Thinking about the Republican senators who have been quietly bought by the National Rifle Association and gun lobby for years, I wonder what their reaction would be if their (grand)child’s body was torn apart beyond recognition by a shooter with an assault weapon? Would they say, well, I’m sorry that my (grand)child was killed, but the Second Amendment right of that mass shooter is more important to me than my (grand)child’s life? Would they shift their position? Why is the violent death of someone else’s child so abstract and meaningless?

Disingenuous outpourings of “grief and sadness” by politicians after every mass shooting is offensive to say the least, when there is no political action to prevent the easy availability of assault weapons. Mass shootings will continue as long as there is no political price paid by the Republican cowards in Congress, who bow to the NRA and the gun manufacturer’s money. And, this has absolutely nothing to do with someone’s hunting rifle. For those who say that laws controlling the easy availability of assault weapons are not effective in controlling mass shootings, you are conveniently ignoring the dramatic results of such action in New Zealand, Australia, Norway and other more reasonable and compassionate countries.

Richard L. Farrington

Hesperus