First-term Democrats urge Congress to hold classified briefing on mass shootings

A group of first-term Democratic lawmakers is lobbying House leaders to hold a classified briefing from the FBI on mass shootings in the U.S. following recent massacres in California.

Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to both Republican and Democratic House leaders on Wednesday requesting the briefing from the FBI and other agencies.

The lawmakers said they “believe it is the responsibility of elected officials to confront the horrific reality that many of our constituents are forced to face, and to determine a common-sense path forward towards stopping the epidemic of mass shootings our country faces.”

“The devastating reality of gun violence in America makes it impossible to even process one mass shooting before another one is perpetuated,” the lawmakers wrote to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

“When these tragic events become so common, we risk becoming desensitized to the true horror of each one and the impact they have on the victims, their loved ones, and the community,” they added.

The three Democrats are vice chairs of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

There have been 40 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit group that has tracked gun violence over the past decade. The group defines a mass shooting as any shooting incident where four or more people are injured or killed, not including the shooter.

Over the weekend, a shooting in Monterey Park, Calif., claimed the lives of 11 people, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the country since the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting in May. A gunman also killed seven people in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Monday.