Uvalde and Buffalo shooting hearings

Uvalde and Buffalo shooting hearings


To address the most recent spate of gun violence in the United States, the House Oversight Committee will hear from experts, parents, and students affected by the shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

Two panels will testify before the committee, offering insight on how the shootings have affected their communities and helping inform committee members ahead of votes on gun-control legislation. Lawmakers have discussed a wide range of reactions to the shootings.

Rep. Carolyn Malone, the Oversight Committee chairwoman, suggested Congress will consider “commonsense legislation that a majority of Americans support. This includes legislation to ban assault weapons and bolster background checks on gun purchases, while respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.”

Other lawmakers have taken a different approach to new laws, choosing to emphasize increasing the age to purchase weapons from 18 to 21, rather than renew the debate about whether Congress should attempt to outlaw an entire class of firearm.

4:11 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Live updates on the hearing have concluded

The Washington Examiner’s live updates on the House Oversight Committee have concluded. Readers are encouraged to check the website for any additional updates on the Uvalde school shooting and all of Congress’s latest actions on guns.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

4:08 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Hearing wraps up

After turning to her colleagues for any closing remarks on the matter, Rep. Carolyn Malone, the Oversight Committee chairwoman, thanked witnesses for appearing before the panel Wednesday adjourned the session. The congresswoman noted that she is planning additional hearings on gun violence in the future.

4:00 PM
Jun 8, 2022
‘Gun violence turns out to be a woman’s issue’ congresswoman declares

“If you look at the statistics, gun violence turns out to be a woman’s issue,” Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) declared. “What do these statistics show nearly 1 million women are alive who are alive today have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner.”

Norton peppered witnesses with questions about how gun violence affects women. Greg Jackson, executive director for the Community Justice Action Fund, argued an increased presence of guns can lead to a spike in domestic violence against women.

“There have been multiple studies done which I can supply to the record that have shown the presence of a gun greatly increases the risk of violence against someone in the home,” he explained. And when we think about gun violence and how it’s terrorizing our community and it being the number two cause of death for black women, we need to do all we can to address this violence beyond simple policing strategies.”

3:54 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Lower gun deaths correlated with increased gun control, witness testifies

Nicholas Suplina, senior vice president for Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety told members of Congress that studies have shown that increased gun control measures typically yield lower rates of gun deaths.

“When you look at all 50 states based on their strain of gun laws and look at their rate of gun deaths, there’s a direct correlation between the strength of gun laws and lower rates of gun deaths. It’s just statistically correlated,” Suplina stressed. “It is a fact and California which does have some of the best gun laws in the country also has some of the lowest rates of gun violence.”

3:48 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Local officials can’t ‘do the job’ on gun violence without federal help, congressman insists

Vexed by congressional inaction, cities across the country have attempted to take matters into their own hands, passing stronger gun control legislation — but those efforts were in vain Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) cautioned.

Davis stressed that a pipeline of guns from other states with more lax gun laws in effect has undermined local efforts to curb gun violence.

“It’s a city where local elected officials have been making every effort that they could to reduce gun violence. you cannot purchase legally a handgun in the city of Chicago and yet guns are flowing into our city, like water flows in a river,” he said.

“That’s because we know that no matter how hard you can’t do the job that you need to do unless there is federal rules you can walk across the street into a nether area and purchase and manage to sneak [them] back in,” he continued.

3:42 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Cori Bush urges Congress to avoid increased incarceration to combat gun violence

Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) urged Congress to take a public health approach to rampant gun violence instead of relying on traditional incarceration techniques.

“Our children want action, but the strategies that I get to hear too often from my fellow colleagues and some on this committee will call for the hardening of schools and for placing arm staff and police officers in academic environments and it tears me,” she explained.

“I am a survivor of gun violence. I sat with parents who lost their children to gun violence. I’ve heard from students who sat next to me and talk to me about how they lost friends and they lost classmates and they don’t cry. They don’t even feel anything anymore. All due to gun violence,” Bush added.

The main alternatives to incarceration Bush pointed to were more stringent gun control measures and more funding for public health concerns. Bush asked Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, about the toll that more robust school security measures had on students.

