Florida Rep. Darren Soto: Gun Reform Will Be a "Litmus Test" at the Midterms
President Donald Trump shocked a bipartisan group of lawmakers Wednesday when he called for a series of changes to current gun laws, including comprehensive background checks and age limits for buyers.
And Florida Congressman Darren Soto told Cheddar that, if changes aren’t made, this will be a major issue come midterms.
“This will absolutely be one of those litmus test issues that can really swing a lot of voters,” he said in an interview before the president’s comments. “We’re talking about our young people keeping up their energy until the November elections.”
The latest developments come two weeks after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Survivors have sparked a nationwide #NeverAgain movement and even discussed gun control with high-profile Republican legislators, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and the commander-in-chief.
Soto said this isn’t the first time one group has been able to effect change at the ballot. He pointed to Democrat Margaret Good, who won Florida’s 72nd House district, a usually Republican area, the day before the Parkland, Fla., shooting.
“We saw that in the special election recently in Florida, that Republican women, suburban women who were independent, have come out in favor of Democrats,” he said. “They see that the Republicans aren’t willing to do anything to help protect our kids.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-darren-soto-speaker-ryans-gun-control-comments-a-real-shame).
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Republicans said President Joe Biden allowed China to spy on the U.S. by not shooting the balloon down sooner while Democrats said similar incursions happened during the Trump administration.
A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying and sending excited or alarmed Americans outside with binoculars
