don't only want music. maybe you want some news, a weather report. if you're on the subway, not while you're driving like a clip of "jimmy fallon" or something like that. there's some other contents you want to experience during that period of time and that's kind of the hypothesis we're testing right now to see if people are interested in experiencing that. >> then sunday evening at 6:30. g.o.p. presidential candidate john kasich at the council on foreign relation, on rebuilding international alliances. >> 18 years on the house arms services committee, i knew many months ago that the only way to solve this problem is to call for an international coalition to defeat isis in syria and iraq. we have to join with our nato allies and with other allies in the nation to organize an international coalition to defeat isis on the ground and to deny them the territory that

they need to survive. those with long experience know that an air campaign on its own is simply not enough. >> for more schedule information o our website, c-span.org. >> house minority leader nancy pelosi hosted a forum at the s. capitol on reducing gun violence. the panel took testimonys and asked questions about the experts and safety advocates. this portion of the event is about 35 minutes and later, we'll take your phone calls on the topic.

>> during the incident, nine shots were fired by michael hilton. hilton was convict offend murder of williams and sentenced to 25 years in the virginia department of corrections. on september 8, 2011, rhodes was visiting friends at south of the james apartment when he was shot and killed. rhodes was involved in an altercation with an individual who has yet to be identified. the offender shot rhodes one time before fleeing the area. rhodes, a star high school basketball player attending virginia state university was gunned down in the prime of his life after high school athlete with the potential to have the world in the palm of his hands. unfortunately due to senseless argument settled by gunfire and killing rhodes, his true potential will never be known. on may 4, 2015, ross was shot four times and killed while sitting in a vehicle. ross was waiting for a friend to

return. her vehicle -- when the offender approached the residence that her friend was in. the offender noticed ross in the vehicle and began firing into the vehicle. a total of eight rounds were shot into the vehicle. the defender in this incident has been arrested and is awaiting trial. ross was a 2014 graduate of the governor's school in richmond, virginia. i want to thank you all for letting me have this opportunity to be here. secondly, let me thank the men and women across the country who riske their lives every day, sometimes against unmatched odds, and fire power in order to keep our community safe from those who mean to do us harm. we are experiencing mass shootings throughout the country too frequently as public safety professionals. we see horrific gunfire in our communities every day and we are speaking out because enough is enough. background checks are critical

for the safety of our communities. they keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited from those who are possessing them. we know that the background background check system works since the brady laws was enacted background checks have blocked over two million printed -- prohibited purchase from buying guns. we must extend the background checks to all purchases no. policy matter has this much public support. poll after poll shows over 90% of the public supports background checks for all purchases. 80% of gun owners support this measure. lawmakers must listen to as law enforcement professionals and the communities that live with this every day. high capacity munition and magazines must be limited to 10 rounds. we have looked at this matter very seriously and conclude that 10 rounds would help limit the

number of senseless deaths and give the law enforcement the opportunity to respond if confronted by the person's intent on committing such acts. a 10-round limit may provide someone on the scene an opportunity to take down a shooter when they stop to reload. we also support restricting the sale of new military style semiautomatic weapons. this will not -- this will not affect those who already legally own these weapons. these weapons are designed for war and designed to kill as many people as fast as possible. for the sake of our communities and the safety of our officers, we urge the passage of sensible legislation. again, thank you. god bless you. god bless this great country and enough is enough. >> thank you for how you describe how our first

responders are being trained to do -- reduce vie sclens the odds that they are up against. thank you for being here. w we're going to hear from chris ca it's i, a s, his introduction was made by the chairman of the air force. thank you. >> it's an honor for me to be here to speak with you all today. growing up in arizona, i've been exposed to a rich -- of firearms. duck hunting camping trips and spending time with family, law-abiding gun owners. several years ago, i did obtain my f.f.l. it was a business i knew about. my father-in-law who had done so much for me as a young man was down on his luck. this was something i could invest in, build around and give back to someone who had given so much to me. but everyone has a turning point, a moment in time where things change that you can point to. and for me and so many others it

