Three McCarthy constituents died in Las Vegas shooting

The Las Vegas massacre hit close to home for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

The California Republican said that three of his constituents died in the mass shooting at a country music festival on the Vegas Strip Sunday night. One of the victims from his Bakersfield district, 20 year-old Bailey Schweitzer, was the best friend and neighbor of his district director’s daughter.

{mosads}And several more of McCarthy’s constituents are recovering in the hospital.

The hundreds of victims and their families, McCarthy said, will need prayers and support from the entire nation. The No. 2 Republican in House leadership, McCarthy will fly with President Trump to Las Vegas on Wednesday. 

“We need to be there for them,” McCarthy said at a news conference in the Capitol, flanked by other members of the leadership team. “We cannot allow this terror to win.”

Tuesday also marked the first time Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) had attended a leadership news conference since he himself was shot and nearly killed by a gunman targeting Republicans at a baseball practice just outside of Washington on June 14.

Scalise, using a pair of crutches and a motorized scooter to get around the Capitol, has spent the past 15 weeks recovering in a hospital and rehabilitation center.

But on Tuesday, GOP leaders predictably brushed off Democrats’ call for stricter gun-control measures and instead raised questions about the mental health of the Las Vegas gunman, who killed 59 and injured more than 520 others.

“One of the things we’ve learned from these shootings is that often underneath there is a diagnosis of mental illness. That’s why we spent years working on mental-illness reform,” said Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who said that Congress last year passed legislation by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) that provided more funding to help people with mental-health issues.

“That law is now being implemented,” Ryan continued. “So I think it’s important as we see the dust settle and we see what was behind some of these tragedies, that mental-health reform is a critical ingredient to making sure that we can try to prevent some of these things from happening.”

In the wake of Scalise’s return to Congress and the Vegas tragedy, Democrats have hammered Republicans for pushing legislation that would make it easier for people to buy gun suppressors, commonly known as “silencers.” But Ryan said that bill has not yet been scheduled.

“I don’t know when it’s going to be scheduled. We’re focused on passing our budget,” the Speaker said.