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Fill-in “Fox News Sunday” anchor Sandra Smith took aim at GOP Rep. Mo Brooks during an interview ahead of Memorial Day to confront him about support for new federal gun control measures in the wake of the tragic massacre of 19 children and two adults last week in Uvalde, Texas.
Smith began a segment by holding up a survey that showed a small majority of Americans favor stricter gun laws.
“The minimum age in your state to buy an AR-15, like the one the school shooter used in Uvalde, is 18 years old. There’s no waiting period between the time a firearm is purchased and when its turned over to the buyer. There’s no license for the sale of ammunition,” Smith began.
“Gallup does find that a majority of Americans, 52 percent of them, are in favor of stricter gun laws when it comes to the sale of firearms,” Smith told the Alabama Republican who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in his state.
“So, to the majority of Americans who feel that way, you say what?” the Fox News host then asked.
Brooks began his response by saying he doubted the accuracy of the survey, saying it likely did not reflect a true majority of Americans’ views.
“I suspect that the people who were polled, by way of example, were not properly explained what the purpose of the Second Amendment right to bear arms is,” he said.
The Constitution’s Second Amendment states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
But gun reform advocates frequently argue that the first part of the Amendment about a “regulated Militia” is no longer valid, as the U.S. now has a strong and well-trained standing military. Second Amendment advocates counter by noting the amendment has two parts, adding that “the right of the people” to “bear arms” is unrelated to serving in a militia or the military.
The GOP lawmaker went on to note that when he was young he went to school “many times” with a shotgun in his car and no one thought anything of it.
“Why? Because I just got through duck hunting,” he said, adding that there were other teenagers like him who also brought weapons to school in those days.
“Back when I was growing up, we didn’t have these mass killings,” Brooks continued. “They weren’t there. They didn’t occur. Or if they did, I certainly wasn’t cognizant of them and they were very, very rare—so rare that I cannot recall a single incident in which those things occurred during my youth.”
He noted further that mass shootings in schools are “much more common” today because of a “decline in moral values, the decline in respect for human life.” He said young people need to be “properly” taught better moral values and that the country needs to address “mental health issues” as well, according to Newsweek.
“That is the way to fix the problem,” he concluded.
But Smith continued her line of questioning, citing remarks the Alabama Republican made last week in which he blamed “liberal policies.”
“What happened in Texas is horrible and reflects poorly on liberal policies that encourage out-of-wedlock childbirth, divorce, single-parent households, and amoral values that undermine respect for life,” he told Alabama Political Reporter.
When Newsweek asked for additional clarification on Sunday, Brooks’ office emailed the same statement.
“Does that statement, sir, unfairly blame single-parent households in this country for the rise of mass shootings?” Smith asked the GOP lawmaker.
“Absolutely not. It blames moral values’ decline in the United States of America,” Brooks insisted, adding that there are many contributing factors, referencing “all the studies” he’s seen as all indicating children who come from single-parent homes do not do as well by the time they are adults.
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