WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today in a speech on the Senate floor honored the victims of this month’s shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, in which a gunman killed Trevor Wehner, Clayton Parks, Russell Beyer, Vicente Juarez, and Josh Pinkard, and injured Aurora Police Officers Adam Miller, Marco Gomez, John Cebulski, James Zegar, Reynaldo Rivera, and Diego Avila.
Looking toward a poster with the faces of the victims, Durbin said, “Look at those faces. Eleven days ago they were alive, part of a family, and loved – fathers and grandfathers, and now they’re gone because one man who should never have owned a gun, took it to work in a fit of anger, and killed these five men.”
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After praising the injured Aurora police officers by name, Durbin said, “They, and the hundreds of other police officers and first responders who rushed to the scene, are heroes. Simply put, heroes. Their quick, courageous responses certainly saved other lives.”
Durbin also reiterated his call for action on commonsense measures that can reduce gun violence in American communities, like closing gaps in the federal background check system.
“I am honored to represent the City of Chicago, but my heart breaks to know that last year, more than 2,900 people were injured or killed by gun violence in that great city…To those who will say that the aftermath of a mass shooting is not the time to talk about gun safety, I have one simple question: When is the right time to talk about gun safety? Will you wait until the killing comes to your community, your church, your children’s school?” Durbin asked. “Let’s do something sensible and bipartisan to make our background check system as effective as it can be.”
