Jan Schakowsky (left) with Congressional colleagues |photo via Twitter
WASHINGTON DC - Two U.S. House members from Illinois - Jan Schakowsky and Robin Kelly - joined Democrat colleagues in staging a sit-in on the chamber floor Wednesday. They're demanding the U.S. House hear gun control legislation.
In the U.S. Senate this week, four votes were failed on bills affecting guns. Illinois' two U.S. Senators agreed on all four votes. Republican Mark Kirk joined Democrat Dick Durbin in supporting Democrat-proposed legislation and opposing Republican-backed bills.
UPDATE x1:
Earlier this week, Rep. Schakowsky released the following comment on the topic:
I support common-sense gun safety legislation, and I believe Congress needs to act immediately to stop the proliferation of weapons that threaten the safety of our communities. This is a public safety issue and a public health issue, one that threatens our families and neighborhoods every day.
Thousands of children are killed by guns each year in the United States. Homicide by firearm is the second-leading cause of death for young people ages 1-19 in our country, and thousands more kids are killed or injured in unintentional shootings.
Like the majority of Americans, I support renewing the assault weapons ban. These extremely dangerous, semi-automatic weapons are specifically designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. They pose a grave risk to our communities, which is why the overwhelming majority of Americans support limiting the sale of military-style assault weapons.
I am a cosponsor of a number of important gun safety bills that would reinstate the ban on large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, magazines designed for the sole purpose of shooting as many people as possible; make it more difficult for dangerous individuals to obtain guns; and ban the anonymous online sale of ammunition. None of these initiatives violate the Constitutional rights of American citizens.
I think we need to have a real national debate about guns. Whether it’s the daily shootings in Chicago or horrific tragedies, like the shootings in Tucson and Aurora, we must address the deadly violence threatening our neighborhoods. We need to act to pass real gun safety legislation that protects our children and our communities.
