U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) voted to advance legislation banning “assault weapons.” He touted his vote during House Judiciary Committee debate last week.
Cohen, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, voted on July 20 to advance an “assault weapons ban” to the full House of Representatives.
During debate on the legislation, Cohen castigated Republican colleagues for opposing the ban, “arguing their defense of such weapons involves the anticipation of a civil war.”
In his remarks, he referred to House Judiciary Committee members Greg Steube (R-FL-17) and Chip Roy (R-TX-21).
“It was quite interesting what we heard from Mr. Steube about first accusing Democrats, wrongly, about being for de-funding the police, then they give all of the reasons why we don’t need the police because everybody in their districts has a gun and is saving somebody every other day. Who needs police when you’ve got Steube’s constituents?” he said.
“Mr. Chip Roy really put out what this is about: Many people on that side, and their constituents, sincerely think they need a gun to protect themselves against the government. They are ready for civil war … and when it almost came, they were on the wrong side,” Cohen later added.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that Cohen had been pushing for an “assault weapons ban” since June and promoted the idea that he is working with fellow Democrats to pass one.
Cohen’s office issued a press statement in June, discussing how he urged his colleagues to advance the Protect Our Kids Act and advocated a ban on “assault weapons.”
“Assault weapons were banned from 1994 to 2004. It was constitutionally permissible. It wasn’t until 2008 in the Heller decision when Justice Scalia said people have the right, based on the Second Amendment, to protect their homes with reasonable weapons. … The Second Amendment, like the First, is not absolute. … There are limits to the Second Amendment and assault weapons are one of those limits that we had for 10 years and during that time we had less mass killings in this country, and we should have it again,” he said during a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.
He also tweeted about the issue, saying, “We need to ban assault weapons and I look forward to working with @RepCicilline to pass it.”
We need to ban assault weapons and I look forward to working with @RepCicilline to pass it.
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) June 2, 2022
“There is something gun-crazed about our country that we need to deal with,” he additionally said in another tweet.
There is something gun-crazed about our country that we need to deal with.
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) June 2, 2022
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