“We have seen evidence of increased trauma-related illnesses, physical illnesses, as well as our students are reporting to us that they are afraid to come to school, that they don’t want to go to a grocery store,” Pringle replied. “It’s the violence in the community soon. We have heard from our teachers, that they are leaving our profession because they don’t believe that they can protect our students.”

3:34 PM
Jun 8, 2022
‘Turning our schools into prisons’ Ayanna Pressley calls out increased school security

Arming schools to stave off mass shooters is not a solution with which Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is pleased. The congresswoman condemned gun culture in the United States and rejected more robust school security measures as a solution to the problem.

“Only in America. do we consider arming teachers while failing to pay them a livable wage. Only in America, do survivors have to go and start GoFundMe pages to afford mental health and trauma support. Only in America, we expect survivors who have barely bury their loved ones, to make the case for policymakers to save lives,” she said.

Pressley asked Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, whether it was a good idea to arm schools

“Its turning our schools into prisons. That’s never a good idea,” Pringle replied.

Pressley agreed.

3:27 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Congresswoman recalls constituent whose 5-year-old daughter requested a gun

Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) recalled a constituent whose 5-year-old daughter as her father for a pink gun for her birthday, using the anecdote to condemn gun culture in the United States.

“He said, When you get old enough for your fingers to operate the gun. I’ll buy you a gun and he did and he thought that was a good thing,” she recalled. “I’m sitting there saying you know ‘I would I would stand up in court and say you needed to go to jail.’ A five year old with a gun! And the only purpose of a gun is to kill something.”

3:17 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Some ghost guns used to release gunfire automatically, witness testifies

Law enforcement has struggled to deal with guns that have been improperly modified to fire automatically, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told the panel.

“One of the scariest things I just heard the other day, at a gun meeting in my department, that about a half a dozen ghost guns recently were firing fully automatic not because they had a switch on them because they were being modified and not modified properly,” he said.

3:01 PM
Jun 8, 2022
In separate meeting, House begins debate on gun control legislation

While the House Oversight Committee continues its hearing featuring testimony from families of victims of the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings, lawmakers have begun debate on the House floor regarding Democrats’ gun control legislation.

The House began debate on H.R. 7910, Protecting Our Kids Act, around 2:40 p.m., which is expected to last two hours.

“It is sickening that our children live in this constant fear,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

2:56 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Committee returns to hearings after hourlong recess

The House Oversight Committee has returned to hearing testimony from relatives of victims in the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings and other experts.

2:20 PM
Jun 8, 2022
DOJ to fast-track Uvalde investigation to produce report within six months

The Department of Justice will fast-track its investigation into the police response of the Uvalde mass shooting, aiming to release a minute-by-minute report in the next six months.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and several of his top aides have worked over the last week to develop a plan to collect and analyze information regarding the police response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Law enforcement have been heavily scrutinized for their response to the attack, as officers were given instructions to hold on breaching the building for at least an hour as the gunman was inside.

“We will be assessing what happened that day,” Garland said. “We will be making site visits at the school. We will be conducting interviews with an extremely wide variety of stakeholders, witnesses, families, law enforcement, government officials, school officials and we will be reviewing the resources.”

The DOJ plans to release the report within the next six months to help identify communication and execution mistakes that can help smaller police departments confront mass shooters.

The announcement to release a report on a fast-track timeline comes after the department had received heavy criticism for taking more than a year to produce a similar report on the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

The DOJ has recruited a team of nine members, including an FBI official and several former police chiefs, to help in its investigation.

1:51 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Hearing breaks for recess

Rep. Carolyn Malone, the Oversight Committee chairwoman, announced the hearing would be paused to allow lawmakers to vote on legislation.

1:50 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Universal background checks would not have stopped shooters over past 20 years, expert says

Bolstered background would not have stopped any of the prominent mass shootings over the past 20 years, with the exception over the past twenty years, Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst for the Meese Center, said.

