U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., joined House Democrats to demand action to save American lives from gun violence.
Kelly represents Homewood and Flossmoor in Congress.
A united House Democratic caucus stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 4, and called on U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan to establish a Select Committee on gun violence prevention, allow a vote on the King-Thompson universal background check bill and permanently table the SHARE Act, which would deregulate silencers and armor-piercing bullets.
Later that day, Ryan tabled action on the SHARE Act.
In her remarks, Kelly remembered other victims of mass shootings, including Hayida Pendleton, 15; Las Vegas victim Angela Gomez, 20; Sandy Hook victim Grace McDonnell, 7; and Pulse Nightclub victim Jason Josaphat, 20.
Kelly reminded lawmakers and the public that calls for common sense gun safety laws get “the same response: Thoughts and prayer while they [Republicans] head to the bank to cash their NRA check.”
After the press conference, Kelly joined her colleagues in introducing legislation to ban “bump stocks,” a device that functionally converts semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic weapons. The Las Vegas shooter used these devices in his attack.
“Machine guns were outlawed for a reason and devices that turn a firearm into machine guns should be outlawed as well,” said Kelly.
Kelly is vice chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. She also helped lead last year’s historic gun violence sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives following the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub.
Since June, she’s been counting every dollar that House Speaker Ryan took from the NRA, along with the name of a gun violence victim, and recording them into the Congressional record.