Democrats across the U.S. responded to Tuesday’s tragic school shooting in Texas by demanding that new gun control laws be passed that would crack down on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
The calls to implement the gun control laws came after an 18-year-old male opened fire inside Robb Elementary School, killing more than 15 people, most of whom were children.
Leading the charge in pushing for more gun control laws was Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who said that Republicans needed to find a way to work with Democrats to “pass laws that make this less likely.”
Murphy also suggested that mental illness was not the problem when it came to major shootings.
“Spare me the bull**** about mental illness. We don’t have any more mental illness than any other country in the world,” Murphy claimed. “You cannot explain this through a prism of mental illness because we don’t — we’re not an outlier on mental illness. We’re an outlier when it comes to access to firearms and the ability of criminals and very sick people to get their hands on firearms. That’s what makes America different.”
Other notable Democrats who seized on the tragedy to call for more gun control laws included Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“The horrific rampage in TX once again makes clear that there are some very sick people in this country with guns in their hands who should not have them,” Sanders said. “Congress may not be able to end this problem, but we must at least pass commonsense gun reforms to finally protect the public.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed that “there is no such thing as being ‘pro-life’ while supporting laws that let children be shot in their schools, elders in grocery stores, worshippers in their houses of faith, survivors by abusers, or anyone in a crowded place.”
“It is an idolatry of violence,” she added. “And it must end.”
There is no such thing as being “pro-life” while supporting laws that let children be shot in their schools, elders in grocery stores, worshippers in their houses of faith, survivors by abusers, or anyone in a crowded place.
It is an idolatry of violence. And it must end.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 24, 2022
California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom claimed that Republicans “won’t do a damn thing” about shootings, adding, “We need nationwide, comprehensive, commonsense gun safety NOW.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote, “Abolish the filibuster and pass gun safety legislation now.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) also called for passing new gun control laws.
“The only adjectives left to describe yet another school shooting are ‘sick’ and ‘tired’ of conservative extremists blocking common-sense steps to reduce the risk of these atrocities ripping away the lives of children and leaving their families to grieve their devastating losses,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) tweeted.