Rep. Jim Himes slammed his fellow lawmakers on Tuesday for failing to act on gun legislation.
“We do nothing, and we could and we could save lives,” Mr. Himes, Connecticut Democrat, said on MSNBC.
Mr. Himes was the first member of Congress to boycott the moment of silence after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Florida. Prior to Sunday night’s massacre at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, the Pulse shooting was the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Sunday’s attack in Las Vegas left 59 people dead so far and over 500 injured after a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort. The gunman, Stephen Paddock, has been identified as the shooter. The 64-year-old was said to have at least 23 firearms in his hotel.
While Mr. Himes acknowledged that tougher gun laws would not likely have stopped Paddock’s attacks, he said it’s time for Congress to do something to slow the steady increase of gun violence in the United States.
“The question this building needs to answer, and people like me need to answer is, there are things we could do, why don’t we do them?” Mr. Himes said.
Sen. Chris Murphy added that although background checks may not have made a difference in Las Vegas, they would help stop other gun deaths across the country.
“I think the gun industry wants us to only talk about the policy change that would’ve affected yesterday’s mass shooting. Background checks is still the most likely piece of legislation to get passed through Congress because it enjoys widespread public approval,” Mr. Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said on MSNBC.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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