In an earlier essay, I asked the question, how many executed children would it take for Republican lawmakers to pass common-sense gun legislation?
After the Uvalde carnage, I finally have my answer: INFINITY!
They ain’t budging. I was assuming they had a modicum of empathy and compassion. I was assuming deep in the recesses of their soul, there was a moral strain that just needed to be rekindled. I was assuming kids’ lives trumped campaign contributions.
Boy, was I wrong.
Republican lawmakers need to do this: imagine their children, or grandchildren, locked in a classroom, a locked and loaded deranged gunman executing their loved ones. They need to put themselves in the room, with the horror, their 5-year-old witnessing the execution of their friends, their dead bodies unrecognizable because of the ferociousness of an AK-47. They need to imagine selecting a small casket for their son or daughter, or grandchild, or being unable to identify them without dental records.
They need to imagine the trauma engrained in a kid’s soul who survived the executions. They need to occupy the body and soul of a five-year-old who is screaming in horror as their friends are executed, knowing they are next, with no parent or grandparent there to comfort, their last moments on earth, alone, filled with horror, in stark terror.
This can’t happen anymore. It needs to stop.
Republican lawmakers need to imagine the horror by putting themselves in their loved one’s shoes. If they are incapable of imagining the horror, the carnage, unwilling to put themselves in their kid’s or grandkid’s shoes, they need to be voted out. Their soul is beyond redemption.
New York Times Sunday Review: 05/29/2002
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Uvaldi, Texas, 2022, 21 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Buffalo, 2022, 10 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Boulder, Colo., 10 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Atlanta, Ga., 2021, 8 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Dayton, Ohio, 2019, 10 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally.
El Paso, 2019, 23 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Virginia Beach, Va. 2019, 12 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Thousand Oaks, Calf., 2018 12 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Pittsburgh, Pa., 2018, 12 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Parkland, Florida, 2018, 17 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Sutherland Springs, Texas, 2017, 26 killed.
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Las, Vegas, Nevada, 2017, 60 killed.
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Orlando, Florida, 2016, 49 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Roseburg, Ore., 2015, 9 killed
- Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Oak Creek, Wis., 2012, 7 killed
What follows is the Republican mantra of “thoughts and prayers,” the Republican lawmaker’s boilerplate, cold-hearted response.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “The entire country is praying for the children, families, teachers, and staff and the first responders on the scene.”
“Horrified and heartbroken to learn of the significant loss of life in the shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” wrote Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). “Please join me in lifting their loved ones up in prayer.”
“There are no adequate words to express the horror at Robb Elementary,” Sen. Ron Johnston (R-Wisc.). “My sincere condolences to these families. Something this horrific, children being slaughtered in their school.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) outdid all of them, though, writing that he and his wife are fervently praying for the families of the victims of the, you guessed it, “horrific” shooting. Daily Kos
Mitt Romney: “Grief overwhelms the soul. Children slaughtered. Lives extinguished. Parents’ hearts wrenched. Incomprehensible. I offer prayer and condolence but know that it is grossly inadequate. We must find answers.”
We have answers; it’s called gun control, with 90% backing of the American people. Gun control works. It’s been proven time and time again that gun control works.
“After Bill Clinton banned assault weapons in 1994, mass shooting deaths dropped by 43%. After the Republican Congress let the ban expire in 2004, they shot up by 239%. We don’t need to arm teachers; we need to BAN assault weapons again.” Lee Turner, Congressional candidate for South Carolina District 4.
The top ten traceable donations from the NRA:
- Mitt Romney $13,637,676
- Richard Burr $6,987,380
- Roy Blunt $4,555,752
- Thom Tillis $4,421,333
- Cory Gardner $3,939,199
- Marco Rubio $3,303,355
- Joni Ernst $3,124,773
- Rob Portman $3,063,327
- Todd C Young $2,897,582
- Bill Cassidy $2,867,074
Key word — “traceable.”
OK, I see that Mitt Romney has over thirteen million reasons not to do anything about mass shootings. Sorry kids. He won’t do anything about assault weapons, but he stands ready with his thoughts and prayers.
As a side note, but a major note, Russia funneled huge amounts of money to the NRA during the 2016 election…just saying.
The Republican ‘thoughts and prayers” barren platitude continues to be voiced because they willingly sacrifice our children’s lives to the altar of the NRA.
They have no shame; they have no soul.
Their ‘thoughts and prayers’ should be addressed to their own souls, as their souls are soaked in the blood of American children.
Curt
re: “Authorities said the gunman was able to obtain the weapons legally. Sutherland Springs, Texas, 2017, 26 killed.” He should not have legally been able to buy the guns. He had a domestic violence conviction on his records in the Air Force but they did not report it as they were suppose. A law was passed in 2018 to make the services tighten up reporting but there are still problems.