Dems call mass shootings 'public health crisis' at hearing as Ted Cruz blasts 'ridiculous theater'

Democrats claim gun violence is a ‘public health crisis’ similar to the coronavirus pandemic as Senator Ted Cruz blasted on Tuesday the effort from the left to strip ‘law abiding citizens’ of their 2nd Amendment right in the wake of two mass shootings in the last week.

‘Every time there’s a shooting we play this ridiculous theater,’ Senator Cruz said during a Judiciary Committee hearing on reducing gun violence on Tuesday.

‘What they propose,’ the Texas senator said of Democrats, ‘it makes it worse.’

Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin said gun violence in the U.S. is a ‘public health crisis’ that requires action.

‘Prayer leaders have their important place in this, but we are Senate leaders. What are we doing?’ Durbin asked in his opening remarks. ‘We won’t solve this crisis with prosecutions after funerals. We need prevention before shooting.’

While over 41,000 people were killed in 2020 by gun violence – a record driven by the pandemic – it doesn’t come close to the public health crisis from COVID-19, which in the last year has resulted in more than 543,000 deaths in America alone. 

Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said during a hearing Tuesday that gun violence in America is a ‘public health crisis’

Senator Ted Cruz, who sits on Judiciary, said the hearing was just more ‘ridiculous theater’ put on by Democrats in the fallout from mass shootings

Cruz claimed in his opening remarks before the committee Tuesday that all action proposed by Democrats results in ‘taking away guns from law abiding citizens’.

A bipartisan group of pro and anti-2nd Amendment experts, yielded questions and recommended solutions from several perspectives.

The hearing comes the day after a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado Monday that left 10 dead.

It was also scheduled to take place exactly one week after a separate string of mass shootings by one suspect at three massage parlors in the Atlanta, Georgia area where eight people were killed – six of whom were Asian women.

These two events have led to another national debate on gun control, which Democrats in the Senate are turning their attention toward as they hold a majority in both chambers and in the White House.

The massage parlor shootings are also leading to increased attention on racism toward Asian Americans and misogyny in the U.S.

The hearing comes in the aftermath of two mass shootings in the last week. Pictured are law enforcement outside a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado where a gunman opened fire Monday, killing 10

Cruz said during the hearing Tuesday that he is reintroducing legislation along with Senator Chuck Grassley, who also serves on Judiciary, that seeks to address gun control in a bipartisan manner.

The Cruz/Grassley bill almost became law years ago but needed just one more Democratic vote to get it passed in the Senate through reconciliation.

Pressure is also mounting on the administration to address gun violence.

President Joe Biden ordered on Tuesday that flags at the White House be lowered to half staff in honor of the 10 victims of the shooting in Boulder.

Biden will give brief remarks on the tragedy before he leaves for his trip to Ohio on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris called the mass shooting ‘absolutely baffling.’

‘It’s tragic. Absolutely tragic,’ Harris told reporters in her ceremonial office after she swore in William Burns as the new CIA director.

‘It’s absolutely baffling, it’s 10 people going about their day living their lives, not bothering anybody,’ she continued. ‘A police officer who is performing his duties, and with great courage and heroism.’