that grips our schools movie theaters places of worship and even parades is not inevitable
40:45it's the direct result of policy choices we can and must correct or else we are a country full of
40:52cowards whose hands are stained by the blood of american youth who are gunned down in a country who
41:00continues to show them that they don't care about their lives so as we witness the trump administration
41:06dismantle critical gun safety measures at the federal level congress must step up to pass this
41:12essential assault weapons ban this is and has been life or death thank you
41:24alaya and matt thank you for that powerful testimony to what you have experienced and for
41:32sharing that with all of us and for your incredible advocacy it is now my honor to introduce another
41:39powerful young leader in the cause of common sense gun safety laws and that is lucy sarkisian
41:47lucy is from colorado she has her own tragic experience with gun violence at her school that she will share with
41:54you that she has shared with others and lucy we are so grateful to you for your courage in speaking out
42:01and your tenacity and it's an honor to introduce lucy sarkisian
42:12hi i'm lucy sarkisian and unfortunately like alaya and matt i'm here because i too am a school shooting
42:20survivor when i was 14 years old two students walked into my school and opened fire in the classroom
42:26across the hallway from me they shot nine people including killing one boy kendrick castillo but
42:33listening to alaya and matt makes me think about how they weren't armed with ar-15s they were armed with
42:39a rifle and a handgun and that probably saved my life i had mere seconds to go into lockdown when the
42:48shooting happened literally frantically panicking trying to find a spot to hide trying to close the
42:54door before a gunman could get in and i shudder to think that if they had been armed with an ar-15
43:00i would not be standing here today my life would have been cut short at 14 years old nine people being
43:07shot in a school is a tragedy and it is unacceptable but it's not 34 people like we saw at parkland
43:14it's not 20 dead first graders like we saw in sandy hook and it's not more than 20 dead fourth graders
43:20like we saw in uvalde the facts are clear assault weapons uniquely inflict damage upon their victims
43:28and there they exist for one purpose to kill the damage inflicted is exemplified in so many stories
43:36but one that touches me is of my very close survivor friends sandy and lonnie phillips whose daughter
43:42jesse gawe was murdered at 24 years old in the alarm movie theater shooting when sandy and lonnie went
43:48to identify her body she had a six inch hole in her face from where an ar-15 bullet ripped through it
43:57at 24 years old her face was so mangled from a bullet they could barely recognize their own daughter
44:05and those are the stories of countless victims brutally slaughtered by ar-15s think back to the
44:12children at uvalde who couldn't be identified by anything other than their shoes because their
44:17bodies were so badly mangled do we really want to be a country where children's bodies are being pulled
44:23out of schools mangled because we refuse to take any semblance of action to fight no we don't want to be that
44:31country which is why i commend the efforts of the senators and congresswoman mcbeth here today
44:37because while their republican colleagues are finding new ways to terrorize transgender children
44:42in this country they are actually taking action to make it safer for kids in the united states of america
44:49i have lived with post-traumatic stress disorder for the last almost six years of my life next wednesday
44:54will mark six years since my shooting happened in colorado i was a middle schooler being a school
45:00shooting survivor robbed me of my adolescence i didn't get to have normal experiences i went to
45:07three high schools because my anxiety was so severe i couldn't sit still in a class just in december i
45:13acquired a service dog because my ptsd is still that bad and yet i'm lucky because my gunmen weren't
45:21armed with an ar-15 i had the time to close my door but if they had i don't think it would have
45:28turned out the exact same so that is what makes this bill so critical when you think about say
45:37the second amendment i urge you to ask yourself is a piece of paper that was written by slaveholders
45:44more important than the kids whose parents didn't even get to recognize them when they were buried
45:49is it more important than jesse gawe who had a six inch hole ripped through her face is it more
45:55important than sandy and lonnie phillips who that's their last memory of their daughter the answer is
46:00a resounding no and while the republicans in congress might try to debate this as a political issue
46:07it's not a political issue you've heard from me you've heard from alaya and you've now heard from matt
46:12about the devastating effects of gun violence on your life when you survive it as a young person
46:18we're hearing ar-15s are uniquely dangerous uniquely damaging and uniquely need to be regulated and got
46:26off our streets so support this bill today is the day for action it's not tomorrow it's not after the
46:34next parkland happens it's not after the next sandy hook happens it's not after the next stem today is the
46:39day for action because i don't want to stand here in six more years and be saying the exact same thing
46:45with a new group of survivors none of us want that ban assault weapons now
46:57lucy thank you so much well nothing could be more powerful than what these young people have said
