Republicans raise concerns about stolen guns

Republicans are raising concerns about hundreds of stolen guns that federal agencies have lost.

They chided officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wednesday for mishandling the weapons. But some Democrats accused them of playing politics.

{mosads}”We’re talking about hundreds of weapons that have been stolen or somehow lost over the last several years,” Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) said during a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing.

“This is unacceptable,” he added. “There have been people killed in America with weapons that were stolen or lost, whatever the case may be, by federal agents.”

The hearing focused on guns that have been stolen from federal agents, but some Democrats complained that it is a distraction from the larger issue of gun violence around the country.

This comes after a high-profile sit-in by House Democrats, where they called for stronger gun laws that would expand background checks and prohibit suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms.

“We’re having a hearing about guns, but it’s only a tiny fraction of guns and certainly not the guns causing the majority of the problems,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).

“While there are a variety of inadequate safeguards when it comes to firearms in our nation, federal weapons seem pretty low on the list,” she added.

Republicans say the weapons lost by federal agents often fall into the hands of criminals.

In a particularly heated exchange, Hice grilled Jeff Orner, chief readiness support officer at Homeland, about the missing guns.

“How are guns continually being stolen?” he asked.

“It has to do with the nature of their operations,” Orner said. “You have agents in the field sometimes running through vigorous environments.”

“That is not an excuse to lose a weapon,” Hice responded.

“There’s no excuse for losing a weapon,” Orner said.

Both Republicans and Democrats expressed concerns about a lack of information regarding how many guns federal agencies have and how many are stolen. 

“How many guns are we talking about?” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said. “Do you have any idea? In other words, I’m trying to figure out how big the universe might be. Sounds like we don’t have a handle on it, because you don’t have accurate information.”