Gun violence hearing - latest: Republican claims Democrats using 11-year-old Uvalde victim for political gain

Texas-born actor Matthew McConaughey delivered emotional remarks to reporters at Tuesday’s White House press briefing, calling for bipartisan action to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals which he contended were supported by responsible gun owners.

He also told stories of victims of the shooting in his native Uvalde, Texas, leading to an emotional moment where he struck the press secretary’s lectern while describing how one young victim was identified only by her signature green Converse sneakers.

A group that is opposing any firearms restrictions after deadly massacres in New York and Texas is warning its supporters who are descending on Capitol Hill this week to be prepared for “battle”.

The warning came in a fundraising email from the American Firearms Association to its members on Monday, stressing that gun control activists including Moms Demand Action would be on the Hill this week for the hearings.

"Our federal legislative team believes that because of the enormity of the battle this week in DC, there will be thousands or even tens of thousands of Bloomberg-funded, red shirt radical, commie mommies all over the Capitol complex," the email said. "This is their Super Bowl. You and I should be looking at this battle in exactly the same way."

Read more from The Independent’s Graig Graziosi:

After several high-profile incidents in which police officers apparently declined or for some other reason failed to act in situations that would have saved lives, many Americans are reexamining the role of law enforcement in modern society.

In The Independent, writer Skylar Baker-Jordan asks: “What is the point of the police if they will not rescue an obviously drowning man or even rush in to protect the children of our nation?”

Garnell Whitfield Jr took senators to task on Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the issue of domestic extremism.

Mr Whitfield Jr spoke to senators about losing his 86-year-old mother in what is thought to have been a rampage by a racist 18-year-old suspect who espoused white supremacist views.

He asked the members on Tuesday: “Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy?”

“Because if there is nothing, then respectfully, senators, you should yield your positions of authority and influence to others that are willing to lead on this issue.”

Read more from The Independent’s Bevan Hurley:

Actor Matthew McConaughey rejected the idea of seeking political office on Tuesday after making an appearance at the day’s White House press briefing and giving an impassioned speech about the Uvalde shooting.

Mr McConaughey told Fox News’s Bret Baier Tuesday evening in an interview: “I am not running for political office.”

But during his remarks earlier in the day, the Uvalde-born actor drew on his Hollywood charisma and played a leader’s role, begging the country’s two political parties to come together and make real change that would stop the tide of mass shootings in schools and other venues.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg in The Independent:

Rep Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee, urged her fellows in the House and Senate to listen with an open mind to stories of victims of gun violence that her committee will hear on Wednesday.

“After 19 innocent children and two teachers lost their lives in Texas just ten days after the mass shooting in my home state of New York, I’m turning my anger into action. Our hearing will examine the terrible impact of gun violence and the urgent need to rein in the weapons of war used to perpetrate these crimes,” the chairwoman said in a 3 June statement.

“It is my hope that all my colleagues will listen with an open heart as gun violence survivors and loved ones recount one of the darkest days of their lives. This hearing is ultimately about saving lives, and I hope it will galvanize my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass legislation to do just that,” she continued.

Lawmakers in the Senate are currently huddling on a bipartisan compromise which currently looks to be proceeding around the issue of encouraging states to pass red-flag laws.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has privatedly expressed openness to passing legislation aimed at raising the age necessary to purchase an assault-style rifle like an AR-15, CNN reported on Tuesday.

But the provision is not likely to make it to the Senate floor due to resistance from his own caucus, the news outlet further reported.

Senators are currently meeting to hammer out compromise legislation aimed at quelling the tide of mass shootings in America. Few areas of compromise are being discussed, and Democrats are cautioning that few of their priorities will likely be in the final legislation.

Read more at CNN:

GOP Sen John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator on compromise legislation to respond to the horrific trend of gun violence and mass shootings in America, was seen browsing on his phone while witnesses testified at a committee hearing on Tuesday on domestic extremism.

Senators met on Tuesday to discuss a rise in domestic terrorism including attacks by the far-right wing, including white supremacists and Islamophobic incidents. The Buffalo shooting is thought to have been committed by an 18-year-old who espoused the racist “white replacement theory”.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

As senators meet to discuss a potential path forward for reforms aimed at stopping the trends of gun violence and mass shootings in America, the lead GOP negotiator is walking a delicate balance between working with Democrats to address a real problem and assuaging his party’s far-right base.

John Cornyn’s dangerous job is excacerbated by the presence of Ted Cruz, his Texas colleague and the state’s junior senator, who has come out strongly against further efforts to restrict firearm ownership.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia takes a look at the behind-the-scenes relationship between the two senators representing the Lone Star State:

11-year-old Miah Cerillo who survived the Uvalde shooting by smearing a deceased classmate’s blood over her body and playing dead will testify before Congress on Wednesday.

She will join those impacted by the Buffalo shooting to speak before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform for a hearing titled “The Urgent Need to Address the Gun Violence Epidemic”.

Miah was one of a group of 4th graders trapped for about an hour in a classroom with Uvalde gunman Salvador Ramos.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has more: