It's not doors.
It's not a lack of good guys with a gun.
It's not a lack of teachers with guns.
It's not mental health.
It's not video games.
It's not a lack of morals.
It's not because of single mothers.
It is because we make up 4% of the world population but have over 40% of the worlds firearms. We allow citizens to buy assault rifles on their 18th birthday, unlimited ammunition, often with no background checks and zero licenses required. That is why it only happens here and no where else.
Jim Acosta absolutely dragged the right, the NRA and the GOP for their repeated deflections about WHY THIS ONLY HAPPENS HERE.
Sometimes it takes a foreign reporter to really stand up to the Republican establishment. The exchange between a British reporter and Ted Cruz was really something.
Reporter: Why only in America? Why is this American exceptionalism so awful?
Cruz (flailing): You know, I'm sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful.
Reporter: I think this aspect.
Cruz: You have your political agenda, god love you.
Reporter: I just want to understand why you don't think guns are a problem.
Reporter: Why is this just an American problem?
Reporter: It is just an American problem, sir.
Cruz stormed off.
Tucker Carlson also had the standard post mass shooting talking points over on FOX (not) News:
A person intent on committing violence is very hard to stop. An act of Congress won't do it, neither will gun control. There are more guns in this country than people. There always have been. However you feel about the fact, you can acknowledge we will never get rid of those guns, and if you tried, it would cause civil war.
Acosta decimates the "good guy with a gun" narrative in just 30 seconds, saying: "Tell that to the people in Uvalde. The good guys with guns in Texas have already admitted they had made the wrong decision. A top Texas law enforcement officials explained the officers on the scene were afraid they would be shot. They did not know where the gunman is. They are hearing gunshots. They are receiving gunshots. At that point if they proceeded any further not knowing where the suspect was at, they could have been shot, they could have been killed. At that point that gunman would have had the opportunity to kill inside that school."
Oh, really? WHAT ABOUT THE TERRIFIED KIDS CALLING 911 FOR HELP? The police stood in a hallway, listening to the kids be murdered. LISTENED and did nothing. They had guns. They had training. They had protective gear. 19 of them stood and listened to children be murdered.
The NRA and Republicans say "nothing can be done", but that is wrong. Other countries took immediate action following mass shootings. The most wide-scale change happened in Australia in 1996. Acosta pointed out: "Australia, 1996, the government launched a buyback program and imposed tough restrictions. That solved the problem in Australia. Britain, Canada, Norway and New Zealand have all enacted sweeping new restrictions on firearms and have seen major declines in mass shootings." It can be done, but why won't we?
Well, Acosta explains: "There are things we can do, but there are powerful forces standing in the way of new laws, namely the top gun lobby, the NRA. They used to give money to both parties, but not anymore. Look at this graphic from open secrets, which tracks political contributions. In 2012, 89% of NRA contributions went to the GOP. This year so far it's been 100%, which brings us for the filibuster, which is not a law, just a tradition, when Democrats control the House, they can pass gun control bills with a simple majority, but not in the Senate. You need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. The last time the Senate came close to approving a gun safety law was in 2013. That was after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. When the Senate failed to pass expanded background checks and what was the amendment, the votes was 54-46. That was nine years, and too many mass shootings ago."
Will this time be different? No. There will be dozens more mass shootings between Uvalde and when Congress comes back from their 10 day break. Kids will be buried, families will be broken, Uvalde won't recover for years, but Republicans will forget faster than they can cash that sweet NRA check.
