House resolution 1302. The clerk house calendar number 3, House Resolution 1302, resolved adoption of this resolution h. R. 1808 to regulate assault weapons and right to keep and bear arms isnt limited. All points of order. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on the judiciary now printed in the bill, an amendment consisting of the text rules print 11760 modified by the amendment printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered adopted. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order as amended are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill as amended and on any further amendment there to without intervening motion except one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member and two, one motion to recommit. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one hour. Mr. Mcgovern i yield 30 minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, pending which i yield myself such time i may consume. During consideration of this all time yielded is for purposes of debate only. I ask unanimous consent that members may have five legislative days. Today the rules committee met and reported a rule House Resolution 1302 providing for consideration of the assault weapons ban of 2022 under a closed rule. The rule selfexecutes a managers amendment from chairman nadler and provides one hour of debate by the chair and ranking members on the committee of judiciary and one motion to recommit. Madam speaker, we have a gun violence crisis in this country. 23 years after Columbine High School and four years after Stoneman Douglas high school and two months after uvalde and buffalo, the American People are tired of living in fear. They are tired of thoughts and prayers and tired of press releases offering sympathy, but no solutions. President biden signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities act to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Why . Because the American People want to see us act. For decades, that hasnt happened. The gun lobby had an iron grip on this place. But now, finally, that is changing. Its changing because the American People are demanding change. And it is time for all of us to listen. You know, we cant and you know, we can and must do more which is why were considering the assault bans of 2022. I want to be Crystal Clear for everyone thats watching. This bill is not taking away anybodys guns. This bill is not about taking away anybodys Constitutional Rights. The Second Amendment gives americans the right to own guns, but no right is unconditional or unlimited. I mean, you have the right to free speech, but you dont have the right to shout fire in a crowded Movie Theater. You have the right to keep and bear arms but you dont have the right to own weapons that are used to mow people down indiscriminately. Rights come with responsibilities and we have the responsibility to try and stop Mass Shootings. As a member of congress, we have declaration of independence, the right to live. The right to not get shot at school. Or in a place of worship or at a concert. You know, it takes zero courage to hide behind the Second Amendment and not debate the merits here. You know what takes courage . Standing up to the gun lobby, putting people over politics. That takes courage. And that is what we are doing here today. You know, rounds that come out of assault weapons are traveling up to four times faster than out of the handgun. They are traveling at incredible speed and inflict immense damage on peoples bodies. You know, when combined with high capacity magazines, theyre designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Assault weapons do not belong on our streets. Plain and simple. An assault weapon was used in las vegas to kill 60 people. An assault weapon was used at the pulse nightclub to kill 49 people. An assault weapon was used in sandy hook to kill 26 people, including 20 children. Assault weapons slaughter people. They decimate bodies. Physicians say that an ar15 can actually and i quote liquefy your organs because the project aisle is traveling so fast. This does not happen with a typical handgun. This is something unique to assault weapons. 67 of americans, including half of all republicans, support a ban on assault weapons. This is not a radical idea. We are not in unchartered territory. The government already bans automatic weapons. Why . Because they have no place in our communities. You dont need an automatic weapon to defend yourself, and what were proposing today is simply addressing another class of weapons that have no place in our communities, assault weapons. You know, the 1994 assault weapons ban was associated with a 25 drop in gun massacres, and a 40 drop in fatalities. This should not be a difficult vote. So lets come together and advance this commonsense legislation that could save thousands of lives. And with that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. Mr. Reschenthaler thank you, madam speaker. I just want to thank the distinguished chairman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I appreciate it. And i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Reschenthaler thank you, madam speaker. The rule before us today makes in order h. R. 1808, an unconstitutional bill to ban hundreds of the most popular firearms in the United States, including the sporting rifle, the ar15. Lawabiding americans in places like southwestern pennsylvania and across the country use firearms every single day for things like sport shooting, hunting, and selfdefense. So despite what the House Democrats claim, this