Within just a couple of weeks into 2023, America has already witnessed several high-profile shootings, including two recent back-to-back events in California. As a result, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) wrote a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) calling on them to organize a classified briefing on mass shootings.
City and State Florida writer Tristan Wood tweets the letter, in which Frost and Moskowitz warn that "when these tragic events become so common, we risk becoming desensitized to the true horror of each one and the impact they have on the victims, their loved ones, and the community."
Florida’s @MaxwellFrostFL and @JaredEMoskowitz sent a letter to @SpeakerMcCarthy and @RepJeffries asking them to organize a classified briefing for Members of Congress on mass shootings in America. pic.twitter.com/g5FQoQrgHy
— Tristan Wood (@TristanDWood) January 26, 2023
The letter calls for the briefing to be conducted by the FBI and "other relevant agencies," which they hope will have "bipartisan attendance" which in turn will "help us come together to find bipartisan solutions."
Additionally, Frost and Moskowitz write that "as Vice Chairs of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, we believe it is the responsibility of elected officials to confront the horrific reality that many of our constituents are forced to face, and to determine a common-sense path forward towards stopping the epidemic of mass shooting our country faces."
As mentioned, this letter comes hot on the heels of the Monterey Park, California shooting which saw ten victims killed. Frost and other Democrats, including Adam Schiff, were quick to call for gun control measures and blame the shooting on anti-Asian hatred prior to the revelation the shooter was himself a 72-year-old Asian-American.
Nonetheless, Frost ran his campaign on a strong gun control platform, claiming "gun violence is an everyday occurrence," echoing a claim made by Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL-25) in July 2022 that Republicans "want" mass shootings to become "America's new normal."
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President Biden called for the banning of "assault weapons" and all but bragged about the power the federal government holds over its constituents
