Thursday 2 June 2022 11:31 PM 'I know that call': Democratic Rep. recalls the moment she found out her son ... trends now
Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath recalled the 2012 murder of her 17-year-old son during Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun control.
'Do we have the courage right here in this body to imagine the phone call parents in Uvalde received last week?' she asked. 'The phone call that confirmed our fear - our singular fear that my child is dead. That I was unable to protect them. Because I know that phone call,' the Georgia lawmaker said.
McBath's son Jordan Davis, who was black, was murdered by a white man at a Florida gas station following an argument over the volume of Davis' music.
Michael David Dunn fired his gun at Davis and three other teenagers, killing Davis.
McBath's political career was propelled by her national reputation as a gun control advocate in the wake of Davis' death.
At Thursday's hearing she remarked that that the Buffalo supermarket shooter was inspired by the 'same racially motivated violence' that got her son killed.
Lawmakers held a markup session for the 'Protecting Our Kids Act,' which combines eight pieces of legislation in the latest Congressional gun control push on the heels of mass shootings in Buffalo, Robb Elementary School in Uvalve, Texas and Wednesday night's killings in Tulsa.
Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath recalled the murder of her son, a black boy who was shot by a white man over his music being too loud, remarking it was the 'same racially motivated violence' that inspired Buffalo's supermarket shooter
Jordan Davis was gunned down and killed by a white man in 2012 over his playing of music at a Florida gas station
The bill would raise the purchasing age of certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles from 18 to 21 - as the shooters in Buffalo and Uvalve were both 18. It also goes after high-capacity magazines, ghost guns and bump stocks and mandates certain requirements for firearms storage on residential facilities.
Republicans remained firm in their resistance.
Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida argued that the law limiting high-capacity magazines would have unintended effects - and he held up his own guns to demonstrate, while participating in the hearing virtually.
'I hope that gun isn't loaded,' Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee uttered at the sight, with Steube responding, 'I'm at my house, I can do whatever I want with my guns.'
Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado argued that AR-15s, the gun style of choice in most recent U.S. mass shootings, had practical purposes.
'In rural Colorado, an AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens,' Buck said. 'That is the gun of choice for killing a fox.'
The bill lawmakers are debating does not ban AR-15s.
'Blaming the gun for what's happening in America is small-minded,' Buck also said. 'It is a problem when we tell the American people that we have solutions and we don't have easy soluations for what's happening right now.'
Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida displayed his own collection of guns over Zoom during Thursday's heated House Judiciary Committee hearing marking up gun control legislation
'I'm at my house, I can do whatever I want with my guns,' Rep. Greg Steube told Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee during Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, remarked: 'I hope that gun isn't loaded,' when watching Rep. Greg Steube display his guns over Zoom
Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado argued that AR-15s, the gun style of choice in most recent U.S. mass shootings, had practical purposes like killing raccoons and foxes
Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California suggested that 'woke district attorneys' aren't using the laws already on the books - bringing up a favorite GOP punching bag, first son Hunter Biden.
'Hunter Biden illegally acquired a handgun despite being an admitted drug addict. A handgun that ended up being taken out of a public trash can 500 feet from a school. He also lied on his firearms application,' McClintock said. 'Nobody's prosecuting him.'
McClintock was referring to Biden answering no on a 2018 firearms permit to the question, 'Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?'
Hunter Biden had already been discharged from the Navy Reserve over his cocaine use.
Republican after Republican argued that pushing the bill through was 'premature' since the Uvalve shooting - where 19 children and two teachers were killed on May 24
