Hey, GOP congresspeople, Fuck your thoughts and prayers. They are meaningless and most likely, not even heartfelt. Every time there is another Mass Shooting, that is the only thing presented by these folks (I wanted to use a harsher word) for those effected by the shooting.
On many occasions, I’ve blogged about Mass Shootings and gun violence. I’ve even pointed out that the 2nd Amendment was not designed to help gun ownership, but to help arm militias/slave patrols. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the idea that the 2nd was all about gun ownership took shape.
Before that time, the NRA was mainly a sporting organization (not a gun lobby) and supported gun control and the courts largely believed that guns could be highly regulated.
Who can forget how quickly politicians enacted regulations when one of the scariest events (to white people) in US history happened: The Black Panthers marched around a city with guns!
Yeah, didn’t take long to take those guns away. But that was in the 60s. It began to change in the 70s when the NRA realized they could make big bucks by lobbying for gun manufacturers. Sharing that loot with politicians quickly followed and of course, legislation to control weapons became impossible. Even if the majority of Americans supported regulation.
In the past, I’ve suggested some simple things to start curbing possible Mass shootings.
• Universal background checks. This should cover every single gun purchase.
• Liability insurance for gun owners. Just imagine how much influence the insurance industry would exert for gun control after they began to pay out huge insurance claims after a shooting.
These are simple examples, but there are more that could happen. Other countries require mandatory training. Some include license requirements for every gun. Japan has an extensive psychiatric interview for prospective buyers.
None of these will happen though because the GOP is so completely owned by the gun lobby.
So, I’ve included numerous memes that you can share if you decide to encounter said politicians or even your gun nut Uncle Joe when he visits you during the holidays.
I wish the best to the people of Nashville who have had to experience our latest mass shooting and I’m sorry that we as a nation cannot get a small contingent of right-wing politicians to do what is needed.
| Ahh, James Thurber |
The Thurber Brigade apologizes for yet another sidestep about a mass shooting. We seem to do this quite often, and it's because mass shootings happen so often. There have been over 100 this year already and we're only three months into the year. The Brigade can't enact legislation, congress-folk don't listen to us or anybody (but the gun lobbies), so we're left with writing about it and hope that said politicians will begin to feel the disdain we all hold for them on this and maybe, maybe they'll do something for once.
