In the aftermath of the latest shooting in Texas that left seven people dead, Democratic leaders are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to act on gun control and bring legislation to the chamber’s floor.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were among those urging McConnell to take action, echoing comments they made early last month after two deadly shootings shook the country.
“Every day, the epidemic of gun violence inflicts a devastating toll in communities in every corner of our country, forcing far too many to endure heartbreak and tragedy. The Republican Senate must end its obstruction and finally pass the commonsense, bipartisan, House-passed gun violence prevention legislation that the country is demanding,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Her “Team Pelosi” Twitter account on Friday accused the Republican leader of “refusing to help the people” and stressed that action needs to be taken as soon as possible.
On Saturday, Schumer also called for bringing the House-passed background check bill to the Senate floor when Congress returns from recess. The legislation passed earlier this year, but came into the public focus after the El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio shootings in August.
Many of the presidential candidates hoping to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020 have made the issue a priority, with Senator Elizabeth Warren telling McConnell that “Time’s up.”
“Let’s vote on gun safety legislation NOW. Every day you wait, more tragedies happen. Do something, Senator McConnell. America is done waiting for you,” she tweeted Saturday.
Senator Amy Klobuchar also said her colleagues needed to act on the issue weeks ago, lamenting the fact that they didn’t.
“No more of the same playbook: (1) promises made; (2) NRA meeting; (3) promises broken. We need to act,” she said on Twitter.
Other Democratic senators spoke out, criticizing the National Rifle Association and America for not doing nearly as enough to stop the violence.
President Trump said Sunday that although the shooting was “a very, very bad situation,” it didn’t change anything in Congress.
“This really hasn’t changed anything, we’re doing a package. We’re looking at a lot of different things, a lot of different bills, ideas, concepts,” he told reporters, claiming that background checks “would not have stopped any of it. So, it’s a big problem. It’s a mental problem. It’s a big problem.”
He then pledged to work with Congress to resolve the issue and possibly try to stop mass shootings, pointing out, however, that that seemed highly unlikely.
“We want to substantially reduce the violent crime,” he noted.
Be the first to comment