Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) desperately tried to defend the need for Americans to have semiautomatic weapons of mass murder during an appearance on CNN and wound up getting pelted with facts by host Jim Acosta.
Acosta began the interview by asking Waltz if he thought it was necessary for weapons of war such as AR-15s and similar assault rifles to be so easy to obtain, especially since they seem to be the weapon of choice for mass shooters. The congressman replied:
“I tell you, we all want to solve this problem. The data shows that the vast majority of gun violence, the vast majority of these crimes are committed actually with people using pistols not necessarily those weapons. But I think in the bigger picture—”
The host quickly corrected Waltz:
“A lot of these mass shootings happen — have involved AR-15s and those kinds of assault-style rifles.”
Waltz’s assertion that “the vast majority of these crimes are committed actually with people using pistols” is a canard. The fact is that the majority of suicides — not mass shootings — are used in suicides.
A few seconds later, Waltz incorrectly declared that legislation can’t do anything to solve the problem of mass shootings, completely ignoring the simple fact that a ban on assault weapons has been proven to do so.
According to Waltz, doing nothing is the solution:
“So, I think we need to take a hard look at fixing the system as it exists and make it work better. But putting—”
Once again, Acosta was ready with a response:
“Yeah, the system’s not working now.”
On Sunday, the U.S. had its 50th mass shooting in a month. And yet Republicans such as Mike Waltz continue to dither, procrastinate, and speak in worthless platitudes. There’s blood in the streets and the GOP is taking the ostrich approach, burying their head in the sand as they continue to talk in circles.
Here’s the video from CNN:
Featured Image Via Screenshot
