Democrats press for gun violence hearing in wake of Georgia school shooting

House Democrats pressed for a hearing on gun violence in a letter dated Sunday following a shooting at a Georgia high school last week in which two students and two teachers were killed.

In their letter, the Democrats noted that the only hearing the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has held in this Congress about a mass shooting was the one dedicated to the security failures surrounding the summer assassination attempt against former President Trump.

The group said it was wrong for the panel to take actions “to protect presidential candidates from gun violence” while not taking action “to protect the rest of the American people whom the president serves.”

“When a president is targeted by a mass shooter wielding an AR-15, we call hearings, analyze the problem, and act to reduce the risks of another attack,” the Democrats added later in the letter addressed to House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).

“This Committee should show the American people that Congress can and will act to stop the devastation caused by AR-15s and other firearms every single day,” the group wrote. “We therefore urge you to convene a hearing this month about our gun violence epidemic and to discuss popular commonsense legislation, like a universal violent criminal background check and a ban on military-style assault weapons, to protect the lives of children at school, teachers, and the rest of the American people.”

The Hill has reached out to Comer’s office for comment.

The letter is signed by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, including ranking member Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Reps. Stephen Lynch (Mass.), Kweisi Mfume (Md.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Katie Porter (Calif.), Shontel Brown (Ohio), Melanie Stansbury (N.M.), Robert Garcia (Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Summer Lee (Pa.), Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Gerry Connolly (Va.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.).

This story was updated at 1:44 p.m.