Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace criticized her own party Sunday for allegedly taking no action on mass shootings.
A recent mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky left five dead and six others injured after the suspect shooter, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, opened fire with an AR-15. Mace said Republicans are consistently losing the popular vote in presidential elections partly due to their inability to take actions on these tragedies.
“We need to have this conversation. I will tell you, every mass shooting there’s just silence and prayers are offered, Easter baskets are offered, but no real solutions,” Mace said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And I’m a constitutional conservative…Republicans can no longer be silent on this issue and it’s not about the Second Amendment. There are plenty of things that we can be doing besides offering prayers and silence.”
Mace proposed providing amber alerts for nearby shootings, increasing background checks for gun sales, and “hardening” educational and religious spaces with bullet proof windows and doors to decrease mass shootings. (RELATED: ‘What Are We Doing?’: Rep. Nancy Mace Criticizes Her Own Party)
“Yet, every time there’s a mass shooting and they’re increasing every year, every week, we don’t want to say anything.,” Mace continued. “We want to bury our hands in the sand and hope that it goes away. But guess what? It’s not going away. I see it. I’m in a very purple district even though I’m in South Carolina. It is an issue that continues to be a problem for Republicans and we have not learned anything from the midterm elections if we’re just gonna sit here on our hands silently not offering any type of solution to reduce gun violence in our country. It’s not about gun control.”
“Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream stated that Congress passed a bipartisan bill to address a loophole allowing for domestic abusers to own a gun and fund crisis intervention programs and mental health courts. She also argued that many on the political left claim the issue is solely about guns.
Mace argued there is “common ground” for most Americans on gun rights, but argued that both parties refuse to offer middle ground. She said Republicans need to improve on addressing issues like gun safety in order to win a majority or popular vote in the future.
“We need to show leadership on sensitive issues because these are issues that motivate our constituencies and voters, and especially independent voters. And Shannon, quite frankly, Republicans have not won the popular vote in years when it comes to the presidency and that’s something we need to work on.”
Mace has also criticized her party’s handling of abortion legislation, suggesting that the party’s restrictions are extreme. As with gun rights, she has called for both parties to find common ground and reflect the beliefs of their constituents.