was that december morning three years ago waking up to the sandy hook tragedy. i was so disgusted with this industry that had caused so much pain that i was going to walk away. i had the conversation with my wife and other trusted advicers are of canceling my life. but that would only be contribute the problem and i remember coach telling me you got to not blame anybody, not expect anything, but do something. and that's when i decided i was going to resolve to do everything i could, to be a reasonable gun dealer and to speak out for common sense gun laws. to go above and beyond federal law when possible to make sure that guns are kept out of the hands of dangerous people. so what can gun dealers do? as chief dixon says, background checks. keep millions of guns out of the hands of prohibited purchasers. i run a lot of background checks. the process is amazingly simple. and most are completed in less

than 90 seconds. but in rare cases when a result takes longer than three days to be completed, an n.r.a.-backed loophole allows a dealer to make the sale even though the check is incomplete. that means dealers sell thousands of guns to dangerous people each ear. the charlesson shooter was one of them. we implemented the no completed background check no, sale. this is not an original idea. one of the nation's largest firearms dealers, wal-mart, has implemented this policy since 2002. and not only is this the right thing to, the common sense thing to do, it will have no material financial impact on dealers. let me say that again. as a dealer, not exercising your ability to transfer a firearm to a person after the three days before a check is complete left hand have no material financial impact on your business. these are the numbers. less than 10% of the beckham background checks that i've run come back delayed and of those,

upwards of 95% receive a definite proceed or denied result within that three days. so i'm really talking about less than 1% of one business, 1% of the checks. this 1% is so important there are potentially dangerous people seeking a fireman. we have the power to close the default proceed loophole, a loophole that has forever changed the lives of so many people around the country. we've provided a platform for private sales. every licensed law-abiding dealer is at a material disadvantage due to the private laws or lack thereof when it comes to the sale of firearms. it costs the dealer nothing to run a background check. big this nomar -- misnomer. we have promoted an environment of a private sales within our f.f.l. come in. transfer your firearm at no cost knowing that you can sleep well

at night that we've done the background check. we've on the the paperwork to make sure that you are transfering to a safe or non-prohibited purchaser. you need to train employees. ask questions. really screen for the state of mind in which the person is trying to purchase. so much can be told by one just general demeanor. 90% of the crime guns are originating for just 5% of the licensed dealers in this country. how many of those guns are taking advantage of this default proceed loophole? so i advocate for entrepreneurs, small business owners, i support the second amendment. but a majority of americans know that the current system is just not enough. it's just common sense. things need to change. so i urge those to adopt a code of conduct such as the brady code of conduct, implement the simple policy to make sure that prohibitive purchasers are not getting easy access to weapons.

there's materials a.t.f. provides them online and webinars that one could take to train their employees. we don't need congress to act. f.f.l. can put people in front of profits and stop the nonsense that's taking place. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much, chris. for once again, providing testimony to us. thank you for your courageous actions, for your courageous statement here today. it is very valued by us. thank you. dr. zacher, a hero in a panel of heroes there. thank you for joining us. we look forward to your testimony. welcome. >> thank you very much, leader pelosi, chairman thompson and vice chair robin kelly. i'm delighted to be able to join you to discuss this very important topic in the lives of the american people. i want to thank you for allowing me to join this distinguished

panel. i would like to take the opportunity to make the case for a public health approach to gun violence prevention. funds to support gun violence research were removed from the c.d.c. budget in 1996 while i was serving as c.d.c. director and before i became surgeon general. at that time, congress j. dickie from arkansas led the efforts from behalf of the n.r.a. to remove the funds so that for 20 years, there's been no funds available for gun violence prevention research. using the public health approach, we have reduced smoking among americans from 43% at the time of the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health in 1964 to 18% of americans smoking today. we estimate that we have saved over eight million lives over

the cause of applying public health approach to the issues of smoking. since 1970, using the public health approach, we have reduced deaths from motor vehicle crashes by more than 70% from proximately 55,000 deaths in 1970 to less than 30,000 deaths today. but during that same period, deaths from firearms have continued to rise due to homicides, accidental gun deaths and suicides. what is the public health approach and why is it so relevant to this issue? the public health approach begins by defining the problem including this magnitude, its nature and its distribution in the population. then it goes to designing a call, the risk and protect the factors for the problem. for example, what are the

characteristic a person who are at the greatest risk for gun violence there? and what are the characteristics of the persons who are at greatest risk for committing gun violent crimes? how can we intervene to prevent the problem? for example, those educating people about the risk of guns that come with gun ownership and how to reduce that risk make a difference? and finally, we move to develop and widely implement programs using proven strategies to prevent the problem. for 20 years, we have not been able to apply the public health approach to gun violence prevention. even congressman dickie said it was a mistake to remove the funds and he has now called for their restoration. using the public health approach, we have eradicated smallpox. we've eliminated polio in most countries.

