WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Democratic lawmakers say gun manufacturers are flooding America with assault weapons and they want America to see how gunmakers market their weapons and what kind of money they make doing it.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y) accused gun manufacturers of sharing responsibility for the gun violence that plagues the country.
“The gun industry has flooded our neighborhoods, our schools and even our churches and synagogues with these deadly weapons,” Maloney said.
Maloney’s House Oversight Committee research says gun manufacturers made more than one billion dollars in the last decade selling assault weapons.
“How many more American children need to die before your company will stop selling assault weapons,” Maloney asked.
“These murders are a local problem,” Daniel Defense said.
Testifying before the committee, Daniel, CEO of Daniel Defense, a firearm manufacturer, expressed his condolences to those families touched by mass shootings, but Daniel says the company bears no responsibility and you can’t blame the guns as they are inanimate objects.
“Mass shootings are preventable when appropriate community systems are in place,” Daniel said.
Republicans accused Democrats of attacking the second amendment while bigger issues need attention.
“To go after the manufacturers of guns while at the same time remaining soft on crime, defunding the police, supporting those policies,” Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) said.
Republicans like Hice and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) told Democrats to focus on the real crime in the country
“Republicans want to target criminals, democrats want to target lawful gun owners and take away their guns,” Comer said.
House Democrats hope to pass a bill to ban assault weapons, but Republican opposition is likely to kill the bill before it can become law.
