WASHINGTON — Rep. Shiela Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said members of the House of Representatives would have to start “flooding” the Senate in order to get gun control measures passed.
“I don’t know what else it takes but I don’t believe we can stop at the door of the United States House. I believe there will have to be an emergence of members of the House flooding the United States Senate for Senator McConnell to understand that these initiatives today, my gun storage bill, my bill that I’ve introduced dealing with the caliber weapon, I’ve held an AR-15 in my hand, I wish I had it. It is as heavy as 10 boxes that you might be moving and the bullet that is utilized, a .50-caliber, these kinds of bullets need to be licensed and do not need to be on the street,” she said recently on Capitol Hill.
In July, Jackson Lee introduced several gun control bills in the House, which would ban the possession of firearms over .50 caliber and restrict individuals “from storing a firearm in a residence” where someone “under 18 is likely to get access to the firearm without their permission.” The legislation would “exempt those individuals who keep their firearms or ammunition secured, unloaded, and separately in a safe certified by the Attorney General and locked with a certified lock, or if it’s stored at a gun range or storage facility that is certified by the Attorney General.”
Jackson Lee said her constituents in Texas are “frightened” after the recent mass shootings that occurred in the state.
“We’re at a domestic crisis and it’s toxic and it’s combined with hatred and besides the toxicity of hate, we have guns, and we cannot wait any longer,” she said. “We’re good people in Texas but we’re frightened and so what I’m hearing from people is they are frightened, that they believe they cannot live in this kind of status and definition of what Texas is.”
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