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Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, AL-07, spoke on the House Floor to honor the victims of Saturday night’s mass shooting in Birmingham’s Five Points South. She called on her colleagues in Congress to pass common sense gun safety measures, including universal background checks, red flag laws, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. She also called on state officials to reverse the state’s 2022 permitless carry law. This morning, Sewell was briefed by the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Steven Dettelbach, regarding the federal response to the shooting.
Rep. Sewell:
Mister Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise to honor the victims of the horrific mass shooting that rattled the Birmingham community over the weekend.
On Saturday night, just after 11:00 p.m., twenty-one people were shot in Birmingham’s Five Points South entertainment district. Four of them tragically lost their lives.
Let me be clear. This, indeed, is a senseless violence and unacceptable and it must stop.
Our thoughts are with the families as they endure this unimaginable loss. Nothing compares to the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence. We stand with them in this time of great sadness, and we pray for a speedy recovery for those that were injured.
I join in expressing my gratitude to the police officers and first responders, as well as our county, state, and federal partners, for their quick response.
My staff and I have been closely monitoring the situation, and we stand ready to assist the City of Birmingham in any way that we can.
While this horrific tragedy has focused the eyes of the nation on Birmingham, Alabama, the surge of gun violence is a reality that far too many of my constituents endure every day.
Our communities are crying out for change, and we as elected officials owe it to them to do all that we can—at every level of government—to keep them safe.
Again, I want to be clear. This senseless violence is unacceptable and it must stop.
That means bringing more resources to community organizations fighting to break the cycle of violence. It means teaching our children about alternatives to gun violence. And yes, it means passing common sense measures to keep weapons off the streets of America.
Mister Speaker, our thoughts and prayers are important. They are needed. But they will not bring back the lives of those lost to gun violence, nor will they prevent such tragedies from happening again.
The members of this body cannot continue to sit by as family after family, community after community are torn apart. It is time for Congress to finally pass universal background checks, red flag laws, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
It is also time for state officials in the State of Alabama to reverse the permitless carry law, which has allowed the unchecked proliferation of guns on our streets.
Only by taking meaningful action can we stem this needless loss of life.
I ask my colleagues to keep the entire Birmingham community in your prayers, and I hope that we can come together and turn this pain into purpose and do something about it.
Thanks, and I yield back.
Rep. Sewell also led her colleagues in a moment of silence for the victims of the Birmingham Five Points South shooting. She was joined by her colleagues of the Alabama delegation and other representatives whose districts have been affected by gun violence.
The video of Rep. Sewell’s remarks can be seen here.
