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Tennessee State Democratic Representative Justin Jones, one of the members of the "Tennessee Three" who was expelled from the state House in April for advocating stricter gun control, strongly criticized newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, condemning his response to a mass shooting in Maine that resulted in 18 fatalities and left 13 others injured.
The shooting spanned two different locations: a bar and a bowling alley, with numerous individuals sustaining injuries in the incident, according to law enforcement sources. The shooter was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a two-day manhunt.
Johnson asserted that "the problem is the human heart" and emphasized the importance of protecting citizens' right to self-defense rather than focusing on guns as the issue.
In a rebuke of these comments, Jones appeared on MSNBC, where he pointed out the need for "common-sense gun laws."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Jones said:
“I want to let Speaker Johnson know that in my faith tradition, when you put objects above people, we call that idolatry. And when you put the lives of people under money and campaign contributions, we call that idolatry."
“And so let’s not use faith and false thoughts and prayers to gloss over this issue."
Jones also drew attention to past mass shootings in Tennessee, such as the Covenant School incident in March, where six people were killed, and the 2018 Waffle House shooting that left four people dead. Jones found it insensitive to use "religiosity" to downplay the suffering caused by mass shootings and urged lawmakers to take immediate action.
He concluded:
“And so I hope that Speaker Johnson does not wait until a mass shooting hits his community act."
"But I hope that he acts according to not an issue of left or right but recognizes that this issue of gun violence is a moral issue of right and wrong and history will watch where he stands in this time.”
"History will judge him. His children would judge him and future generations will judge him because we’re sick and tired of living in this world of preventable mass death because of an extreme minority that have hijacked our democracy. This issue of gun violence is a crisis is an emergency in our democracy."
Many concurred with his assessment.
Jones' remarks underscored the urgency of addressing gun violence, particularly in the face of alarming statistics from the Gun Violence Archive. The archive documented 580 mass shootings in the United States this year, with over 35,700 people losing their lives due to gun violence.
His outspokeness on the matter of gun violence resulted in his expulsion—along with fellow Democrat Justin Pearson—after joining protesters who chanted in the House chamber in support of gun control following a school shooting.
It is worth noting a White Democrat, Representative Gloria Johnson, who participated in the same protest maintained her seat after a vote on her expulsion found fewer Republicans willing to expel her.
Jones was later reinstated to the Tennessee House and has referred to the expulsion as an “attack on democracy."