Some of Congress's most adamant gun reformers are facing facts that last month's school shooting in Nashville, where three children and three adults were shot and killed by a gunman, may not be enough to push Republicans toward stronger checks on firearms and restrictions on who can buy them.Democrats are basing their losing battle on the inaction of Republicans after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which a single gunman killed 26 people, 20 of them being students.
Republicans are mostly united against any new restrictions on the sale or ownership of firearms, which goes against the wishes of a majority of voters, including GOP supporters and independents. To push their bills to the floor, the Democrats will need to invoke a discharge petition, which requires a simple House majority, 218 members, to force votes on bills that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is unlikely to consider. With this, only five Republicans would need to join the Democrats in moving the bills forward.
Rep. Mike Quigley said that while Democrats can promote tougher gun laws through"acts of defiance and messaging," it is unlikely to move Republicans from their perch. Democrats immediately decried assault-style weapons and a lack of gun control restrictions, while Republicans were quick to assess mental health and the effects of hormone therapy on transgender people. The Nashville shooter was Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old who identified as transgender. GOP leaders also called for armed law enforcement at schools across the country, as the private Christian Covenant School did not have any armed security.