Some House Democrats dedicated time during Monday’s House Oversight and Accountability hearing on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to push for gun control in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The would-be assassin used an AR-style rifle, taking eight shots at Trump, with one bullet piercing the top of his right ear.
Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) barely mentioned the shooter during his opening statement. In contrast, Raskin said “AR-15” nearly a dozen times and said mass shootings with AR-15s are the issue at hand.
‘I wanted to discuss one of the roots of political violence: Guns.’
“A weapon that can be used to commit a mass shooting at an event under the full protection of the Secret Service together with dozens of state and local police is obviously an intolerable threat to the rest of us who do not receive such protection and obviously does not belong in our communities,” Raskin said.
Despite the shooter using his father’s AR-15, Raskin still called for universal background checks and to close the gun show “loophole.”
Washington, D.C., Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said, “I condemn the political violence. It is a threat to democracy. I wanted to discuss one of the roots of political violence: Guns.”
Norton then went on to criticize Republicans for their efforts to overturn D.C. gun laws.
Cheatle got into a testy exchange with Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who began his line of question by stating, “There are some things my friends on one particular side of the aisle don’t really want to talk about, like AR-15s and access to them by a 20-year-old or anybody for that matter.”
Connolly then asked Cheatle if the ubiquity of firearms in the United States makes her agency’s job of protecting political leaders more difficult. Cheatle said the threat of firearms is not unique because it is an environment the Secret Service operates in every day, a response that enraged Connolly because it didn’t go along with his questions.
“I didn’t ask that question. I’m not questioning the Second Amendment. I’m asking for a simple analysis. … Please answer the question,” Connolly said, repeatedly asking Cheatle if American’s access to firearms makes her agents’ jobs difficult.
When Cheatle would not give Connolly a direct answer, Connolly accused her of avoiding the question and said that has become a reason not to have confidence in her continued tenure as director.
Connolly said he is aware of political violence because his office was attacked by someone who used a bat.
Cheatle admitted during the hearing that the shooting was “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades” but went on to say she is the best person to lead the law enforcement agency.
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