The Political Blame Game Continues After Nightclub Shooting
(ConservativeSense.com) – Mass shootings, where a shooter has shot and injured or killed four or more people in an incident, have become an epidemic in the US, with 617 events so far in 2022 resulting in almost 650 deaths and over 2500 injuries as of November 27, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to point fingers, with many Democrats notably blaming a proliferation of guns and a culture of hate, fear, and division on their Republican rivals. Conservatives place the blame on the shooters themselves and a lack of mental health treatment, as well as pointing out how Democrats are soft on crime.
After the recent mass shooting at a nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the political blame game continues.
Police and patrons allege Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, fired into the crowd, killing five and injuring 18 at Club Q in Colorado Springs on Saturday, November 19. Almost as soon as the news broke, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued two statements. In the first, she mourned the “senseless slaughter” at the club “on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance,” calling the act “despicable.”
Pelosi pointedly talked about Democratic congressional actions “to combat gun violence.” Yet, one of the major pieces of legislation to which she referred, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which became law in June, was sponsored in the Senate by Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Nancy Pelosi blamed "MAGA Republicans" for the shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado that left five dead https://t.co/IfAFI2qgCm
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 22, 2022
Pelosi’s second statement focused on opposing ”the wicked forces of hate,” the blame for which the speaker laid at the feet of “MAGA Republicans” and their “dangerous rhetoric” and “shameless bigotry.”
While relatively silent on the Colorado Springs shooting, Republicans have, in the past, pointed to other causes for these events. After the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, Governor Greg Abbott (R) said, “Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental-health challenge, period.” Senator Ted Cruz, alternatively, blamed the lack of armed guards. Conservatives also point out rising rates of violent crime in Democrat-run cities like Chicago and Oakland.
The number of mass shootings suggests there’s still much to be done to solve this complex issue. Instead of throwing blame like a hot potato back and forth across the political divide, wouldn’t politicians better serve their constituents by working together to find points of agreement?
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