The gun control debate predictably reared its head in the wake of Monday’s mass shooting in New York City, where four people were killed, including an NYPD officer, when gunman Shane Tamura, 27, opened fire at a Midtown office building.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) issued a statement following the incident, saying “mass shootings are a plague” and that “the time has come for decisive action.”
Statement on the Mass Shooting in Midtown Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/SjnQfXOfBj
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) July 29, 2025
Speaking on Fox News Monday evening, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he was ready for such calls from across the aisle, but disagreed that’s the best way to address the problem.
“On Capitol Hill, probably beginning in the morning, there’ll be the inevitable call by some of my colleagues for more gun control laws. We’ve got hundreds of gun control laws, maybe thousands,” Kennedy said. “We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control, and that's what we need to be talking about."
The Louisiana Republican also said the shooting could be a wake-up call to New York to bring back stop-and-frisk.
“The other thing that, frankly, New York’s going to have to face, is the issue of whether we should bring back more aggressive stop and frisk, which is a perfectly legal law enforcement tactic,” he said.
Sen. John Kennedy: "We don't need more gun control. We need more idiot control." pic.twitter.com/JsObIDN3T4
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 29, 2025