WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Senator Gary Peters (D) spoke Thursday on the floor of the U.S. Senate about the recent mass shooting on Michigan State University's campus.
The Feb. 13 shooting took the lives of three MSU students and injured five others, leaving the community in fear and calling for change.
Peters used his time on the floor to pay tribute to the victims, identified as Brian Fraser, Arielle Anderson and Alex Verner, as well as the students critically injured.
"Fifteen months ago, I spoke here on the Senate floor to commemorate the victims of the shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan," Sen. Peters said. "Mr. President, just over two weeks ago, as a gunman opened fire at Michigan State University, our state lived through yet another nightmare. Another routine evening turned tragic. Another community was left scarred by unimaginable gun violence. Another three families will never see their children come home."
He also called on Congress to build on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was signed into law last year by passing meaningful gun safety measures.
The Act invests in mental health resources, expands on school safety measures, enhances background checks and details new guidelines to ensure firearms don't end up in the wrong hands.
But Peters says, there's so much more that could be done.
"We must pass legislation to expand federal background checks to all gun sales – a measure I helped reintroduce in the Senate, and one that is supported by the overwhelming majority of the American people. We can enact reasonable limits on high-capacity magazines and close dangerous loopholes."
Peters would also like to see red flag laws that still respect the average responsible gun owner, and investments in first responders who bravely put their lives on the line when others attempt to take them.
"The choice is ours to make. We can honor these young adults by making change – or we can play politics and let this cycle continue. But for Arielle, Alex, and Brian, and for the students and staff of Michigan State, and for every family that has been torn apart by gun violence, we must choose to act."
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