New York Democrat threatens to nuke filibuster and pack Supreme Court in order to grab guns

"Enough of your thoughts and prayers, enough," committee member Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) said, pounding the table during debate on the gun control package. "You will not stop us from advancing the Protecting Our Kids Act today. You will not stop us from passing it in the House next week. And you will not stop us there."

He continued: "If the filibuster obstructs us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court objects, we will expand it. And we will not rest until we have taken weapons of war out of circulation in our communities.

"Each and every day we will do whatever it takes to end gun violence. Whatever it takes," he vowed.

The Democratic-led committee is meeting in an emergency session Thursday to debate eight gun control bills collectively called the Protecting Our Kids Act. Moving the omnibus legislation out of committee and onto the House floor for a vote is a priority for Democrats, who want to score political points by putting Republicans on the record opposing gun control after the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said that the American people are "begging for us to address" gun violence in remarks opening debate on the package.

"Let us not wait one second longer," he said, claiming that the legislation put forward by Democrats is "wildly popular" with the American public.

However, the proposals Democrats are pushing are almost certainly too extreme to become law. The House bills would raise the age requirement to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old; criminalize the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of high-capacity magazines; and put new regulations on bump stocks among other measures.

The Democratic Senate majority is not big enough to pass any of these bills without Republican support, and it is highly unlikely there are 10 Republican senators willing to help Democrats reach the 60-vote threshold to overcome a GOP-led filibuster.

But Jones is in a position to benefit from denying reality and threatening to burn down American institutions to get what Democrats want. He's running in a tough primary election for New York's newly drawn 10th Congressional District, where he will face former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in a contest to see who can show Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn voters who's more progressive.

Part of the benefit of being an incumbent congressman is having a national platform to toss red meat to your base, as Jones did Thursday.