Sen. Dick Durbin: ‘We Send Our Prayers’

(CNSNews.com) – Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D.-Ill.) gave a speech on the Senate floor on Monday, addressing the mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, indicating that he was sending “our prayers” on behalf of the victims and their families, but then saying that “prayers are not enough.”

“I cannot begin to imagine what the families and school community are feeling at this moment,” Durbin said.

“We send our prayers and condolences, and we are certainly grateful to the first responders who were dispatched to the school within minutes and ran toward the sound of gunfire,” he said.

“But, once again, thoughts and prayers are not enough,”  said Durbin.

“These mass shootings, especially targeting little children, are happening with sickening regularity in this nation,” said the Democratic whip. “This could be the 129th mass shooting since this year, 2023, began–129 mass shootings in America–and we are fewer than 90 days into this calendar year. That is more than one mass shooting per day.”

Durbin then called for more gun-control legislation—invoking the Founding Fathers as he did so.

“I strongly–strongly–support bills that ban assault weapons from civilian use and close gaps in our background check system,” said Durbin.

“I cannot imagine the Founding Fathers would even envision what we are allowing today in the name of words that they wrote in the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights,” he said.

Here is the full transcript of the speech Durbin gave on the Senate floor about the mass shooting in Nashville:

Sen. Dick Durbin: “Today, yet another American community is in shock and grief after yet another American mass shooting. This morning, a shooter entered the Covenant School in Nashville, Kentucky—oh, I’m sorry, Nashville, Tennessee–reportedly armed with two assault rifles and a handgun.

“This is an elementary school for students in preschool through the sixth grade. The children are as young as 3 and 4 years old.

“Upon entering the school, the shooter opened fire, killing at least three staff members and three students.

“I cannot begin to imagine what the families and school community are feeling at this moment. We send our prayers and condolences, and we are certainly grateful to the first responders who were dispatched to the school within minutes and ran toward the sound of gunfire.

“But, once again, thoughts and prayers are not enough.

“These mass shootings, especially targeting little children, are happening with sickening regularity in this nation. This could be the 129th mass shooting since this year, 2023, began–129 mass shootings in America–and we are fewer than 90 days into this calendar year. That is more than one mass shooting per day.

 “What is a mass shooting? Four victims either shot or killed in an incident.

“Last year, Congress took some important steps on gun safety reform with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. The Judiciary Committee that I serve on has done a lot of work on those measures, and I am happy to support both of them.

“But as today’s shooting in Nashville, TN, demonstrates, there is more work to be done. The fact that this is a daily occurrence in America is unconscionable.

“We are going to learn more details in the hours and days ahead about what actually happened in Nashville, but we already know what must be done to keep our children and communities safe from deadly shootings. I strongly–strongly–support bills that ban assault weapons from civilian use and close gaps in our background check system.

“I cannot imagine the Founding Fathers would even envision what we are allowing today in the name of words that they wrote in the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights. To think that these weapons–the one that was used in Highland Park, in my home State of Illinois, on the Fourth of July, last year–the man discharged 83 rounds in 60 seconds.

“Tell me that the Founding Fathers had that in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment. I don’t believe it.

“Today, the early reports are that assault weapons may be involved again. We will wait until we see the actual facts coming in, but it would be no great surprise if that is the case. It would be a grave disappointment.

“I urge my colleagues to come together on a bipartisan basis. We can’t say that we have solved this problem or even addressed it seriously when the incidents like the one that happened today in Nashville, TN, continue in America.

“We need to pass more reforms to keep guns out of dangerous hands and keep our children safe.”

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