President Joe Biden renewed calls for banning so-called “assault weapons” as he hosted Tennessee state representatives at the White House who were sanctioned by their legislature for leading gun control protests in the galleries of the House, on Monday.
Biden was joined by Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin J. Pearson and Gloria Johnson in the Oval Office for a media appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris. He criticized their expulsion as “shocking, undemocratic, and without any precedent,” while claiming that they were standing up for “Democratic values.”
Jones and Pearson were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives on April 6 after protesters occupied the chamber’s galleries on March 30 and began shouting at lawmakers, demanding they pass restrictions on gun ownership. They chanted “Shame on you!” and “Fascists!” to the Republican representatives, who oppose gun restrictions.
