During an overnight U.S. House sit-in late Wednesday and early Thursday by Democrats protesting inaction on gun law reforms, lawmakers shared stories of firearm violence affecting their friends, family and our nation. A particularly powerful speech came from Rep. Debbie Dingell of Dearborn, who spoke to the chamber about personal experience.
Rep. Debbie Dingell: "Can’t we say enough is enough? Can’t we have a vote?"
Thanks to transcription by Michigan blogger Chris Savage, here's some of what she says, referring initially to her father:
I’ve never actually thought I would sit on the floor of the House of Representatives. And it’s been a tough day in some ways. . . .
As so many of my colleagues have talked about, we don’t focus on what’s happening every day. We don’t focus on the daily shootings or how our young people are beginning to accept that that’s just what happens. And we don’t focus on who has access.
I lived in a house with a man that should not have had a gun. I know what it’s like to see a gun pointed at you and wonder if you are going to live.
And I know what it’s like to hide in a closet and pray to God: ‘Do not let anything happen to me.’
And we don’t talk about it. We don’t want to say that it happens in all kinds of households. And we still live in a society where we will let a convicted villain who was stalking somebody [in a case] of domestic abuse, still own a gun. . .
The point of this discussion is that we’ve got to stop going to our corners. We’ve got to stop spouting talking points.
But we’ve got to come and figure out how we’re going to make this nation safer. How we’re not going to accept the violence that we’re seeing every day. How we’re not going to let people have access to guns that shouldn’t have access to guns. And we’re not going to do it until we start to change the dialog, until we come to the table and we have the discussion.
So we’re here on this floor tonight to say, “Enough. Is. Enough.”
I’ve been talking about what I grew up with for many years. It took Newtown. I went and I wrote an op-ed. . . . I know now we can’t stay silent any longer. We have to do something. I’ve never seen us more united than we are today. . . .
I love my Republican friends. I have many. I love you all. Can’t you come to the table? Can’t we have a discussion? Can’t we say enough is enough? Can’t we have a vote?
Excerpts from Rep. Dingell's 2012 op-ed
When I was about to start eighth grade, my father almost shot my mother. It was another of their many ugly fights. I got between them — literally — and tried to grab the gun.
I will never forget that night. The shouting. The fear. The raw terror that we would all die, my brother and sisters along with my parents. My calling for help, but the police not coming. . . . My mother running out of the house.
I locked my brother and sisters in a bedroom and pushed a bed against the door. My father broke in, took the door off the hinges and pulled the phone from the wall. He took the knobs off all the doors, so we could not get out and no one could get in.
We survived that occasion, physically. Emotionally, I am not so sure. . . .
Every child deserves to feel safe. No child should have to worry about guns and violence and whether something bad could happen to them. To this day, I can feel that panic and anxiety, and I would do anything to shield others from it.
For most of my life, I have lived with guns. My father owned handguns and rifles. He showed them to us and taught us gun safety, and he used them, for good and bad. He didn’t mean to scare or endanger us, but he suffered from depression and his access to those guns at the wrong moments was not a good thing. Later in life, with treatment, he became a different person, but one I could never quite forgive.
My husband, Rep. John Dingell, is a former board member of the National Rifle Association and a lifelong supporter of the right to bear arms. My stepson believes even more strongly than his father in that Second Amendment right. They are two of the most responsible, safety-conscious gun owners anyone could ever know. Their dedication to the right to bear arms, to hunt, to compete in rifle and skeet matches, and to protect themselves and their families has been passed down from generation to generation.
This belief is as central to them as the freedom of speech and religion. As a result of knowing them, I have come to respect and understand the importance of this right to gun owners in ways I did not used to understand, certainly not as a scared child. The ability to defend one’s self is a human right that ensures the protection of other basic rights.
Since last week’s shootings, our country is once again shocked at another senseless tragedy for which there is no rationalization or explanation. Unless we change the conversation, we will not find the answers.
Demonizing the NRA or gun owners in general gets us nowhere. A fresh round of old proposals for gun-control laws won’t work and will be followed by the renewed frustration of different factions going to their respective corners to fight instead of seeking real solutions.
We, as Americans, need to be willing to acknowledge that we have serious social problems and have to get at the root causes for so many of these horrific scenes. . . .
I don’t have all the answers. But I know two things. Decades later, I still feel the fear of that night when I was 12 years old. And while ordinary Americans do not need access to assault weapons, I also know that banning all guns won’t “fix” the problem. We need a new dialogue that doesn’t pit people against each other but that focuses on how we all work together so that all Americans, especially our children, can feel and know they are safe. -- The Washington Post, Dec. 20, 2012
