Congressman Chris Jacobs (R-NY), who was endorsed by the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation in 2020, mentioned he would help a ban on assault weapons following two horrific mass shootings at a grocery retailer in New York and an elementary faculty in Texas.
Jacobs made the remarks — a contradiction to the Republican celebration’s staunch stance on gun legal guidelines — throughout a information convention on Friday.
“If an assault weapons ban invoice got here to the ground that will ban one thing like an AR-15, I might vote for it,” he mentioned, in line with The Buffalo Information. “So I need to be clear: I might vote for it.”
Jacobs, a Republican from New York who was endorsed by the NRA in 2020, additionally mentioned he’s in favor of elevating the age for some gun purchases to 21.
“People can’t purchase beer, they can not get cigarettes till 21. I believe it’s completely cheap that the age restrict at the very least for these extremely deadly, high-capacity semi computerized weapons needs to be 21,” he mentioned.
The congressman reiterated his sentiments in an interview with The Buffalo Information. He mentioned he needed to rethink his stance after 19 youngsters and two lecturers have been gunned down Tuesday at Robb Elementary College in Uvalde greater than every week after 10 folks have been killed at Tops Pleasant Markets in Buffalo.
“I hope I’ve been compassionate after I learn and heard about earlier incidents like this which have occurred through the years, however I assume there’s simply one thing markedly completely different when it occurs in your metropolis, to folks you understand,” Jacobs informed The Buffalo Information. “This has been a profoundly impactful occasion for me.”
He mentioned the capturing in Texas additionally touched him.
“Being a father and having younger youngsters and visualizing what these mother and father are going by means of and, I assume, with the ability to really feel it extra personally definitely has had an impression as nicely,” he informed the newspaper.
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden once more referred to as on Congress to go gun reform laws. Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday attended the funeral of Ruth Whitfield, who was killed within the Buffalo capturing, saying “sufficient is sufficient.”
“We’ll come collectively primarily based on what everyone knows we have now in frequent, and we won’t let these people who find themselves motivated by hate separate us or make us really feel worry,” she informed mourners. “I’m right here to say that we’re all on this collectively. Nobody ought to ever be made to struggle alone.”
