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Nashville’s GOP Rep: ‘Why Would I Regret’ Gun-Toting Family Pic?

Asked whether the shooting would spark any congressional action on gun control, Rep. Andy Ogles said “the real conversation” needed to be about mental health.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) on Tuesday stood by a 2021 family portrait in which he, his wife, and two of his three children are holding guns, asking reporters, “Why would I regret a photograph with my family exercising my rights to bear arms?” His Christmas card photo resurfaced on Monday in the wake of a mass shooting at a private grade school in Nashville that left six dead, including three 9-year-old children. Ogles, who was born in Nashville, put out a statement on the shooting, saying he was “devastated” and “utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of violence.” Asked Tuesday by another reporter if the shooting would spur any congressional action on gun control, Ogles pivoted. “Ultimately, what I think this case does is highlight some of the mental health issues, the mental health crisis we have in this country,” he said, according to NBC News. “That needs to be the real conversation that we’re having right now. How did this individual slip through the cracks? What could have been done to get them help?”