A heated debate ensued on Capitol Hill after Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a former middle school principal, yelled at his GOP colleagues Wednesday and repeatedly called them cowards for not supporting stricter gun measures in the wake of the Nashville school shooting.
The exchange between Bowman, D-N.Y. and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. took place just outside the House chamber and was widely circulated on social media after several journalists posted videos of it.
Bowman, a former principal at Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx, can be heard yelling: They are all cowards! He continued: Pressure them, force them to respond to the question: Why the hell won't you do anything to save America's children? Let them explain that all the way up to Election Day on 2024. Several legislators walk by Bowman without engaging before Massie stops in front of him and says there has never been a shooting at a school where teachers were allowed to carry guns.
Bowman responds to the fact that more guns lead to more death. Look at the data. You are not looking at any data. Massie, who in 2021 posted a photo with family holding guns and text asking Santa to please bring ammo, then asks Bowman if he would co-sponsor legislation he introduced last year to repeal a federal ban on guns in school zones. Massie pointed out that such bans are ineffective, based on data from a controversial gun researcher.
Massie can be heard telling Bowman to calm down at one point in Wednesday's exchange. Bowman said that children are dying. Nine-year-old children are in their nine-year-old years. Six people, including three children, were killed on Monday at a school in Nashville, Tennessee. Three 9 year-old students, a custodian, a substitute teacher and the head of the school were killed.
The suspect was shot through the locked doors of Covenant School and was killed in a confrontation with officers, police said.
Since the shooting, Congress hasn't passed any new gun bills and Republicans have largely opposed any Democratic-backed measures to address gun violence.
A spokesman said in an email that Massie had accepted Bowman's challenge and explained the data he used to argue for a repeal of gun-free school zones.
When confronted with facts, Mr. Bowman tried to shout Rep. Massie down, the spokesperson said.
Bowman's office wouldn't say anything. In a post after the exchange, Bowman posted the video and used an expletive to say Republicans will do nothing to address gun violence.
He said we can't calm down.