美国国家公共电台 NPR--Republican Rep. Jacobs won't seek reelection after he changed his stance on guns（在线收听）

Republican Rep. Jacobs won't seek reelection after he changed his stance on guns

Transcript

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Republican Rep. Chris Jacobs of western New York. Jacobs decided not to seek another term in Congress after his support for gun control drew the ire of GOP colleagues.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There has been another shooting, this one outside Birmingham, Ala., at a church. Two people are dead and a third wounded. Police say a gunman, who's now in custody, opened fire last night on a small group meeting inside the church. It is just the latest in a series of shootings that's prompted Congress to try and take action. Republican Congressman Chris Jacobs represents communities in western New York, not far from the Buffalo grocery store where a gunman killed 10 people in a racist attack. After that shooting, Jacobs said he would back a federal ban on assault weapons. Days later, he dropped his reelection bid. Our co-host, Steve Inskeep, asked him why.

CHRIS JACOBS: I represent the suburbs of Erie County, where Buffalo is. So I don't represent where the massacre happened, but I grew up in the city, consider it, certainly, my hometown. And I knew one of the individuals who perished. But more so, many of my colleagues that I served on the school board with were African American, who knew many of those people. And so, you know, as I said, I hope I'm being compassionate when I've heard of incidents and - that have happened around the country over the years. But it's certainly markedly different when it happens in your hometown. And I spent a lot of time the next couple of weeks talking to a lot of people on this issue of gun control and many in law enforcement, many supporters of the Second Amendment.

And I view myself as a supporter of the Second Amendment. I was the Erie county clerk. The clerks in New York state run the pistol permitting division. So you know, I spent a lot of time helping people avail themselves of the Second Amendment right. But when I talked to people on - that were supporters of the Second Amendment, their view that no additional restrictions were merited, you know, their rationale that I listened to them just didn't ring true. And, you know, look; I'm very supportive of, you know, more security in our schools, of - we certainly do have a mental health crisis in this country. We need to work on that.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Right.

JACOBS: But to leave guns off the table, any sort of gun control, I just thought was intellectually dishonest.

INSKEEP: If I can ask, what did you then propose?

JACOBS: So I - you know, I'm in the midst of - or was in the midst of running for reelection. And the part of the district outside Erie County, where Buffalo is, is quite rural, big supporters of gun rights. And I just felt I needed to be honest where my head was at, you know? I said publicly that I've thought a lot about this. And my views have altered here. And if an assault weapons ban came to the House floor, I would vote for it. And then I said, I'm not sure if it will. I don't think it will. I don't think it'll pass the Senate, but I would vote for it. But in lieu of that, here are some other things that I think could make a difference. And I said I would be supportive of the idea of raising the age for assault weapons to - from 18 to 21, also, the magazine limit, that I would support a magazine limit. I don't know why anybody needs a magazine with 50 rounds in it.

Then one issue specific to what happened in Buffalo at the supermarket where the massacre happened - the retired police officer, Aaron Salter, who was the security guard at the supermarket, he tried to take out the shooter. But the shooter had military-grade body armor on his body and on his head, a helmet. And with - Aaron Salter's gun could not take him out. As a result, he was murdered. And then the majority of the other murders happened in the store. So if that individual did not have body armor, things could be a lot different. So I'm co-sponsoring legislation here in the House to put restrictions on who can obtain body armor. I don't know why any person under the sun can get it. I think you should be, you know, law enforcement or a security guard or something related to a rational reason. But that - I don't think everybody should get that. So that's something I'm working on as well.

INSKEEP: What kind of response did you get from your party?

JACOBS: It was pretty resounding. You know, I was, I believe, on a pretty good path towards victory in my election, my primary, which is in August. And every Republican-elected official that had endorsed me withdrew their endorsement. Every committee - party committee did the same. The Republican and Conservative Party started circulating petitions to put other people to run against me. So it was a pretty swift response.

INSKEEP: And they didn't just say, we disagree with you. They said, you are now unacceptable to us.

JACOBS: Right. So you know, I think that's - you know, I've said this is a problem I think we have in our party is, clearly, I've verified any question that - you know, the issue of guns, you have to have a one-size-fits-all view on this. And if not, you're not acceptable to the Republican Party right now. I would say, you know, on the Democrats, it might be something like abortion. So I don't think that is good for either party, to have that kind of view that you have to adhere 100% to a dogma. And I think it's one reason that things don't work here in Washington and why we're so polarized. So you know, I'm not abandoning my party. I will continue to fight for what I believe. I want to do anything I can the time I'm here remaining in Congress and outside Congress to make sure I can say that I did everything I can so no other community needs - has to go through what Buffalo is going through right now or what those parents who lost their beautiful children - happened in Uvalde and the many, many other tragedies.

INSKEEP: Congressman Jacobs, thanks for taking the time.

JACOBS: Thank you very much, appreciate it.

MARTIN: Republican Congressman Chris Jacobs from western New York state.