Durbin addresses gun violence after Florida school shooting

Posted on February 16, 2018

 

Dick Durbin
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has reiterated his call for gun control following the mass shooting at a high school in Florida this week. (Photo courtesy CNN)

By RFD Radio/WFMB

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had plenty to say after the school shooting in Broward County, Florida that has left 17 dead.

Durbin gave Congress a poor grade for its handling of the issue of gun violence.

“Of course there is no single reform that could stop every shooting in America, but we know there are big gaps in our laws that make it easy for criminals, abusers and mentally unstable people to get their hands on guns and hurt innocent people

While Durbin said there has been inaction on gun violence concerns, he takes issue with one area where action was taken, when the Senate struck down an Obama-era rule that could block some people receiving Social Security disability benefits from being able to purchase a gun.

“I’m not going to give up on trying to close the loopholes in our gun laws,” Durbin said. “I am going to keep fighting for universal background checks, tougher straw purchasing laws and better laws to prevent gun theft.”

Durbin also remembered the victims of the Northern Illinois University shooting ten years ago.

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