Women pray at a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. — AP Photo/Wade Payne
Some leaders are rightfully calling for action to be taken in the wake of the tragedy in Nashville in which a shooter killed three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members at a Christian school.
Before the shooting at the Covenant School March 27, there had already been 130 mass shootings in the United States so far this year.
Last year a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, left 21 dead.
The continued slaughter of American children demands that the nation’s lawmakers offer a stronger action than their usual “thoughts and prayers” response.
Republicans continue to downplay the need for legislative action on guns following these mass shootings.
The GOP leadership in Congress has repeatedly ignored or downplayed discussing potential legislative solutions to curb mass shootings.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did not respond to questions from reporters asking if there should be any gun restrictions at all.
House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., urged caution in taking action and suggested securing schools.
“The first thing in any kind of tragedy is I pray. I pray for the victims. I pray for the families. I get really angry when people try to politicize it for their own personal agenda, especially when we don’t even know the facts,” said Scalise, who was shot during a congressional baseball practice in 2017.
“Let’s work to see if there’s something that we can do to help secure schools,” he continued. “It just seems like on the other side, all they want to do is take guns away from law-abiding citizens before they even know the facts.”
One of the most defeatist statements came from Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.
Burchett said Monday that the shooting was “a horrible, horrible situation, and we’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals.” Burchett said that lawmakers attempting to address gun violence would only “mess things up” and noted that he homeschooled his own daughter.
Others have rightfully pushed for action to be taken in the wake of the tragedy in Nashville.
In his opening prayer Tuesday, Senate Chaplain Barry Black called for Congress to take action.
“Lord, when babies die at a church school, it is time for us to move beyond thoughts and prayers,” said Black, a retired rear admiral who has served in the role since 2003. “Remind our lawmakers of the words of the British statesman Edmund Burke: ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.’
“Lord, deliver our senators from the paralysis of analysis that waits for the miraculous. Use them to battle the demonic forces that seek to engulf us. We pray, in your powerful name, amen,” he concluded.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, called the mass shooting “a uniquely American problem” and offered her condolences to those affected. She also noted the gun legislation passed by Michigan Democrats in the wake of a shooting last month at Michigan State University.
“This is precisely why it’s important that we in Michigan do what we can to keep people safe through background checks, secure storage and, ultimately, extreme risk protection orders,” Whitmer said.
Congress can pass common sense gun laws that would not infringe on the constitutional right of gun owners, including banning assault weapons and passing red flag laws, which would allow police to take guns from people deemed dangerous by the courts.
President Joe Biden called on Congress to take action, saying the White House had exhausted the possibilities of executive actions on guns.
“The Congress has to act,” he said. “The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre; it’s a crazy idea. They’re against that. And so I think the Congress should be passing the assault weapons ban.”
Speaking at a North Carolina semiconductor plant on Tuesday afternoon, Biden added that there was “a moral price to pay for inaction.”
The president is right. But Congress won’t act until voters demand it.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune