Mississippi Congressional Republicans, all staunch 2nd Amendment supporters, aren’t likely to jump on board with the President, Democrats.
Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Democrats are attempting to use the tragedy as a backdrop to advance gun control legislation in Congress.
The White House has announced that President Joe Biden (D) will deliver a primetime address Thursday night “on the recent tragic mass shootings, and the need to pass commonsense laws to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is taking lives every day.”
Biden has advocated for expanded background checks and assault weapons bans for years.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) allowed her colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to call an emergency meeting of the committee during the chamber’s off week to consider gun control language. Among other items, the proposed legislation would redefine “high-capacity” magazines as holding ten or more rounds and outlaw those clips across the board.
The Democrats’ gun control package could also seek to ban “military-style” assault weapons, particularly the AR-15, ban sales of semi-automatic guns to those under 21 years old, increase “red flag” provisions, regulate “ghost guns,” and require gun storage.
Some Democrats in the House are openly blaming Republicans for cultivating a political and social environment in the U.S. that lends itself to mass shootings, pointing to GOP policy positions the Left terms as “homophobic” or “anti-immigrant” as a cause for the shootings.
New York Congressman Mondaire Jones (D) said today that Democrats would do whatever it takes to pass gun control, naming abolishing the filibuster in the Senate and expanding the U.S. Supreme Court as options.
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY):
"You will not stop us from passing [gun control]. If the filibuster obstructs us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court objects, we will expand. We will not rest until we've taken weapons of war out of our communities." pic.twitter.com/0x3t1aJXBn
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 2, 2022
Last week, Mississippi’s 2nd District Congressman Bennie Thompson, also a Democrat, tweeted that he stands with his colleagues who want to end gun violence, adding, “We want gun violence prevention legislation on the floor now.”
As of Thursday, Thompson has made no public comments on Speaker Pelosi’s latest proposals.
I will stand with my colleagues who want to end gun violence. We want #gunviolenceprevention legislation on the floor now.
— Bennie G. Thompson (@BennieGThompson) May 25, 2022
The other three members of the Mississippi Congressional delegation are Republicans – Trent Kelly (MS-1), Michael Guest (MS-3) and Steven Palazzo (MS-4). They are all strong supporters of the 2nd Amendment and have opposed any attempts in the past at undermining a citizen’s right to own firearms.
Congressman Palazzo told Y’all Politics that instead of using a tragic event to strip Americans of their rights, Congress should address the root cause of these acts.
“Once again, Democrats use a tragic event to try and strip us of our Constitutional rights,” said Congressman Palazzo. “Let’s address the root cause driving these violent acts. Let’s invest in mental health and more school security. As a nation, we need to return to a society that prays for and protects one another.”
Congressman Michael Guest agreed, noting two bipartisan bills he has cosponsored to create safer schools instead of pushing through the Speaker’s radical gun control legislation.
“Instead of common-sense, bipartisan measures to reduce gun violence, Speaker Pelosi is planning to propose radical gun control legislation that will not pass the Senate. The American people deserve real solutions. That’s why I’ve cosponsored two bipartisan bills, H.R. 750, the Luke and Alex School Safety Act (LASSA), and H.R. 1229, The EAGLES Act, which would create safer schools and would not take firearms away from law-abiding citizens,” Guest told Y’all Politics.
The mainstream media is helping Democrats with their messaging against Republicans on this issue. This week on “The View,” co-host Tara Setmayer pointed to the “rise in violent Christian nationalism” as the cause for the shootings. Setmayer terms herself as a “conservative” but she is a senior advisor for the anti-Republican group the Lincoln Project.
In reference to an ad depicting a young child and a gun coupled with a Bible verse, “The View” co-hosts expressed their disdain for such imagery and even likened the use of the Bible verse in a reference to the “South” during slavery, inserting race into the issue as is often done by those on that panel.
“It’s part of the Christian nationalism, this rise in violent Christian nationalism, that we have seen, which is also disturbing. They use biblical principles, they pervert them to justify this,” Setmayer said, adding, “Particularly in Texas, this is a growing movement… It’s God, guns and Trump. Or God, guns and whatever. It’s a part of their ethos.”
Faux conservative Tara Setmayer blames mass shootings and killings on “Christian nationalism.” “It’s God, Guns, and Trump,” for these people she sneers.”Down south they used to use the Bible and say you’re not people,” Whoopi added. pic.twitter.com/IzpQbMQ0i5
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 31, 2022
Whatever legislation is put before the House, it is likely to pass as Democrats hold a slim majority in that chamber. However, their efforts could be for nothing as the U.S. Senate is split 50-50 and there appears to be no interest at this point by a majority to circumvent the chamber’s rules and bypass the 60-vote threshold to pass a purely partisan House package.
Rumors are swirling in the Senate about legislation that would address concerns on both sides of the aisle regarding access to guns and their availability. That package is being billed as a compromise piece of legislation that could come from a bipartisan group of Senators in the next week. No concrete points have been made publicly on this package and where the talks stand.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) has vowed to bring gun control legislation up for a vote in the chamber as soon as possible.
In the wake of the Uvalde shooting, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker said he was willing explore solutions to address gun violence but the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners should not be infringed.
“This attack was abhorrent. I stand behind efforts to enforce our existing laws better and address the serious mental challenges that could drive a person to target children in this way,” Wicker said. “I’m committed to exploring bipartisan solutions that can help address gun violence without infringing upon the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners.”
Mississippi’s other Senator, Cindy Hyde-Smith, has expressed a similar position in the past. Like the other Republican members of the state’s federal delegation, Hyde-Smith is a vocal supporter of the 2nd Amendment.
Her office told Y’all Politics on Thursday afternoon that Senator Hyde-Smith is deeply troubled by the recent increase in violent crime, including the truly awful murders in Uvalde, Texas. The Senator is studying how best to keep children safe, but she is not interested in political grandstanding bills or anything that would infringe on the constitutional Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
“Liberal gun control measures will not impede criminals from obtaining firearms,” the Senator wrote on Facebook. “Just look at crime in Democrat-run cities like Chicago.”
