Around New England

Ed Markey: Republican ‘Inaction’ on Gun Control Bills To Blame for Mass-Shootings

August 6, 2019

The mass-shootings in Texas and Ohio this past weekend took place in part because of a lack of enough gun-control legislation and Congress must have an emergency session to pass some, Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey said.

Markey (D-Malden) issued a series of public statements the past few days demanding an emergency session to take up gun-control bills.

Here is a tweet Saturday, August 3, issued 6 hours 49 minutes after a gunman shot and killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas:

If your heartbreak for the victims and families in El Paso is turning to outrage at yet another mass shooting, then tell @senatemajldr McConnell to stop blocking gun safety legislation. Sadly, we can’t bring these souls back, but we can take action to prevent these tragedies.

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 3, 2019

Here are three tweets from Markey published Monday morning, August 5:

Democrats have introduced a litany of common-sense and lifesaving proposals to prevent gun violence. But this bloodshed keeps happening because Mitch McConnell and too many of his Republican colleagues refuse to listen to the American people begging and pleading for change.

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 5, 2019

We have introduced bills to close loopholes that allow domestic abusers and terrorists to purchase deadly weapons and that allow straw purchasers to flood our streets with guns.

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 5, 2019

But how many of these bills has Senator McConnell allowed a vote on?

Zero.

How many of these bills have we been allowed to debate?

None.

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 5, 2019

My Republican colleagues cut and paste the words “thoughts and prayers” into a tweet and then do nothing on gun violence.

This carnage occurs because of their inaction.

And that’s because the NRA has a vise-like grip on the GOP that threatens the safety of this nation.

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 5, 2019