reduced motor vehicle deaths and reduced smoking by more than one half. we need to bring the public health approach to bear on gun violent deaths and we need to do it now. almost 200 death os kur each week in america from gun violence. these mostly occur in poor communities among young minority males who have easy access to assault weapons even and to drugs. another major concern is the increase in mass shootings which we are seeing throughout the country which-and-some ways throughout the world. but make no mistake about it. while there are over 200 deaths a week from homicides in the streets of america, we've had less than 500 deaths total from mass shootings in the last 15 years. they are both important, but we need to keep that in perspective. we make the following

recommendations. following advice of dickie who provided the leadership in remove the funds for prevention and public health research surrounding guns. congress should restore those funds immediately and attempt in some way to compensate for all of the years that we have not been involved in this very important research. secondly, we need to educate the american people regarding the magnitude of the problem of homicide, accidents and suicides by guns. it's very important to appreciate the fact that there are twice the number of suicides in this country each year than homicides. and that over half of the suicides are carried out with guns. it is also worth noting that we are losing 22 veterans a day from suicide, most of whom used guns. when other means of suicide are used, they are completed less than 5% of the time. but when guns are used, they're

completed almost 90% of the time. thirdly, we need to reduce the use -- easy access of guns, especially assault weapons and others. with a specific emphasis on keeping them out of the hands of children and those who suffer from mental illness. it should be more difficult to get access to a gun than to get license to drive a car. finally, as you have pointed out, we need a bipartisan approach. i have some great memories from my tenure in government. i remember when senator stone came together across party lines to co-sponsor the mental health parity act which was recommended in my report on mental illness. i remember the partnership between senator the senators to pass the health insurance and portability and accountability act of 1996. and i remember the commitment of senator kennedy and oren hatch

for the child health insurance program. so i have great memories but i call upon you today to respond to one of the major tragedies of our time occurring on the streets of america every day. and aggressively promote research using the public health approach to promote gun violence. thank you very much. >> thank you, madam leader. thank you for your testimony. you brought up the j. dickie letter and i had conversations with former congressman dickie last week before a press conference we have on the hill with a number of medical professional who is brought us petition signed by thousands of medical professionals, asking us to remove that dickie blockade. and he sent me a letter saying similar to what you said today. and to use the analogy that you alluded to an autodeath. he said we studied autodeaths to

reduce those but it was nobody's intention of doing away with all automobiles although automobiles clearly end auto depth he said the same thing with deaths. he said it was an effort to do away with all guns and he said that's ridiculous but certainly solve all gun violence but it's clearly something that most people don't want to do. and he called for the repeal of his previous action and i would like to ask unanimous consent to deliver that letter for the record. . thank you very much >> thank you, leader pelosi,

chairman thompson, vice chair kelly. it is an honor to be with you today and be part of this distinguished panel. an attention has been on the alarming increase in mass shootings but these incidents represent a small fraction of gun violence in the united states. while some policies could reduce the numbers killed or wounded in mass shootings, my comments today focus on what research tells us about how to prevent ore of the three -- 33,000 firearm-related deaths each year in the united states. there are at least three major ways in which changes to federal gun laws could reduce gun violence. first, higher standards for legal gun ownership would help. a person can legally buy as many guns and as much ammo as they like and carry that around with them in most states almost anywhere they would like even if they've been arrested and

convicted for numerous crimes involving violence, guns, and alcohol. as long as those acts had not resulted in a felony an individual can also have numerous prior restraining orders or even a current emergency restraining order for domestic violence and that is not a legal barrier to having or carrying guns in most states. when states have raised standards for legal gun ownership, research has documented reductions in violence. second, congress could heighten accountability measures for federally licensed firearm dealers to reduce the number of guns being diverted to criminals. the number of guns that are diverted to criminals is closely linked to whether gun dealers face consequences for not complying with gun sales regulations, according to several studies that i have led myself. but congress has shielded licensed gun dealers from such

