Illinois GOP reps say ‘soft-on-crime’ policies, mental health to blame for mass shootings
Republican members of Congress from southern Illinois said addressing mental health problems and securing schools are the answer to mass shootings in the United States following two of the deadliest so far this year.
U.S. Reps. Mike Bost of the 12th Congressional District, Rodney Davis of the 13th District and Mary Miller of the 15th District said in emailed statements that they grieve for the families of the 19 children and two teachers killed at an elementary school in Ulvade, Texas, on Tuesday. It happened less than two weeks after ten Black people were killed at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
Miller blamed mass shootings on “soft-on-crime policies” and said she “will continue to support the Second Amendment rights of my constituents in Illinois.”
Bost called on Congress to work on addressing a “mental health crisis” in the U.S., as did Davis. Bost supports legislation that would expand coverage of virtual mental health services under Medicare.
Davis said tax incentives and education could help improve use of gun locks or safes “to make sure guns don’t get in the hands of criminals or people who don’t know how to use them.”
Miller offered prayers and criticized President Joe Biden for his speech Tuesday night following the shooting in Ulvade. Biden renewed a call for Democrats to pass gun control legislation.
“The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong,” Biden said.
Miller said it was a political speech about “restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who had nothing to do with this tragedy.”
Miller stated she supports “securing our schools, funding the police departments that were defunded, and prosecuting criminals instead of releasing them. “ Davis also supports “giving schools the resources and flexibility to harden their facilities and make security investments, including armed officers.” Bost supported a 2018 law that gave money to school districts to pay for security upgrades, and he cosponsored legislation that would provide more money for hiring school resource officers.
The men charged in the two shootings were both 18-year-olds who didn’t have previous criminal records and who bought guns legally. An armed law enforcement officer stationed at the school exchanged gunfire with the killer but was unable to stop him, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed state police official.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed two gun background-check bills Wednesday but recognized the repeated failure of similar efforts in the past, The Associated Press reported. The House passed two bills in 2021 to expand background checks but they failed in the Senate. Bost, Miller and Davis all voted against them.
Davis said “taking guns away from law-abiding citizens will not stop gun violence from happening.”
The Buffalo shooter passed an instant background check and legally purchased a semiautomatic rifle despite having undergone psychiatric evaluation ordered by state police. The evaluation didn’t show up on his record. A “red flag” law in New York is meant to prevent mentally ill people from buying firearms.
The two other members of Illinois’ GOP congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood and Adam Kinzinger, didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday, though both tweeted out condolences. Kinzinger was the only representative who tweeted about the Buffalo shooting.
While Bost, LaHood, Miller and Davis are all running for reelection, Kinzinger is not. Kinzinger voted for one of the background check bills in 2021, HR 8.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, called for the suspension of the Senate filibuster to make it easier for Democrats to pass “commonsense gun safety reforms” with a 50-vote threshold. Under current rules, at least 10 Republican votes would be needed to pass legislation.
Republicans pointed to shootings in Chicago as an example of how gun laws don’t work.
“There are more people that are shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference Wednesday. “If you’re looking for a real solution, Chicago teaches that what you’re talking about is not a real solution.”
Asked for specific solutions to prevent mass shootings, a spokesperson for Miller said “soft-on-crime policies” such as elimination of cash bail and refusing to work with federal immigration officers contribute to “weekly mass shootings in Chicago.” Gov. J.B. Pritzker last year signed criminal justice reform that will end cash bail beginning January 2023.
Pritzker responded to Abbott’s comments on Twitter.
“Don’t feed into the false narrative about Chicago and Illinois – it’s an excuse that politicians like you hide behind to stop the federal legislation we need to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” Pritzker tweeted. “You are lying about Chicago and what actually perpetuates gun violence. The majority of guns used in Chicago shootings come from states with lax gun laws.”
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 4:20 PM.
