Rep. Mondaire Jones said nothing should stand in the way of passing gun reforms, including the Senate filibuster and the Supreme Court.
The New York Democrat said his party should do whatever it takes to achieve tougher gun laws, blasting Republicans for blocking legislation over the years.
“Enough of your thoughts and prayers,” Mr. Jones said at an emergency Judiciary Committee hearing to markup Democratic gun-control bills dubbed the Protect Our Kids Act.
“You will not stop us from advancing the Protecting Our Kids Act today. You will not stop us from passing it in the House next week, and you will not stop us there,” he told his GOP colleagues. “If the filibuster obstructs us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court objects, we will expand it.”
Mr. Jones added that Democrats will do “whatever it takes” to end the gun violence epidemic in the country and promised to impose a ban on military-style semiautomatic rifles.
“We will not rest until we have taken weapons of war out of circulation in our communities,” Mr. Jones said.
The Democrat-backed package of bills would make gun trafficking and straw purchases a federal offense, raise the age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old and provide incentives for states to adopt “red flag” laws to confiscate firearms from people deemed dangerous.
Republicans oppose the bills, arguing that the proposals infringe on Second Amendment rights.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee’s ranking Republican, said the bills were no more than a show vote because the bill is doomed to die in the Senate which is split 50-50 between the parties.
“This is not a real attempt, in my judgment, to find solutions,” Mr. Jordan said. “What we’re [debating today] is designed to appeal to Democratic primary voters.”
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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