Lots to unpack, but wanted to start with:
“I think we need to speak to everyone, including women, and talk about the issues they care about and take reasonable, pragmatic positions, and this is one of them,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told NPR. He is the lone GOP co-sponsor of a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. He represents a swing district and was re-elected in the 2018 Democratic wave fueled by women.
But for Fitzpatrick, it’s a no-brainer. “I understand for some of my colleagues that may be controversial. For me, it’s not,” he said. Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent, worked closely with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., on the House version of the VAWA update. “I tell my colleagues all the time, I think the biggest threat to the Second Amendment is when you allow all of these gun crimes to occur unaddressed, because that erodes people’s confidence and trust in people that are legitimately trying to protect themselves and their families and their homes.”
I’ve never heard of this person before. Making a note, in case they become an important anchor of reason within the GOP.