本周的国会听证会现在-以前的特勤局局长金伯利·谢特尔她的机构未能阻止对前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的未遂暗杀，这也引发了立法者激烈的、基本上一边倒的公开辩论，其中一人将枪击事件称为“双重失败”。
虽然小组中的几位民主党人认为烤奶酪周一，共和党人将特朗普枪击案与全国范围内大规模枪击事件的流行联系起来，这些事件涉及配备AR-15式步枪的年轻枪手，共和党人大多对整体枪支暴力避而不谈。共和党成员反而专注于反复询问Cheatle，一个20岁的人如何能够得到AR-15，并在他受到特勤局特工和当地执法机构保护的情况下，厚颜无耻地试图暗杀共和党总统候选人。
众议院监督委员会(House Oversight Committee)资深成员、民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金(Jamie Raskin)利用全国电视直播的听证会，呼吁过道两边的同事未能通过严厉的立法，让危险武器远离像向特朗普开火的枪手这样的人的手中，他说:“我们不能让自己摆脱困境。”
“亲爱的同事们，在宾夕法尼亚州巴特勒发生的事情是双重失败。特勤局未能妥善保护前总统特朗普，国会未能妥善保护我们的人民免受枪支暴力犯罪，”拉斯金说。
拉斯金说，特朗普和三名拉力赛选手在户外拍摄7月13日竞选活动-包括被杀害的消防员科里·康伯拉特-现在是“一个没人想加入的俱乐部的成员:成千上万成为大规模枪击事件受害者的人。”
在听证会的开场陈述中，拉斯金展示了一个大型图表，上面有美国历史上一些备受瞩目的大规模枪击事件，包括2022年在德克萨斯州乌瓦尔迪的罗布小学发生的袭击，造成两名教师和19名学生死亡;2022年发生在纽约布法罗超市的种族主义枪击案，10名黑人被枪杀;以及2017年拉斯维加斯乡村音乐会上的大屠杀，58人死亡，850多人受伤。
拉斯金说:“数以百万计的美国人对外面的AR-15感到不安全。”。“我们认为至少美国总统或美国前总统会是安全的。但现在这一点甚至都不清楚。”
拉斯金说，2023年，美国发生了655起大规模枪击事件，他定义为在一次事件中有四人或更多人被枪杀，造成712人死亡，2700人受伤。他说，自特朗普遇刺以来，美国已经发生了至少九起大规模枪击事件，其中包括几小时后在阿拉巴马州伯明翰发生的一起事件，当时在一家夜总会有四人死亡，10人受伤。
然而，该委员会的共和党成员将契特尔和她对特勤局的领导作为攻击特朗普的主要原因。谢特尔周二宣布她将辞职，并在一份声明中说，“我对安全失误负全部责任。”
在周一的听证会上，德克萨斯州共和党众议员帕特·法伦(Pat Fallon)说，他用自己的AR-15重现了特朗普的枪击事件，他在130码外击中了目标“16次中的15次”，称它们为“致命一击”。
“这是94%的成功率，”法伦说。"那个射手比我射得好."
纽约州民主党众议员丹尼尔·古德曼以法伦重演为例，回应为何AR-15应该被禁止。
“我不知道为什么这不能说服他(法伦)我们应该摆脱AR-15，但显然我们需要做一些事情来解决AR-15和战争武器在我们街道上的流行，”高盛说。
密歇根州众议员拉希达·特拉伊布(Rashida Tlaib)表示，过去一个月，她所在的州发生了两起大规模枪击事件，其中一起发生在密歇根州罗切斯特希尔斯(Rochester Hills)的一个飞溅公园，造成9人受伤，其中包括两名儿童，另一起发生在底特律的街区派对上，造成2人死亡，19人受伤。
“我们已经听过一遍又一遍了，”特莱布说。“但不幸的是，我的住院医生没有得到委员会的听证。”
俄亥俄州众议员肖恩泰尔·布朗(Shontel Brown)回忆说，2023年12月，当教堂发生枪击时，一名怀抱7个月大婴儿的妇女在葬礼上遭到致命枪击。
布朗说:“作为亲身经历过枪支暴力的人，没有人应该经历因战争武器而失去亲人的痛苦。”
在听证会结束时，拉斯金表示，民主党和共和党委员会成员唯一能够达成一致的是呼吁谢特尔下台。
How hearing for former Secret Service Director Cheatle became intense debate on gun violence
The congressional hearing this week withnow-formerSecret Service DirectorKimberly Cheatleover her agency's failure in preventing the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump also sparked an intense, mostly one-sided public debate by lawmakers, including one who called the shooting a "double failure."
