Mike Thompson and fellow House Democrats who are combat veterans decry GOP inaction on gun violence

Rep. Mike Thompson joined four other fellow House Democrats who are combat veterans Thursday morning to call out the Republican House majority for inaction on gun violence prevention legislation and for recent votes seeking to loosen firearm restrictions.

“We are here today to cry out for help from this majority in the House,” Thompson said at a noon press conference on Capitol Hill.

The 24-year congressman from Napa was an Army staff sergeant and platoon leader with the 173 Airborne Brigade in the Vietnam War, where he was wounded and received a Purple Heart.

When the House flipped to Republican control in 2023, legislative progress to blunt the nation’s long-running plague of mass shootings and gun homicides — including a historic gun control safety bill President Joe Biden signed in January 2022 — stalled, Thompson said.

“There’s no interest in pursuing safer communities, safer children through gun violence prevention. As a matter of fact, it’s just the opposite,“ he said.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thompson was referring to House Republicans’ passage of a resolution this month to overturn a Biden administration rule banning stabilizing braces on pistols, an accessory that allows for more rapid firing of a handgun, and one used by gunmen in mass shootings.

The U.S. Senate, where Democrats remain in control, rejected the measure on Thursday.

Thompson, who leads House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, is a gun owner and avid hunter who has also been a longtime champion for more stringent gun control.

He was joined by five other Democrats who served in the U.S. military and saw combat or were trained in the use of assault rifles and other weapons of war.

The representatives sought to portray House Republicans as approaching deadly modern weaponry, including assault rifles, without the respect required of soldiers.

“We spent three months maneuvering and handling that weapon before we were allowed to put a round in the chamber,” Marine veteran Rep. Jake Achincloss, D-Massachusetts, said of his preparation to carry an assault rifle.

“Because the United States military respects weapons. Republicans don’t,” he said. “And they have tortured the Second Amendment until it says things it was never intended to say.“

The allied Congress members said the House majority was operating against the wishes of most Americans, citing an April poll conducted by Fox News in which 87% of registered voters said they support criminal background checks for all gun buyers and 81% support raising the minimum age needed to buy a firearm to 21 and enhancing enforcement of existing gun control laws.

“When we see our colleagues across the aisle not only refusing to take a step to pass legislation that would keep our kid’s safe but instead bringing up a vote on pistol braces … that could not be more out of step with where parents are and where the American people are,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88