Moments like today further prove that @joniernst is merely a puppet for the gun lobby, and not a Senator for Iowa. #IASen https://t.co/Gh0jZeVI0p

— Iowa Democrats (@iowademocrats) August 17, 2019

Republicans really think they can obfuscate and delay over gun regulation this time. It’s not going to work:

“One of the most striking moments came early on with the second questioner, a local teacher.

“As part of my teacher training this past week, I was asked to listen to popping sounds and then determine if they were gun shots or not,” said Ellie Holland, a speech and language pathologist teacher. “I was then asked to be trained to man a family reunification center to provide counseling to parents seeking their children following a catastrophic event.”

“My question to you today, Senator, is when can I plan to get back to trainings that simply teach children to read and write?” she asked.

“After some applause from the crowd, Ernst replied as she did throughout all the questions this morning, talking about laws already on the books and calling for more action on mental health care.

“This is a very, very difficult time, and we have gone through many of these,” Ernst began. “I remember going through all types of drills as a child growing up.”

“Parts of the crowd yelled out “not like this,” along with intermittent “do something!” shouts.

“Ernst mentioned her recent town hall in Aplington, Iowa, where a popular, well-known football coach was gunned down by a former player with mental health problems ten years ago.

“A lot of the incidents that we see do come back to mental illness,” Ernst said. “We need to make sure that those that are showing signs of instability are able to receive treatment.”

“We are short counselors, we are short psychologists,” she added.

“We are short congresspeople that take action!” one man in the crowd shouted in response.”