“The policy of universal background checks, would not that have stopped the shooter at Uvalde from acquiring his weapon, it would not have stopped the shooter in Parkland from acquiring his weapon. It would not have stopped with perhaps one lone exception, a single mass public shooter in the last twenty years because they all either passed or were capable of passing background checks,” she said.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) had asked her about the effectiveness of universal background check legislation proposed in Congress.

“One thing is crystal clear that these mass shooters that target our schools are all psychopaths. They are psychotic, in Parkland, the red flags were there for everybody to see the school district did not act that came out on the Parkland report,” he said.

“These shootings are awful. They’re awful. The data is clear about how to find the people that actually do this. And the measures put in front of us would not have actually stopped these shootings.”

1:39 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Biggs roasts Democrats for exploiting 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo

Rep. Andy Biggs (D-AZ) roasted Democrats in Congress for bringing 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, before Congress Wednesday. Cerrillo faked her death by smearing blood from her classmates on her in order to convince the shooter at Robb Elementary School she was dead.

Biggs accused his fellow congressmen of exploiting her and making her relive her trauma for political gain.

“It’s particularly pernicious and outrageous to take an 11-year-old child who graphically described how she spread a classmate’s blood upon her, and feign her own death. To make her relive that. If we’re talking about PTSD, you just prolonged the agony of that little child.”

The congressmen further accused the Democrats of seeking radical gun control legislation.

“My colleagues on the Judiciary Committee my Democratic colleagues made it clear that they don’t believe any American should have access to the means to protect themselves and their families,” he said, before listing Republican-backed legislation they opposed.

Biggs also gave Amy Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst for the Meese Center, an opportunity to respond to a prior accusation from Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), but she declined, stating that they “wasted enough time on political” scrums.

1:31 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Eric Adams leaves hearing

Rep. Carolyn Malone, the Oversight Committee chairwoman, announced that New York City Mayor Eric Adams had a hard deadline and was leaving the hearing.

1:29 PM
Jun 8, 2022
‘We are in decline as a nation’ Rep. Michael Cloud reflects on rise of fatherlessness

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-LA) used his time to point out the decline in fatherhood in the United States, stressing that the fall of the family has been a root cause of widespread gun violence.

“A 2019 study from the Pew Research Center finds that the US has the world’s highest rate of children living in single-parent households,” he said. “We look at the societal decline, we are in decline as a nation when it comes to the moral and societal decline in our nation. There’s no doubt about it.”

Cloud argued fatherlessness was one of the common demonstrators in lethal shootings across the country. He urged Congress to further explore the issue and try to remedy the problem.

“We have to figure out for a long time our government has subsidized even and promoted policies that continue to break down the home,” he added. “We have to do what we can to make sure we come back to this.”

Cloud then attempted to give Amy Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst for the Meese Center, to respond to a prior accusation from Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), but was told he ran out of time.

1:22 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Katie Porter insinuates GOP witness committed perjury in tense exchange

Things got heated during the hearing when Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) tore into prior testimony witness Amy Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst for the Meese Center, gave to Congress. Swearer previously testified an assault weapons ban proposed by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) would make millions of law-abiding citizens felons overnight.

“I think worse than that, sir. You will see millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens become felons overnight. Yes, for nothing more than having scary-looking features on firearms,” Swearer said in her prior testimony, according to Porter.

But Porter noted provisions in the bill that grandfathered in current gun owners. Swearer tried to defend herself, but Porter quickly cut her off.

“This is where I respect that we have different opinions on representatives miscellaneous assault weapons law, but we cannot have different facts. You have a duty to debate the merits of the proposal,” Porter said.

“How dare you state this,” Swearer shot back. “You do not even want an answer to this.”

“I’m moving on,” Porter replied.

Several Republicans attempted to chime in and give Swearer a chance to respond more forcefully to Porter’s assertions, but were shot down by Rep. Carolyn Malone, the Oversight Committee chairwoman.

1:09 PM
Jun 8, 2022
‘This is about blood money’ AOC blasts red states for supplying guns to blue states

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) shaded lax gun laws in red states such as Florida and Georgia for the prevalence of gun violence in blue states such as New York.

