As shocking details come in about yesterday’s mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school where 17 were killed and 14 others injured, Donald Trump takes to twitter to blame the victims.
Trump’s cruel tweet is an obvious diversion from the fact that the 19 year old Parkland shooter was able to legally obtain the semi-automatic weapon used in the crime because Republicans have blocked sensible gun safety laws.
Bought and owned by the NRA, these cowardly Republicans have failed to take action to protect our children and citizens time and again.
As Parkland High School student David Hogg so powerfully stated:
‘Some of our policy makers need to look in the mirror and take some action...Without action, children die.’
You’re Damn Right I’m Going to Politicize This Tragedy. You Should Too.
- Since Sandy Hook in 2012, we’ve let 1,607 mass shooting occur in the U.S. [Vox]. More than 430 people have been shot in 273 school shootings since then [NYT]. There have been eighteen school shootings in the first forty-five days of 2018, and thirty mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year [ABC]. It’s fair to say we have a problem.
- Another stat: Eight in ten Americans favor an assault-weapons ban, and the same percentage believe there should be a federal database to track gun sales [NPR]. Which is to say, the hard-core GOP opposition to any and all gun reforms is in service of the 20 percent of the country that can fairly be described as, well, nuts.
- When news of the shooting broke, politicians rushed to their Twitter feeds or the nearest camera to proclaim their deep sadness. Here is Donald Trump’s tweet, so far his only comment on the matter. The White House canceled its press briefing yesterday, cowering instead of facing this terror head-on.
The teenage, Parkland mass shooter was able to legally obtain a semi-automatic weapon despite the fact he had shown a propensity for violence and had fetishized weapons. The year prior, he had been reported to the FBI for making violent threats and was expelled from the high school for posing a danger. Clearly, there are gaping holes in the system that allow these mass shootings to occur. And they are getting worse.
Mass Shootings are getting deadlier. And the latest ones all have something new in common: The AR-15
The nation's mass-shooting problem seems to be getting worse. And the latest, most serious shootings all seem to have one new thing in common: the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle.
It’s no coincidence that mass shootings are intensifying. The ban on automatic assault weapons, passed by Democrats in 1994, expired in 2004. Since that time, Republicans have blocked legislation reinstating it.
You’re Damn Right I’m Going to Politicize This Tragedy. You Should Too.