Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Republicans are “complicit” in mass shootings, such as the Boulder shooting, due to their opposition to gun control legislation.
“We shouldn’t be putting aside Republicans. They bear a responsibility as well. That was the whole point of my exchange this morning with Sen. Cruz because they’re the ones who are ducking that responsibility and become complicit in all of these shootings,” the Connecticut Democrat said during CNN’s OutFront on Tuesday.
“In Boulder, that shooter was a deeply disturbed man who became a mass killer because he had an assault weapon that could kill people with the efficiency and speed meant for the battlefield. So, guns make all of these serious problems even more fatal and deadly, especially for domestic violence victims, who then can be killed, five times more likely to be killed in those situations,” he continued. “That’s why we need to make sure that we adopt these commonsense measures.”
The Boulder shooting resulted in 10 deaths, including one police officer, and was reportedly carried out by Ahmad al Aliwi Alissa, whose family is originally from Syria.
HARRIS PIVOTS AWAY FROM GUN CONTROL EXECUTIVE ACTION TWO DAYS AFTER BOULDER MASSACRE
Blumenthal’s comments come after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz slammed Democrats’ renewed calls for gun reform during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, accusing them of taking part in “ridiculous theater.”
“Every time there’s a shooting, we play this ridiculous theater where this committee gets together and proposes a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop these murders,” Cruz said on Tuesday.
“What happens in this committee after every mass shooting is Democrats propose taking away guns from law-abiding citizens because that’s their political objective,” Cruz added. “But what they propose, not only does it not reduce crime, it makes it worse.”
President Biden called on Congress to pass gun control measures on Tuesday following the shooting.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take commonsense steps that will save lives in the future,” he said.
“This is not — it should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue,” he said. “It will save lives, American lives. We have to act.”
Vice President Kamala Harris joined CBS This Morning on Wednesday and suggested that the White House won’t use executive action to reform gun laws.
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“We should first expect the U.S. Congress to act,” Harris said.
“I don’t think the president is excluding that, but again, I want to be clear that if we really want something that is going to be lasting, we need to pass legislation,” she said when asked if Biden was considering taking executive action.
