In the wake of the worst mass shooting in modern American history, Democratic members of Congress have publicly lobbied for enacting more stringent gun control legislation. But one Republican vote they won’t be able to count on is Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.).
This Congress has failed the American people. #GunViolence
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) October 4, 2017
Scalise was shot and—in his own words—was minutes away from death when a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle attacked him and other Republican members of Congress while they practiced at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, in mid-June.
Those two incidents—both involving semi-automatic rifles—are not enough to change Scalise’s mind on the need for gun control.
Speaking on Fox News, Scalise said these events “fortified” his belief in the Second Amendment and that the first thing the victims needed was people praying.
“First of all, you’ve got to recognize that when there’s a tragedy like this, the first thing we should be thinking about is praying for the people who were injured and doing whatever we can to help them, to help law enforcement,” he said. “We shouldn’t first be thinking of promoting our political agenda. I think we see too much of that, where people say, ‘Oh OK, now you have to have gun control.’”
That mirrors the Republican Party stance. In comments after the Las Vegas shooting, which left 59 people dead and approximately 500 wounded, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.) said, “The investigation has not even been completed. I think it’s premature to be discussing legislative solutions, if there are any.”
You can watch Scalise’s interview below.
.@SteveScalise on Second Amendment: "When there was a shooter, luckily we had Capitol Police there with their own guns." #TheStory pic.twitter.com/Ve3H3hb9k7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 3, 2017