House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday promised a man who lost his wife in the Las Vegas mass shooting earlier this week that she would not rest until Congress acted on gun control.
"We're never going to rest until we get this done," Pelosi told Bob Patterson at a CNN-hosted town hall with Pelosi in Washington, moderated by CNN's Chris Cuomo.
Patterson, who was sitting beside his 16-year-old daughter live via satellite, had asked the House minority leader what she was going to do to prevent mass shooting in the future.
Pelosi also reiterated her call for increased background checks and called on the House speaker to create a select committee to try and find common ground between lawmakers on gun violence legislation.
"We're talking about a bill that would say you have to have ... a background check," Pelosi later said in regard to another question about gun access. "It's 72 hours, it's a very short background check. So, I'm not making it harder for you to have a gun. All we're just saying is that you have to have a background check."
Pelosi is one of the few political leaders in Washington who's been able to make a deal with President Donald Trump, but with several high-profile debates roiling on the Hill, the spotlight is on the California Democrat over how she'll lead members of her own party.
The event comes just days after the United States witnessed its most deadly mass shooting in modern American history. Fifty-nine people died and hundreds more were injured when a gunman open fired into a crowd at a country concert in Las Vegas Sunday night, though there's little evidence that Congress will act on any legislation in reaction to the deadly shooting.
Following the attack, Pelosiwrote on Twitter that she was "horrified and heartbroken," and she said she wants House Speaker Paul Ryan to create a select committee on gun violence.
Noting that the shooter in Las Vegas appeared to have used a bump fire stock, which allows semi-automatic weapons to simulate automatic weapon fire in their frequency, Pelosi said that she thought there could be momentum to pass legislation banning them.
"I do think there would be bipartisan support coming together to pass a bill to make it illegal to sell those because you can buy them now," Pelosi said.
CNN reported earlier Wednesday that some Hill Republicans had voiced openness a gun control bill along those lines.
The town hall also comes weeks after Pelosi -- along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer -- brokered a deal with Trump over temporarily raising the debt ceiling. The President supported the proposal bought forth by Democrats, which attached hurricane relief money to a temporary raise in the debt ceiling -- in a move that stunned congressional Republicans.
Pelosi also met with Trump and other Democrats about a solution to the announced termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. After the Trump administration said it would allow a six-month window for Congress to on the legislation,Pelosi also reportedly encouraged the Presidentto reassure DACA recipients about their futures, despite the uncertainty surrounding the program.
Pelosi "asked him to tweet this to make clear Dreamers won't be subject to deportation in (the) six-month window," according to one source at the time. While Trump sent that tweet, the future of DACA recipients remains unclear.
The CNN town hall with Pelosi is airing on CNN, CNN en Español and CNN International, and will stream live for subscribers via CNNgo (at CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TV and Android TV) and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android.
The debate will also air on CNN's SiriusXM Channel 116. The town hall will also be available October 5 on demand via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.
