WASHINGTON—During National Gun Violence Survivors Week, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor on the epidemic of gun violence and how the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is working to save lives and lower rates of gun violence.

Murphy shared the story of Hartford’s Sam Saylor and Janet Rice: “For Sam and Janet, they lost Shane and then a decade later they lost Shane's daughter. And I wish that their story was the anomaly, but it is not. There are thousands of families in this country who have lost multiple loved ones, brothers and sisters, daughters and granddaughters, to this epidemic of gun violence. And so, on this week in which we commemorate the survivors, it's important to understand the depth of this tragedy.”

He continued: “Last year we finally stepped up to the plate and did something, in part because of the advocacy of all those survivors. We passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Our theory was if we make a big change in the nation's gun laws to make it little bit harder for dangerous people to get their hands on dangerous weapons, well, then we can try to make a dent in the epidemic levels of gun homicide in this country.”

Murphy highlighted that 2023 marks the largest one-year drop in homicides in recorded history: “Urban homicides fell by 12%. Gun-related injuries and deaths all across the country have fallen by 10%. Again, just an absolute remarkable one-year reduction. Ten percent reduction in gun injuries and gun deaths in a one-year period of time. And the reason that this is happening is in part because we changed the law.

On the enhanced background check for under-21 buyers and new criminal penalties for gun trafficking created in BSCA, Murphy said: “[W]e have had a number of young buyers in this country who have been disqualified from buying an assault weapon. Often those young buyers are in crisis. And by stopping hundreds of young people from buying assault weapons, because we found out through the provisions of this bill that they were in crisis, we have likely interrupted many mass shootings. Second, we have a lot more prosecutions of gun traffickers because we made gun trafficking a federal crime. And so, hundreds of prosecutions have been successfully completed over the last year against gun trafficking rings. That means there are less guns in our cities that are being trafficked on the black market.”

Murphy added: “Whether this trend continues I don't know, but if it does, or even if we get a six percent reduction next year, an eight percent reduction the next year, this could represent the third giant reduction in violence rates in this country's history. And if that is the trajectory, then a piece of that story is the bipartisan legislation that we passed.”

Murphy concluded: “Survivors of gun violence, those who have lived through a shooting or those who have lost loved ones in a shooting, their lives are changed forever. And this week we pay tribute to them by recognizing the work that they have done to rattle the conscience of this country, to change the gun laws of this country, in a historic way leading to the largest ever one-year drop in urban homicides in this country's history.”

A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:

“Mr. President, this week is National Gun Violence Survivors Week. I wanted to come down the floor today to share with my colleagues the meaning and the impact of this week, the meaning and the impact of a national network of gun violence survivors on the debate to change the nation's gun laws. 

“But I also wanted to share with my colleagues some good news about what has happened over the course of the last year since the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. That's the first significant change in our nation's gun laws in 30 years. 

“I want to start by talking about survivors. I want to start by talking about two people that I have referenced on the floor of the Senate in prior speeches, two of my great friends in Hartford, Connecticut: Sam Saylor and Janet Rice. 

“Sam and Janet shared a son, Shane. Shane was a pretty incredible young man, not without challenges, but he had risen up and met those challenges over the course of his life. On October 20th of 2012, just a month before the shooting at Sandy Hook, he became the 20th victim of gun violence in Hartford that year in a typically random act of violence. He was fixing up cars and selling them for a small profit. He was transferring one of those cars to an acquaintance. His girlfriend was with him. Some coarse words were exchanged between the two parties about his girlfriend. A physical altercation broke out, which caused Luis Rodriguez to go to his car where he had a gun, an illegal gun. He took it out and shot Shane Oliver, essentially after an exchange of words about Shane's girlfriend.

“Shane collapsed to the floor. When he reached the hospital, he was dead. Twenty years old, a whole life ahead of him. He left behind a network of survivors – his parents, but also a daughter, Se’Cret. 

“Both Sam and Janet, they went into the work of preventing gun violence. They joined advocates in Hartford to try to create a realty in which that kind of random death, that kind of random gun violence, wouldn't be a reality any longer in Hartford, and they devoted themselves to that work. 

“Janet joined an organization that responded to shootings to try to interrupt the cycles of violence that often happen in Hartford, and so she has spent much of the last several years responding on a nightly basis often to episodes of violence and to shootings. 

“And in April of last year, she got a phone call to respond to a shooting that had happened. She got in her car, and she headed for that scene. As she was driving there, she got a second call from her supervisor who told her to pull over. Said ‘Janet, you can't be driving when you hear this news. The young woman who was shot, that you are going to respond to, is your granddaughter, is Shane's daughter.’

“Se’Cret died that night. A couple of days later I went to her funeral. That's what's going on out there in the world today. 

