GOP Rep. Clay Higgins claims there’s “no such thing” as gun violence

• U.S. Representative Clay Higgins spoke at the March 29 Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing, claiming that there is no such thing as gun violence, only human violence.
• Higgins went on to say that abortion kills more children annually than guns.
• Brady, a national gun violence prevention group, argued that easy access to firearms contributes to gun violence.

U.S. Representative Clay Higgins took a strong stance on gun violence and abortion in the Wednesday Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing.

Gun control is a hotly debated topic among both Republicans and Democrats. Renewed cries for stricter gun control legislation resurfaced after a school shooter killed three children and three adults in Nashville on Monday. Following the horrific massacre, Americans and politicians including President Joe Biden have recently called for stronger gun control, but legislators on the other side of the aisle maintain that humans are the problem, not the weapons.

During the March 29 committee hearing, U.S. Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican, said he wanted to address a talking point used by his Democrat colleagues. He mentioned that people have referred to gun violence as the leading cause of death of children in America, which he then refuted.

“There’s no such thing as gun violence. There’s only human violence. It’s intellectually unsound to state otherwise,” he said.

Gary Kleck, an emeritus professor of criminology at Florida State University, told Newsweek that although violence is committed with guns, Higgins’ statement had a “kernel of truth in it”.

“There are factors that influence violence of all kinds, with or without guns, and it may be wise to shift our attention to those factors,” Kleck told Newsweek in an email statement on Wednesday. “Characterizing crimes as ‘gun violence’ can subtly narrow our focus to just one contributing factor, gun availability. In light of the poor track record of past gun control efforts (e.g. the federal assault weapons ban), shifting the focus to other contributing factors could improve our chances to reduce violence.”

Kris Brown, president of Brady—a national gun violence prevention group—argued that the ease of access to firearms in the U.S. contributes to gun violence.

“America suffers from the same rates of mental illness as any other industrial country, yet we are the only one that wakes up to this horrific news every day, and it’s because of our uniquely easy access to firearms,” Brown told Newsweek in an email. “Gun violence is now the number one killer of our children. There is a reason why mass shootings in the U.S. skyrocketed after Congress refused to renew the assault weapons ban.”

Higgins went on to identify the No. 1 cause of death in children in America as abortion, another hot-button topic between political parties, especially so after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.

Higgins cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers from 2020, saying there were more than 620,000 legally induced abortions in America in 2020. According to Higgins, in the same year, 4,357 children died from either a firearm accidental discharge, suicide or homicide.

Higgins then spoke about his daughter who died in 1990.

“My heart goes out to those families,” he said.

“I don’t appreciate my Democrat colleagues constantly lying to the American people referring to gun violence as if it’s not driven by human violence and ignoring the fact that America has allowed millions upon millions of children to be killed in the womb,” he added.