House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that lawmakers must see “all the facts” before any gun legislation can be put forward following the shooting in Nashville this week, the first public comments the California Republican has made to reporters since the incident.
McCarthy’s remarks ultimately follow a similar sentiment expressed by fellow Republicans, President Joe Biden and Democrats: that efforts to increase gun control are likely to be an uphill battle despite multiple mass shootings.
“We want to see all the facts, we need to get the facts,” McCarthy said when asked whether he would put forward legislation on guns following the Nashville shooting.
According to data from the national Gun Violence Archive, the Nashville shooting was the latest in 130 mass shooting incidents so far this year.
When pressed by CNN on what more “facts” he would need, McCarthy refused to answer and left through an exit.
Despite the grim statistics, Biden said Tuesday that his hands are essentially tied on gun control measures and that it was up to Congress to act. Senior White House officials also told CNN that the administration does not have any plans for a major push on gun safety reform.
“I can’t do anything except plead with the Congress to act reasonably,” Biden told CNN’s MJ Lee on Tuesday.
“I have done the full extent of my executive authority – to do on my own, anything about guns … The Congress has to act. The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, it’s a crazy idea. They’re against that. And so I think the Congress could be passing an assault weapon ban,” he added.
Since Biden took office, he has taken more than 20 executive actions on guns. Some of those actions include regulating the use of “ghost guns” and sales of stabilizing braces that…
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