but here is my question. and i want everyone to really think about this. why are we allowing pliken beholden to lobbyists to get in the way of what the majority of americans want. 68% of americans want a ban on assault style weapons according to a recent pew poll. according to quinnipiac 95% of americans want universal background checks. we talk about americans and guns being sacred. but most of the population doesn't even own a gun. pew found that only 37% of households report someone owning a gun. a study by harvard and northeastern universities found 3% of americans own half of all guns in this country. 3% of americans own half of all guns in this country. that is 7.7 million people who own an ample of 17 guns each. so a majority of the population actually own guns and a smaller -- a smaller percentage of them own half of that.