“Let’s talk facts here. there’s a lot of discussion about New York City there is no discussion about gun violence in New York City without discussing the iron pipeline,” she declared. “That is Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, Pennsylvania and honorary mentioned to Ohio — where 70% of likely illegal traffic’s gun sound in New York City, come from.”

The congresswoman insisted gun violence in the United States was an international embarrassment and lambasted the gun industry for taking “blood money.”

“For all the billions and trillions that this body authorizes in the name of national security, we can’t even keep our kids safe from their schools being turned into a warzone,” she said. “This is about blood money.”

Ocasio-Cortez pointed to the money gun manufacturers have spent in their lobbying efforts in Congress to forestall more aggressive restrictions on guns. She pressed Nicholas Suplina, senior vice president for Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, for details about the legislation the gun lobby has prevented from going into effect. He listed off a myriad of measures such as expanded background checks and red flag laws.

The National Rifle Association spent about $250 million in 2020 alone more than double the salary of all of Congress combined, she added. Ocasio-Cortez then stressed there should be more discussion about the violent people behind the gun violence.

“There’s also this discussion about anything but a gun, but that these are about violent people,” she added. “But yet we aren’t doing anything about addressing the actual root causes of misogyny where two-thirds of mass shootings are connected to domestic violence, or the emergence of white supremacy, radicalization, mass incarceration, and poverty and the connections between that and mass shootings in our communities.”

12:58 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Buffalo police commissioner: Shooter should not have been able to purchase weapon

The 18-year-old suspect in the supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York, last month should never have been able to purchase a military-style weapon, said the city’s police chief.

The shooter, who killed 13 people and injured another 10, legally purchased the gun he used in the attack — but Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia argues he never should have been able to buy it legally.

“This radicalized 18-year-old adult should have never been able to have access to the weapons he used to perpetrate this attack, and the laws need to be enacted to ensure it never happens again,” Gramaglia said.

12:49 PM
Jun 8, 2022
GOP Rep. Richard Hudson scolds Democrats for having 11-year-old testify at gun hearing

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, a member of House Republican leadership, on Wednesday blasted Democrats for calling a fourth grader who survived the Uvalde shooting and a mother of one of the victims of the Buffalo grocery store shooting to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Democrats on the panel brought in 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, who pretended to be dead by smearing her classmates’ blood to fool the shooter at Robb Elementary School, and Zeneta Everhart, whose 21-year-old son was killed in a racially motivated mass shooting, to speak before the committee ahead of the House’s votes on legislation that includes gun-related measures, which faces an uphill battle in the chamber. Cerrillo’s testimony was given via a video message from Texas.

Hudson accused House Democrats of failing to come to the negotiating table to work on a bipartisan plan to address gun violence. He alleged that Democratic leadership is bringing a set of bills to the floor that can’t become law for show ahead of the midterm elections.

Read the full story here.

12:47 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Democratic lawmaker questions whether social media companies should share blame for mass shootings

The gunman responsible for killing 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde had made frequent threats of shootings in Instagram comments. The Buffalo shooter had talked about plans of carrying out a mass shooting in social media messages in the months leading up to his attack.

As a result, lawmakers should evaluate whether social media companies should share some of the responsibility for not taking action to prevent violence, said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

“As a representative of Silicon Valley, I feel I also have a duty to talk about some of the role of social media in this massacre,” Khanna said. “Why is there no action? And let’s be very clear, these are minors. [The Uvalde shooter] was a minor when he did this. It’s not the same free speech rights.”

12:33 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Two Uvalde victims who shared notes and gifts to be buried beside one another

Two children who texted “I love you” each night are to be buried beside one another.

Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez and Xavier James Lopez were two fourth-grade classmates at Robb Elementary School. The mothers of the children, Monica Gallegos and Felicha Martinez, made the decision to bury their young ones next to each other after Annabell and Xavier sparked an elementary school romance earlier in the year. The two children began texting “I love you” soon after.

Read the full story here.

12:26 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Police commissioner in Buffalo warns against actions to ‘militarize’ schools

Joseph Gramaglia, the police commissioner in Buffalo, warned lawmakers against seeking to arm school teachers as a solution to curbing gun violence in schools, noting it can have a negative effect on students.

