Thoughts and Prayers are not enough!
By Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson
Just one week ago seven innocent people were murdered in West Texas by a madman with an assault weapon. Twenty-two people were injured during the massacre, including a child just seventeen months old.
If this were not enough, nearly one monthearlier twenty-two people, shopping in an El Paso Walmart were killed by another madman with an assault rifle who said that he wanted to kill Mexicans. Twenty-six people suffered life-altering injuries in the El Paso shooting.
During the thirty-one days of August, fifty-three people throughout our nation lost their lives in mass shootings, according to data from the U.S. Justice Department. The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks mass shootings in the U.S., reportsthat there have been 283 such shootings since the beginning of 2019. This madness has to stop!
The American people are weary and disappointed with elected officials who respond to these shootings by offering “thoughts and prayers.” That will not bring their relatives backor repair the injuries suffered by victims.
Recent polls tell us that seven out of ten Americans support a ban on assault weapons. They realize that they have no place in the hands of citizens who are not members of the military where these weapons are used on battlefields.
Those who favor a ban such as the one that was in place for ten years between 1994 and 2004 are pleading with elected officials to do something, to reinstate the ban. Members of the Democratic Party are prepared to do as the American people demand.
The reason why we do not have an assault weapons ban is that the leadership of the Republic Party and the President of the United States are far more interested in the interests ofthe National Rifle Association than they are in those of the majority of the American public.
Data compiled by the Federal Elections Commissions states that the NRA contributed $30 million towards the election of President Trump in 2016. It spent $54 million in the 2016 campaign, with the over-whelming majority of the money going to Republican candidates who support the NRA and its wishes.
Those who oppose an assault weapons ban are quick to point to the Second Amendment of the Constitution which they interpret as giving all citizens a right to purchase and own assault weapons.
Certainly the founders of this country, mentally sane as they were, did not intend the result that we now face in our country, innocent people being gunned down in broad daylight by their fellow citizens.
Now is the time to ban all assault weapons. The sane among us believe that we must act to stop more senseless murders. The sane among us do not believe that “thoughts and prayers” are sufficient to ease the pain.
