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" Yesterday was one of the most deeply disappointing days of my short time in the U.S. Senate. Families from coast to coast deserved better from this Congress. The Newtown parents who came to Washington to bravely tell their stories deserved better than this body turning its back on them. The families of Aurora deserved better. The families of the more than 30 people who die at the hands of gun violence every single day in this country deserved better. Today was a missed opportunity to take real action toward ending senseless, deadly gun violence with truly commonsense reforms that do nothing to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. When 9 out of 10 Americans urge us to act on expanding background checks, and the majority of Americans urge us to get military-style assault weapons and ammunition clips off the streets, and we still can&amp;amp;#8217;t summon the political will to act, this body is more broken than ever before. Four years ago, I met the parents of Nyasia Pryear-Yard in Brooklyn. Nyasia was a beautiful 17-year-old honor student killed in the prime of her life by an illegal handgun while she was hanging out with her friends. I vowed to Nyasia&amp;amp;#8217;s parents and classmates that I would fight to stop the flow of illegal guns that make their way onto our streets and into the hands of criminals&amp;amp;#8212;by finally making gun trafficking a federal crime and holding offenders accountable with stiff penalties. According to Mayor Bloomberg&amp;amp;#8217;s office, 85 percent of the guns used in gun crimes in New York City come from out of state, and at least 90 percent of these guns are bought through the illegal black market run by traffickers. Of all the laws we have on the books right now, effectively none of them are directly focused on preventing someone from driving from one state, driving to another with stricter gun laws, parking their car in a parking lot, and selling hundreds of firearms to criminals. This is shocking to me as a mother and a lawmaker. Our bipartisan Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, which was also voted down on the Senate floor, would empower law enforcement to investigate and prosecute illegal gun traffickers, straw purchasers, and their entire criminal networks. It is shameful that we could not even get enough votes to stand with law-enforcement officials across the country who have asked for this legislation, which law-abiding gun owners support. There is no doubt this was a setback, but we will continue the fight for these commonsense laws aimed at keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals. We must stand with families in communities all across the country looking to us to take action to prevent the next senseless tragedy, the next Nyasia Pryear-Yard. What do you think about the vote? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Photo: Courtesy of Kirsten Gillibrand"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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