Gun reform legislation was, again, a hot topic on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Congressman Jim McGovern led one of several hearings on two proposed gun reform laws. As the chair of the House Rules Committee, the panel is taking up the pair of bills, McGovern leads the hearing and can offer an opening statement at the beginning of the committee meeting.

The centerpiece of the hearing was the Protecting Our Kids Act. The proposal, if passed, would put together several gun policy bills into one package. Members of the committee also debated a proposed law that would give family members and law enforcement the ability to petition a court...to remove a gun from a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

“These are not attempts to take away guns or to punish law abiding gun owners or undermine the Second Amendment. Instead, the bills before us are about doing what Congress is supposed to do,” McGovern said in his opening statement. 

But Republicans, including Tom Cole of Oklahoma, complained that the legislation put forth by Democrats trampled Americans’ 2nd Amendment rights. Cole accused House Democrats of not acting in good faith.

“Instead of offering a well-reasoned approach they are offering soundbites nothing more. While our colleagues in the Senate are working together and actually negotiating a package that has a chance at becoming law, the majority today is putting forward messaging bills that have no chance of passing in the senate and no chance of becoming law,” Cole said.

The back and forth between committee members went on for several hours, but McGovern made a point to say that the public expects lawmakers to do something. 

“I don’t know about all of you but when I was home last week people stopped me in supermarkets, they stopped me in restaurants and on the street. Parents mothers and fathers who said ‘What the hell are you people doing? What does it actually take for you people to do something?” McGovern said. 

The effort at passing some type of gun reform will continue on Wednesday. An 11-year-old who survived the Uvalde school shooting by covering herself in her friend’s blood is expected to testify before lawmakers.