“For Sam and Janet, they lost Shane and then a decade later they lost Shane's daughter. And I wish that their story was the anomaly, but it is not. There are thousands of families in this country who have lost multiple loved ones, brothers and sisters, daughters and granddaughters to this epidemic of gun violence. 

“And so, on this week in which we commemorate the survivors, it's important to understand the depth of this tragedy. 

“But it is also important to celebrate the work that these survivors have done because over the past ten years in particular, through a number of organizations in this country, survivors like Sam and Janet and many others have come together to demand that Congress and state legislature and mayors and city councils do something to stop this reality in which parents and grandparent have to lose sons and granddaughters to gun violence. 

“And last year we finally stepped up to the plate and did something, in part because of the advocacy of all those survivors. We passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Our theory was if we make a big change in the nation's gun laws to make it little bit harder for dangerous people to get their hands on dangerous weapons, well, then we can try to make a dent in the epidemic levels of gun homicide in this country. 

“I've said all this standing next to this chart, so you know the success story that I'm about to tell you. Last year, urban homicides in this nation fell by 12.1%. That is the biggest one-year reduction in urban homicides in the history of the United States of America. 

“Now, is that a cause for celebration? No, because there are still far too many people in this country who are dying at the hands of gun violence. But we should appreciate the fact that a one-year 12% reduction in urban homicides is proof that when you change the laws of the country, our communities get safer. 

“And so, I want to talk to you just for a moment about what happened over the past year. Urban homicides fell by 12%. Gun-related injuries and deaths all across the country have fallen by 10%. Again, just an absolute remarkable one-year reduction. Ten percent reduction in gun injuries and gun deaths in a one-year period of time. And the reason that this is happening is in part because we changed the law. 

“One of the things that happened over the course of this last year is we've started to get a lot more careful about selling guns to young buyers. And so, we have had a number of young buyers in this country who have been disqualified from buying an assault weapon. Often those young buyers are in crisis. And by stopping hundreds of young people from buying assault weapons, because we found out through the provisions of this bill that they were in crisis, we have likely interrupted many mass shootings. 

“Second, we have a lot more prosecutions of gun traffickers because we made gun trafficking a federal crime. And so, hundreds of prosecutions have been successfully completed over the last year against gun trafficking rings. That means there are less guns in our cities that are being trafficked on the black market. 

“We have more red flag laws in this country and stronger red flag laws in part because we put money in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to encourage states to adopt and strengthen their red flag laws. These are the laws that take guns away temporarily from people who are in crisis or making threats against other community members. Those red flag laws have become more important. 

“We’ve put out the door $438 million for community anti-gun-violence work, like the work that Janet Rice and Sam Saylor do. And so there are dozens of anti-gun organizations in our cities that are receiving money to help them interrupt violence. 

“And we put billions of dollars out the door for additional mental health services particularly targeted at young people who are often the victims and primary perpetrators of gun crime in this country. Now, I can't tell you that this 12% reduction in urban homicides is completely due to the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. I can't tell you that. 

“But what I know is if you look at the trajectory of violence in this country over time, the biggest drops have always happened right after Congress does a better job of regulating firearms. The two biggest drops in violence in this country's history are right after the 1930s, the gun control acts, and right after the 1990s, the Brady Bill and Assault Weapons Ban. 

“Whether this trend continues I don't know, but if it does, or even if we get a six percent reduction next year, an eight percent reduction the next year, this could represent the third giant reduction in violence rates in this country's history. And if that is the trajectory, then a piece of that story is the bipartisan legislation that we passed. 

“As we commemorate Gun Violence Survivors Week, it is important to remember that when you lose a loved one, especially in that sudden violent way to gun violence, there is no repair. There is no recovery. Your life never returns to normal. 

“After Janet lost Shane, she didn't leave her house for months. Wouldn't leave her house for months. And when she finally did start leaving her house, often she would do it in this manner. Often late at night when the streets of Hartford were quiet, she would get in her car. She would drive from her home to the site that Shane was shot. She actually got to see Shane alive after he was shot. She held him in her arms as he bled out. She would go to that site, which is just two blocks away from where I live today in Hartford, she would turn on her high beams, and she would wait. 

“When she told me the story I asked her, ‘What are you waiting for? What were you waiting for?’ She said, ‘I was waiting for Shane to come back.’

“She'd go to the site that he was shot, that he bled to death in her arms, she would turn on her high beams in hopes that maybe Shane would come back. That just gives you one single window into what life is like for a mother when they lose a son or a daughter to gun violence. 

“Survivors of gun violence, those who have lived through a shooting or those who have lost loved ones in a shooting, their lives are changed forever. And this week we pay tribute to them by recognizing the work that they have done to rattle the conscience of this country, to change the gun laws of this country in a historic way leading to the largest ever one-year drop in urban homicides in this country's history.

“I yield the floor.”

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