New Hampshire state legislators wear pearl necklaces as their committee debates a gun control measure on Tuesday. By Reis Thebault Reis Thebault National and breaking news reporter Email Bio Follow March 5 at 9:56 PM A handful of male lawmakers dressed up for a hearing they presided over Tuesday in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, donning pearl necklaces as activists testified about their experiences with gun violence.
The advocates, who were volunteers with the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said they felt mocked, like some of the lawmakers weren’t interested in hearing stories about how gun violence has affected their lives. Watts, who attended the hearing, said she counted at least five representatives — all men — wearing pearls and sitting on the committee that held the hearing. One of them also appeared to sport a pin in the shape of a semiautomatic rifle on his lapel. She snapped photos of the lawmakers and posted them on Twitter, where she has nearly 300,000 followers, sparking outrage near and far.
Online, members of the Women’s Defense League of New Hampshire, a pro-guns organization, have said Watts and other Moms Demand Action members have it all wrong: the pearls symbolize opposition to the bill itself and support for the Second Amendment and the Women’s Defense League — support for women, not denigration of them.
“When you are a male lawmaker and you come to a hearing wearing a pearl necklace and a semiautomatic rifle pin, you sort of lose control of the narrative,” she said. “It seems like a pretty foolish choice.”State Rep. Debra Altschiller , who sponsored the bill, said her Republican counterparts should have been more considerate as they listened to women recount stories of domestic violence and death by suicide.
The former chair of the state’s Democratic Party, Kathy Sullivan, said the display was “rude, sexist, unprofessional, unwelcoming.”“Moms who want to keep their kids safe from gun violence don’t deserve this,” Sen. Cory Booker said.
Just cartoonishly evil at this point.
Digusting. Bad people do things like this.
Pearls before swine....fits here
Any human being with a functioning soul should be outraged.
Obviously they have never lost someone to gun violence. What is happening to our country. So sad.
Couldn't the claims that the pearls are in support of the Women's Defense League and that lawmakers had worn them before be fact-checked? It sounds like a load of crap, of course, but why didn't the Post ask other lawmakers about it?
Doesn’t matter where you stand on the issue this should not happen. They are assholes with no respect for any constituents.
eralpatky WHAT Inexcusable
RealNoraC So now the truth emerges— cross dressing urges lead to nutty ideas about guns.
Look at these dudes...they are sad pathetic white dudes...man up dudes...snowflakes what my boys call them...
Oh a class act.... sarcasm Actually it's shameful but not surprising these days.
Wow.yall people....
Correction: the parents of kids who've been massacred are outraged.
Sick!!! 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
I am not an activist and I am outraged. Such lack of human decency on the part of these “men”
Is he trying to look like my Grandma? Because that’s what’s happening. Perhaps it’s time he retired like she did?
What do pearls signify? I honestly have no idea. Who makes these rules, are they written down anywhere?
They might want to check with ZZ Top about those pearl necklaces. I’ve seen some pretty disgusting political behavior in my time, but this tops everything. GOP this is YOUR America, not mine.
He was thinking it was Fat Tuesday
Lol
Everyone should be outraged even staunch gun owners. These men just ridiculed people for no good reason
This man is a disgrace to his position. If he is infering that daily murders and mass shootings isn’t a big deal he is the one with the problem not the people speaking. Such a disconnect between right and wrong shame on him.
Good for the GOP lawmakers ! Keep your spine up n this one !
I can't believe these vile,contemptible people are actually married with Families ?!!!
The women in their lives must be so proud.
Mardi gras
Are those Trump pearl necklaces?
But we cannot be outraged when the democrats wore KKK white?
Well, the better to choke them with. Way I see it. GOP
Lindsey's sharing his pearls How nice of him!!
Shame on this scumbag
Guess 'pro-life' isn't so important once the kids are outside of the woomb
What a disgusting act of impudence and disrespect. Yet someone elected this worm of a man.
Regular people are outraged ... not just activists.
Amazingly tone deaf. The GOP has completely lost its moral and mental groundings. How insulting and cruel.
It’s a Clown Contest,,, he’s waiting on Mitch to bring the Clown Car & see how many they can pack in.
Lawmakers respecting their constituents as usual...
OMG! There is no bottom with these guys. Appalling. GOPPearls
You didnt think that the SELF INTEREST AMORAL REPUBLICANS that are BOUGHT BY THE NRA LOBBYISTS$$$$$$ were the people's oyster? GOP-FAUX(FAKE) pearls! As the nude/soft porn Slovenian model that the GOPs call lady says 'I really dont care, do you?'
Sick bastards - what have we become?
The GOP gets more juvenile every day. They can’t seem to have intelligent interaction. The just mock and name call.Pitiful
Did it occur to anyone that this guy just wants to play dress up? Constituents should send him whatever accessories they can spare to support the guy.
GOP showing how ridiculous they are.
Activists are outraged... Birds fly. Fish swim. Bears poop in the woods. It’s what they do.
Every one of these fuckers deserves to be placed in a school, and forced to watch a gunman walk up on them.
Recall them.
These men are despicable and have no business in government...anyone’s government.
