‘Quit Filibustering It, Then!’ Frustrated Constituents Urge Chuck Grassley to Take Action on Guns

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) got an earful from constituents on Wednesday during a town hall in Louisa County.

The 88-year-old senator held a forum a little more than a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Fewer than two weeks before, a gunman in Buffalo, New York killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in a racist rampage. In both cases, the shooters used AR-15-style rifles capable of firing bullets in quick succession.

Additionally, three teenagers were shot at a prom afterparty in Des Moines in Grassley’s home state last month.

“You have been filibustering gun reform,” one woman told him. “My daughter’s a teacher, my daughter-in-law is a teacher, you are risking their lives.”

At one point Grassley admitted he’s not exactly a gun enthusiast, but he believes in protecting people’s rights.

“By the way, you’re talking to somebody that doesn’t know much about guns because I haven’t shot a gun in probably 20, 40 or 50 years,” he said. “So you aren’t talking to someone who loves guns, I don’t hate guns, but I do protect people’s constitutional rights.”

The senator noted the number of guns in the United States.

“There are over 400 million guns in the United States,” he said. “Fifteen million of them are AR-15s, so you’re gonna still have AR-15s even if you’re gonna stop selling them right now.”

“No,” replied a man in the audience. “You ban them.”

Grassley responded by saying such a measure would not get the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster.

Asked about banning AR-15s, Grassley noted that there’s already millions out there

“The answer is not to do nothing!” one woman replied

Grassley then said it probably wouldn’t get 60 votes anyway

“Quit filibustering it then!” another person said pic.twitter.com/BFnjUJhdWl

— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) June 2, 2022

“Quit filibustering it, then!” one woman exclaimed.

“You guys need to get it together,” a man identified as Max Hilton told Grassley. “Because if you don’t get it together, there’s some people out amongst us that are going to become more violent. And we are this close to that happening. One more election like we just had, and these shenanigans that gone on for two years with people, ‘Well I’m not sure it’s a fair election or not’… that stuff’s gotta stop.”