A REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN from Florida has displayed three of his guns during a debate on gun legislation.
Rep. Greg Steube was speaking remotely from his home and told colleagues who attempted to raise a point of order: “I’m in my house, I can do whatever I want with my guns.”
The renewed focus on guns in the US comes following last week’s mass shooting in a primary school in Uvalde, Texas which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Four people were also killed last night by a gunman at a medical centre in Oklahoma.
Steube displayed the guns as he argued against Democrat-tabled gun control legislation which would crack down on gun trafficking, large capacity magazines and so-called ‘bump stocks’.
Bump stocks allow semi-automatic weapons to be fired like automatic weapons and were used by Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock when he killed 58 people and injured over 800 in the United States’ deadliest mass shooting in 2017.
Speaking during the debate, Steube said that Democrats wanted to “take away law-abiding citizens’ ability to purchase the firearm of their choice”.
He went on to display his guns and different magazines, saying that various magazines that do not fit his guns would be banned by the legislation.
“Here’s a gun I carry every single day to protect myself, my family, my wife, my home,” he said.
As he continued to show the weapons, Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee sought to intervene saying, “I hope that is not loaded.”
Steube then responded by saying he could “do whatever I want” with the weapons in his house.
‘Protecting Our Kids Act’
Nine senators have been meeting this week to discuss a response to the mass shootings that have appalled the nation, projecting optimism over the prospects for modest reforms.
The group has focused on school security, bolstering mental health services and incentives for states to temporarily remove guns from owners considered a threat.
Broader legislation called the ‘Protecting Our Kids Act’, which was being debated when Steube showed his guns, includes raising the purchasing age for semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
Other highlights include a ban on high-capacity magazines and background checks on so-called “ghost guns,” do-it-yourself, homemade guns made from easily available kits.
The package will likely pass the Democratic-led House next week before dying amid Republican opposition in the Senate.
With regulation being so difficult at the federal level, an effort is also underway among state legislatures to push for tighter gun laws.
California lawmakers advanced a gun control package in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting that included proposals to open up gunmakers to civil legal liability in certain cases.
The proposals echo action by lawmakers in New York state, who passed a law last year allowing civil suits against gun manufacturers and dealers for improper marketing or sales.
A permit-to-buy bill is moving through the Delaware state legislature, while in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott asked lawmakers in the pro-gun rights state to “make legislative recommendations” in response to the Uvalde shooting.
- With reporting by © – AFP 2022
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