GOP House Leaders Urged to Debate Gun Safety After Six Killed in Nashville School Shooting

Six people were killed in a mass shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday, prompting a heated exchange between Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and freshman Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz during a House hearing.

The hearing, called by Republicans to target the Washington, DC, government, was met with frustration from those who believe the logical response to multiple shootings with assault-style weapons should be to restore a ban on such weapons.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed this sentiment, telling reporters that GOP House leaders should allow debate on the issue. He also urged Republicans to bring the bipartisan universal criminal background check legislation and an assault weapons ban to the floor for debate in front of the American people.

During the hearing, Moskowitz asked why GOP lawmakers were so keen to ban books touching on gender issues when “dead kids can’t read” and demanded to know why Republicans were not instead holding a hearing on “murder in schools.”

Jeffries’ comments reflect the extreme frustration of those who believe the logical response to multiple shootings with assault-style weapons should be to restore a ban on such weapons. He urged Republicans to bring the bipartisan universal criminal background check legislation and an assault weapons ban to the floor for debate in front of the American people.

The exchange between Greene and Moskowitz highlights the divide between those who believe gun safety should be a priority and those who do not. It remains to be seen if the GOP will heed Jeffries’ call for debate on the issue.