DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement: 

“President Biden and Democrats know that our schools and communities are facing a devastating gun violence epidemic, but MAGA Republicans who have the power to make a difference are trying to roll back gun safety measures, blocking commonsense gun safety legislation, and blaming the loss of lives on everything but lax gun laws. Meanwhile, President Biden established the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and signed into law the most impactful federal gun safety legislation in decades, investing $13 billion in public safety and mental health programs, strengthening background checks for young buyers, and supporting implementation of red flag laws. The contrast couldn’t be clearer: While Donald Trump told Americans to ‘get over’ school shootings, there’s only one ticket this November that has fought to keep Americans safe from gun violence, and that’s President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

Donald Trump has boasted that his administration “did nothing” on gun control legislation and told Americans to “get over” school shootings.

Daily Beast: “Former President Donald Trump boasted to a gathering of National Rifle Association members Friday in Pennsylvania that his administration ‘did nothing’ about guns.”

“‘During my four years, nothing happened!’ he bellowed. ‘And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield.’”

NBC News: “Trump tells supporters ‘we have to get over it’ after Iowa school shooting”

MAGA Republicans in Congress and around the country are trying to roll back gun safety laws and have blocked the chance to even debate commonsense gun safety legislation.

Associated Press: “Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill, gun policy debate” 

The Guardian: “Democrats rush to push gun safety laws after mass shootings as Republicans stall” 

Associated Press: “House Republicans passed a resolution that would repeal a Biden administration rule tightening federal regulations on stabilizing braces for firearms, an accessory that has been used in several mass shootings in the U.S. over the last decade.”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked efforts by Senate Democrats to pass an assault weapons ban and universal background checks legislation after the United States over the weekend broke the record for the most mass shootings in a single year.”

Roll Call: “A Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval introduced Wednesday in the Senate by John Cornyn, R-Texas, could force the chamber to vote on overturning a rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would expand the number of gun sellers who would be required to run background checks.

“Cornyn had negotiated the 2022 gun violence prevention law that the administration relied on for the ATF rule. Now he has 41 Senate Republicans who back his joint resolution to stop that rule.”

MAGA Mike Johnson blamed school shootings on abortion.

New York Magazine: “Before Mike Johnson Was Speaker, He Was Blaming Abortion for School Shootings”

Johnson: “Many women use abortion as a form of birth control… When you break up the nuclear family, when you tell a generation of people that life has no value, no meaning, that it’s expendable, then you do wind up with school shooters.”

Johnson: “Nearly 45 million babies have been sacrificed in the name of ‘personal choice.’ … And we wouldn’t have this ‘culture of death,’ where euthanasia has become all the rage, where ‘kids shoot other kids because they’ve learned that life has no real value.’”

Congressional Republicans have blamed everything except loose gun laws for mass shootings. 

NBC News: “Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on Tuesday doubled down on his comments that Congress is ‘not gonna fix’ the problem of school shootings, saying that the country needed a ‘real revival’ rather than gun control legislation…

“‘If you want to legislate evil, it’s just not going to happen,’ Burchett said. ‘We need a real revival in this country. Let’s call on our Christian ministers and our people of faith.’”

Newsweek: “A day after a gunman opened fire on a school with a military-style rifle, Senator Mike Lee suggested that fatherlessness and family breakdown is the root cause of mass shootings and not lax gun control laws.”

Business Insider: “GOP lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene made her anti-gun control stance clear in a tweet following a horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday.

“‘We don’t need more gun control,’ Greene wrote. ‘We need to return to God.’” 

Post And Courier: “During a press conference at the MUSC Children’s Hospital, [Sen. Tim Scott] said new legislation won’t be enough to prevent more violence, such as the recent massacre of children and school employees at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. ‘The short-term fixes will only make us feel better, but won’t make us any safer,’ he said. ‘I’m very hesitant to jump to conclusions just because everyone wants one.’” 

RealClearPolitics: “Mullin blamed ‘Hollywood elites’ and video games for playing a role in the senseless ‘horrific’ tragedy, saying: ‘What we always talk about is gun control, but we don’t talk about what we expose our kids to.’

“‘The number one seller of video games is Call of Duty, for the last nine years in a row,’ he lamented. ‘if you’ve ever watched that, you can see how much violence that exposes them to. You combine that with someone who has a touch of mental illness –or is mentally ill– what do you expect is going to happen?’”

President Biden and congressional Democrats worked across the aisle to pass the most impactful federal gun violence prevention legislation in decades.

Associated Press: “The legislation will toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous…

“Most of its $13 billion cost will help bolster mental health programs and aid schools, which have been targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, and elsewhere in mass shootings.”

The majority of American voters want more gun control.

Forbes: “Nearly 60% of registered voters think it’s at least somewhat important for lawmakers to pass stricter gun laws, a new Morning Consult/Politico poll found after a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York—even before another shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday further ramped up calls for Congress to pass gun control legislation.”

Gallup Polling: “Majority in U.S. Continues to Favor Stricter Gun Laws”

“Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults say gun laws should be stricter, while 31% believe they should be kept as they are now and 12% favor less strict gun laws.”

Pew Research Center: “Americans increasingly say that gun violence is a major problem. Six-in-ten U.S. adults say gun violence is a very big problem in the country today, up 9 percentage points from spring 2022.”