“I think what we have to be careful on is to not militarize our schools and make students feel like they are in a system where they are surrounded by weapons in an institution where they’re supposed to be learning,” he said. “I certainly agree with … making sure our schools are safe buildings … But I think we have to caution against over weaponizing our schools.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who heads the nation’s largest school district, agreed, noting it would not be effective to arm teachers as a way to protect students.

12:21 PM
Jun 8, 2022
‘Criminals will obtain weapons’: GOP lawmaker argues gun laws won’t prevent shootings

Gun reform won’t be effective against preventing mass shootings in the country because “criminals will obtain their weapons however they want,” said Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) to the committee.

The Republican lawmaker pointed to an incident in West Virginia in late May when a woman shot and killed a man who had opened fire at a graduation party after illegally obtaining an AR-15.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) echoed his sentiments, urging her fellow lawmakers to be cautious when making decisions on gun reform.

“When the federal government acts in haste, the room for error is exponentially compounded,” she said.

12:09 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Schools must address mental health issues to curb gun violence, GOP lawmaker says

Rather than implementing stricter gun laws, schools nationwide should instead focus on mental health struggles among their students in order to avoid gun violence, said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX).

“This is not a decision that the shooters by-and-large have a snap judgment. They go about this planning effort and plan these school shootings out. They happen to people who have become isolated in school, have been picked on and made fun of have been bullied,” Sessions said. “I have seen our schools, there are a lot of children, a lot of young adults who are tested in ways where I think they’re reaching out for help.”

The Republican also urged lawmakers to speak with experts before passing legislation related to gun violence, noting students would benefit from increased conversations and “taking time every day to be nice to each other.” In doing so, teachers could more easily “identify people who have problems.”

12:02 PM
Jun 8, 2022
Democratic lawmaker unveils how gun reform would’ve changed several mass shootings in previous years

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) referred to a report from the New York Times that analyzed 106 mass shootings that have occurred since the Columbine shooting in 1999, arguing common-sense gun reform laws could’ve helped to prevent some attacks.

In some incidents, laws increasing the legal age to 21 in order to purchase rifles used in the mass shootings could have blocked four gunmen from purchasing their weapons, according to the report. At least four other gunmen would have been subject to background checks that could’ve halted them from purchasing their weapons instead of “slipping through a loophole,” Lynch said.

Another 20 shooting suspects may have been blocked from legally purchasing large-capacity magazines used to upgrade their guns “helping them kill, on average, 16 people each,” according to the analysis.

11:59 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Miah Cerrillo, fourth grader from Uvalde, testifies in House hearing on gun violence

Miah Cerrillo, a fourth grade student who survived the shooting at her Uvalde, Texas, elementary school last month, delivered video testimony Wednesday to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform about how she survived the massacre and told lawmakers she no longer feels safe going to school.

In a video message, Cerrillo, 11, said she survived the shooting at Robb Elementary School by covering herself in the blood of a slain classmate in an effort to hide from the shooter by playing dead.

Cerrillo said her class was watching a movie when her teacher got an email.

“She went to go lock the door, and he was in the hallway,” Cerrillo said.

Click here to read more

11:54 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Congressman who worked in gun industry says gun control threatens constitutional rights

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who has worked in the gun industry, stressed that talks about heightened gun control pose a fundamental threat to the rights of everyday Americans.

“To drive our actions, actions that have constitutional, Constitution altering consequences, we will destroy the very foundation of our country and break faith with those who gave everything that we would be free evil deeds, do not transcend constitutional rights,” Clyde declared.”While every lawful loss of life is a tragedy, no one should weapon or politicize the apparent X to punish law abiding citizens for almost 250 years since the founding of our nation countless.”

Clyde chided the Biden administration, arguing it has been dismissive of measures to bolster school security aimed at protecting students and teachers from mass shootings. He argued that individuals keen on inflicting harm upon others will use any means such as hammers or knives to harm others.

