• last year
In Senate floor remarks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) slammed the Supreme Court for overturning a ban on bump stocks.

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Transcript
00:00Republican Senators and House Members are doing.
00:05Now on bump stocks.
00:07Last Friday, Madam President, the MAGA Supreme Court struck once again,
00:12saying the federal government cannot prohibit the use of bump stocks,
00:17the accessory responsible for the deadliest shooting in American history.
00:22Nearly seven years ago, a lone shooter fired over a thousand rounds
00:28in just ten minutes upon a crowd of concert goers in Las Vegas.
00:32Sixty innocent people were murdered.
00:35Another 850 were injured.
00:38This was all possible because the shooter modified his rifles
00:41to function essentially as machine guns.
00:44The AFT, under the Trump administration,
00:47under the Trump administration,
00:49banned the use of these accessories shortly after the Las Vegas shooting.
00:55Yet on Friday, the MAGA Court reached the incredible conclusion
01:00that weapons modified to act like machine guns,
01:02to fire bullets at almost the same rate as machine guns,
01:06and in which, in Judge Alito's own admission,
01:09do not show, quote, any material difference, unquote, with machine guns,
01:13are somehow not machine guns,
01:16which have been banned for a very long time, since the 30s.
01:22Friday's ruling is yet another warning
01:25that this MAGA Court is going off the deep end,
01:29aligning itself more and more with the most extreme elements of the hard right.
01:34They have struck down freedom of choice, environmental protections,
01:37affirmative action, fair redistricting, gun safety, and more.
01:42The MAGA Supreme Court is now even further to the right of Donald Trump,
01:47who's very hard right himself.
01:50So this week, the Senate will step in
01:53to try and fix the chaos the MAGA Court just unleashed.
01:57As soon as tomorrow, Democrats will seek passage of a federal ban on bump stocks,
02:01and I urge my Republican colleagues not to block Senator Heinrich
02:07when he comes to the floor.
02:09He's the author of the bill banning bump stocks
02:13and leading the charge to get it passed quickly.
02:16Passing a bill banning bump stocks should be the work of five minutes.
02:20Most Americans support this step.
02:23Poll after poll show that a majority of people, including independents,
02:27support restrictions on AR-15-style rifles,
02:30which is what bump stocks are designed to emulate.
02:33I understand that the issue of gun safety provokes intense disagreement in Congress,
02:38but shouldn't we all agree that preventing another tragedy like Las Vegas
02:44is just plain common sense and a good thing?
02:47Banning bump stocks would go a long way to making it harder for murderers
02:52to carry out large shootings.
02:54So I hope our Republican colleagues join us.
02:58Two years ago this month, Democrats and Republicans showed America
03:03that even something as controversial as gun safety can get passed
03:06when both sides are willing to work in good faith.
03:09I was very proud as majority leader and so proud of members like Senator Murphy,
03:18Senator Sinema, who worked hard on passing this legislation.
03:22Democrats are ready to pass gun safety once again as soon as tomorrow.
03:26The question is, will Republicans join us?
03:31Will Republicans join us to prevent another tragedy like Las Vegas
03:37and vote to ban deadly bump stocks?
03:40Republicans were supportive of banning bump stocks
03:44when the Trump administration took this step, so they should support it tomorrow.
03:49Will Republicans stand up to the gun lobby
03:51and side with parents and teachers and law enforcement
03:54who worry violence striking their communities without warning?
03:58Will Senate Republicans resist the pull of MAGA extremism
04:02and embrace bipartisanship
04:05so once again we can keep people safe?
04:08I hope the answer is yes.
04:11I hope we can repeat the success of two years ago
04:14when we passed the first major gun safety bill in 30 years,
04:18since I led the passage of the Brady Bill in Congress.
04:21I was a congressman then.
04:23We have a long way to go to cure America's disease of gun violence.
04:28Today, you don't need to show people the statistics.
04:31Americans know violence is disgustingly unacceptable.
04:35They can feel it in their bones.
04:37They are worried about where they go.
04:40They go into public spaces and instinctively look for exits.
04:45Sometimes just a loud noise can frighten people in public.
04:49And now this MAGA court has undone the ban on bump stocks.
04:53That will make it easier for deranged individuals
04:56to turn their weapons into near-machine guns.
04:59If my Republican colleagues want to do the right thing for the country,
05:02the answer is very simple.
05:04Join us, every one of you, to ban bump stocks
05:07so that we never see the kind of carnage we saw in Las Vegas, Nevada,
05:12ever, ever again.

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