A Republican Representative remotely attending a House hearing displayed his handguns to illustrate points about legislation restricting ammo magazine size.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans legislation designed to prevent law-abiding citizens from buying firearms of their choice. He spoke over a broadband connection from his Florida home to remotely attend the Judiciary Committee hearing, chaired by Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, N.Y.
“Last year in 2021, the Glock 19 was the highest sold handgun in the United States,” Steube explained during his allotted two minutes. “It comes with a 15-round magazine, that gun would be banned.”
The Sunshine State representative next displayed his Sig Sauer P226, explaining it comes with a 21-round magazine. Steube said that gun would also be banned under the legislation being considered. Then he held up a Sig Sauer 320, noting that handgun’s magazine holds 20 rounds.
Democratic Rep. Sheila Lee, Texas, sounded alarmed as she interjected, “I hope that is not loaded.”
“I’m in my house I can do whatever I want with my guns,” Steube remonstrated. A video clip of the exchange was posted to CSPAN’s Twitter account Thursday.
He didn’t miss a beat before launching into statistics concerning the effectiveness of gun control. The Florida Republican noted how some of the nation’s deadliest municipalities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago have some of the strictest gun laws in the country, including limits on magazine size.
Steube cited statistics comparing the likelihood of being murdered in those cities with strict gun laws versus the likelihood of that happening in his state.
“In Jacksonville, Florida, the murder rate was more than half what it was in D.C. or Chicago, in 2021,” Steube declared. “It was four times lower than in Baltimore, Md.,” noting those cities have a high capacity magazine ban.
“You’re safer in the state of Florida, where we don’t have them.”
The Florida representative explained residents of Tampa or Orlando are even safer, saying they are three times less likely to be murdered than residents of D.C. or Chicago. He then declared residents of those two Florida cities are five times less likely to be murdered than residents of Baltimore.
The bill under discussion in Thursday’s Judiciary Committee hearing is intended to become part of a large omnibus bill for which Speaker Pelosi expects to quickly receive House approval. The bill is more limited than many Democrats desired but was pared down to secure enough Senate Republican votes to overcome a filibuster, according to an NBC report.
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