“One of the things I’ve learned during my three overseas tours of military combat was that the harder the target you are, the less likely you will be engaged by the enemy. That’s a proven fact and just common sense that applies across multiple aspects of life,” he said.

“It’s time to give them the tools and help them protect, to better protect those children. so they have a fighting chance to survive an encounter with someone who has bent on harming them,” he continued.

11:47 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Legal analyst testifies that more gun control is not the solution

Amy Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst for the Meese Center, bemoaned how the national dialogue that follows spouts of gun violence often centers around heightened gun control measures.

“The conversation has become predictable. Unspeakably horrific events, like Uvalde or Buffalo happen. [Then] reflexively, almost compulsively come calls for Congress to pass a whole host of gun control measures largely targeting civil law-abiding citizens,” she said. “The opposition has always been and is still today, a genuine concern that these policies suffer from serious constitutional and practical effects that they will not have the impact you promise people they will.”

Swearer argued that she has proposed alternatives to increased gun control, but has rarely been met with open ears. Additional security measures such as single point entries to schools could have made a difference in Uvalde, she argued. However, measures such as bans on automatic rifles would make little difference in overall gun violence in the country and pose constitutional problems.

“Semiautomatic rifles are the type of firearm least often used to inflict acts of gun violence, pistol grips and barrel shrouds don’t make them any more or less deadly in the context of mass shootings. While the use of these features can make a difference in the context of lawful self-defense for civilians, which is why millions of peaceable Americans own them.

Swearer lambasted the tendency of proponents for heightened gun control to dismiss supporters of gun rights as heartless. She underscored that she hopes she will never have to give testimony about gun violence again and that the carnage stops.

11:38 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Expert blames gun manufacturing industry for rampant gun carnage

Nicholas Suplina, senior vice president for Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety called on Congress to take a look at gun manufacturers and laws that shield them from liability during incidents of gun violence.

“When we talk about how gun violence costs taxpayers, survivors, families, employers, and communities $280 billion a year, we need to also talk about how nine $9 billion civilian firearms industry is shielded from the scrutiny and accountability that has led other industries to better and safer practices,” he proclaimed.

One investigation found a gun dealer in Georgia where 10% of the guns that had been sold ended up on crime scenes, Suplina explained. He also implored Congress to bring CEOs from the gun industry before Congress for testimony.

“In a crowded field, gun manufacturers are trying to market in increasingly brazen ways, often touting the deadliness of products glorifying combat and attempting to appeal to younger and younger audiences. Finally, let’s not forget the industry has done almost nothing to take steps to prevent diversion of guns into the criminal market and to gun traffickers,” he added.

11:32 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Buffalo police commissioner declares a good guy with a gun is not enough

Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia explained that a good guy with a gun was no match for an AR-15 wielding assailant during the Buffalo shooting last month. He recalled how a responding officer was overwhelmed by the assailant’s firepower and implored Congress to bolster gun control measures.

“It is often said that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun. Aaron was the good guy and was no match for what he went up against illegal ar 15 with multiple high capacity magazines,” Gramaglia said.

“He had no chance of assault weapons like the AR 15 are known for three things, how many rounds they fire, the speed at which they fire those rounds and body count,” he continued.

Gramaglia also pointed to emerging trends such as ghost guns and modified firearms that pose an increasing danger to law enforcement in cities across the country.

11:28 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Head of National Education Association describes trauma in classrooms from shootings

Becky Pringle president of the National Education Association, described the anguish and mental trauma students and teachers across the country face due to the rampant occurrences of gun violence in schools.

Pringle declared that our “children deserve the chance to grow and to thrive” and declared that the majority of Americans want Congress to tackle gun violence. She rejected so-called solutions that fail to address the problem such as calling for armed teachers in classrooms.

“The evidence is clear. where there are more guns, more people are killed by guns every single day. But politicians who fail to take action Ignore the majority of Americans who want stricter gun laws. You tell our children, that protecting them matters less than protecting the status quo,” she said.

11:22 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Activist calls for Congress to tackle root causes of gun violence

Greg Jackson, executive director for the Community Justice Action Fund, called on Congress to tackle the root causes of gun crimes by providing resources to struggling communities and addressing the supply side of gun violence.