47:03and what they have experienced and i thank them for turning that traumatic experience of their life
47:10into the most powerful advocacy possible my wife and i had the experience all too common
47:17for parents of getting a message from one of our kids that they were sheltering in place that there
47:23was a shooting going on nearby in my son's case he was in college and the shooting was off campus
47:30and he was fine but we experienced that moment momentary terror that momentary horror that i think
47:37all parents do when they all too often get a message like we did let alone worse as lucy has experienced and so
47:46many other parents and family members have experienced so i thank you to all the survivors
47:52for sharing their stories with us today we're happy to respond to a few questions
47:57yes senator do you think this bill has a path forward this congress and how are the discussions
48:09well i think the path is a very difficult one given that the republicans control both houses
48:14and at this point they are still very much in the thrall of the nra and what has always been so
48:21uh perplexing galling to me is that when you ask the actual membership of the nra they will tell you
48:28they support an assault weapons ban 60 or 70 percent of nra members support an assault weapons ban so
48:34they're not even doing what their members want they're certainly not doing what their constituents want
48:39and yet they are beholden to this powerful lobby until that changes until we get a few republican
48:50members it doesn't have to be a majority it certainly doesn't have to be all but until we get a few
48:55that place a higher priority on the lives of their constituents and in the young people in their
49:00districts then we are going to have difficulty getting this bill through so i want to acknowledge
49:08that reality but i also want to say that we have seen things pass in this congress for well or for
49:16ill that we never would have imagined um we would see the day and it has happened um this bill will
49:23pass it is just a question of how quickly we can get it passed and i'm certainly determined uh and
49:30i know richard is to do everything i can to make sure that day comes soon let me just uh add a word
49:35to concur with senator schiff this congress is definitely uphill the president went to an nra convention
49:43he's received contributions and donations from the gun industry they've just disbanded the office of
49:52justice programs that provides 250 million dollars for community violence intervention and prevention
50:02clearly they are in the pockets of the gun industry but they're out of touch with america on this issue
50:09as so many others and one of the purposes of this measure which senator schiff has so courageously
50:17introduced is to hold them accountable gun violence will be on the ballot in 2026 gun violence will be on
50:27the ballot in every congressional district across the country and holding members of congress accountable
50:35our colleagues as well as members of the house will send a message and will advance this historic cause
50:47we cannot abandon forget ignore the imperative of the history that senator feinstein and now senator
50:57schiff are working so hard to advance one last comment on this subject
51:02because i think there's a need on this subject as on so many others that we have hope that we can make
51:09progress and one of the things that's given me hope on this issue is i have seen how it has changed
51:14over the years i remember a time when i first got to congress when there were a great many democrats who
51:20ran away from this issue democrats from purplish or reddish districts or states they didn't want to deal
51:26with this issue and ran away from it that has changed dramatically people are running towards this
51:33issue i remember when jason crowe was first running for the house i went out to colorado to campaign with
51:38him and far from avoiding the issue he raised it himself at one of the town halls he made the point
51:47that if you want an assault weapon you should do what he did and that is join the military they are very
51:52efficient for killing people at war but they have no place in civilian hands and so i have seen the
52:00ground we have gained but it has not been enough and we will continue to press forward until we get this
52:05passed i think we have time for one last question well that's it okay oh please okay and i just wanted
52:12to make one more comment since i hold the assault weapons ban in the house currently we have over a hundred
52:18signers a hundred co-sponsors so that should give you some hope we will continue to try to build upon that we
52:24have a lot of new members now in congress that we've not had the chance to be able to massage and encourage
52:30them to become a part of this really life-saving policy but we'll continue to do so what i will say
52:37it has been somewhat tragic is that in the 117th congress we did have republicans that were willing to work
52:44with us the 118th congress they started to drop off and it will be as you know the senator said even
52:50more difficult now in the 119th because of this administration to get our republican colleagues to
52:57get hope that they have enough courage to stand and do what's right by the constituents but we do have
53:02over a hundred co-sponsors now in the house that have signed onto the assault weapons ban so there is hope
53:09all right thank you all very much and once again my thanks
53:15to these incredibly brave young people for sharing their stories with us today they are the reason
53:20why we continue this fight thank you very much