While several Democrats on the panel thatgrilled Cheatleon Monday linked the Trump shooting to the epidemic of mass shootings across the nation involving young gunmen armed with AR-15-style rifles, Republicans mostly steered clear of overall gun violence. GOP members focused instead on repeatedly asking Cheatle how a 20-year-old could get his hands on an AR-15 and brazenly attempt to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee while he was under the protection of Secret Service agents and local law enforcement.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, used the nationally televised hearing to call out colleagues on both sides of the aisle for failing to pass tough legislation to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of people like the gunman who opened fire on Trump, saying, "We can't let ourselves off the hook."
"Dear colleagues, what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a double failure. The failure by the Secret Service to properly protect former President Trump, and the failure of Congress to properly protect our people from criminal gun violence," Raskin said.
Raskin said Trump and three rallygoers shot during the outdoorJuly 13 campaign event-- including firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed -- are "now members of a club no one wants to belong to: the thousands of people who have fallen victim to mass shootings."
During his opening statement at the hearing, Raskin displayed a large chart with some of the high-profile mass shootings in the nation's history, including the 2022 attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left two teachers and 19 students dead; the racially motivated shooting in 2022 at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket where 10 Black people were gunned down; and the 2017 massacre at a Las Vegas country music concert, where 58 people were killed and more than 850 others wounded.
"Millions and millions of Americans don't feel safe with all the AR-15s out there," Raskin said. "We thought at least the president of the United States or former president of the United States would be safe. But now that's not even clear."
Raskin said 655 mass shootings, which he defined as four or more people being shot or killed in a single event, occurred in the United States in 2023 that left 712 people dead and 2,700 others injured. He said at least nine mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. since the attempt on Trump's life, including one just a few hours later in Birmingham, Alabama, where four people were killed and 10 wounded at a nightclub.
Republican members of the committee, however, focused on Cheatle and her leadership of the Secret Service as the primary reason for the attack on Trump. Cheatle announced Tuesday that she was resigning, saying in a statement, "I take full responsibility for the security lapse."
At one point during Monday's hearing, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said he used an AR-15 that he owns to recreate the Trump shooting and that he hit his target from 130 yards "15 out of 16 times," calling them "kill shots."
"That's a 94% success rate," Fallon said. "And that shooter was a better shot than me."
Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., responded to Fallon's reenactment as an example of why AR-15s should be banned.
"I don't know why that doesn't convince him [Fallon] that we should get rid of AR-15s, but clearly we need to do something about the prevalence of AR-15s and weapons of war on our streets," Goldman said.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said there have been two mass shootings in the past month in her state, including one at a splash pad park in Rochester Hills, Michigan, in which nine people were shot, including two children, and another at a block party in Detroit that left two people dead and 19 others injured.
"We've heard this over and over again," Tlaib said. "But the unfortunate thing is that my residents don't get a committee hearing."
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, recounted being at a funeral in December 2023 for a woman fatally shot while holding her 7-month-old baby when gunfire erupted in the church.
"As someone who has known gun violence firsthand, no one should have to experience the pain of losing a loved one to weapons of war," Brown said.
At the end of the hearing, Raskin said the only thing Democrats and Republican committee members could agree on was calling for Cheatle to step down.
