Once she received news of the shooting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) took to Twitter to blame "the epidemic of gun violence" on the National Rifle Association. Apparently the NRA's so-called "power" is to blame for the tragedy.
I am outraged and heartbroken.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 1, 2019
How much longer will we ignore the pain of our communities? We need to immediately confront the power of the NRA and end the epidemic of gun violence in this country. https://t.co/tjWCPtC7B2
NRA Spokeswoman Dana Loesch had a few, very valid questions for Omar:
This was a heinous tragedy. Your remarks move me to ask: What do 5 million members of the NRA have to do with this man’s crime? Was this man a card-carrying member? His purchases were legal, whose fault is that? Does he bear any blame at all? Serious questions. https://t.co/Y7LDftiCwZ
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) June 1, 2019
And who better to jump in and blame the NRA than Moms Demand Action Founder Shannon Watts?
The Virginia Beach gunman was the @NRA’s definition of a good guy with a gun until he opened fire. Gun lobbyists who help write our nation’s gun laws push for high capacity magazines and deregulating silencers. This wasn’t an act of nature; it was an act of legislative cowardice. https://t.co/uricsVKkxM
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 1, 2019
Sounds like Omar missed the memo: the gunman purchased his legally. He went through a background check, the very same background check anti-gunners are continually saying don't take place. The gunman had nothing in his background, as far as we know, to indicate that he would carry out this kind of attack. Not only that but suppressors (or "silencers" as gun control advocates like to call them) are already regulated. People have to pay a $200 fee, file an application, go through a background check, wait nine months to a year and then maybe they'll get approved for one. They want a ban on "high-capacity" magazines but that didn't stop other mass shootings from taking place in gun control heavy states, like California.
Gun control advocates like to blame the NRA for shootings but they forget one thing: the NRA is made up of 5 million members, 5 million law-abiding gun owners. We're moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. We also support other pro-gun groups who protect the Second Amendment. People like Omar are taking aim at gun owners as a whole, not just an organization, when they say they want to "confront the NRA's power." It means they hate the Second Amendment and those in Congress who work to protect it.
