It’s easy to confuse a mass shooting incident like the Pulse Nightclub massacre with the daily violence in our big cities. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did exactly that during her photo op for H.R. 49, which creates the National Pulse Memorial as a tribute to the victims:
Five years later, gun violence still plagues countless communities across the country. On average, 100 persons are killed a day. The pain in our communities endures, but our resolve to finally end the horrors of gun violence are as strong as ever. In this mission, we are strengthened by the memories of those we lost at Pulse and all of the lives stolen by this epidemic.1
It’s true that there is an epidemic of gun violence in America, but it’s naïve and simplistic to compare what happened in Orlando with the daily horror of gun violence in our cities. It pays no tribute to the Pulse victims to suggest they are one and the same.
Background checks won’t stop illegal sales.*
How does Pelosi plan on ending the carnage?
That is why the Democratic House passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks [Act], again and again. We will not relent until these bipartisan – these are bipartisan – pieces of legislation become law, and we continue to call on all Members to join us. It is really for the survivors to know we are not going away until the job is done.2
No, this is not why Democrats repeatedly passed their background check bills. In fact, background check legislation predates the Pulse shootings.3 Background check legislation is a partisan call to action that has little to do with the day-to-day gun violence that plagues our country and is used by Democrats as an excuse to attack responsible gun owners.
Pelosi’s remarks during her Pulse Memorial tribute get it all wrong
Pelosi’s remarks would be laughable if we weren’t discussing the tragedies Democrat Mayors have not only learned to accept, but are making worse with trendy woke law enforcement policies.
The speaker’s anti-Republican, anti-Second Amendment push for background checks is irresponsible partisanship plain and simple. It’s true that Democrats won’t relent on pushing background checks and it’s also true that the criminals in our cities won’t stop killing when and if the legislation finally passes Congress. Read the descriptions of the incidents described by WGN News4 and then ask yourself: how will this kind of violence be impacted by background checks which in many if not most cases would turn up impressive criminal histories?
Does Democrat Party’s anti-racism narrative prevent addressing gun violence?
Democrats tiptoe around the racial elephant in the room while they push gun control legislation to:
require all gun sellers – including private vendors, online sellers, and sellers at gun shows – to conduct background checks on potential buyers.5
Are their bills also supported by gang members, street thugs, and criminal immigrants who buy guns illegally, couldn’t pass a background check, and would likely be arrested if they tried?
I didn’t think so.
What will make a difference to American’s gun violence problem? Start here.
Here are a few things that will definitely make a difference in our gun violence numbers:
No cash bail laws like the reckless bill Governor Pritzker signed for Illinois;
Early release initiatives that put criminals back on the street;
Unchecked, unfettered, unregulated, no background check open borders immigration policy;
Anti-policing, defund law enforcement agendas that turn communities against the police;
Skyrocketing police officer resignations;
Giving Mexican cartels greater access to the U.S. through the Biden-Harris open border;
Justifying crime as payback for America’s history of mistreating people of color.
There is an absolute refusal on the part of Democrats to call out urban communities for their violence. It’s more politically useful to call out gun owners who take absolutely no part in the drive-bys and carjackings and robberies and botched drug deals that tell more truth about our gun violence epidemic than Democrats would offer in years of sanctimonious speeches and deceptive press releases.
Democrats use Pulse Memorial tribute to divert us from the truth
One of the more tragic aspects of the Pulse shooting is that Democrats will use it as a diversion from the truth about gun violence that they can’t and won’t deal with. Would more stringent background checks have prevented the Pulse Nightclub tragedy? Possibly. We will never know. Will background checks stop the bloodshed in Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis, and other urban shooting galleries? Not on your life.
Democrats might as well pass a bill to require street gangs to register their weapons. It will be good for another Pelosi photo-op and do just as much to stop the killing.
Sources
1“Transcript of Speaker Pelosi’s Remarks at Bill Enrollment Photo Opportunity for H.R. 49 to Designate the National Pulse Memorial.” pelosi.house.gov. June 16, 2021. https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/transcript-of-speaker-pelosi-s-remarks-at-bill-enrollment-photo-opportunity-1, retrieved June 20, 2021.
2Ibid.
3“S.22 – Gun Show Background Check Act of 2013.” Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/22?s=1&r=77, retrieved June 20, 2021.
4WGN Web Desk. “At least 21 shot, 3 killed in overnight shootings across Chicago.” wgntv.com. June 20, 2021. https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/at-least-20-shot-2-killed-in-overnight-shootings-across-chicago/, retrieved June 20, 2021.
5“Rep. Phillips Pays Tribute to Pulse Nightclub Shooting Victims, Calls for Senate Action to Prevent Gun Violence.” phillips.house.gov. June 12, 2019. https://phillips.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-phillips-pays-tribute-pulse-nightclub-shooting-victims-calls-senate-action, retrieved June 20, 2021.
*“Long Island gun trafficking ring dismantled.” dea.gov. February 5, 2020. https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2020/02/05/long-island-gun-trafficking-ring-dismantled, retrieved June 20, 2021.
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