Black caucus demands gun control vote after shootings

The Congressional Black Caucus is calling for an immediate vote on a gun control bill following a wave of violence this week that left two black civilians and five police officers dead in three separate incidents.

“Republicans, what on earth — why are you recoiling and not giving us a debate on gun violence?” CBC Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) said at a Friday morning press conference in the Capitol. “We need legislative action now.”


The CBC push comes after a string of shootings this week, including the deaths of two men, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota, who were killed by police on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Then on Thursday night, five Dallas police officers were gunned down, reportedly by sniper fire, during what was supposed to be a peaceful protest.

The CBC members took care to equally condemn all three incidents, calling the police deaths a travesty. At the same time, they said the Black Lives Matter protesters should not be blamed for what happened in Dallas.

"People cannot use Black Lives Matter as a scapegoat. Those young kids came together to protest,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.). “You can’t blame them for these incidents happening. And as much as people would like to call them thugs and other things, they do that for their comfort."

As for gun control, the House and Senate have struggled to rally around a proposal that could garner enough bipartisan support. The impasse spurred Democrats to seize the House floor for a daylong sit-in in late June. House GOP leaders then promised a vote on an anti-terrorism package with a gun control component before recess, only to indefinitely delay a roll call amid GOP infighting. Democrats had vowed to oppose the measure even before the delay.

“America is weeping. They are angry. They are frustrated. And Congress — and when I say Congress, I mean the Republicans in Congress —are refusing to address gun violence in America,” Butterfield said.

Before the Dallas police killings on Thursday, the CBC had requested meetings with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey to discuss the police-involved shootings. Butterfield said the CBC is tentatively scheduled to meet with Comey on Tuesday for a session that was previously scheduled.

Dallas-area Rep. Marc Veasey (D) choked up during the press conference as he spoke about reaching out to one of the families of an officer that was killed Thursday and describing how he fears for what could happen to his son.

“Right now he’s a cute fifth-grader,” Veasey said. “But I worry about him when he gets older, when he gets into high school. What if he’s out with some friends and he smarts off the wrong way?”

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave back-to-back speeches on the House floor Friday morning honoring the Dallas officers.

“This has been a long week for our country. It’s been a long month for America. We have seen terrible, terrible senseless things,” Ryan said.

“Every member of this body — every Republican and every Democrat—wants to see less gun violence. Every member of this body wants a world in which people feel safe regardless of the color of their skin. And that’s not how people are feeling these days. … But in having this debate, let’s not lose sight of the values that unite us,” he continued.

But Ryan didn’t give an indication of if or when GOP leaders will bring a gun control bill to the floor, saying that right now it’s time to “take a moment” for “reflection, for thought, for prayer, for justice, for action.”

But Butterfield and other members of the CBC said Congress shouldn’t leave “the Hill this week or any week” without first voting on proposals to expand background checks and prevent people on terror watch lists from buying guns, two proposals backed by Democrats.

“If we fail to act, this will be a long, hot summer,” Butterfield said.

