'Quit filibustering it!': Angry constituents challenge Chuck Grassley over inaction on gun control

United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was confronted by a roomful of constituents frustrated with the federal government's inaction on stopping gun violence during a town hall in Columbus Junction, Louisa County, Iowa on Wednesday.

Grassley, 88, was bombarded with questions about why he and other Republican lawmakers refuse to agree to modest proposals like raising purchasing age requirements, limiting high-capacity magazines, or expanding background checks, even as the nation grapples with the 233rd mass shooting so far this year.

Grassley declined to reveal what sort of new regulation he would support and insisted that his colleagues are working on the problem.

“Yesterday, they had a meeting by Zoom and they had very positive results, and they think they have a framework put together that something can be done to stop this violence through some gun legislation and through some school safety issues,” Grassley said of Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut). “To answer your question, I’m going to wait until they report next week before I decide what I’m going to do.”

Cornyn, however, indicated in a Twitter post on Wednesday evening that stricter gun laws are "not gonna happen."

Nevertheless, one of the people in attendance asked Grassley if he would consider a ban on the AR-15, which is the weapon of choice in a significant percentage of firearm massacres.

“They’re there to kill people," the man said of the semi-automatic rifle.

Grassley noted that because "there are 400 million guns in the United States" and that "15 million of them are AR-15s... you’re still going to have AR-15s even if you stop selling them right now."

A woman sitting in the back of the room immediately shot that down.

“The answer is not to do nothing!” she exclaimed.

Grassley simply reverted to his previous statement on the Senate's negotiations.

“The answer to your question is a process answer. Whatever we do through the Cornyn/Murphy cooperative effort to make schools safe and do what you can with guns, that probably would not get 60 votes," he said.

“Quit filibustering it then!” another person shouted, referring to Grassley personally blocking Murphy's unanimous consent request on universal background checks last December.

Watch below via Iowa Starting Line:

The story continues here.

This article has been updated.