consequences. finally, most importantly, background checks and record keeping for all gun transfers is fundamental to any system designed to keep guns from prescribed individuals. universal background checks prevent guns from being diverted from criminals. when you couple that -- those background -- universal background check requirements with handgun purchase or licensing, not unlike what we get when we go to get a driver's license, they reduce -- you have to go right to law enforcement to get them. these measures reduce homicides and suicides. i'll give you some quick examples. research that i led found that when connecticut adopted such measures in 1995, it led to a significant reduction in both homicides and suicides committed with guns. conversely, missouri had such a policy in place for decades and

chose to repeal that law in 2007. our research found that quite abruptly gun divergence to criminals, homicides and suicides increased significantly. if gun laws were irrelevant to criminal use, we would not find these relationships between state gun laws and criminal gun use. we would not see predictable flows of guns from states lacking universal background checks, and other measures of gun seller accountability, to criminals in states that have taken these important measures. states do benefit from having stronger gun sales laws, but stronger federal laws would more effectively reduce gun availability to dangerous people and save more lives. ms. pelosi: thank you very much, dr. webster.

thank mayor bloomberg for the support of johns hopkins in so many ways, but in particular to the work that you have taken the lead on and given us such valued testimony today. as we proceed forward, my colleagues, there are so many of you here, what i'd like to do just as quickly as possible is to acknowledge all of our members who are here and then take them three at a time, one question each, sometimes we have multiple questions, which deters others the opportunity. so let's see -- use your time whatever way you want it. question or statement. a speech disguised as a question. maybe not that. one or the other. i first want to acknowledge that we are joined by our distinguished chair of the house democratic caucus, xavier becerra, and by the chair of the steering policy committee, rosa delauro. we are also joined by

congressman david cicilline who went to the floor to make a statement about gun violence -- gun safety. congresswoman hahn from california, congresswoman lowey from new york, a member of the task force, congresswoman esty of connecticut. congressman peters of california. congressman takano of california. congressman scott of virginia, another member of the task force. both of them vice chairs. congressman mcgovern of massachusetts. congresswoman matsui of california. the distinguished ranking member of the judiciary committee congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yette clarke, new york. congresswoman capps of california. congressman gallego of arizona, congressman desauliner from california. congresswoman velazquez of new york. congresswoman kaptur of ohio. congresswoman lawrence of

michigan. congressman norcross of new jersey. congresswoman jackson lee of texas. congresswoman torres of california. congressman engel of new york. we are very proud. members will be coming and going because we have floor action on all of this today. with that i'm going to recognize our chairman and two vice chairs of the task force, congressman becerra, congresswoman esty, and congressman bobby scott for them to put their questions or statements on the record. mr. becerra. mr. becerra: thank you, madam leader. i'll do the best can i to keep time to be a good role model here. first i would like to say thank you for the testimony with regard to the research that must be done so we can do a better job of preventing gun violence. it's crazy to me that we can't figure out a way at least do the basic research that gives us better answers. so thank you for having made

that clear. chief dixon, i'll pose my question to you. if you are innocent bystander and someone pulls out an assault weapon, you feel terrorized. it shouldn't make no difference who that perpetrator is, someone who hates america, or hates you because of the color of your skin or content of your character. at the end of the day, that person is being victimized and terrorized by someone by use of weapon. and i'm hoping that you can clarify something for us. some people think that terror only applies when it's someone who is coming from some foreign country trying to do all americans harm. when day-to-day some us live in communities where people live with the thought of terror because their neighborhoods are not as safe or there are too many people who are carrying weapons for the wrong reasons. i hope you'll be able to talk about that. thank you. chief dixon: terror comes day-to-day. and we see it in our communities. when you talk to some of our people who live within our

neighborhoods stricken by gun violence, when they say they have to sleep on the floor, they are afraid gunshot will come through their windows. strike their children, strike themselves. so they live with terror every day. when they can't walk to the stores in their neighborhood because they are concerned that they may be accosted by somebody with a gun on the way to the store. i think we really have to take a look at and kind of needle it down that happens every day. i think some of the colleagues have already mentioned we have mass shootings, but we live with this every day within our communities. we see it every day within our communities. and we have to put something in place to slow it down and bring it to a head so people can live without terror and feel like they are in their home or communities or schools or churches and don't have to worry about these type of incidents. mr. thompson: we'll go to congresswoman esty from connecticut, vice chair of the task force. ms. esty: really want to thank

