Florida Republican State Senator Greg Evers, who is now running for Congress in the state's 1st congressional district, continues his party's long, wet slide to the bottom of its barrel. His response to the Orlando mass shooting? He's announced an AR-15 giveaway.
Brian Burgess, a spokesman for Mr. Evers, said Tuesday that the AR-15 giveaway was devised in part as a response to what he described as President Obama’s refusal to talk openly about radical Islam.
“When President Obama went down to Orlando, he made that event about a firearm,” Mr. Burgess said. “It’s clear to folks in our district, and it’s clear to Greg, that we can’t depend on the federal government to identify the cause and root it out.”
Evers highlights his "A+ rating from the National Rifle Association" on the giveaway's informational page, and has dubbed the event the "Evers Homeland Defender Giveaway." The accompanying text warns that "terrorist shooting incidents" are "on the rise", but does not specifically mention the Pulse nightclub mass shooting.
Prior to the Orlando shooting, State Sen. Evers was most recently in the news for writing to Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi to demand that Florida vigorously fight federal rules allowing transgender students to use school bathrooms matching their gender identity.
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2009—The Staggering Cost of Playing it "Safe":
On December 22, 2001, a 28-year-old minor thug and former gang member from South London climbed onto a Boeing 767 bound for Miami. On the sparsely booked flight, he settled into a window seat in an otherwise empty row. Ninety minutes into the flight, with the plane well out over the Atlantic, a flight attendant noticed smoke coming from his area. She informed him that as the flight was an American flight, no smoking was allowed. A few minutes later, he was hunched over in his seat when the attendant saw that he wasn't trying to light a cigarette. He was trying to light his shoe. The flight attendant, aided by passengers, acted quickly. Richard Reid never got another chance to light his shoe bomb.
Thanks to the immediate action of the the those on board, there was no damage to the plane. No injuries or loss of life.
Since that day in 2001, every passenger entering a commercial airliner has been required to remove their shoes for inspection and X-ray. A precaution that is... massively, even breathtakingly idiotic.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: The Short-Fingered Kardashian makes our first day back a breeze! Staff chaos, FEC reports a laff riot and more. Michigan update: Neglecting Detroit’s schools and the derptenant governor. Post primary reality: Balancing Clinton’s win and lingering sensitivities at the DNC.
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