Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said Tuesday that the deadly mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard should summon Americans and Congress back to the debate on new gun laws.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin said that the background of gunman Aaaron Alexis, who had received medical treatment for serious mental illness in the weeks prior to Tuesday’s massacre, should bring scrutiny to the nation’s gun laws.
“What happened yesterday brings into question some important values in America,” Durbin said. “If we value our right for ourselves and our families and our children to be safe, if we value this Constitution, if we value the right of every American to enjoy their liberties with reasonable limitations, then we need to return to issues that are of importance.”
Durbin argued that the measure proposed earlier this year by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) would have made it harder for individuals like Alexis to obtain firearms. The Manchin-Toomey amendment sought to strengthen background checks on gun buyers and would have allowed doctors to enter mental health records into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or “NICS” as it is commonly known.
That measure failed in the Senate in April after nearly every Republican and four red state Democrats voted “no.”
