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In the wake of Monday’s mass shooting at a Nashville private school — in which six people, including three children, died — Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett says lawmakers are “not gonna fix” school shootings.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, U.S. Rep. Burchett acknowledged that “three precious little kidslost their lives and I believe three adults,” then continued: “It’s a horrible, horrible situation and we’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals.”
“My daddy fought in the second World War, fought in the Pacific, fought the Japanese, and he told me, ‘Buddy, if somebody wants to take you out and doesn’t mind losing their life, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it,'” Burchett said.
The National Rifle Association haspreviously endorsed Burchett, rating him an “A” lawmaker and describing him as a “solidly pro-gun candidate with a record of support on Second Amendment issues.” Burchett has voted against measures to create federal gun purchase waiting periods and measures to criminalize the private transfer of firearms.
Other lawmakers are arguing that there is more that can be done to prevent school shootings, such as banning assault rifles (police confirmed that the shooter in Nashville, who was killed on Monday, was wielding a pistol and two “assault-type rifles.")
That measure ultimately passed, and the sale of the weapons was restricted under theFederal Assault Weapons Ban, which remained in place from 1994 to 2004, when it expired.
PresidentJoe Bidenhas called on lawmakers toreenact that ban, and reiterated those calls on Monday while speaking at a Small Business Administration Women’s Business Summit.
“I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapon ban. It’s about time we begin to make some progress, but there’s more to learn,” Biden said,Politico reports.
Still, many Republicans have remained unfazed, arguing that banning assault weapons or strengthening background checks on gun purchases isn’t the answer.
Far from being a weapon designed to shoot small animals, the AR-15 — which was used in both the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings — was initially developed to be used as a military weapon.
But asNPR reported in a 2018 story, the gun became popularized when it began to be sold, and marketed, to civilians. The US National Shooting Sports Foundation, for instance, began adopting the term “modern sporting rifles” to describe the weapons in 2009, softening their description despite them being no less lethal than a military-grade weapon.
To express your opinion on gun reform proposals to your own representatives in Congress, you can look them up and contact them here:congress.gov/members
source: people.com
