Democratic Rep Implores New Speaker to Bring Gun Legislation to the Floor Instead of Prayers: ‘You Can Fix This’
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File; AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
The first full day of work for new Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was an eventful one when one of his first orders of business was to address the mass shooting in Maine. It was no surprise that the heavily religious Johnson offered up prayers, but now that he’s in the spotlight, many are calling on him to do more.
Several people on Twitter/X criticized the standard “thoughts and prayers” response to the series of shootings allegedly committed by Robert R. Card that cost the lives of 18 people at the time of this writing.
On Thursday, Johnson responded to the shooting by saying, “Prayer is appropriate in a time like this, that the evil can end and this senseless violence can stop.” Predictably, some of Johnson’s Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives were less than impressed.
But some pointed out that it’s within Johnson’s newly acquired power to actually do something about it, including Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), who tweeted: “The thing about being Speaker is you can do more than think. You can bring legislation to the floor … You can fix this.”
The thing about being Speaker is you can do more than think. You can bring legislation to the floor like:
✅ HR 715 – Bipartisan Background Checks Act
✅ HR 698 – Assault Weapons BanWe don’t have to keep reliving this nightmare. You can fix this.
— Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@RepJimmyGomez) October 26, 2023
Considering Johnson’s ultra-conservative record, including on gun control, it’s unlikely that the legislation Gomez cited will come to the floor. But the White House made it clear that they are ready to work with their new Speaker.
