All these shocked reactions and pleas for unity ring so hollow after Donald Trump was nearly killed, a LakeView reader writes. Plus, more on Republicans, the convention and guns.
On the same night that a 20-year-old murdered a firefighter and father, wounded two others and tried to assassinate Donald Trump, four people were murdered and 10 more wounded at a birthday party in Birmingham, Alabama. Just a few hours earlier in Birmingham, a man, woman and child were found shot to death in a car. The following day, there was a mass drive-by shooting in Mississippi, which claimed the lives of four people. And as we all know, a week earlier here in Chicago, more than 100 people were wounded by gunfire — 21 fatally — during the long July Fourth holiday weekend.
The past two days, there have been incessant expressions of shock at the shooting at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Countless politicians and pundits have called for “unity” and expressed their thoughts and prayers for the victims. Yet all of these shocked reactions and pleas for unity ring so hollow.
The horrific absurdity of gun laws in America hit home on Sunday when the authorities in Milwaukee, which is hosting the Republican National Convention, admitted that anyone with a properly licensed assault rifle could walk around downtown Milwaukee and the outer perimeter of the RNC because Wisconsin is an open carry state. Assault rifles will be allowed, but paintball guns and tennis balls will be banned.
This dystopian reality has been brought to you by the Republican party, its minions on the Supreme Court and gun manufacturers who give GOP politicians millions of dollars annually to ensure Americans have unfettered access to guns. It has nothing to do with the Founding Fathers or the Constitution. It’s all about money and power and a sickening identity of gun worship the GOP has cravenly crafted over the last 50 years. So remember these facts when the next mass shooting takes place, and when you see Republican politicians calling for unity.
