It’s no secret that some Republicans love the 2nd Amendment so much that they’ll do anything to guarantee their access to firearms—even when it means standing by gun laws that are truly nonsensical and dangerous. In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting earlier this month, lawmakers of many ideological stripes finally began asking some serious questions about whether or not certain kinds of devices that have no other purpose than killing should be available to the general public. Specifically they were referring to bump stocks—a device that can be attached to a semiautomatic rifle which allows it to fire rounds of bullets (up to 500 per minute) as fast as a machine gun.
Bump stocks are so deadly that even the NRA came out and said it was open to reviewing and tightening regulations on them.
But even this small policy concession is too much for the Georgia Republicans running for governor of the state. They’re so cuckoo for bump stocks that not only do they not want to ban them, but one candidate actually pledged to give one away to a lucky winner!
"Many firearms experts determined the Las Vegas shooter’s use of a bump stock actually prevented more casualties and injuries due to its inconsistency, inaccuracy, and lack of control. There is zero evidence that banning bump stocks would prevent any gun violence deaths," [state Sen. Michael Williams said].
Williams said he will give away a bump stock "to one lucky winner" in a show of defiance as momentum grows for more restrictions in the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting.
Take note: according to Williams, the fact that the Las Vegas shooter was able to fire 90 shots in about 10 seconds, killing 58 people and injuring almost 500 more, was somehow a good thing because it allegedly might have saved lives…? Williams eagerly ignores the hard facts around the ridiculously high rate of mass shootings in the U.S. and actually wants to use the Las Vegas tragedy to promote bump stocks. He loves bump stocks so much that he’s ready to give them out as prizes. How’s that for unbelievable?
But sadly, Williams (who was also the first legislator in Georgia to endorse Donald Trump) isn’t the only Republican who supports allowing unrestricted access to this deadly weapon. All of the GOP gubernatorial candidates are ardently pro-bump stock.
All four of the GOP candidates – Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, former state Sen. Hunter Hill and state Sen. Michael Williams – said they would oppose state-level restrictions on the devices. [...]
Kemp, whose Facebook page features a video of him hunting in Georgia’s backwoods, noted that he recently used a bump stock during a campaign event in Moultrie.
“No one was harmed because guns – and add on devices – do not kill people. Crazy, deranged lunatics like Steven Paddock do,” he said, citing the Las Vegas gunman. “I do not support a ban on bump stocks. It would undermine our constitutional rights while accomplishing nothing.”He’s another Trump sycophant. As Georgia’s Secretary of State, he has happily agreed to share voter information with Trump’s commission on voter integrity—which we know is nothing more than a sham designed to suppress the votes of people of color.
Meanwhile, Stacey Abrams has called for new gun safety laws and doesn’t have a problem taking on Republican lawmakers or the powerful gun lobby. In fact, in a recent forum, she recently “slammed the ‘political cowardice’ of lawmakers she said were too timid to challenge the Second Amendment.”
Abrams is right. It’s nothing short of greed and gutlessness to allow these weapons to be sold without restriction. It is also absurd to allow Americans to have unfettered access to guns without meaningful discussion combined with action to stop the record-high rate of rate of firearms-related deaths and mass shootings.
We need to elect leaders like Stacey Abrams who have the courage and determination to fight on the right side of this issue. Her record on gun safety measures is consistent, and she is firmly committed to ensuring firearms do not end up in the hands of the wrong people. Abrams has strongly opposed legislation that allows guns on college campuses, churches, and bars, and she will continue to champion these issues as the next governor of Georgia.
Let’s not give the Republicans a chance to give away free bump stocks and continue their cowardice when it comes to guns. Donate $3 to Stacey Abrams’s campaign to help her turn the state blue and become Georgia’s—and America’s—first black woman governor!