U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) spoke with Wolf Blitzer on CNN this evening.
Click the following image to watch Cicilline’s interview in full. Excerpts of Cicilline’s remarks are embedded below.
“This was the 232nd mass shooting of this year. We have an epidemic of gun violence in this country. We are not powerless to do nothing about it. We have two bills that have been passed by the House that are in the Senate – for universal background checks and to close the Charleston loophole. The President has taken executive action. But there’s much more we can and must do to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, of criminals, of people who shouldn’t have access to firearms. We need our Republican colleagues to work with us to end the epidemic of gun violence in this country. This is a particularly American problem. Almost 40,000 people die at the hand of a gun every year in this country. And this is an epidemic that we have to do something about it.”
“The President has called for the immediate passage of the two bills that are in the Senate. He called for the passage of the Assault Weapons Ban, which is pending in the House – these are weapons of war that are designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible. They don’t belong in the neighborhoods and communities in which we live. He entered a number of executive actions to make it more difficult for ghost guns to be used, to ensure that evidence-based strategies to reduce gun violence are in place, to make it more difficult to modify guns. He’s taken executive action. He’s called for the passage of more gun safety legislation, but it’s really the responsibility of Congress and frankly our Republican colleagues to join us. The two bills that came out of the house were bipartisan. They were supported by Republicans and Democrats. They are sitting in the Senate. They should be passed immediately. And we should pass additional legislation that will keep dangerous firearms out of the hands of criminals, particularly dangerous individuals young people, we can do much better. We have a gun violence epidemic in this country. The President’s leadership is making all the difference in the world. We have a leader in the president, a partner. It’s now time for Congress to take action to reduce gun violence in this country.”
“I don’t think anyone can see the kind of gun violence that we are experiencing in this country, that is tearing apart communities, causing so much harm to families who lose loved ones, and think that Congress doesn’t have a responsibility to do something about it. It’s time our Republican colleagues stood up to the powerful gun lobby and did what’s right to protect their own constituents. We have a gun violence epidemic in this country that is different than any other country in the world. It is just too easy for people who shouldn’t have firearms to get them, and we can do a lot to reduce gun violence in this country. Passing the assault weapons ban, passing universal background checks, passing red flag laws, making sure that we’re keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. That’s the work that’s before us and we’ve got to do it.”
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