Rep. Thomas Massie instigates a shouting match with Jamal Bowman over gun control

Rep. Jamal Bowman (D-NY) on Wednesday entered a yelling argument with his Republican counterpart, Rep. Thomas Massie, over the chamber’s repeated failed gun control efforts.

The incident began when Bowman, himself a former school principal, urged reporters outside the House chamber that the press should be more proactive in questioning conservative lawmakers, who have long campaigned against policies making it more difficult to acquire and own firearms would.

“They are cowards! They’re all cowards!” Bowman screamed as he left the chamber of the house, video of the moment shows. “Children die!”

“Question her! Make them answer the question, ‘Why the hell aren’t you doing anything to save America’s children?’”

Massie, who overheard the remark, hit back by saying: “You know, there’s never been a school shooting in a school that allowed teachers to carry” – which really upset Bowman: “Carry guns? More guns means more deaths!” he exclaimed while begging him to “look at the data”.

After a dramatic back-and-forth between the two, Massie walked away saying, “You’re just yelling at me.”

The incident comes just two days after another shooting at a Nashville Christian elementary school called The Covenant that killed three students and three school staff — plus the shooter.

The bloodshed began just after 10 a.m. Monday morning when the suspect, since identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, shot through a locked glass door and began mowing down people inside the building.

Hale was a former student at the school, police said, and suffered from an undisclosed emotional disorder. Police also confirmed that Hale identified as transgender – with a family member telling The Daily Beast that Hale started using he/him pronouns “relatively recently”.

Nashville officials identified the three children killed in Monday’s massacre as William Kinney, Hallie Scruggs and Evelyn Dieckhaus, all aged nine. The adults who died are Katherine Koonce, 60, the principal, Cynthia Peak, 61, a teacher, and Mike Hill, a beloved janitor whom the students affectionately called “Big Mike.”

Like Covenant, Bowman has experience in schools – he was a teacher in the Bronx before co-founding and serving as principal at a public middle school there called Cornerstone Academy for Social Action.

“I’ve been in cafeterias every day of my career protecting kids,” Bowman said after Wednesday’s incident with Massie, dismissing the Republican’s suggestions.