Congressman Chris Jacobs (R-NY), who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2020, mentioned he would support a ban on assault weapons following two horrific mass shootings at a grocery retailer in New York and an elementary faculty in Texas.
Jacobs made the remarks — a contradiction to the Republican social gathering’s staunch stance on gun legal guidelines — throughout a news convention on Friday.
“If an assault weapons ban bill came to the floor that would ban something like an AR-15, I would vote for it,” he mentioned, in keeping with The Buffalo News. “So I want to be clear: I would vote for it.”
Jacobs, a Republican from New York who was endorsed by the NRA in 2020, additionally mentioned he is in favor of elevating the age for some gun purchases to 21.
“Individuals cannot buy beer, they cannot get cigarettes until 21. I think it’s perfectly reasonable that the age limit at least for these highly lethal, high-capacity semi automatic weapons should be 21,” he mentioned.
The congressman reiterated his sentiments in an interview with The Buffalo News. He mentioned he needed to rethink his stance after 19 kids and two academics had been gunned down Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde greater than every week after 10 individuals had been killed at Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo.
“I hope I’ve been compassionate when I read and heard about previous incidents like this that have happened over the years, but I guess there’s just something markedly different when it happens in your city, to people you know,” Jacobs advised The Buffalo News. “This has been a profoundly impactful event for me.”
He mentioned the capturing in Texas additionally touched him.
“Being a father and having young children and visualizing what those parents are going through and, I guess, being able to feel it more personally certainly has had an impact as well,” he advised the newspaper.
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden once more referred to as on Congress to go gun reform laws. Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday attended the funeral of Ruth Whitfield, who was killed in the Buffalo capturing, saying “enough is enough.”
“We will come together based on what we all know we have in common, and we will not let those people who are motivated by hate separate us or make us feel fear,” she advised mourners. “I’m here to say that we are all in this together. No one should ever be made to fight alone.”