We have been through far, far too many of these travesties and watched too many of our beloveds die so that the gun lovers of America can have their assault rifles that can kill dozens of people in a few minutes. There is a sick irony in our willingness to ban or recall products that are far, far less dangerous than this (lawn darts?) because they are too dangerous for us, but not militaristic weapons designed to kill many people in a short time span.
Sexual minorities, women, and people of color are particularly likely to be targets of gun violence so any argument against sensible gun regulation is at least complicit in furthering homophobia, sexism and racism.
I'm not interested in getting into a debate about gun legislation. Honestly, if you aren't convinced by Orlando, if you aren't convinced by Sandy Hook, if you aren't convinced by the regularity of these horrors and the lives cut short...I'm not going to convince you. And I don't need to. I don't need you. You aren't worthy of my breath. You're barely worthy of this paragraph.
What I'm interested in doing is getting any public official who blocks sensible gun legislation out of office. I'm interested in getting any public official who refuses to acknowledge hate crimes against LGBTQ people and the role hatred against sexual minorities played in the Orlando massacre out of office. I'm interested in replacing anyone whose actions about these issues are out of alignment with their words of sympathy later out of office. And to do that, we need to not forget who they are. So, I'm trying to pull together the lists that are floating around on social media so that we don't forget who needs to get tossed out of public life.
1. Did your representative take money from the NRA? Find out here: http://whoismyvoice.com
2. Who voted for and against background checks in the Senate after San Bernadino? (Note, Harry Reid voted against as a procedural move to allow it to be brought back to the floor later - so not a real "no" vote) http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/number-senators-voted-against-background-checks-proposal
3. Who voted against the Matthew Shepherd, James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act that, among other things, classified violence against sexual minorities and minority gender presentation as a hate crime? http://www.vox.com/2016/6/12/11912076/orlando-florida-mass-shooting-gay-hate-crime-law
4. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan bear a special responsibility because of their willingness to use their positions to block legislation from reaching the floor.
I will be gathering more.
