Rep. Andy Ogles, a first-term Republican who represents the Nashville district where a shooter killed six people at a school on Monday, faced criticism from gun control advocates and Democrats on Tuesday after a 2021 photo resurfaced showing Ogles and his family posing with firearms in front of the family’s Christmas tree.
On Monday, a shooter attacked The Covenant School in Nashville, killing six people, including three children. In a statement released the same day, Ogles said he was “devastated” by the shooting.
“We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost,” Ogles said. “As a father of three, I am utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of violence.”
But gun control advocates quickly dug up Ogles’ social media history, highlighting a post in which he and his family display heavy weaponry while posing in front of their Christmas tree. “The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good,” Ogles’ caption read.
“How much more bloodshed will it take?” Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, wrote in a tweet highlighting Ogles’ photo. “It’s. The. Guns.”
Fred Guttenberg, a gun control advocate whose 14-year-old child was killed in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in 2018, also denounced Ogles.
“The tragedy of the latest mass shooting is listening to Tennessee politicians who refuse to call it a shooting but who engaged in behavior that caused this to be more likely when they glorify guns,” Guttenberg wrote in a tweet that included Ogles’ photo.
Ogles has since deleted the post from his Facebook account. Representatives for Ogles did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News about the photo or why it was taken down.
Ogles told NBC News on Monday after the shooting, “At a time like this I’d just encourage everybody to pray for the families and those affected.” When asked if there was anything he could do in Congress to prevent another shooting, Ogles responded, “That’s all I’ve got for now.”
Ogles’ campaign website portrays him as a champion of the Second Amendment.
“Disarming the people is the most effective way to enslave them, and we must remain vigilant when anyone seeks to erode our civil liberties,” Ogles’ website reads. “The rights of the people to keep and bear arms, protect themselves and their families, and prevent tyrannical rule is a fundamental liberty of our constitutional republic.”
