Advocate says federal laws need to change to address nation’s gun violence

William Brangham:

For some more reaction now to this mass shooting and the repeated tragedies like this that occur nationally. I'm joined by Chris Brown. She's the president of Brady, the advocacy campaign that has focused on gun laws, gun violence, background checks and more. Kris Brown, thank you very much for being here. Again, I know you have been working on this type of an issue for years now, but I wonder, before we talk about possible legislative solutions, could you just reflect on as President Biden said today, we seem to be the only industrialized nation on earth where these types of tragedies continually occur. Can you reflect on this day for us in the scope of our history with gun violence?

Kris Brown, President, Brady:

Yes. I mean, I agree with the President. And those are just facts. Of course, we're looking at a 50% spike this year in active shooter situations over last year of 2020, which is the last data that we have, was among the most deadly in American history going back 25 years. And none of this, by the way, and I think of this as the head of Brady, obviously, is a salve or any possible, you know, positive news for any of us, but least of which are the people who are our families today who are not having their children come home. And to me as a mom and as an American citizen, I find this unconscionable because gun violence can be solved. It's just that basic. What this is, is a public health epidemic. And, you know, in the 50s when we had automobile fatalities, we didn't ask the question, "what is the one thing that we can do to solve this?" It was all of the things we can do. And I would call upon all of us to really think about those things because it is children dying today. It was children dying in Sandy Hook and countless other situations. But last week it was Black Americans targeted grocery shopping. Before that it was people in synagogues. Before that it was people walking to a concert. When is enough is the question we all have to ask. And I don't understand fundamentally why we don't have a body politic, especially the Senate, who just says it is enough and let's just do something simple. Let's start here. Expand Brady background checks. They've stopped 4 million sales of guns to individuals who shouldn't have them. Can we not start there? And that could be passed tomorrow. It's sitting in the Senate and that's, to me, democracy. It's also doing something to recognize that this is a uniquely American problem. It doesn't have to be this way.

William Brangham:

I mean, as I'm sure you are aware, we've already seen senators like Joe Manchin say that they don't support reforming the filibuster to pass new gun control laws. Senator Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican Party, saying he doesn't see that this is the right time for that. You've also been through many of these campaigns after Newtown and Sandy Hook, where we all as a nation thought legislation would something that would be done failed to occur. Do you have any hope that this time will in fact be different?

Kris Brown :

I'm not sure it will, but I will say one thing. I'm an able-bodied citizen of the United States of America, and I care. I have two daughters. I have neighbors. I could not live with myself if I had a bill to expand a law that 90% of Americans support, like expanded Brady background checks, which standsm let me be clear, for the crazy proposition that individuals who are seeking to buy a firearm actually are subject to background checks. Why is that important? Because we have certain prohibited purchasing categories. Convicted felons, convicted domestic abusers. We want to ensure that those people don't easily access guns. If I were a member of the United States Senate, like my neighbors, like everyone that I could walk down the street and talk to, they would say, yes, I would stand for that. But I think most Americans don't understand is why is a bill like that, to expand Brady background checks to states that have not yet put that in place, not coming to the floor of the Senate? And there is no good answer. I think if you saw what Chris Murphy said earlier, and I know that you all covered this extensively. He said, let's bring that bill to the floor. I agree. I think the Democratic leadership should bring that to the floor. And the question is not, to be perfectly honest, will that come to the floor and have a vote that withstands the filibuster? The question is, can it be brought to the floor? And if it does not withstand the filibuster, we have to end the filibuster because the filibuster is killing us. So priority one is to bring that vote to the floor. And if it fails, priority two is to end the filibuster. And if we want to stop gun violence, those are the top two priorities or the next mass shooting is going to occur.

William Brangham:

Kris Brown of the Brady Campaign, thank you very much for joining us on this. Again, another horrendous day.

Kris Brown :

Thank you.