all of you so much for your expertise, your passion and commitment as we approach the third anniversary in newtown, connecticut, my district. it is particularly shocking and disappointing that this body, the house of representatives, which is supposed to protect and defend the american people, has not taken action. you have done a pretty good job, i think, already laying out action that is we can and should be taking. but if you can try to help us prioritize as members of congress what are the most important things we should be doing? and touching a little bit on the importance of federal law. i know that dr. webster, you talked about the efforts states like connecticut has taken. i know, for example, my friend and colleague here, robin kelly, we have tough laws in connecticut. tough laws in illinois. tough laws in california. but people just go across state lines. or they aren't enforced you pointed out. if you could talk a little bit about those priorities. federal law, federal resources for research, better enforcement

to help us focus the attention of our colleagues for what we can do to best save lives not only from mass shootings but the everyday shootings. the suicides, needless deaths in this country that we have an obligation and duty to address. thank you very much. dr. webster: i'll take a crack at that. the most important thing to do as i indicated a few minutes ago is to extend background check requirements across the board, federally. there is really no reason not to do that. 90% of the american people want that. we have evidence that it does affect diversions of guns to criminals. and it will help a variety of states reduce their levels of gun violence. so i think that is clearly the top priority. i think the magnitude of the

benefit that you get from that, however, is directly correlated with whether you raise standards for legal gun ownership. there currently are a number of individuals with fairly risky backgrounds that can still pass the background check because the standards are so low. i think the background checks would have even greater effect on community safety if we had higher standards for legal gun ownership and focus on risky behavior. history of risky behavior. ms. esty: could you amplify on that a little bit. we talked about domestic violence we which know is a serious issue. dr. webster: domestic violence is a great example. right now federal law covers a victim if they have a final order for restraining order for domestic violence.

we know from research, however, that the time in which the victim is really at greatest risk is right at that emergency level when they are seeking protection. so that would be a very important gap to fill. the other important areas focusing on misdemeanor violence. quite a lot of serious acts of violence get pled down and someone agrees to a lower level misdemeanor act of violence. you don't necessarily have to have lifetime prohibitions for all of these matters. risk of violence goes down fairly dramatically when someone gets into their 30's, 40's, 50's. even temporary measures on individuals based upon their not being lawful, their their violent acts, would you expand the effects of gun policies, including background checks. ms. pelosi: thank you very much.

ranking member scott. mr. scott: thank you very much. i want to welcome chief dixon from the third district of virginia. the question i wanted is rather than wait for him to get activated if the -- dr. satcher or dr. webster could you talk about the importance of using public health research-based approach. and what we can expect in terms of solutions using this approach. dr. satcher: let me begin. i think we have to remember how far we have come using the public health approach to deal with issues such as smoking and health. whereas i said before we now estimate that we have saved eight million lives in this country because of using the public health approach where we, in fact, worked with the federal government, the state and locals, to define intervention that is we can then test to see if they work.

some of the interventions for smoking and health started at the state level. california, i believe, was the first state to restrict smoking in public places. but now most of the states do. and again when i released the surgeon general's report on women and smoking, california was the only state in which lung cancer deaths were not increasing in women. so i think when it comes to gun violence it's really critical, number one, there be leadership at the federal level. the fact that the money was taken from the c.d.c. budget to do research in this area, and i hope you remember what happened was we had funded research that showed when you compare cities where people had guns and owned guns in their homes, or cities where it did not, contiguous cities, the risks of deaths in the home with the guns was much greater. they were three times as great for things like homicide,

spousal homicide, accidental deaths, and five times as great for suicide. as i mentioned before, when it comes to suicide when people use guns they are effective almost 90% of the time. when they use drugs, they are effective about 5% of the time. i have seen many patients in the emergency room who had taken an overdose of drugs. we pumped their stomachs. we referred them to mental health specialists. and many of those people are doing great today. they had a chance to deal with their depression. but if there is a gun involved, 80% to 90% of the time it is fatal.

