Another Day, Another Mass Shooting
Ed Mazza
Mon, May 8, 2023
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan said it’s time to call the Republican Party what it really is as lawmakers on the right reject any attempt at gun control amid a wave of mass shootings.
“In America in 2023 there have been more mass shootings than there have been days,” he said on his show on Sunday evening, citing statistics from the Gun Violence Archive. “This is how we live now.”
Hasan systemically dismantled the usual right-wing talking points after mass shootings, including the notion that nothing can be done.
“They’re lying to you,” he said. “This isn’t about mental health, which every other country has problems with. It isn’t drugs, which every other country struggles with. It isn’t computer games, which every other country has. It’s the guns. It’s obviously the guns.”
He said it’s high time to place the blame where it belongs: On Republicans.
“Let’s stop saying ‘Congress must act’ and start saying ‘the Republican Party must act’,” he said. “Let’s stop treating the GOP as the party of law and order and treat them, more accurately, as the party of gun violence, of school shootings, of mall massacres.”
He called for a ban an assault weapons:
Hasan also ripped into another common GOP talking point after each mass shooting: the notion that the answer is in “thoughts and prayers” or that God has to provide the solution:
Former Army officer and witness to Texas mall shooting who calls himself a 'gun lover' says mental health isn't the problem: 'We need more gun control'
Katie Balevic
Sun, May 7, 2023
Emergency personnel work the scene of a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on May 6, 2023 in Allen, Texas.
Katie Balevic
Sun, May 7, 2023
Emergency personnel work the scene of a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on May 6, 2023 in Allen, Texas.
Stewart F. House/Getty Images
Former Army officer who rushed to scene of mass shooting in Allen, Texas says US needs gun control.
Steven Spainhouer said he's a "gun lover" but that "this is going to keep happening" without stricter laws.
He added that it was a gun, not mental health issues, that "killed these people."
A witness to the deadly mass shooting at a Texas mall on Saturday said he's a "gun lover." Then he called for more gun control.
Steven Spainhouer, who said he is both a former police officer and a former Army officer, rushed to the scene of the shooting on Saturday, arriving even before emergency responders.
"When you get hit with an automatic weapon fire at close range, there is no opportunity for survival," Spainhouer told MSNBC. "I don't know what the gunman's problem was, but it wasn't mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets."
A gunman opened fire inside Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring seven others before a police officer who happened to be nearby shot and killed him. Police have not yet identified the gunman or his motivations.
In a statement calling for stricter gun regulations, President Joe Biden said the gunman used an "AR-15 style assault weapon."
The shooting in a town north of Dallas came about a week after five people were killed in a shooting in Cleveland, a Texas town north of Houston.
Politicians resistant to gun control have blamed the prevalence and severity of American mass shootings on mental health – despite reports that only a small portion of violence is tied to mental illnesses.
"I'm a gun lover. I have guns. I'm a former police officer. I'm a former Army officer. But these M-4s, AR-15s, they've got to get off the streets, or this is going to keep happening," Spainhouer said on Sunday. "We've got to stop that at some point."
"All the politicians are going to make statements. They're going to offer prayers and condolences," Spainhouer said. "Prayers and condolences won't bring these people back. We need some action in our legislatures at the federal and state level for better gun control. And I'm saying that as someone who loves guns."
Former Army officer who rushed to scene of mass shooting in Allen, Texas says US needs gun control.
Steven Spainhouer said he's a "gun lover" but that "this is going to keep happening" without stricter laws.
He added that it was a gun, not mental health issues, that "killed these people."
A witness to the deadly mass shooting at a Texas mall on Saturday said he's a "gun lover." Then he called for more gun control.
Steven Spainhouer, who said he is both a former police officer and a former Army officer, rushed to the scene of the shooting on Saturday, arriving even before emergency responders.
"When you get hit with an automatic weapon fire at close range, there is no opportunity for survival," Spainhouer told MSNBC. "I don't know what the gunman's problem was, but it wasn't mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets."
A gunman opened fire inside Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring seven others before a police officer who happened to be nearby shot and killed him. Police have not yet identified the gunman or his motivations.
In a statement calling for stricter gun regulations, President Joe Biden said the gunman used an "AR-15 style assault weapon."
The shooting in a town north of Dallas came about a week after five people were killed in a shooting in Cleveland, a Texas town north of Houston.
Politicians resistant to gun control have blamed the prevalence and severity of American mass shootings on mental health – despite reports that only a small portion of violence is tied to mental illnesses.
"I'm a gun lover. I have guns. I'm a former police officer. I'm a former Army officer. But these M-4s, AR-15s, they've got to get off the streets, or this is going to keep happening," Spainhouer said on Sunday. "We've got to stop that at some point."
"All the politicians are going to make statements. They're going to offer prayers and condolences," Spainhouer said. "Prayers and condolences won't bring these people back. We need some action in our legislatures at the federal and state level for better gun control. And I'm saying that as someone who loves guns."
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