Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke about his father’s suicide during a speech about gun violence prevention.
“Sometimes people in a fit of passion will purchase the handgun to do bad things with it,” Reid said. “Mr. President, even as my dad did, kill themselves. Waiting a few days helps. Requiring a simple background check every time a gun is sold is common sense.”
Reid’s remarks came as he pushed for the Senate to vote on background checks for gun purchases. Senators have been working for weeks on a bipartisan compromise on the issue, and the details of the deal have not yet been finalized.
Reid’s father, Harry Reid Sr., committed suicide in 1972. In September 2009, Reid referred to his father’s suicide in a statement on the importance of Suicide Prevention Week.
“Even today, I can still vividly recall the moment in 1972 when I received the tragic news that my father had taken his own life,” Reid said in the 2009 statement. “Over the years that followed my father’s death, my family didn’t talk about his suicide. We were left alone and carried this experience in a very private way. … It wasn’t until twenty-four years later that I spoke publicly for the first time about my father’s suicide. Shortly thereafter, my office was inundated with calls and letters from people around the country who had also lost a loved one to suicide. I quickly learned that suicide is a national problem, and one that is particularly severe in Nevada.”
Watch Reid’s Tuesday remarks:
h/t BuzzFeed