>> democrats introduced a measure -- purchasing guns before the senate republican whi p have to say at that time. >> mr. president, i am astonished by the proposition of our friend, the senator from connecticut. that you could be on a secret watchlist by the federal government. and just by virtue of this secret listing of an individual on a government watch list, you could be denied some of your core constitutional rights. without any necessity of the government establishing probable cause or producing any evidence that would justify the denial of a core constitutional right. good enough to take the government's word without proof or showing probable cause for denying a

citizen their constitutional rights under the second amendment. i guess that is good enough to deny your right to worship according to the dictates of your conscious, freedom of speech, freedom of association, all of the other rights enumerated in the constitution. it is an outrageous proposition. i would say to my friend, if these people are true on this government -- are truly dangerous, why isn't the obama administration and the obama justice department indicting ,hem, taking them to court trying them, and convicting them of crimes? instead, you have a secret watchlist without any proof, any evidence. -- the senatory has mischaracterized the amendment that i've proposed last week. i've now offered by unanimous consent. what would happen is, if an

individual on the watchlist purchases a gun, it will be the national criminal background check system was within access the watchlist. if the department of justice was worried based on that notice that somebody was attempting to buy a gun, they could intervene for 72 hours to stop the individual from purchasing the gun. if they were worried about this individual further, they could go to court and produced before a federal judge evidence to justify the detention of the individual to take them off of the street. response tomplete the concerns raised by our friends across the aisle. >> that measure was blocked after democrats but unanimous consent to pass it. here is a story, cornyn blocks democrats to push a ban guns for

suspected terrorists. that wouldislation bar suspected terrorists from owning guns. democrat from connecticut side unanimous consent that would pass legislation to allow the attorney general to block known or suspected terrorists from buying guns or exposes that they believe the purchase will be tied to an act of terrorism. cornyn objected adding that democrats were trying to create a gotcha moments. now is your chance to weigh in on gun violence and what you think and can be done to prevent it in the u.s.. the numbers on your screen. republicans, the number is on your screen, democrats it is on the screen. others, -- as always, you can tweet us at c-span. or leave a comment on our facebook page. william joins us from north

carolina on the republican line. doing? how are you host: good. caller: the thing that bothers me, i sit and listen to these people and they are supposed to be so learned and intelligent. they never address the situation , how to stop taking guns -- criminals from accessing guns. they always talk about taking guns from the good people. they are not a problem. we have a problem with mental health in this country. there is no doubt about that. we have a problem with criminals. that is the situation that needs to be addressed. not good, innocent law-abiding people. i appreciate your time. host: thanks for calling. gordon from pittsburgh on the democrats line. caller: i understand gun control, but you cannot take guns from anybody. they are going to find a way to get guns, they have to go across

state lines and get guns. they will get them, and then sell them. what -- soonerat or later someone is going to crack. you could take a normal person on the street, he is having a bad day, there is no telling what he is going to do. my thoughts, if you prosecute people that come across state lines with these guns, then you are going to end up helping or stopping the majority of these crimes from going on. thanks for your time. host: stephen from college park, maryland on the line from independents. what you think about how to reduce gun violence? caller: i like the comments from former -- in terms of public health approach. if there was one disappointment in the panel, it was that they did not make reference to what to do with the reality.

they assumed that it would be easy access to deadly force in this country, i think the best strategies is to focus on the survivors. everyone who has experienced gun violence in their lives is traumatized. i have done work with mothers of murdered children. arend that those mothers powerful voices for the survivors. i think we need to focus on the survivors to ensure that their grief and anger does not turn into picking up a gun. to help with is the healing and trauma associated with gun violence. host: thanks for calling. your thoughts on reducing gun violence. doug on the republican line. caller: good afternoon. is, number one, from

the research i have done, most of the violent acts are done by handguns. a very small amount are done by assault style weapons. first question is, why are most of the gun laws pointing towards a result or assault weapons? most of the people i talked to believe that people are being mode down on automatic mode with these weapons. that is not the case. i do believe in stronger background checks, which would include violence behavior, andal health, and licensing a person being checked to see if they can still possess that weapon. thank you. host: to las vegas, diane joining us on the democrats plan -- line. the emphasis on public

health in terms of early childhood positive experiences in the latest research on toxic trauma. as we heard earlier, families who sleep on the floor and families who cannot walk out of their doors, that represents continual stress. when young children see violence in their family, that is stress that changes the architecture of the brain. i believe that this is a public health issue. i believe it is a child development issue. i believe that it is a family issue. i think it should be approached in that area. host: thanks for calling. earlier today on "washington facebook page,ur we asked if recent shootings motivated you to buy a gun. we got a lot of responses. triedaid nobody has ever to take a law-abiding gun owners

guns away from them. not obama or any other democrat or republican has tried to pass a bill to take guns away. -- obama motivates people to buy guns. since he took over the white house, our gun store business has grown exponentially. we are taking your calls on how you think the u.s. can reduce gun violence. your ideas, jonathan from texas on the independence line. caller: for me, it goes down to training with proper firearms training. starting young helped, but it is all about the maturity level. somesorry to say that people in this country are not mature enough to have a firearm, regardless of their age. that is the problem, it is the people, not the gun, not how many background checks. you can be sane and not be responsible. host: do you think the law should require training? caller: absolutely.

