On Wednesday evening, a minimum of 18 individuals have been killed when a gunman opened hearth at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine. Based on a database maintained by the Related Press and USA At present, the tragedy marked the United State’s thirty sixth mass killing—when 4 or extra individuals, not together with the perpetrator, have been killed—in 2023, and was by far its deadliest. Given the often occurring nature of those horrific incidents, you may be questioning if there was any hope that Republicans would lastly be prepared to tug their heads out of their asses and help significant gun management laws, like the type that was in place between 1994 and 2004. And whilst you may have guessed, given their observe file, that the reply was a giant, resounding no—and perhaps even a “Have you ever met a Republican recently?”—new Home Speaker Mike Johnson’s feedback on the matter have made it greater than a bit clear that Republicans don’t care how many individuals die by gun violence within the US yearly and that they most likely by no means will.
In an interview with Sean Hannity that aired on Thursday evening, Johnson was requested by the Fox Information host what his “reply” to “the left” demanding Congress do one thing in regards to the epidemic of mass shootings on this nation, following the tragedy that occurred this week in Maine. His reply? That mass shootings don’t have anything to do with weapons. “On the finish of the day,” Johnson insisted, “the issue is the human coronary heart, it’s not weapons, it’s not the weapons. On the finish of the day, we’ve got to guard the correct of the residents to guard themselves, and that’s the Second Modification, and that’s why our social gathering stands so strongly for that.” Pressed by Hannity on whether or not there was “any particular gun legislation” he would significantly think about, Johnson doubled down on the absurd declare that weapons aren’t the issue, saying, “There shall be plenty of dialogue, as there are after these heartbreaking tragedies.… In Europe and elsewhere, they use autos to mow down crowds at parades—the place they’ve achieved that right here at the US. It’s not the weapon, it’s the underlying drawback. I imagine we’ve got to handle the basis issues of this stuff, and psychological well being, clearly, as on this case, is a giant subject, and we’ve bought to significantly deal with that.”
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Republicans, in fact, have a protracted historical past of blaming actually something however weapons for gun violence—an inventory that features however just isn’t restricted to abortion, girls within the office, vaccines, and zombies. (Johnson himself has blamed abortion and the instructing of evolution on mass shootings.)
In response to Johnson’s most up-to-date declare, a spokesman for the Joe Biden White Home informed Vainness Honest: “We completely reject the offensive accusation that gun crime is uniquely excessive in the US due to Individuals’ ‘hearts.’ Gun crime is uniquely excessive in the US as a result of congressional Republicans have spent many years selecting the gun trade’s lobbyists over the lives of harmless Individuals. Gun violence is now the primary cause that American kids’s hearts cease beating. Not most cancers, not automobile accidents—gun violence.”
Talking to reporters on Friday, Maine senators Susan Collins and Angus King stated they help gun management measures primarily based on “performance” relatively than a full ban on assault weapons.
