Hartzler says most proposed gun control legislation "wouldn't have prevented" Texas school shooting

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler said Friday she didn't believe many proposed gun control measures would have stopped a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers.

"We need to get to the bottom of what happened," Hartzler told the News-Leader after a campaign event Friday at a Springfield church. "He bought the gun legally, so a lot of the proposals that are being proposed wouldn't have prevented this."

Hartzler has frequently spoken against gun control laws both as a member of the House and on the campaign trail.

She has received just under $9,000 in contributions from the National Rifle Association during her time on Capitol Hill, and her Senate campaign has earned the support of a PAC led by former NRA officials.

Her congressional office sent out a mail flyer to constituents this week calling her "Missouri's Second Amendment Defender," and citing her opposition to red flag laws, which seek to remove firearms from people who are perceived as threats. Her spokesperson told news outlets it was commissioned and sent prior to the mass shootings at a Buffalo, New York grocery store and the massacre in Texas.

Asked whether she maintained that position in the wake of the Uvalde shooting, Hartzler didn't commit to supporting any individual bill on the matter.

"Well, we'll just have to see what the proposals are," she said. "But we need to look at specific shooting situations and see if the legislation would actually help or if it's just a method to try to feel better, and do something but it's not really going to prevent future shootings. Because that's what the focus should be."

Leaders in the U.S. Senate have committed to negotiations on bills that have passed out of the House and would expand background checks on gun sales. Republicans have previously opposed such measures.

Hartzler said she believed the best path forward was to increase security and armed guards in school settings. She suggested legislation that would provide grant money to schools to amp up security, as well as a bill that would allow off-duty and retired police officers to carry guns on school property.

"What I do think we can do and should do is shore up and strengthen our schools' safety procedures better," she said. "You know, he just walked in."

Uvalde shooting: Police should have confronted Texas school gunman sooner, official says

Many of the details surrounding the Uvalde shooting are still unclear, including the actions of law enforcement who responded to the shooter, who officials have said was barricaded in the school for over an hour. The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety said Friday that officers should have entered and engaged sooner.

Many Republicans in Congress have rejected calls from advocates and Democrats to strengthen gun control laws. Missouri's U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who has endorsed Hartzler in the Republican primary, told the Kansas City Star the focus should be on increased sentencing and prosecution standards for violent crime, despite the Texas shooter being killed on the scene by police.

Hartzler is vying with former Gov. Eric Greitens, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, U.S. Rep. Billy Long, Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz and St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey for the Republican nomination to succeed U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt.

David Barton, a former Texas GOP leader and prominent evangelical speaker, endorsed Hartzler at her campaign event at Life360 Chesterfield Church in Springfield on Friday. During his remarks prior to Hartzler's, he argued that "it's not gun control that solves the problem."

"I'll point out when Cain killed Abel, it wasn't guns involved," Barton said. "It was the rocks, crushing and clubbing. Vicky, maybe you guys should pass rock control laws."

Hartzler, Barton urge Christian involvement in elections

About 75 people were in attendance at the campaign event at Life360 Chesterfield Church on Friday, where Barton and Hartzler urged Christians to get involved in local politics. Among the attendees were state Senate candidate Angela Romine and Dianne Ely, who is involved with the Back on Track PAC that has supported local conservative candidates.

Their remarks touched on their opposition to abortion and transgender rights, how schools teach students, immigration policy and the Biden administration.

Hartzler has been among the most vocal opponents in Congress to LGBTQ+ rights and criticized transgender student-athletes in an early Senate ad. She criticized Democrats' push to enshrine the right to an abortion in federal law and to ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

"Life is at stake," she said. "But so is marriage, so is gender. Those basic things."

Barton, a former vice chair of the Texas GOP, is an evangelical author who has sought to portray Christianity as the law of the land in the United States. He said Friday that "we as a nation need to submit to (God's) higher laws" and that "it's not a secular government, and those who say so have not read the documents."

Hartzler closed her remarks to the crowd Friday by telling them she's "going to continue praying with" them.

"Ultimately, the answer is not in the government, it's not in elections, it's in Jesus Christ," she said. "My role is to try and stave off the attacks so we can protect religious freedom so the Gospel can go forth."

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Hartzler says most gun bills "wouldn't have prevented" Texas massacre