Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., engaged in a heated exchange in the hallways of the Capitol on Wednesday.
Days after a heavily-armed assailant killed three 9-year-olds and three adults in a Nashville Christian school, lawmakers in Florida became the latest to roll back a gun control law governing concealed weapons. Nebraska is close behind.
If Nebraska lifts the requirement for permits that is now in place, as it is expected to do, the number of so-called permitless-carry states would rise to 27.
The Nashville killings have sparked calls for new gun control laws, with demonstrations at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and the Tennessee Capitol, but Republican-controlled legislatures have moved in the opposite direction.
In Florida, Republican majorities in the state House and Senate approved a bill that would eliminate the need for a permit for a concealed gun. Anyone who can legally own a gun can now carry one without training or a background check.
That vote came over opposition from groups such as Moms Demand Action and other proponents of gun control. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation, which will take effect on July 1.
“You don’t need a permission slip from the government to be able to exercise your Second Amendment rights,” DeSantis said on March 30 at a Smyrna, Georgia, gun store that is often a location for GOP campaign events, according to The Associated Press. “And as of right now there’s 25 states, so half the states, that allow that. Well in Florida, next week, we’re going to make it 26.”
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Earlier, state Rep. Vicki Lopez, the only Republican in the House to vote against the change, said that the Nashville killings highlighted the need for checks.
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“I think Tennessee just sort of amplified the need to ensure that whoever is carrying a weapon is in fact suitable to carry a weapon,” Lopez told NBC Miami.
According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, 7,605 residents of Florida were denied concealed carry permits because they were ineligible.
And only Vermont among the 25 permitless-carry states requires someone to pass a background check to buy a gun, the Giffords Law Center said.
In Nebraska, which has only one legislative body -- the Nebraska Legislature, which is also controlled by Republicans -- a similar bill advanced the day after the Nashville shooting. It would allow Nebraska residents to carry concealed handguns without a permit or training. It needs one more round of approval before it goes to Gov. Jim Pillen, a supporter.
“What we heard from Nashville, Tennessee, is nothing but tragic,” Sen. Jane Raybould said during Tuesday's debate, according to Nebraska Public Media. “Senseless. Heinous. Disturbing. But preventable. Another school shooting where innocent children and teachers are slaughtered. When is enough, enough?”
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Brewer, said it was about guaranteeing the right to bear arms in Nebraska. He argued that Nashville shooting would have been less likely had someone in the school been armed.
“All these shootings happen in gun-free zones, especially the schools,” Brewer said during the debate.
The schoolchildren in Nashville were killed after a 28-year-old former student shattered a glass door to enter The Covenant School on Monday morning. Audrey Hale, who was armed with two AR-style weapons and a handgun, was killed by Metropolitan Nashville police inside the school.
Kris Brown, the president of the gun control group Brady: United Against Gun Violence, said she was angry and frustrated that legislatures were dismantling protections that research has shown are successful in decreasing gun violence.
“I honestly am just flummoxed that any elected official regardless of party would want to stand for the proposition of making our country less safe,” she said. “And that’s ultimately what we’re talking about here.”
“Nothing to do with facts, nothing to do with logic, but basically doing the bidding of a particular industry, the gun industry, to remove any barriers whatsoever to the sale of their product,” she said. “That’s what this is about, 100% what it’s about, and our children are paying with their lives.”
Note: The school shootings shown here refer to incidents categorized by Everytown as an "Attack on others", where at least one person was killed or injured. Source: Everytown for Gun Safety's school shootings database.
Amy O’Kruk/NBC
