Appearing for an interview on CNN on Saturday, GOP representative Tim Burchett, of Tennessee doubled down on his assertion that mass shootings in the US cannot be fixed because “we have freedom” while calling for a “Christian revival” to stop the carnage.
Burchett’s remarks came after being asked by CNN anchor Jim Acosta why he can’t “get together with the Democrats and get it done” in response to acts of gun violence across the country.
Acosta played a clip of the Tennessee Republican’s “we’re not going to fix it” after three children and three adults died in a primary school shooting in his state last month. He then brought up this weekend’s deadly shooting at a Texas home and picked apart Burchett’s claims about lawmakers’ inability to address gun violence.
“A lot of people listen to what you just said and said, ‘Wait a minute, it is your job to fix this and it’s unacceptable to have mass shooting after mass shooting after mass shooting.’ Why not fix this? Get together with the Democrats and get it done,” Acosta said.
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In response, Burchett reiterated his call for a Christian “revival” as a potential solution.
“I was probably speaking more from a Christian perspective. I also went on to say we need real revival in this country,” Burchett said of his past statement.
“There’s Christianity in other countries and they don’t have mass shootings,” Acosta noted.
“Well, they don’t have our freedom, either, they don’t have the Second Amendment,” replied the Republican, who then pointed out that people now can “print guns.”
The five people killed in the recent Texas mass shooting join a list of 13,819 people who have died as a result of gun violence in the U.S. this year.
There have been 176 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023, as of Sunday, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Twitter users reidiculed Burchett over his response to Acosta and questioned “what freedom” the U.S. has compared to other countries.
ACOSTA: People listen to what you said & say it's your job to fix gun violence. Why not?
REP. BURCHETT: I was probably speaking more from a Christian perspective. We need revival in this country
ACOSTA: There's Christianity in other countries & they don't have mass shootings pic.twitter.com/KIYjja7W5S
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 29, 2023
These people invoking the lord when kids are being shot make me want to vomit ……. It’s such a gutless insurance policy for conversation and should be offensive to believers
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) April 29, 2023
We have freedom in Canada. I enjoy it every time I go to the grocery store or the coffee shop and not feel threaten by an AR-15.
— Bernard Leclair1 (@Leclair1Bernard) April 29, 2023
What a fucking farce: A sitting US Congressman from Tennessee tries to blame godlessness and “freedom” for gun violence, saying it’s not his job to fix this crisis and it’s too late anyway because 3D printers. Enjoy your mayhem, America!!! https://t.co/uk2205EWhi
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) April 30, 2023
Great question by Acosta. In response to the Congressman who said more adherence to Christianity would bring down rates of shootings, the US actually has some of the highest rates of both Christian belief AND mass shootings in the world. So why hasn't that worked yet? https://t.co/4Roe4OinMp pic.twitter.com/j1uoXEYpmS
— Seth Cotlar, mostly now at the other places (@SethCotlar) April 29, 2023
What freedom does America have that other countries don't have?
— Essenviews (@essenviews) April 29, 2023