bill would do little to prevent the Mass Shootings or the crime they are saying that it would. This bill would not prevent criminals from attaining firearms. I know the chairman just referenced the 1994 study. That was a connelly mandated congressionally mandated study to look at the 1994 assault weapons ban. That study found that ban was ineffective in reducing Violent Crime. As, and i quote, the banned guns were never used in a modest fraction of all gun murders, end quote. Now, a followup study to that 1994 ban came out in 2004, and that study found that the bans and i quote the bans effects on gun violence is likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for liable measurement, end quote. Even the ucla law professor, winkler, the socalled subject matter expert, that leftleaning professor stated, theres no way to make Assault Rifle bans effective, end quote. And to that point, we saw that during the tragic shootings in San Bernardino, newtown, and buffalo, those all occurred in states that already had assault weapons bans on the books. So the question is this why are my farleft democratic colleagues bringing this bill to the floor today . In the words of Judiciary Committee chairman nadler, banning this is a gun grab, pure and simple. This bill is not about Public Safety. Rather, this is the most severe restriction on the Second Amendment since the passage of the assault weapons banff 1994. Ban of 1994. It would have a person lending a firearm to a friend to go hunting a criminal. I would urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern thank you, madam speaker. You know, the gentleman talks about statistics. I want to lets talk about statistics. 30 of shootings in recent history have involved guns that were banned under the now expired 1994 assault weapons ban. 13 killed and 23 injured at Columbine High School, a little town in colorado, the attackers using an assault weapon. 27 killed and one injured at the Elementary School in newtown, connecticut. That was in 2012. Used an assault weapon. Pulse nightclub in order, florida, june, 2016, the attacker used an assault weapon. 58 killed at a Country Music festival in las vegas in october, 2017. The attacker used an assault weapon. 17 killed, 17 injured at a high school in parkland, florida, february, 2018. The alleged attacker used an assault weapon. I could go on and on. 23 killed and 26 injured at a walmart in el paso, august, 2019. The attacker used an assault weapon. 10 killed and one injured at a Grocery Store in boulder, colorado, march, 2021. The attacker used an assault weapon. I ask unanimous consent that this be entered into the record. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Mcgovern i now yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina and members of the rules committee, ms. Ross. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Ross thank you, madam speaker. I represent a southern state. Many of my constituents are responsible, lawabiding gun owners, and i support their ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Contrary to what opponents of this legislation continue to claim, this bill will allow current lawabiding gun owners to keep all of their guns. It simply prevents future sales of Assault Rifles. And lets be clear, assault weapons are designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Theyre not designed for recreation. Theyre designed for combat. Its incredibly irresponsible to allow people without specialized training to possess these weapons. And madam speaker, when assault weapons are used in Mass Shootings, an average of six times as many people are shot as in other Mass Shootings. In 2022, there have already been 24 school shootings. The deadliest in uvalde, texas, involved assault weapons. But if my friends across the aisle are not convinced of the need to protect our children, perhaps they will be convinced of the need to protect the police. According to violence policy center, one quarter of Law Enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2016 were killed by an assault weapon. After the assault weapons ban expired, the proportion of largecapacity magazines equipped guns used in murder of police increased by 30 . These weapons belong with our military, not on our streets or in our schools. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the bill and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. Mr. Reschenthaler thanks, madam speaker. This false equivalency between ar15 and weapon of war just shows the ignorance of my colleagues across the aisle. An m16 has numerous functions. Safety, threeround burst, semiautomatic and automatic. An ar15 has no such theres no such setting as the threeround burst in the fully automatic. So this false comparison between a socalled weapon of war and what we would describe as a sporting rifle, again, shows the lack of understanding about these platforms. Additionally, the ar15 is by far the most popular sporting rifle in the United States. Theres over 20 million that are in possession of americans right now. But while were talking about statistics, a 2020 f. B. I. Study shows that there are more murders committed with knives, clubs, and fists than with firearms. Also, when youre looking at firearm deaths, just in the year 2020, both the c. D. C. And the f. B. I. Reported that over half of these firearmrelated deaths were suicides. So lets just be clear when were talking about the statistics. If youre breaking down those studies, you can look at 2020 where 59 of murders were committed by handguns. Only 3 were committed with being described