One Year Later, Congress Still Has Not Answered the Calls of the Parkland Students
One year ago, a gunman murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
This massacre was another heartbreaking tragedy in the seemingly never-ending cycle of gun violence in our country. This gun violence epidemic has struck every aspect of American life: schools and churches, concerts, nightclubs, and movie theaters — in homes and in workplaces.
After each of these tragedies, we say enough is enough. And after Parkland, the students of Stoneman Douglas stood up and demanded change. Their bravery and determination inspired hundreds of thousands of students across the country to join in calling on Congress to act to save lives in the wake of tragedy.
But Congress has not answered that call.
We enacted a couple of modest changes, making some improvements to the background check system and clarifying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can conduct research into gun violence prevention.
But it is shameful that in the year since Parkland, Congress has not done far more to pass common-sense reforms that could help prevent further massacres like those in in Parkland, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh.
We need to act NOW on critical priorities to keep our people safe such as:
— Passing the Background Check Expansion Act, which would expand the requirement for federal background checks to ALL gun sales — a common-sense step that 90 percent of Americans support.
— Passing the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act to encourage states to enact red flag laws, which allow courts to issue time-limited restraining orders to restrict access to firearms when there is evidence that individuals are planning to harm themselves or others.
— Passing the Keep Americans Safe Act, which would ban gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.
These are steps Congress must take because we know the consequences of not taking action. Reports show that in the year since Parkland, approximately 1,200 school-aged children in the United States have died from gun violence.
This is an outrage. It is unacceptable that despite tragedy after tragedy, Congress continues to fail to take meaningful action to protect our children, and all Americans, from senseless acts of gun violence.
And I refuse to accept that.
Students in Parkland and people across the country are still speaking out and Congress needs to listen.
In this new Congress, I am calling on my colleagues to finally work to pass the common-sense reforms that would keep our people safe from these senseless acts of gun violence. It’s time to act.
