[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H4223-H4224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        FEDERAL EXTREME RISK PROTECTION WILL PREVENT GUN DEATHS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Mrs. McBath) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Federal Extreme 
Risk Protection Order Act of 2019.
  This commonsense legislation will empower loved ones and members of 
law enforcement to prevent acts of gun violence. When people are in 
crisis and pose a threat to themselves or others, those closest to them 
are often the first to know.
  Two-thirds of all gun deaths are suicides. Extreme risk protection 
laws can prevent these tragedies. These laws have the power to prevent 
mass shootings and intimate partner gun violence.
  Fifteen States and the District of Columbia currently have extreme 
risk laws, and these laws have received bipartisan support.
  It is our duty, as lawmakers, to ensure the safety of all Americans, 
and extreme risk laws are a powerful tool that should be available for 
every single community across our Nation. This is why we need the 
Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act.
  Nearly 100 people die every single day in America as a result of gun 
violence. Inaction is no longer an option. We have the power, the 
ability, and the responsibility to change our laws to save lives.
  This legislation will empower Americans to prevent gun deaths. I urge 
my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
  I am a victim of gun violence, and I have worked many long hours, 
days, months, and years working with and talking to the victims who 
suffer needlessly from unnecessary gun violence.
  It is a tragedy for this body to continue to not pass legislation 
that would save lives. That is what we are brought here to do. That is 
who we are. For us to continue to turn a blind eye to the number of 
people who continue to die every single day due to unnecessary gun 
violence is unconscionable.
  I urge my colleagues to stand on the right side of preserving 
democracy and making sure that everyone in this Nation has the ability 
to be able to live here without the fear of being gunned down. That is 
their right, to live in this country with the freedom from unnecessary 
gun violence.
  For every day that passes by and every tragedy that we continue to 
have, when we turn a blind eye, we do a great disservice to the 
American people. On behalf of all victims, like myself, the victims of 
Virginia, and the victims that we continue to see every single day, if 
we do not stand up to protect them, then we are not standing for 
democracy.

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