Sen. Carper Statement on Failure to Pass Commonsense, Bipartisan Legislation to Reduce Gun Violence

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement after the Senate failed to pass bipartisan legislation to reduce gun violence:

“In the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, this is a tragic outcome. Instead of uniting behind a bipartisan effort to expand background checks on gun purchases, crack down on illegal gun trafficking and improve school safety, many of my colleagues have decided that the United States Senate should do nothing. None of the key provisions we voted on today would have infringed upon law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights – a point that the lead Republican cosponsor of this legislation echoed just last week. This proposal put forward by Senators Manchin and Toomey was a good first step toward addressing gun violence in our society, and I’m sad and disappointed to see it fail. Despite that, I’ll continue working with my colleagues to enact commonsense reforms that keep dangerous weapons with the capacity to inflict unthinkable harm in our communities out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and the mentally ill. Simply put, we can’t give up. The families of those killed in Newtown, as well as countless families touched by gun violence in Delaware and across the country, will remind us of that every day.”