South Florida's US House members vote along party lines on gun control package
WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo told House lawmakers how she survived last month's massacre in her Robb Elementary classroom.
"He shot my friend that was next to me and I thought he was gonna come back to the room. So, I grabbed the blood and I put it all over me," she said.
A total of 19 students and two teachers were killed by a gunman wielding an AR-15 style rifle. Dr. Roy Guerrero described the carnage.
"Two children whose bodies have been pulverized by bullets fired at them, decapitated, whose flesh have been ripped apart," he said.
House lawmakers voted on a gun control package, which includes raising the age minimum on buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
Local Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ted Deutch spoke in favor.
"From Uvalde and Buffalo to Parkland, Orlando and Las Vegas, America is bleeding. And while this legislation will not end gun violence, it's a tourniquet," said Wasserman Schultz.
"We've heard a lot about foundational rights, foundational liberty, as if the Second Amendment is the sum total of the Constitution. Madam speakers, the First Amendment matters as well," said Deutch.
South Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz Balart issued a statement against it, that reads, in part:
"Congress should focus on effective solutions that fund school resource officers and mental health, harden school safety measures, close loopholes in school security, better equip law enforcement to address threats from an active shooter, and enforce laws that prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands."
And Rep. Carlos Gimenez wrote:
"What we're witnessing in the House tonight is nothing but political theater. It's unserious business that does not match the gravity and the sensitivity of the tragedy Uvalde just lived through."
The provisions were voted on separately, and then again as a whole package.
Our local leaders voted along party lines.
Rep.Maria Elvira Salazar voted no on all provisions except raising the age to 21 to buy a semi-automatic weapon. She voted yes on that, but no again on the overall bill.
The bill now moves to the Senate where different gun control measures are being discussed.
