Republicans are responsible for America's gun violence epidemic- outlaw AR15 automatic weapons
Not One More❗ After another deadly school shooting, this time in Georgia, gun reform makes a campaign comeback: Immigration and the economy have dominated the presidential race. But gun violence is now back on the ballot.
Echo opinion by Renée Graham published in the Boston Globe:
At a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to talk about her economic plan for small businesses. But taking the stage hours after a shooting at a suburban Georgia high school, she briefly went off script to address the first mass shooting of this still-nascent school year.
Calling the shooting by an alleged 14-year-old gunman that killed two fellow students and two teachers “a senseless tragedy,” Harris said, “we’ve got to stop it, and we have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all. You know it doesn’t have to be this way.”
It doesn’t — except that in a nation with more guns than people, it’s too often “this way.” In this presidential race, gun violence has not been as prominent a topic as the economy or immigration. But the tragedy in Georgia should put gun violence back on the ballot.
At a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to talk about her economic plan for small businesses. But taking the stage hours after a shooting at a suburban Georgia high school, she briefly went off script to address the first mass shooting of this still-nascent school year.
Renée Graham is a Boston Globe columnist.
At a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to talk about her economic plan for small businesses. But taking the stage hours after a shooting at a suburban Georgia high school, she briefly went off script to address the first mass shooting of this still-nascent school year.
Calling the shooting by an alleged 14-year-old gunman that killed two fellow students and two teachers “a senseless tragedy,” Harris said, “we’ve got to stop it, and we have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all. You know it doesn’t have to be this way.”
It doesn’t — except that in a nation with more guns than people, it’s too often “this way.” In this presidential race, gun violence has not been as prominent a topic as the economy or immigration. But the tragedy in Georgia should put gun violence back on the ballot.
At a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to talk about her economic plan for small businesses. But taking the stage hours after a shooting at a suburban Georgia high school, she briefly went off script to address the first mass shooting of this still-nascent school year.
Calling the shooting by an alleged 14-year-old gunman that killed two fellow students and two teachers “a senseless tragedy,” Harris said, “we’ve got to stop it, and we have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all. You know it doesn’t have to be this way.”
It doesn’t — except that in a nation with more guns than people, it’s too often “this way.” In this presidential race, gun violence has not been as prominent a topic as the economy or immigration. But the tragedy in Georgia should put gun violence back on the ballot.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., marks the 385th time this year that four or more people were killed or injured in a mass shooting. Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14-year-old students, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Christina Irimie, 53, died. Nine others were injured.Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14-year-old students, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Christina Irimie, 53, died. Nine others were injured.
These casualties, as well as the “AR-15 style” rifle that authorities say was used by the alleged shooter, have reignited conversations about gun reform that had been largely sidelined throughout this election season.
After a man was killed and another wounded during an assassination attempt against Donald Trump in July, conversations about guns were muted, at best. And even when that shooter’s weapon was revealed to be an AR-15 style rifle, it was President Biden and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, an ardent gun reform proponent — not Trump or the GOP — who brought up banning assault weapons.
Meanwhile, Republicans point fingers of blame in every direction except at the easy availability of weapons designed solely to kill and injure a lot of people in a very short amount of time.
In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, Harris mentioned “the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship,” as a “fundamental” right.
That’s why Harris should keep gun violence on her political agenda. She can tout the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, signed into law weeks after mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas. It was the first major gun reform bill passed in nearly 30 years.
Harris can do what Trump will not — say explicitly that weapons of war have no business on America’s streets; that most domestic violence fatalities are caused by guns; that everyday gun violence is a preventable epidemic; and that in order to strengthen gun reform, Democrats must regain control of the House and hold onto the Senate.
With Georgia on the nation’s mind, Harris can make the case that while Republicans have branded the issue of gun reform as partisan, the guns that destroy American lives and communities are not.
It doesn’t — except that in a nation with more guns than people, it’s too often “this way.” In this presidential race, gun violence has not been as prominent a topic as the economy or immigration. But the tragedy in Georgia should put gun violence back on the ballot.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., marks the 385th time this year that four or more people were killed or injured in a mass shooting. Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14-year-old students, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Christina Irimie, 53, died. Nine others were injured.Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14-year-old students, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Christina Irimie, 53, died. Nine others were injured.
These casualties, as well as the “AR-15 style” rifle that authorities say was used by the alleged shooter, have reignited conversations about gun reform that had been largely sidelined throughout this election season.
After a man was killed and another wounded during an assassination attempt against Donald Trump in July, conversations about guns were muted, at best. And even when that shooter’s weapon was revealed to be an AR-15 style rifle, it was President Biden and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, an ardent gun reform proponent — not Trump or the GOP — who brought up banning assault weapons.
Meanwhile, Republicans point fingers of blame in every direction except at the easy availability of weapons designed solely to kill and injure a lot of people in a very short amount of time.
In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, Harris mentioned “the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship,” as a “fundamental” right.
In Trump’s Republican National Convention speech in July, Trump talked about crime and criminals only to (😡wrongly❗) vilify migrants. He used the word “gun” only once — to hail Hulk Hogan,
the former wrestler who endorsed the former president, as “one strong son of a gun.”
After the Georgia shooting, Trump posted a response on his social media site. Again, he said nothing about guns but called the alleged shooter “a sick and deranged monster.”
After the Georgia shooting, Trump posted a response on his social media site. Again, he said nothing about guns but called the alleged shooter “a sick and deranged monster.”
But in an appearance before the National Rifle Association in May, Trump had plenty to say about firearms, including the false and inciting claim that “if the Biden regime gets four more years, they are coming for your guns.” He said that Biden “has a 40-year record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
In 1994, Biden, then a senator, helped pass a ban on assault weapons. It prohibited the manufacture or sale of certain semiautomatic weapons to civilians and banned high-capacity magazines of 10 rounds or more. The ban expired in 2004.
After mass shootings, Republicans often say that the tragedy should not be politicized, a cynical attempt to quell public debate. This time they’ve avoided saying even that. With the first presidential debate days away, they seem reluctant to say anything that can be held against Trump or highlight GOP objections to gun reform.
In 1994, Biden, then a senator, helped pass a ban on assault weapons. It prohibited the manufacture or sale of certain semiautomatic weapons to civilians and banned high-capacity magazines of 10 rounds or more. The ban expired in 2004.
After mass shootings, Republicans often say that the tragedy should not be politicized, a cynical attempt to quell public debate. This time they’ve avoided saying even that. With the first presidential debate days away, they seem reluctant to say anything that can be held against Trump or highlight GOP objections to gun reform.
Harris can do what Trump will not — say explicitly that weapons of war have no business on America’s streets; that most domestic violence fatalities are caused by guns; that everyday gun violence is a preventable epidemic; and that in order to strengthen gun reform, Democrats must regain control of the House and hold onto the Senate.
With Georgia on the nation’s mind, Harris can make the case that while Republicans have branded the issue of gun reform as partisan, the guns that destroy American lives and communities are not.
Labels: Apalachee High School, Boston Globe, Georgia, Renée Graham, Vice-President Kamala Harris
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 4:24 AM
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