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

The Republican top negotiator in the bipartisan gun control discussions, Texas Senator John Cornyn, said that “arbitrary deadlines are not our friend” in terms of when an agreement may be put forward.

“But I think it’s reasonable to expect in the next couple of weeks, maybe this work period,” he added.

“There are sticking points everywhere,” he said, but also told the press on Wednesday that “everybody is talking in good faith, and I think they’re sincere about wanting to achieve a result”.

Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, the top negotiator for the party in the bipartisan gun control discussions said “this is a heavy week as these families are testifying”, referring to Wednesday’s House hearing on gun violence.

“I know the testimony is really hard to hear, but I think it’s important for people to understand the reality of what it’s like when you lose a loved one from gun violence,” he added, according to The New York Times.

The mother of a survivor of the Buffalo mass shooting has invited lawmakers to come to her home and clean the wounds on her son’s bullet-ridden body if they continue to refuse to tackle America’s escalating gun violence.

Zeneta Everhart gave emotional testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday morning as lawmakers come under growing pressure to enact tighter gun control measures in the wake of a string of recent mass shootings that have torn dozens of families apart.

Ms Everhart described in harrowing detail the extent of the injuries that her son Zaire Goodman suffered after being a victim of the racist attack in Buffalo, New York, last month.

She told lawmakers that Mr Goodman will now have shrapnel lodged in his body for the rest of his life and said that any official who votes against passing gun control laws does not deserve to hold a seat on Capitol Hill.

“To the lawmakers who feel that we do not need stricter gun laws let me paint a picture for you: My son Zaire has a hole in the right side of his neck, two on his back, and another on his left leg, caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15,” she told lawmakers.

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The powerful AR-15 rifle has received increased attention and scrutiny following the devastating shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York that killed 10 Black patrons, and the school shooting massacre of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas.

The recent spate of gun violence across the US has ignited another round of gun control negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who was previously endorsed by the National Rifle Association but has since become a negotiator on gun reform, told CNN he would support raising the age to purchase semi-automatic weapons to 21. Conversely, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has said that some people need an AR-15 to shoot feral pigs. Mr Cassidy has since become one of the other negotiators working on a compromise deal.

To get a better understanding of how important AR-15s are to Republicans, The Independent sent emails to scores of Republican senators seeking comment on whether they own or have ever fired an AR-15. Similarly, The Independent spoke to 13 Republican senators on Capitol Hill to press lawmakers on their relationship to the firearms.

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I have reported on Washington’s response to gun violence in one way or another since the shooting in Charleston left nine Black worshippers dead in 2015. Then came the Pulse nightclub, a shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas, and the shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. I covered the March for Our Lives event after the shooting in Parkland, Florida, when scores of people filled the streets of DC in front of the Capitol and there was a sense there could be actual change.

Then there were weekends as a night editor when I managed a team during the shootings in Virginia Beach, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and El Paso. The fact that a standard operating procedure existed for such situations was both reassuring and depressing. And now Buffalo, followed by Uvalde, followed by Tulsa. While states — including Republican strongholds like Florida — have passed some laws on guns, Congressional action has been lacking. If a lot of my articles recently talk bleakly about gun talks failing, it’s because I’ve seen this all before.

And yet, there is enough reason to think this time really might be different. Republicans and Democrats are actively speaking in the Senate, typically where gun legislation dies. More than that, there appears to be a level of good faith and trust between the Democrats and the Republicans with whom they are negotiating.

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