as Assault Rifles, what i would describe as sporting rifles. But here to talk more about this issue is my good friend from the rules committee, my colleague from minnesota, representative fischbach, and i yield her two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Mrs. Fischbach thank you, madam speaker. And i thank my colleague from the rules committee for providing me the time to speak. Madam speaker, my colleagues are proving yet again that they want to strip lawabiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights. The latest socalled assault weapons ban is unconstitutional and will impact other aspects of american life. This bill would end the sale of some of the most popular rifles sold in america today. Impacting the sporting industry and all of those who rely on it for their livelihood. This bill will have an impact in ways even the supporters of the bill dont understand. For example, under this law, stabilizing braces for pistols would be outlawed. Despite what some of my colleagues said, stabilizing braces are not bump stocks and will not turn a pistol into an assault weapon. It is used by hunters with disabilities, including many of our disabled veterans, to help them safely hunt with pistols. Not only is this bill an assault on our Constitutional Rights, but the loss of the revenue from the sales of these firearms will also have a devastating effect on the federal aid to Wildlife Restoration fund, which helps states pay for Environmental Conservation efforts. The bill provides no alternative for how to make up for the severe decrease in conservation funding. Democrats are no longer disguising their radical agenda to ban guns and do away with the constitutions Second Amendment. My colleagues from the other side have said that they will do everything they can to ban guns in this country, even to the point of packing the Supreme Court to make it happen. Everyone who thinks this bill is not a step in that direction is kidding themselves. This is yet another attempt from the left to strip lawabiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights and i oppose this bill and the rule. Thank you. Mr. Reschenthaler reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman real estate serves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern madam speaker, let me just respond to the gentlelady by saying the managers amendment adds language to make clear that devices used to make hunting accessible to everyone, especially our disabled veterans, are not affected by this legislation. This provision also makes sure the gun industry cannot exploit legitimate accessibility devices to make firearms, especially deadly, for mass shooters, as has occurred in the past when bump stocks were claimed to be an accessibility accessory but used to inflict horrible Mass Violence in the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting that killed 60 and injured more than 400 people. And i want to say to the gentleman from pennsylvania, i dont i didnt use the words weapon of war in my opening statement. And i certainly know the difference between an automatic and semiautomatic weapon, but if thats the argument you want to have, bring that to the parents whose children were lost in uvalde. You know, who were mowed down by an as i pointed out, these weapons decimate bodies. Ar15 can liquefy your organs. As the gentleman may recall, d. N. A. Samples had to be gathered because their bodies were so unrecognizable. Come on. This is about saving lives and i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. Doggett. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Doggett they are designed to dell as many people as quickly as possible. Our country is exceptional in making these weapons of war, these assault weapons available in the civilian sector and we have quickly because those weapons are easier to qualify for than getting a drivers license and easier for a teenager to get than buy a beer. We have turned our churches, our schools and shopping centers, Entertainment Centers into a battleground with one massacre as another. There is no Second Amendment right to own a machine gun which has been banned in this country since i believe the 1930s. If you talk about rights, how about the rights of those little children in uvalde to live . The rights of those families to be whole . They have rights also. And thats what we are about protecting today. I think that we just cannot continue to live like we have been living in the shadow of fear, a terrible kind of american competitionallism. Where we are horribly exceptional to the amount of dead children gunned down in their best tennis issues and young parents having to bury their young children, where we are the exception of how many die where they are massacred in their churches or in temples, where we are the exception, the outliar and how many gruesome bulletridden bodies our doctors see month after month and texas has been among the worst. From el paso to uvalde to across the center of the state to the houston area. Murderers, massacres with assault weapons where one family after another grieves. Texas children right now have no reality as they soon will be returning to school than to duck and cover and learn new exercises. We can do something about that. And banning assault weapons is the most critical issue, not the kind of weak modest measure that will never change in texas that we passed earlier in the year that is dependent on the Texas Legislature but a direct effort to limit the access to assault weapons that are weapons of war that kill and kill and kill that make