Recalling how he was shot as a bystander in 2013, Jackson said he sat in the hospital watching the same debate that the country is still grappling with and expressed his dismay that little progress has been made in the time since.

“Gun violence is destroying communities around the country, and everyday families experienced firsthand the devastation of gunfire,” he said. “Now is the time to take action before another person loses their life before another child opens his last textbook before another parent hugs that child for the last time. It also before someone like me, isn’t alive to ask you to do so.”

He put forth three solutions to address the problem including treating gun violence as a public health crisis, advancing increased gun control measures, and forming a select committee on the gun violence crisis to explore solutions to the problem.

11:14 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Eric Adams calls for stronger gun control

New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded with Congress to “end gun violence in America” underscoring the carnage from guns across the nation. He argued the issue should transcend partisan lines and emphasized the problem affect Americans from all walks of life.

“We are facing a crisis that is killing more Americans than war. The crisis that is now the number one cause of death for our young people in crisis that is flooding our cities with the illegal guns faster than we can take them off the street,” he said. “The New York City Police Department has taken over 3,000 illegal guns off our streets This year alone but the guns, just keep coming.”

Adams called on Congress to pass legislation expanding background checks and confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He also implored Congress to consider increased restrictions on semiautomatic assault weapons.

“It is high noon in America. Time for every one of us to decide where we stand on the issue of gun violence, time to decide if it’s more important to protect the profits of gun manufacturers, or the lives of our

11:09 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Hearing resumes with new set of witnesses

After a brief pause, the committee announced a new set of witnesses and swore them in.

11:04 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Witness defends gun rights during hearing

Lucretia Hughes, from the DC Project, Women for Gun Rights testified in opposition to increased gun laws. She recalled a call her husband received in 2016 informing him that their son was murdered.

“My ex-husband answered the phone and let out a blood-curdling scream. A scream of pain from the depths of his soul. He screamed, he cried, ‘He’s gone. He is gone.’ Our 19-year-old son Emmanuel went to a party early that night,” she recalled. “I went to Facebook and I had to ask ‘Is my son dead.’ I found out that he was shot point-blank in the head and killed while playing dominoes.”

Hughes pointed to rampant violence in cities across the country and insisted that citizens have a right to defend themselves and stressed that increased gun control will not make Americans more safe.

“Y’all are delusional if you think it’s going to keep us safe,” she said. “I am a walking testimony of how the criminal justice system and the gun control laws, which is steeped in racism, by the way, have failed the black community.”

“Despite living with the heartache of losing my son on a daily basis. I believe it is our God-given right to defend ourselves from any act of violence, making it more difficult or even more expensive for me,” she continued. “It will embolden the criminals. Gun owners are not the enemies in these gun control policies are not the solution.”

10:56 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Parents of Uvalde victim urge lawmakers to ban military-style rifle used in shooting

The parents of one of the students who was killed in the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school described their last interaction with their daughter, whom they dropped off at school hours before the attack.

Felix and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of 10-year-old Lexi Rubio, described their hourslong frantic attempts to locate their daughter after hearing news of the shooting.

“We sat outside for a while before it became clear we wouldn’t receive an answer from law enforcement on scene,” Kimberly Rubio said. “Soon after, we received the news that our daughter was among the 19 students and two teachers that died as a result of gun violence.”

“We don’t want you to think of Lexi as just a number. She was intelligent, compassionate, athletic.”

The parents used their testimony to call on lawmakers to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, raise the minimum age to purchase weapons, implement red-flag laws, establish stronger background checks, and repeal gun manufacturers’ liability immunity.

10:47 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Fourth grade student describes attack inside her classroom

Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old student at Robb Elementary, was inside the building when a gunman entered the school and killed 19 children and two teachers.

Cerrillo described what she witnessed as she smeared herself in her friend’s blood and played dead while some of her classmates were shot in the classroom.

“He shot my teacher and told my teacher, ‘Goodnight,’ and shot her in the head,” she said. “He shot some of my classmates.”

