Date: 2012-12-17
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today I rise to join my colleagues in honoring and remembering all of the victims of the tragic shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton. CT. My condolences and prayers go to the families and loved ones of the women and children who lost their lives in this senseless tragedy. I also recognize and applaud the heroic efforts made by the teachers. administrators. and law enforcement officials who acted quickly to secure and protect the lives of the children who survived this deadly encounter. As the founder and CoChair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus and a senior Member of the Judiciary Committee. I have listened to the tragic testimony of individuals who have survived or lost loved ones as a result of gun violence. The parents and grandparents who dropped off their children and grandchildren in the early morning hours of December 14. 2012. could never have imagined that by 10 a.m. on that morning they would to have face this tragedy. This moment will be etched in our memories and will forever remind us of other moments like those of Aurora and Columbine. Moments when lives are needlessly lost due to gun violence. As we unite in grief. it is time for us to unite in finding a solution. Newtown. CT by all accounts is a small closeknit town. Everyone in Newtown was in some way connected to the students. parents. teachers. and administrators from Sandy Hook Elementary School. And if asked. they would all agree that things like this sad occurrence just do not happen in Newtown. We must join together in recognizing that things like this can happen in any community and we must immediately begin to address the underlying problems that would lead a young man to take up arms against defenseless women and children. If we act now and work together. we can work towards preventing these types of tragedies. At around the same time that the children in Newtown. CT faced a deranged gun man. thousands of miles away in China. another man also attacked a group of school children. Again. a tragedy that no one in the community could have anticipated. however. because the man in China was armed only with a knife. he wounded instead of killed 20 children. The lives of 20 children in China were spared because their attacker did not have in his possession a gun. I believe the solution to these acts of violence can be found by taking a multifaceted approach. There are those who will say that "guns dont kill people. people kill people." The statistics for the harm that people are capable of doing with guns to themselves and others is alarming. People are indeed killing people. with guns. We need to reform how we view guns in this country and also how we address mental health challenges in our communities. We must act now. This is the right moment to demonstrate that the safety of our children is one of our most sacred priorities. It is imperative that this Congress brings to the House for immediate consideration the following gun safety laws. First. there must be an immediate ban on all assault weapons. Second. we must close gun show loopholes which allow for the sale of weapons without a background check. Third. we must reform our current mental health system to provide support for families to enable them to get immediate assistance for mental health issues. In addition. there should be pathways for families who are facing these challenges to gain emergency access to publicly funded or private counseling services. Fourth. we must look at the design of primary and secondary schools in which these schools may need to have reinforced bullet proof window and reinforced secure entrances. Lastly. we must expand current state laws to hold adults accountable and responsible for the security their weapons. We can help to prevent tragedies like this one from happening again. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. gun violence. claims the lives of over 30.000 people For every person who dies from a gunshot wound. two others are wounded. Every year. approximately 100.000 Americans are victims of gun violence. In addition to those who are killed or injured. there are countless others whose lives are forever changed by the deaths of and injuries to their loved ones. In 2010. guns took the lives of 31.076 Americans in homicides. suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour. There were 73.505 Americans treated in hospital emergency departments for nonfatal gunshot wounds in 2010. Firearms were the thirdleading cause of injuryrelated deaths nationwide in 2010. following poisoning and motor vehicle accidents. Between 1955 and 1975. the Vietnam War killed over 58.000 American soldiersless than the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average twoyear period. In the first seven years of the U.S.-Iraq War. over 4.400 American soldiers were killed. Almost as many civilians are killed with guns here in the U.S. over the course of 7 weeks rather than 7 years. HOMICIDE U.S. homicide rates are 6.9 times higher than rates in 22 other populous highincome countries combined. despite similar nonlethal crime and violence rates. The firearm homicide rate in the U.S. is 19.5 times higher Guns were used in 11.078 homicides in the U.S. in 2010. comprising almost 35% of all gun deaths. and over 68% of all homicides. Over a million people have been killed with guns in the United States since 1968. when Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. On average. 33 gun homicides were committed each day for the years 20052010. Regions and states with higher rates of gun ownership have significantly higher rates of homicide than states with lower rates of gun ownership. Where guns are prevalent. there are significantly more homicides. particularly gun homicides. SUICIDE Firearms were used in 19.392 suicides in the U.S. in 2010. constituting almost 62% of all gun deaths. Over 50% of all suicides are committed with a firearm. On average. 49 gun suicides were committed each day for the years 20052010. White males. about 40% of the U.S. population. accounted for over 80% of firearm suicides in 2010. A study of California handgun purchasers found that in the first year after the purchase of a handgun. suicide was the leading cause of death among the purchasers. Firearms were used in nearly 44% of suicide deaths among persons under age 25 in More than 75% of guns used in suicide attempts and unintentional injuries of 019 yearolds were stored in the residence of the victim. a relative. or a friend. The risk of suicide increases in homes where guns are kept loaded and/or unlocked.