Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) waxed about his childhood gun on the floor of the upper chamber this morning to launch debate on the gun-control package Democrats are billing as “anti-violence legislation.”
“Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. I got my first gun when I was just a young boy. On my 12th birthday, my parents sent away for a 12-gauge shotgun from the Sears catalog. It is a beautiful gun,” Reid said.
“But, like most Americans, I also believe the right to bear arms must be balanced with the right of all the little boys and girls in this country – whether they to live in inner city Chicago or sleepy Newtown – to grow up safe from the threat of gun violence.”
Reid called most gun owners “good, responsible people, who love target shooting and hunting or want to protect their homes and families.”
“I only hope Senate Republicans will allow us to have that conversation. I hope Republicans will stop trying to shut down debate, and start engaging on the tough issues we were sent to Washington to tackle,” he said, echoing Democrats’ frustration with the promised GOP block that would keep the bill from moving forward to a vote.
“This legislation won’t prevent every heinous crime. And background checks won’t keep guns out of the hands of every violent madman. But we owe it to Americans to act if there’s a chance to save even one …small child who has barely begun to live.”
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