Colorado Senator Michael Bennet calls for gun reform in a powerful speech: ‘A national government that has done nothing to protect’ a generation

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet calls for gun reform in a powerful speech: ‘A national government that has done nothing to protect’ a generation

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“Boulder will heal, but that scar will always be there – my daughter’s generation will always carry the burden of a national government that has done nothing to protect them. They and the children I worked for at the Denver Public Schools, they carry a burden that we don’t carry, “said the Colorado Democrat, referring to his previous job as superintendent of the school district.

“They grew up with a reasonable fear of being shot in their classrooms or in their schools or in a cinema or in any public place. I did not grow up in an America with more firearm deaths than almost any country in this world, and we can’t accept that for your America, “he continued.

The sometimes emotional speech by a senator whose state previously witnessed the Columbine and Aurora massacres comes at a time of intense gun debate on the Capitol, after seven mass shootings in seven days across the country, including in Boulder, Colorado, and a riot in Atlanta. But despite Democratic control of the House, Senate and White House, potential gun reform faces an uphill battle, with Senate Democrats divided by measures passed by the House, including increased background checks.
The 21-year-old suspect in Monday’s massacre at Boulder supermarket – which left 10 dead, including a store manager and a police officer – faces 10 counts of first-degree murder, police said on Tuesday. The reason for the attack is not immediately known and the investigation will take time, officials said.

Bennet emphasized on Wednesday that armed violence has been a longstanding problem for both his state and the country, speaking to the current political climate when calling for regulations on firearms.

“I’m not asking anyone here to show the courage that (victim of the Boulder shooting) Officer Talley showed, or the other police men and women who constantly have to deal with this place’s inability to deal with these issues,” Bennet he told his fellow senators. “I’m just asking us to show some of your courage, doing what we can to keep weapons of war out of our communities, to pass universal background checks, to limit the size of magazines, to tackle the epidemic health crisis in this country. It looks like it would be the least we could do. “

The failure of lawmakers, he said, “helped to create these conditions and we cannot wait any longer. The Senate needs to act. There is no one else to act but the United States Senate.”

The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed two bills on March 11 that expand background checks on all commercial arms sales. Although the first of the two recently approved bills, HR 8, has bipartisan support in the House, it needs a supermajority in the Senate – which does not currently exist.
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Bennet also referred to the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999 as a reference to the many massacres that punctuated the adulthood of an entire generation of Americans, including his daughter.

“The Columbine High School shooting happened just before my oldest daughter was born, Caroline Bennet,” said Bennet. “She is 21 years old and her entire generation grew up in the shadow of armed violence, something that none of us had to do.”

Bennet, a moderate Democrat and former Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, is running for re-election in 2022. Although the chair is not seen as particularly vulnerable to Colorado’s light blue tendency, Democrats are still monitoring the race, the that could potentially lead to the emergence of gun control as a key issue.

While speaking on the Senate floor, Bennet also read memories of the 10 victims’ lives, including Officer Eric Talley, the first Boulder officer to arrive at the crime scene.

“I spent the previous day learning about the victims of this terrible crime and I want America to know that extraordinary human beings we have lost in my state,” said Bennet, crying as she told a woman’s account of how grateful she was that her father, who was killed in the shooting, he could have taken her to the altar at her wedding last year.

“Officer Talley and these other people represent the best of Colorado, and we certainly owe Officer Talley a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to repay,” said Bennet, adding that “my heart goes out to all the families and the entire community of Boulder. We have endured many tragedies as a state. Many other states are the same here. “

CNN’s Amir Vera, Jason Hanna and Madeline Holcombe contributed to this report.

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