Cerrillo testified that she no longer feels safe inside her school and is worried a similar incident will happen again.

Cerrillo testified via video as the committee’s star witness. She was initially set to testify in person but instead appeared virtually after her parents and pediatrician recommended she not appear in person.

10:43 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Sole Uvalde doctor who treated students shot during mass shooting testifies before committee

The sole pediatrician in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, who treated several of the students who were injured during the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, urging lawmakers for gun reform.

A longtime resident of Uvalde, Dr. Roy Guerrero once attended Robb Elementary School where 19 children and two teachers were killed on May 24, he told lawmakers. The doctor described his shift that day when 19 children were transported “whose bodies were pulverized” and “whose flesh had been ripped apart.”

10:33 AM
Jun 8, 2022
‘America is inherently violent’: Mother of Buffalo shooting victim offers emotional testimony

The Committee began with its first witness, Zeneta Everhart, whose son was shot and injured during an attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10 black people on May 14.

“Domestic terrorism exists in this country for three reasons. America is inherently violent,” Everhart said. “This is who we are as a nation. The existence of this country was founded on violence, hate, and racism. With the near annihilation of my native brothers and sisters.”

Everhart disagreed with initial statements from lawmakers who responded to the mass shooting by saying it does not represent the country as a whole and that stricter gun laws are not the answer.

“Hear me clearly: This is exactly who we are,” she said. “As I clean his wounds, I can feel pieces of that bullet in his back. Shrapnel will be left inside of his body for the rest of his life. Now I want you to picture that exact scenario for one of your children.”

10:26 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Lawmakers wrestle with stances on gun control during opening statements

Lawmakers split on how to respond to the recent spate of mass shootings in the United States, with Democratic leaders calling for a ban on assault weapons while Republicans emphasized the need to defend Second Amendment rights.

“We must respond to those hideous acts and provide justice for the families. At the same time, we recognize that violence occurs in many of our communities on a daily basis,” said Ranking Member Rep. James Comer (R-KY). “In fact, Americans across the United States from every background, too often tragedies are politicized for partisan gain … We should commend all law abiding gun owners who safely use store and carry those firearms not vilifying blatantly political purpose.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) responded to Comer’s comments, noting she supports gun rights but wants action to be taken specifically against assault weapons.

“I want to clarify that I support the Second Amendment,” Maloney said in response. “I support law-abiding gun owners. I don’t support the lack of gun laws that allow guns to get into the hands of criminals and unstable people.

10:16 AM
Jun 8, 2022
Committee’s star witness to appear via video in lieu of in-person testimony

The House Oversight Committee’s star witness, a fourth-grade student who survived the shooting in a Texas elementary school late last month, will appear before the committee via video testimony rather than in person.

Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old student at Robb Elementary who smeared herself in her classmate’s blood and played dead during the mass shooting in her classroom, was initially set to appear in person. However, her family and pediatrician recommended she provide testimony through video instead.

“The Committee has been in close contact with Miah, her family, and her pediatrician and has been prioritizing her safety and comfort first and foremost,” said Rep. Carolyn Maroney (D-NY) ahead of the hearing on Wednesday. “Her decision to record her story and share it with the American people is courageous – and I hope all Members open their hearts and minds to what she has to say. Miah, her family, and her pediatrician have made the decision to have her not appear in person, and she will be represented by her father who will introduce her recorded testimony.”

10:13 AM
Jun 8, 2022
‘They have blamed everything but guns’: Rep. Maloney calls on Congress to pass gun reform

The House Oversight Committee began its hearings to address recent mass shootings over the last few weeks in the United States, with top Democratic lawmakers calling on Congress to pass legislation to address the “uniquely American tragedy.”

“Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in our country. As a society, we are failing our children, and we are failing each other,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). “My colleagues across the aisle have blamed the violence on mental illness. They have blamed violent video games. They have blamed family values. They have even blamed open doors. They have blamed everything but guns but we know the United States does not have a monopoly on mental illness, video games or any other excuse.”

Maloney called on lawmakers to ban assault weapons and pass “sensible gun safety laws” to prevent future shootings.

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