Congressman David Cicilline, a Democrat who has sponsored the House bill to ban assault weapons, noted that gun violence has become the leading cause of death for American kids.
“And for those who have said, ‘Oh, we’re rushing this’? More than 311,000 students have experienced gun violence since Columbine,” Cicilline said at the House judiciary committee hearing. “The real question is, why has it taken us so long?”
Echoing his colleague Sheila Jackson Lee, Cicilline pushed back against Republicans’ claims that Democrats are trying to overturn the the Second Amendment, referring to the right to keep and bear arms.
“Enough with these bogus arguments about the Second Amendment,” he said.
“The supreme court of the United States has said time and time again the Second Amendment is not absolute. The Congress and states have the ability, and I would say the responsibility, to ensure that there are appropriate restrictions both on age and places where you can bring firearms and the kinds of firearms you can possess.”
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee dismissed Republicans’ suggestions that Democrats are trying to overturn the Second Amendment, referring to the right to keep and bear arms, by strengthening gun laws.
Lee, a Democrat of Texas, recounted her conversations with a father who lost his daughter in the Uvalde shooting, and she called on her colleagues to act to save the lives of other children.
“Protecting Our Kids is a combination of humanity, courage, decency and action,” Lee said of Democrats’ gun-control bill.
“We’re in a crisis of death. We have a war on the children of America. I, for one, cannot stand in a stupor of stupidness.”
The Republican ranking member of the House judiciary committee, Jim Jordan, accused Democrats of engaging in “political theater” after the massacre in Uvalde.
“What happened in Uvalde, Texas, is tragic. It is every family’s worst nightmare,” Jordan said in his opening statement at mark up the Protecting Our Kids Act.
“No one wants another tragedy. No one wants this to happen again. That’s why it’s regretful that Democrats have rushed to a markup today in what seems more like political theater than a real attempt at improving public safety or finding solutions.”
Jordan said Democrats did not reach out to their Republican colleagues to discuss potential compromise bills to strengthen gun laws. However, Jordan has not indicated any willingness to pass gun-control legislation, instead suggesting that schools need to be provided with better security to prevent mass shootings.
“This is not a real attempt in my judgment to find solutions,” Jordan said of the Democratic bill.
Nadler condemns inaction on gun control: ‘What the hell are you waiting for?’
The Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee, Jerry Nadler, condemned congressional inaction on gun-control legislation in the wake of the Uvalde tragedy.
Noting that it has been 23 years since the shooting at Columbine High school, Nadler dismissed Republicans’ suggestions that Democrats are moving too quickly to pass stricter gun laws.
“Too soon, my friends? What the hell are you waiting for?” Nadler said in his opening statement at the markup hearing.
Nadler acknowledged that the provisions in the Protecting Our Kids Act would not end all gun violence in America, but he argued the policies could save many lives.
“It might have saved those children in Uvalde,” Nadler said. “The American people are begging for us to address this crisis. Let us not wait one second longer.”
House judiciary committee begins hearing on gun-control bill
The House judiciary committee hearing to mark up Democrats’ gun-control bill, known as the Protecting Our Kids Act, has now started.
The omnibus bill includes a number of proposals to strengthen America’s gun laws, including raising the age requirement for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
The hearing comes less than two weeks after the devastating shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which resulted in the the deaths of 19 children and two teachers.
The blog will have more updates and analysis of the hearing coming up, so stay tuned.
Joe Biden met with the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, on Tuesday to discuss, among other things, the issue of gun violence in the wake of the Uvalde massacre.
Biden said he wanted to speak with Ardern because of the leadership she showed after the Christchurch attack in 2019, when a gunman killed 50 people at two mosques. Less than a month after the attack, New Zealand passed a bill to ban the sale of all military style semi-automatics and assault rifles.
“I want to work with you on that effort,” Biden said at the start of his meeting with Ardern. “And I want to talk to you about what those conversations were like, if you’re willing.
President Biden quotes William Butler Yeats while speaking on gun violence: “There’s an expression by an Irish poet; ‘Too long a suffering makes a stone of the heart.’ Well, there’s an awful lot of suffering…much of it is preventable and the devastation is amazing.” pic.twitter.com/RdV7UgCBZD
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 31, 2022
A reporter then asked Biden whether he plans to meet with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell in the coming days. “I will meet with the Congress on guns. I promise you,” Biden replied.
Highlighting the tragic cost of gun violence in America, Biden quoted the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, who said, “Too long a suffering makes a stone of the heart.”
“Well, there’s an awful lot of suffering,” Biden said. “Much of it is preventable, and the devastation is amazing.”
It’s worth noting that the bill being debated by the House judiciary committee this morning, known as the Protecting Our Kids Act, does not include a ban on assault weapons.
The Washington Post explains why:
More than 200 House Democrats have co-sponsored an assault weapons ban bill introduced by Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.). But that’s not enough to pass the House and leadership has yet to secure the needed remaining votes, according to people familiar with the deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the state of play.
The omission of an assault weapons ban will likely disappoint gun-control advocates, who have pushed for the policy. The weapons are frequently used in mass shootings like the tragedy in Uvalde.
Former President Bill Clinton signed an assault weapons ban in 1994, but the law expired in 2004 without being reenacted.
The House judiciary committee hearing today will likely include some fierce criticism of gun-control proposals from the Republicans on the panel.
Jim Jordan, the Republican ranking member of the committee, has denounced the “hodgepodge of bills” that Democrats have proposed after the shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo.
“I think it’s just wrong to attack the Second Amendment liberties of law-abiding citizens, and that’s what these bills do,” Jordan told Fox News on Tuesday.
“The answer is to make sure you have school facilities secured, and you have security officers who are trained and well-equipped to protect kids and teachers and the educational environment – not these various bills that they’ve piled into one hodgepodge package.”
A number of Republicans have called for beefing up school security after the Uvalde shooting, where a gunman was able to overcome law enforcement officers outside Robb Elementary school and went on to kill 19 children and two teachers.
But it’s unclear how effective such policies would be. According to a Washington Post analysis of 225 school shootings between 1999 and 2018, 40% of affected campuses had a police officer on duty. The Post found only two examples of school police officers shooting attackers.
House committee to consider gun control bill after Uvalde shooting
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
The House judiciary committee will hold a mark-up hearing this morning to consider the Protecting Our Kids Act, an omnibus bill aimed at tackling the issue of gun violence in America.
The hearing comes a week after a gunman attacked Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. Days before the Uvalde massacre, a shooter attacked a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and killed 10 people, most of whom were Black. And just yesterday, another mass shooting left four people dead in Tulsa.
The recent attacks have increased pressure on Congress to enact stricter gun laws. If approved, the Protecting Our Kids Act would raise the age requirement for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. It would also establish severe restrictions on the sale and possession of high-capacity magazines, among other reforms.
In the last 2 weeks, 31 people have been murdered and another 20 injured at the hands of two 18-year-olds legally armed with semiautomatic assault rifles.
It is time for Congress to act.
That is why I am introducing and leading the charge on the ‘Protecting Our Kids Act’. https://t.co/MpbXEuO3hc
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) May 31, 2022
“It is time for Congress to act,” said Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee. “Our children, friends and families should not face the threat of horrific violence simply because they are grocery shopping, attending religious service, or in an elementary school classroom.”
The committee hearing could set up a full House vote on the legislation when the chamber returns from recess next week. However, even if the House approves the bill, it faces significant hurdles in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans are sure to block the legislation. As of now, it seems unlikely that any gun-control bill can make it to Joe Biden’s desk.
The blog will be following the hearing when it kicks off at 10am ET. Stay tuned.