..where do these AHs come from...
they were just holding on to them till later that night
msnbc cnn cnnbrk Morning_Joe jheil mikebarnicle dnc dscc dccc SenWarren TheLastWord hardball maddow allinwithchris TheBeatWithAri TheLeadCNN CARNAC the MAGNIFICENT: 'Snotty' Ed McMahon: 'Snotty' CARNAC: 'Name one WORD that BEST describes Republicans' Ed: 'Hi-Yo!'
I would rather see rational debate about the issue as opposed to theatrics. Upholding the Second Amendment should not amount to ridiculing victims of gun violence. Nor should we think that these victims should own the debate. They should have a voice like the rest of us. C'mon.
I don’t get WP. SO........what does pearls signify ? Sorry if this is a repeat. Short on time.
How much did those pearls cost the NRA, or should I say the Russians?
To the good people of New Hampshire: Find qualified candidates to challenge and unseat Reps. Daryl Abbas, Scott Wallace, David Welch, and the others who did this. You deserve better!
Sick old white men,sowm
Shame on you (them).
The At-15 lapel pin is a classy touch accessory too. Who are these assholes?
Nice pearl necklace, from Trump undoubtedly!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
They weren’t celebrating Fat Tuesday?
Did we forget it was fat Tuesday?
Maybe a Stitch Fix subscription is in order here?
I’m sure they also claim to be “pro life”
GOP Pearls
Despicable!
The 1st thing most people can agree on is that government cannot guarantee your safety. Most can agree self defense is a fundamental right. Nobody should prevent you from improving your odds of survival in a violent confrontation by dictating which or how many guns you own.
Cowards
Pearls are known for calming effect, pearls can balance one's karma... Maybe he knew this.. What goes around comes around... Wearing pearls will not save you!
We need names so we can keep them in the spotlight for ousting them in 2020. These NRA puppets need to go. American lives are more important than the NRA and their money. Time citizens shut the door to money running our government.
And Republicans wonder why young people vote Democrat. They don't want to stem the violence. They just want to rub our faces in it and tell us to suck it up and stop whining.
I guess they thought they were clever but it just shows an ugly side to men.
Peace2484 'dude looks like a lady'
I thought a pearl necklace represented shooting your load....from the penis gun....cracker mentality....
Looks like an opportunity for women to make a change. RunForSomething.
Oh. I thought they were impersonating Sara Sanders. Homies and all that.
Childish.
Way to own that grieving Mom, Red Tie guy!
Vote these MF’s out! They’re despicable.
proof that GOP are not made up of sentient beings.
A lot more people than activists were outraged.
US politics, funniest thing in the world... if you are not in the US and not currently being invaded by the US. USA funny
“Pearl necklace” is their favorite porn search.
EVERYONE should be angry!
The new GOP: Bringing to the surface, the worst of humanity.
A human douchebag
I wonder whst Pelosi wore the day when she actually refused to listen to the Angel Moms, and even threatened to have him arrested when they came to their office to talk about their dead children. Got any problems with that? Just wondering.
They are public servant and should treat all citizens with dignity and respect regardless of differing views. This country is broken beyond repair
Assholes in office. Gee..It's the GOP. (Got Our Profit)
People always joke that they wish lawmakers would wear suits with logos so we'd know who pays them. But in this case we know exactly who they're working for and it still doesn't seem to bother their bonehead constituents. Politics needs LESS MONEY not more.
Pearls before swine.
“Only we can use tasteless gimmick props in official hearings!!!”
Sexist, insensitive and ignorant...mocking victims of gun violence is abhorrent. Clearly they're taking a page from Trump.
Yeah it's pretty sad. I'm probably gun bit also pro gun law. I see nothing wrong with the idea of law enforcement and families flagging dangerous individuals. Law makers are supposed to be there for us. These guys gotta go.
These Republucans are evil and they don't even make an effort to disguise how disgusting they are.
They just keep going lower and lower!! They wear their depravity like a badge of honor!
They need to be removed from office!
people that voted for them own this
Why is it so hard to just be civil?
Bwahahaha, that's hilarious.
so what that's freedom all about right ?
Did he clutch them?
Assholes
Sexist, insensitive and ignorant...mocking victims of gun violence is abhorrent. Clearly they're taking a page from Trump.
Their base will find it amusing.
uneffingbelievable
When you think you’re being ironic and sending a message and it turns out it perfectly describes your own position.. bunch of pearl clutchers.
Imma be honest with you, I’m. I’m kinda retarded. ~ Alex Jones 2k19 Applicable tho cuz I read the article and I don’t quite understand cuz, as I quoted with Alex Jones, “I’m kinda retarded.”
These pearls adorn swine.
In nature, the amount of mass murder flair this clown is wearing would be a warning sign, like the fur on the spine of a wolf rising up or a cobra flaring its hood.
Because they were 'clutching their pearls' the outrage of this legislation. Ugly sarcasm on their part.
At one time I was told 'Don't wear pearls, they bring tears'. I hope it works on him!
Garbage people.
They need to be voted out by voters wearing pearls
Anal beads
Boot these clowns
Childish
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Mardi Gras
Disgraceful. But the GOP get rewarded by this behavior even if many gun violence victims vote for them.
To honor dead kids?
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