U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell
Debbie Dingell: "It's not easy for me to talk about."
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell wanted to drive home the importance of proper backround checks for federally licensed gun dealers.
So, during a debate in the House over a gun bill, Dingell made it very personal, emotionally recounting how she hid from her mentally unstable father as a child, Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press reports.
"He never should have had a gun," she said. "I have spent more time thinking about how you keep guns out of the hands of abusers, more probably than anybody in this chamber. I know better than most the dangers they pose.
"It’s not easy for me to talk about it this week. But . . . I will be honest on this floor, my father was mentally ill. I had to hide in that closet, with my siblings, wondering if we would live or die. One night I kept my father from killing my mother. He shouldn’t have had a gun."
The comments were made as the House debates legislation to extend the period of time a federally licensed gun dealer must wait for a background check to be completed.
