(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Gun Volence Reflects A Moral Failing [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-04-01  

If ever there was a clear example of moral contrast, it played out in Congress last week. Consider what happened to Manny Oliver. First, for those of you who don’t know, Manny and Patricia Oliver had their son, Joaquin, taken from them during the Parkland massacre five years ago. In the interim they have devoted themselves to fighting the gun violence that has so devastated, not only their family, but in fact, the entire nation.

During a hearing on gun laws in the subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs (the hearing was about ATF regulation of guns), Representative Pat Fallon of Texas, the subcommittee chair, was engaging in the usual sophistry about gun rights when Manny Oliver, who was in attendance, began to speak over him. Manny, in sheer frustration, called out the complete and utter disregard for human life that the regurgitation of “gun rights” talking points demonstrates. I, unfortunately, can relate all too well to Manny’s frustration, as my son, Telemachus, was also killed in a mass shooting. The grief, the anguish, the frustration, is exacerbated, not only by the the absolute refusal of the likes of Fallon to try to curtail gun violence, but by their actual enabling of mass murderers, violent street gangs and terrorists by their advocacy of looser gun laws! So, it was in this setting that Manny spoke out. And the reaction from Chairman Fallon? He requested that the Capitol Police remove Manny from the chamber, flippantly asking, “Is this an insurrection? So will they be held to the same - uh- I don’t want another January 6th, do we?’

So, pause for a moment and consider that comment. Fallon was actually trying to equate a man who, through the horror of having his son butchered in a mass shooting works tirelessly to spare others from experiencing that nightmare, to people who literally attempted to violently undermine democracy itself! I was disgusted by this callous and ignorant display of, not only a lack of basic human decency, but of actual rational thought. At first, I was going to say that I was appalled by Fallon’s cold-blooded comments, but that verb suggests a certain element of surprise. I am no longer surprised by the heartless, indifferent expressions of the “gun rights” advocates. While hundreds of Americans are slaughtered every week, they dutifully reiterate the same excuses and the same rhetoric over and over again, ad nauseam, and do nothing. What we saw from Fallon was not an anomaly, it is the norm from Republican legislators.

As if to punctuate that point, just a few days later there was the horrible school massacre in Nashville, Tennessee. Tim Burchett, a Republican representative from Tennessee stood before the cameras and said, “well there’s just nothing we can do about school shootings.” This callousness is typical, and it sums up the Republican approach to gun violence: well it’s just going to happen. Accept it. Or, they ramble on about locking the side doors. As if a door lock could withstand the assault of an AR15. By the way, the person who killed my son and eleven others at the Borderline Bar and Grill, walked through the front door with his semi automatic gun and multiple 30 round magazines.

So as gun violence devastates our country, Republican legislators continue to fight for the status quo that fuels that devastation. They scream “rights, freedom, second amendment, fight tyranny,” to justify this status quo, and the end result remains the same: more slaughtered Americans. It seems obvious that Republican legislators have no interest in preventing the horrific gun violence that has devastated our country, because it would entail regulating guns, just as is done in every civilized country around the world. So what possible conclusion can we draw from this complete lack of action on gun violence? It is difficult to conclude anything other than the slaughter of Manny’s son is acceptable to them. The slaughter of my son is acceptable to them. The slaughter of countless sons, daughters, friends, mothers and fathers is acceptable to them. Let us keep this in perspective; anyone, with any moral grounding at all, would be appalled by the constant slaughter of Americans. And anyone with any moral grounding at all, especially someone in a position of power, would work ceaselessly to end this scourge of gun violence. But this is certainly not the case with Republican legislators. It is, in fact, just the opposite. Keep this in mind when it’s time to vote. You don’t want to be like Manny, or me, or tens of thousands of other families who sit at tables with empty chairs. The moral contrast could not be more profound.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/1/2161559/-Gun-Volence-Reflects-A-Moral-Failing

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/