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Rep. Jamaal Bowman expanded Thursday on his prior shouting match against Rep. Thomas Massie over gun violence, arguing more Americans “should be yelling and screaming” following the mass shooting in Nashville.
Bowman, who was a middle school principal prior to his election to Congress in 2020, argued the “broken” institution of Congress has failed to provide a remedy for the “sick society” that allows gun violence to occur regularly, according to ABC News.
“We’re a sick society,” Bowman told reporters outside the Capitol. “We’re the only developed nation where this happens, and we’re sick because this institution (Congress) has been broken for so long.”
“The whole country should be yelling and screaming and marching on these steps to make sure we pass legislation to do something about gun trafficking, assault rifles, and to bring some commonsense gun control,” he added.
The New York Democrat was nearly as passionate as he was a day earlier when he first shouted at reporters to pressure Republicans to take action on gun reform. He said he believes Congress might address gun violence if the media pushed lawmakers “to do more.”
“Push us to do more,” he said. “The media is very important in the conversation.”
Bowman exclaimed, “more guns lead to more death” in the face of GOP opposition. While they attempted to silence Bowman, his public display of nonconformity reflected the universal feeling of fear and hopelessness felt by American parents.
Jamaal Bowman is reflective of the majority of Americans
While the GOP prioritizes the second amendment over the safety of America’s most vulnerable citizens, Bowman is adamant that he’s on the right side of the gun control argument.
According to Gallup, Americans’ dissatisfaction with U.S. gun laws has risen to 63%, the highest by one percentage point in Gallup’s 23-year trend, and an increase of seven points over the past year. At the same time, satisfaction with gun policy has fallen by the same amount to 34%, tying the lowest reading on record.
A majority of Americans continue to support stricter laws covering the sale of firearms, which has been the case for most years since the Sandy Hook School shooting, in contrast to opinions in the four years preceding it.
Biden spoke about the need to pass further restrictions on gun ownership, including an assault weapons ban, however, earlier this week he conceded he’s powerless to do much more on gun safety without Congress.
For now, any changes to gun laws are more likely to come from individual states, as they did in 2022.
According to YouGov, while gun control measures receive widespread support among Americans overall, attitudes vary sharply by party identity. In the latest poll, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to favor each of the 10 proposals asked about.
The policy that is least popular among Democrats — allowing cities to designate gun-free zones — received the same level of Democratic support (71%) as the policy most favored by Republicans: universal criminal and mental background checks, backed by 71% of Republicans.