Congressional baseball shooting raises questions about members' security

After four people were shot at a GOP congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning, there are questions about whether security measures should be tightened around members of congress.

Among those with questions is retired Homeland Security agent A.J. Irwin, who lives in North Texas.

"Having two agents on their protection detail is just not enough people," Irwin said.

The only reason why the two officers were present at the baseball field Wednesday is because one of the victims, Rep. Steve Scalise, is the third-ranking member of the house.

Retired Secret Service agent Robert Caltabiano says that the political tensions are more volatile than he's ever seen in his 30 years of work.

"The last 6 months, as we all have witnessed, we're seeing more violence in these town hall meetings and that is something that has to be addressed now," Caltabiano said.

However, it would be a gargantuan task to put security detail on all 535 members of the House of Representatives and Congress. Caltabiano is skeptical that that Congress would be willing to pay for it.

"At what cost and at what price?" the former Secret Service agent said. "Are we ready to pay the cost or are we ready to deal with the price?"

In addition to an increase in security, Caltabiano believes Americans need to be more active in in reporting people who make violent remarks about politicians on social media.

"It's really time for us to be Americans," he said. "You're not Republican. You're not Democrat. You're American. What are you going to do?"

The shooting suspect, James Hodgkinson, was not any watch list prior to the shooting. TMZ reports he was arrested in 2006 for discharge of a firearm and domestic battery. Those charges were later dropped.

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