i think that would be a big help. but the others went -- required to have training before hand. host: michael from washington on the democratic line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i agree that there should be some type of training with weapons. by myreading something representative out here. forgive me if you guys get your the rain and wind in the background. my representative was talking about how 91% of suspected terrorists at the weapons that they apply for. something has to be done there. taking the rights away from , somebody taking that away from me, that would be a problem. i just want to emphasize keeping the weapons

out of the hands of people that could use them for violence. host: next on the republican line, thomas is joining us. what are your thoughts about reducing gun violence? are you with us thomas? we will move on to derek in alabama, an independent caller. training think that for people to own these guns and background checks. i am a person that is taking chances. just because you have a background, criminal history, not should not -- allow you to be able to get a gun. history,ve a violent that should.

misdemeanors, not so --h host: thanks for calling. more of your facebook comments are answering the question we posted yesterday on "washington journal," if you have been motivated to buy a gun following the recent shootings. here is a post from steve, he said i have had one ever since i became an adult. nothing wrong with having a gun if you are responsible. who posted, i am a liberal isn't annoyed by someone who wants a gun for self-defense. i have a problem with people wanting guns that should only be used by the military. host: this afternoon, we are asking you on your thoughts on reducing gun violence. next is johnny from colorado. caller: hello, i fail to

disagree with everyone. my point of view on the .ituation, i've been retired i am a constitution supporter. the americanth government and they have done nothing. i fully agree with the federal system and how they have enforced those laws since 2002. i've been retired for 30 years. is hard for people to understand what other people in this world -- are just tried to make it for themselves. so they can understand and care about what is going on in america and across the whole world. host: thanks for calling. linda from texas, a republican caller.

caller: i just wanted to say ift i think we are more safe we are allowed to purchase a gun legally. if the law enforcement and the would get those bad guys faster, and go in those neighborhoods where they know the violence is an crackdown on the death and drugs and guns, those are illegal. i feel very safe caring my weapon. years, i have done nothing to practice with it. praise god. i am all for someone legally carrying a gun. host: arkansas on the line for democrats, what do you think about reducing gun violence? and i amis is peggy,

just wondering how do the kids get their hands on their parents's gun and go in school? we had an active shooter this week, he had a gun. my granddaughter was there. was there with guns. -- got it from momma. upthey want gun, lock them from their kids. when i was growing up, we had guns in our home, but we knew to leave them alone. host: thanks for calling. a couple more facebook comments on our question earlier today.

have recent shootings motivated you to buy a gun? our facebook on page, the shootings have been motivated me to buy a gun. obama has motivated me to buy a gun. rodney writes that the only people who motivated me to buy more guns are the people who are trying to erase the second amendment. time for just one more call, jerry from florida on the line from republicans. caller: thank you. i am a person who has beer hunted and shot birds all of my life. i am not against people having guns. i am a constitutionalist and i believe that people do have the right to bear their arms. however, i do not see why it is necessary to increase our gun laws because if you look at what has happened, a lot of these terrorist attacks have been in safe gun cities. or, the regulations dealing with -- mental health has

not been strictly enforced. i see nothing wrong with having a 1, 2, three day waiting. d in order to purchase a handgun. i also think any type of an assault, i do not know how you define that, any type of assault gun should be outlawed in america. thank you. host: thanks for calling. quick programming note, president obama has scheduled a statement on the paris climate agreement for later today. we are going to bring that to you live on c-span at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. live coverage of president obama and his statement on the paris climate agreement. now is the weekly radio addresses from the president and the republican response -- president obama talking about his strategy to

combat isis and how americans can help. -- he talks about new legislation designed to close loopholes in these waiver programs. everybody. this week, americans across the country have shown what it means to be strong in the face of terrorism. bernardino, even as the community continues to grieve, people are refusing to be ruled by fear. across the country, dedicated public service are on the job and look forward to returning this week. communities have come together in fellowship and prayer, forlies lined the street the annual christmas children's parade because we cannot let terrorists change how we live our lives. innwhile, men and women uniform are stepping up campaigns to destroy isis. inirstrikes are hitting isil iraq and syria.

