Andy Parker, whose daughter Alison was one of the journalists shot and killed on live television last month, is continuing his fight for stronger gun laws, and continuing to name the politicians standing in the way. Speaking at a Thursday rally, Parker
again focused on Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Republican who represents the district where Alison Parker and Adam Ward were murdered,
among other politicians:
“We must do whatever it takes to you know, to shame these guys,” Parker said. “People like Goodlatte, like Sen. Stanley, state Sen. Stanley in Virginia, state Sen. John Warner … these are cowards, they’re gutless cowards and I’m going to put them on notice.”
Speaking at the same rally, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe spelled out how change could be possible on issues like background checks, which are supported by a strong majority of voters:
“This is a crisis in our country, so how do we stop it? It’s not just rallies. I’ll be very frank with you. I was disgusted last year in the 2014 congressional mid-term elections when only 36.7 percent of eligible voters went to the polls and voted,” McAuliffe said. “So they don’t pay a price for not pushing background checks. It’s time they pay a price. It is time they get removed from office. They only get removed if you vote.”
Right now the problem is that more people support laws like background checks, but the opponents are more likely to vote in low-turnout elections and to vote on guns in particular. Closing that intensity gap is an important piece of winning. We'd just rather not close the gap by creating more Andy Parkers.