“Why is it that when it comes to guns, Republicans throw their hands up and say we can’t do anything,” asked U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
House Democrats held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to address gun violence on Wednesday following a deadly shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this week.
“We gather here today with a heavy heart that another community in America has had to deal with a tragic mass shooting,” said House Minority Leader, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
He continued, “We gather here today not simply as elected officials and members of Congress, but more importantly, as moms, as parents, as Americans, demanding that House Republicans put people over politics and put kids over guns.”
On Monday, Audrey Hale opened fire at The Covenant School, killing six people including three students, the Associated Press reported.
Shortly after Nashville police officers arrived on the scene, they heard gunshots on the second floor. They then headed in that direction, spotted the 28-year-old and opened fire, fatally striking the shooter.
Hale was a former student at The Covenant School and Nashville Police Chief John Drake told NBC that he believes Hale resented attending the institution.
U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) attended the presser and said she is “heartbroken” and “outraged” by the tragic events that unfolded earlier this week.
“As a legislator, I am ashamed at the lack of the political will to keep our kids safe from our Republican colleagues…I have to worry every single day whether my 10-year-old daughter will be shot in her classroom,” she said.
Jeffries said that “weapons of war” like the one used in The Covenant School shooting should not be accessible to the American public.
“There is no excuse to allow our streets to be flooded with weapons of war…They’re being used to hunt human beings and to slaughter children. We’re demanding that Congress act because the level of gun violence in this country is unacceptable,” he said.
During the press conference, Omar questioned why some conservative Congressional members refused to find a solution to America’s gun problem.
“When we saw that car accidents were taking lives, we required seatbelts to save lives. When we saw that people were dying from drug overdoses, we passed laws to save lives. Why is it that when it comes to guns, Republicans throw their hands up and say we can’t do anythin?” she inquired.
Before concluding her remarks, Omar directly addressed her Republican colleague, instructing them to “stop listening to your corrupt campaign donors.”
She added, “Don’t let any more of our children get killed. Give us a vote on a commonsense gun reform – the time is now.”
The Nashville school shooting is the latest mass shooting that has exposed the U.S.’ need for gun reform. It marked the 13th school shooting in 2023.
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