our special operations forces on the ground as we are going to hunt down these terrorist wherever they try to hide. a terrore taken out leader in somalia and libya. our message to these killers is simple, we will find you and justice will be done. this week, we will move forward on the home front. monday, i will go to the pentagon and review our military campaign and how we can continue to accelerate. later on, i will go to the national counterterrorism center. our efforts across the entire government to prevent attacks and protect our homeland. this week, the department of homeland security will update its alert system to make sure americans get more information including steps you in your community can take to be more vigilant and stay safe. in the wake of the attacks in paris and san bernardino, i know all americans are asking what can i do.

first, we have to stay vigilant. if you see something that seems suspicious, say something to law enforcement. years, plaxo been uncovered because someone saw something and spoke up. as i said in my speech last weekend, one of the most important things we can do is stay true to who we are as americans. are tryinglike isil to divide us along lines of religion and background. that is how they instead -- just as how muslims around the world have to keep twisting every interpretation of islam, all of us have to reject bigotry and all of its forms. i will say it again. prejudice and discrimination helps isil and undermines our national security. the good news is that americans are coming together to reaffirm the core values that keeps us strong. political leaders across the spectrum, democrats and republicans, liberal and conservative, are standing up forcefully for freedom of

religion. churches and synagogues are reaching out to local mosques reminding us that we are all god's children. grateful citizens are saying thanks will our patriotic muslim american servicemen. some of our greatest sports heroes have reminded us why they are true champions and voices for tolerance and understanding. across the country, americans are reaching out to their muslim friends, neighbors, and coworkers to let them know we are here for each other. i think of the woman in texas carrying a sign saying we love our muslim neighbors. that is a message i hope every muslim american hears. we are all a part of the same american family. this is a message all of us can deliver. parents towards our children, teachers towards the students, leaders and politics, and business, and entertainment. bernardino, people from across the community have joined in prayer circles,

christians, juice, muslims, and others. they sent a powerful message. we are all in this together. that is the spirit we have to uphold. that is what we can do as americans united in the sense of the country that we love. if we get the right information to the right people, we can keep terrorists on the wrong -- run and pass our shores. it is part of our ongoing efforts to tackle the terrorist threat head on and keep our country safe. i spent nine years as an undercover officer in the cia. chasing that guys like al qaeda and the taliban. when we talk about threats we are facing right now from isis and other terror groups, i know from first-hand experience that there is a clear and present danger to the united states. we cannot contain this, we have to defeat it. we have plans and that is why the house passed a bill that

requires the president to come up with a real strategy to defeat isis. taking down isis will not be easy, and there are many things we need to do. one of them, is to tighten up the visa waiver program. this program allows people from friendly countries to the united states 90 days without getting a visa. this is a great program for promoting trade and tourism. if we are not careful, it can be a weak spot. i served on the house task force with combating terrorists were we looked specifically at the threat of isis to the homeland. one of the things that was found, is that we are not getting information we need from our european allies. signed them have agreements with us saying they will share terrorist watchlist data. this includes most of the countries that participate in the visa waiver programs. themd that only some of share the name of convicted terrorists, and not suspects. some -- traveling to the united

states. but because the european union has few internal border checkpoints, terrorists can easily exploit this loophole. a german citizen can drive to spain and fly to the united states entirely undetected. these loopholes need to be closed and the intelligence's failure needs to stop. week's willsed this allow the department of homeland security to expand the -- it does not give us the information we need to track terrorists. these ideas are simply common sense. they go a long way towards keeping us safe. this is just a start to defeat isis. we have to be in this for the long haul. house republicans are making progress, and the people of our country deserve nothing less. thank you. c-span takes you on the road to the white house, and into the classroom. this year, our student cam

documentary contest asks students what they want to hear from the presidential candidates. follow c-span's road to the white house coverage and get all of the details from the contest at www.c-span.org. state department officials testified tuesday on capitol hill concerning construction of a new u.s. embassy in london set to open in 2017. members arrested officials over the high construction costs, security concerns at various embassies, and problems are other certifications design process for new embassies. this is two hours and 20 minutes. >> gapminder the committee on o