I’m not sure why the school shooting in Uvelde sent me totally over the edge, and not one of the many previous shootings, but...I’m over the edge. We can’t be nice about this anymore. We can’t “work across the aisle” because the Republicans have filled the aisle with land mines. We can’t “find a compromise” because the Republicans don’t know what that word means. We can’t “be polite” and not scream and swear at Republicans about guns while they’re screaming and swearing at school board meetings about critical race theory.
Republicans are killing people, and we need to stop it. We need to say it out loud: Republicans are killing people. Kids are dying because of Republicans. Republicans don’t get to call pro-choice Democrats “baby killers” and not be called “kid killers” when they are pro-choice... about guns.
Sure, there are lots of reasons that can be given between, “Guns don’t kill people” and “Republicans kill people.” So, just what fills that space between “Guns don’t kill people” and “Republicans kill people?”
- Republicans are against universal background checks that would prevent criminals and mentally ill people from obtaining guns legally.
- Republicans have promoted the idea that AR-15’s and other assault weapons are for self-defense and sport, when they were specifically invented to proactively kill people- lots of them.
- Republicans have created the mindset that any American can own any type of gun, even military and police weapons that are capable of killing law enforcement officials.
- Republicans have promoted the oxymoron that the more guns we all have, the safer we’ll be.
- Republicans have put the onus on schools to protect children from mass murderers instead of trying to prevent potential mass murderers from arming themselves to the teeth, buying body armor and other accoutrements of war online, and going into a school to shoot people. Note to Republicans: schools are places where children go to learn how to read and write from people who love kids, not guns.
- Republicans have normalized open carry and concealed carry laws that make it impossible to know if someone with a gun is a mass murderer or an idiot trying to prove a point. Like the guy who came into the polling place, where I was working as an election official in April, with an open-carry pistol on his hip. Good thing I decided he was just an idiot with a gun; otherwise, I would have had to call the police and report a potential mass murderer inside a polling place. P.S. It’s legal in Wisconsin for an idiot to carry a gun into a polling place.
The list goes on. But we need to lay this squarely on the doorstep of Republicans: they kill kids. If Democrats can be called baby killers, then Republicans can be called kid killers. They want women to have unwanted children, who can go to school someday and be killed by a gun — carried by a person who was enabled by Republicans.
Sorry about the rant, but seriously, it’s time to fight back big-time. Kids are dying. Over and over again, kids are dying. Adults are dying. Over and over again, adults are dying. All because the “pro-life” party will not EVEN DISCUSS sensible gun legislation supported by a substantial majority of American voters.