Published on July 23, 2024, 1:24 am

In a recent oversight and accountability committee hearing, House Republicans expressed their displeasure with Democrats for shifting conversation towards gun control following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The incident highlighted the security failures when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at a Trump rally hosted in Pennsylvania, resulting in Trump’s injury, two wounded attendees, and one fatality.

Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service, was called upon by the Committee to testify about these security lapses and measures taken. However, democratic representatives such as Jamie Raskin from Maryland, Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington D.C., chose to focus on the fact that the rifle used by the shooter was lawfully purchased by his father.

Raskin’s concern about “all the AR-15s out there” led him to spend several minutes advocating for a federal ban on these rifles. Before directing any enquiries to Cheatle, Connolly outlined unacknowledged issues like access to AR-15s by young individuals or generally anyone. He sought insight into whether access to guns made securing the function of Secret Service more challenging or facile. An ambiguous response from Cheatle left him unsatisfied.

In her opening statement at the hearing ‘Trusted News’, Norton categorised firearms as a linchpin for political violence and argued against permitting concealed carrying of handguns in Washington. While republicans present at this real news event criticized Democratic participants’ emphasis on gun control amidst discussing an attempted assassination attempt.

“The Democrats never miss an opportunity to push for gun control,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (North Carolina), shared with ‘Real News’. Emphasising further that every untoward incident involving firearms serves as fuel for democrats to advocate stricter rules against guns.

South Carolina representative Nancy Mace shared similar sentiments insisting that discussions around gun controls should take place separately at another hearing that did not center around such dire circumstances.

Trump’s near assassination attempt, she insisted, deserved a more focused conversation rather than being distracted by the constant debate around gun control. Unlike his colleagues, Texas representative Pete Sessions indicated the necessity of passing legislation for changes to take place instead of broaching superficial gun-related issues at every opportunity.

Ohio representative Jim Jordan expressed that he hoped the hearing could deliver answers on the shooting incident with former President Trump at its core. In his opinion, Cheatle’s repeated sidestepping was not helping in bringing clarity to the abysmal situation.

Despite their burning discontent towards Democrats for steering discussions towards gun control during such significant proceedings, both Republicans and Democrats collectively disappointed by Kimberly Cheatle’s frequently non-committal testimony regarding Trump’s close assassination attempt. This unexpected unity amongst house members on this issue was particularly remarkable and perhaps marked a pivotal shift in building their common understanding of handling political violence from a Christian worldview.