“You’re just screaming at me,” Massie told Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
QUICK FACTS:
- Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) quietly approached yelling Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY) at the U.S. Capitol to ask what he was upset about.
- “They’re cowards! They’re all cowards!” screamed Bowman. “They won’t do anything to save the lives of our children at all. Cowards!”
- “Pressure them. Force them to respond to the question, ‘Why the [expletive] don’t you do anything to save America’s children?’ And let them explain that all the way up to Election Day in 2024,” Bowman continued. “They’re freaking cowards! They’re gutless.”
- Massie stopped past Bowman to ask what he was talking about, to which Bowman said loudly, “I’m talking about gun violence.”
- Massie said, calmly, “You know, there’s never been a school shooting in a school that allows teachers to carry.”
- Bowman began yelling at Massie: “More guns lead to more death. Look at the data, you’re not looking at the data,” accusing Massie of “carrying the water for the gun lobby.”
- With Bowman still yelling, Massie told reporters, “We have guns here to protect us, and he doesn’t believe that kids should have somebody to protect them.”
- Bowman Tweeted a video of the incident and wrote, “Republicans won’t do [expletive] when it comes to gun violence, but try to tell me to calm down.”
- Massie Tweeted another video of the incident, noting, “He wanted to discuss solutions to school shootings, but when I offered a solution he began shouting. When he asked for data, I gave him data, but then he just shouted more.”
- “Bring facts. There’s never been a school shooting in the hundreds of schools that allow staff to carry,” Massie continued.
MASSIE’S “SAFE STUDENTS ACT”:
- In 2022, Rep. Massie reintroduced the “Safe Students Act,” repealing the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.”
- “Gun-free zones are ineffective and make our schools less safe. Since 1950, 98 percent of mass public shootings have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns,” Massie said when the bill was introduced in 2019.
- “Banks, churches, sports stadiums, and many of my colleagues in Congress are protected with firearms. Yet children inside the classroom are too frequently left vulnerable,” he went on to say.
- Director of Federal Affairs for Gun Owners of America Aidan Johnson stated, “GOA is proud to support Rep. Thomas Massie’s bill to repeal the unconstitutional Gun-Free School Zones Act which disarms parents and teachers and leaves our children’s schools as soft targets for violent criminals.”
- “‘Gun-free’ zones infringe on the right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens, and the federal government has no business prohibiting firearms in certain locations,” he added.
BACKGROUND:
- Massie and Bowman’s heated discussion follows a recent school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
- 28-year-old female, transgender-identified shooter Audrey Hale shot and killed 6 people, three of whom were students.
- Hale was shot and killed by police.
