Another day, another mass shooting, the reality? No stopping it Republicans continue to Make America Grieve Again

“The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word FRAUD, on the American people by special interest groups I have ever seen in my lifetime.” ~ The conservative Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Warren E. Burger, in 1991.

The gunman who murdered eight at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas, was identified as a 33-year-old former security guard Mauricio Garcia whose social media accounts document he was an adherent to neo-Nazi ideology. After being shot by responding police officers, he was found in full tactical gear, armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle, and a patch popular among the Proud Boys and Neo-Nazis that read RWDS (“Right Wing Death Squad”) on his vest.

Reaction was immediate and predictable, particularly on the Twitter platform, where hundreds of photos and videos were posted of the carnage left behind. There were also the tired mantra of 2A gun advocates and the elected politicians supported by them repeating the “thoughts & prayers” coupled with “we need more guns” and then more mental health treatment resources statements.

Addressing the images which included graphic photos of sheet covered bodies outside the H&M store with pools of blood visible, the New York Times noted:

Twitter Criticized for Allowing Texas Shooting Images to Spread– Graphic images of the attack went viral on the platform, which has made cuts to its moderation team. Some users said the images exposed the realities of gun violence.

Considerable critique was leveled at Twitter’s owner Elon Musk; “the unusually graphic nature of the images drew sustained outcry from users. And they threw a harsh spotlight on Twitter’s content moderation practices, which have been curtailed since Mr. Musk acquired the company last year.”

But in a larger sense, almost a quorum if you will in the sphere of public debate, sentiments such as “We need more gory photos. It is the lack of reality which only gory photos can show that has enabled the Republican pro-gun stance which has led directly to all these mass shootings. The media has been complicit in covering up the carnage. Enough already.” were more commonplace in the ongoing Twitter threads related to the shooting.

The question becomes does the shock value of open publishing gory photos that detail the outcome of what assault weapons do to human bodies outweigh decorum? Afterall, death has been well documented for years by media coverage of war zones, natural disasters, and in some cases even political-based violence and death by gunfire such as John Filo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller minutes after the unarmed student was fatally shot by an Ohio National Guardsman.

That photo was literally on the front page of nearly every print media outlet and used in broadcast coverage after

Kent State, and later, many credited that image to changing the narrative of the war in Vietnam and the protest movement against the war.

But the debate over the Second Amendment and the apparent lack of political will to resolve the issue over gun reform, let along a ban on military style assault weapons, is married to the issues over documenting the massacres.

One person noted: “During Vietnam, the nightly body count caught the country’s attention that, combined with pictures of the carnage, helped make a difference to demand an end to the conflict. Today, the body counts get a mere shrug at most.

Republican, of the U.S. House proudly displaying the chosen weapon for a majority of mass shooters in the U.S. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday told reporters during the briefing regarding the shooting in Allen, Texas: “We have spoken out consistently about the concerning rise in hate-fueled violence in this country.”

President Biden issued a statement taking aim at Republicans in Congress:

“Too many families have empty chairs at their dinner tables. Republican Members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.

Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”

Gun backers with loud adamancy claim that for the Democrats it is always political power … “They know banning assault rifles wont save lives as 78% of mass shootings are done with handguns. That’s fact. The AR-15 is the number one selling rifle and earns the most $$$ so that’s why they are targeted.” Then the second most popular tactic seems to be deflection: “Laws on restricting guns isn’t the solution. The underlying societal problems need to be addressed. People in Italy have AR-15 but rarely mass shootings. So it’s not the guns but the culture and other societal issues.”

As AR-15 style weapons do terrible damage and are meant for killing, the pictures (results of the damage) must be shown and shown with each shooting to make it clear just how horrific this shit is. Otherwise the public slumber will continue.”

Frustration and anger mount.

Journalist Mark Follman pointed out that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott once again claims there is no gun-policy solution to mass shooters using AR-15s and instead emphasizes that mental illness is the “root cause” of these massacres — despite extensive case evidence showing that is false.

Newsom took aim at Congress tweeting: “This is freedom?? To be shot at a mall? Shot at school? Shot at church? Shot at the movies? We have become a nation that is more focused on the right to kill than the right to live. This is not what the American people want. Do your damn job, Congress.”

Earlier today Abbott told Fox News he will not be passing any common sense gun laws after the Allen mass shooting. The Texas governor has previously bragged that he now allows guns to be carried openly in public with “no training or license needed.”

There just seems to be no resolution and no movement politically or as a society. The following picture is a screen shot of various news broadcasts showing three members,

Yet just a week prior to this mass-shooting, a San Jacinto County, Texas, resident firing an AR-15 in his front yard killed five people in a neighboring home after they asked him to stop shooting because a baby was sleeping. Police said all were shot execution-style; the youngest victim was 8-yearsold.

Besides the mass murders at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and Club Q in Colorado Springs here is a partial list of when an AR-15-style weapon was used in a mass shooting:

• Feb. 14, 2018: Shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida leaves 17 people dead.

• Oct. 1, 2017: The Las Vegas slaughter of 58 people.

• Nov. 5, 2017: The Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting that claimed 26 lives.

• June 12, 2016: The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 dead.

• Dec. 2, 2015: The San Bernardino, Calif., shooting that killed 14 people.

• Dec. 14, 2012: The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that took 27 lives.

Given the reluctance to make any significant changes in the gun laws, it appears that Republicans, with their unwillingness to protect people from mass shooters, are only going to continue to Make America Grieve Again!