Republican Congressman doubles down on his Nashville school shooting response after backlash from left for saying the nation needs to repent: ‘We need a revival’
- Rep. Tim Burchett shrugged off critics to call for a ‘revival’ on Thursday
- He angered gun control activists by saying nothing can stop shootings
- Instead he called for people to repent their sins in wake of Nashville murders
When a GOP congressman from Tennessee faced a backlash for saying that lawmakers could not fix America’s gun crime in the wake of the deadly Nashville school shooting — and that homeschooling might offer a solution — he knew exactly what to do.
Rep. Tim Burchett doubled down, calling for a religious revival.
‘You know, repenting of your sins and having some sort of reform in this country seems to me … that would be the way we’re gonna have to turn this thing around because we have some very sick evil people doing some very vile things and revival seems to be the way to go,’ he told Fox news on Thursday morning.
His comments have been seized on by critics, who say it illustrates how Republicans react to mass shootings with thoughts and prayers rather than action.
Later in the day, protesters invaded Tennessee’s statehouse to demand tougher gun laws after Monday’s massacre.
Rep. Tim Burchett said a national revival was needed as he doubled down on his comments that lawmakers could do nothing to solve gun crime in the aftermath of Nashville shooting
More than a thousand people joined the protest in Nashville organized by local mothers, packing the building’s rotunda.
Three children and three staff members were shot dead at Nashville’s Covenant School when a 28-year-old former student at the school opened fire.
The result has been an outpouring of grief and calls for tighter controls on guns.
On Monday, Burchett said there was little anyone could do to stop mass shootings.
‘It’s a horrible, horrible situation, and we’re not going to fix it,’ he said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in a video clip that quickly went viral.
‘Criminals are going to be criminals.
‘And my daddy fought the Second World War, fought in the Pacific, fought the Japanese. And he told me, buddy, he said, if somebody wants to take you out and doesn’t mind losing their life, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it.’
He went on to say that he thought lawmakers could make things work.
On Thursday, protesters invaded Tennessee’s statehouse to demand tougher gun laws after Monday’s massacre when three children and three members of staff were murdered
‘I think you got to change people’s hearts,’ he continued.
‘You know, as a Christian, as we talk about in the church, and I’ve said this many times, I think we really need a revival in this country.’
A reporter asked what could be done to protect children like his own young daughter.
‘Well, we homeschool her,’ he answer.
His words triggered outrage.
Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, said: ‘That Republican member of Congress and his entire conference are telling that family and that little girl, we’re not going to fix this.
‘Well, guess what? We have to fix it. It is our job to fix it.
‘It is our obligation to fix it.
‘House Democrats have acted over and over and over against to pass legislation to fix this. If not now, when?’
