Republicans are once again doing everything they can to ensure no substantial steps are taken to curb gun violence in the U.S.
Just last month, President Joe Biden announced the formation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which would be a “central hub essentially for enforcement, coordination, public outreach,” as described by PBS NewsHour’s White House Correspondent, Laura Barrón-López. The office would coordinate with states to enhance background checks and allocate funds to tackle gun violence prevention, mental health, and school safety.
Instead of supporting the reduction of gun violence, Republicans like Montana’s Matt Rosendale (pictured above) are pushing back hard. Rosendale and nine other U.S. House Republican co-sponsors have introduced a bill aiming to abolish the office and block the creation of any successor office. Rosendale said in a statement that he “will not stand by and allow Joe Biden to use taxpayer funds to create an unconstitutional office.”
This is not a shocking move from the Representative from the 2nd District of Montana, who once claimed that Second Amendment rights are non-negotiable and that anybody should be able to own a gun with little to no background checks.
There is a lot of opposition to the formation of this extremely basic and necessary resource, even though gun violence in the US surpassed 500 mass shootings in 2023 alone. 2nd Amendment rights are Republicans’ priority in this situation, even if the death toll rises due to lax gun laws that give firearms away like candy. While some Republicans support comprehensive background checks, the Republicans in the House of Representatives refuse to budge and prioritize strengthening the privacy of gun owners despite the large societal cost of gun violence.
This isn’t surprising, since even the 2024 GOP slate of presidential hopefuls condemn gun control and are quick to defend guns even in the face of shootings. Hopefully, Rosendale’s terrible bill doesn’t have the support needed to move forward in Congress but we’ll be keeping an eye on it.
(featured image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
