In the wake of the recent Texas school shooting, Stephen King explained what it will take to end the never-ending mass tragedies like the one in Ulvade, Texas, which left at least 19 children dead after an 18-year-old gunman had zero trouble buying two assault rifles immediately after his birthday.
King supplies a very “simple” take (he uses that word, too), one that cuts through all the deflecting from Texas Republicans like huffy Sen. Ted Cruz (who walked out of an interview while complaining that people are politicizing the inherently political issue of gun violence) and Gov. Greg Abbott (who couldn’t believe that Beto O’Rourke called him out for doing nothing to stop the madness). These confrontations, while necessary, will likely go nowhere. To that end, King appears to suggest that there’s no changing the minds of these public-facing representatives. Instead, transformation is only possible by pushing them out of office.
“If the gun protectors in Congress are voted out, things may change,” the bestselling author tweeted. “If they retain their seats, nothing will change. Pretty simple.”
If the gun protectors in Congress are voted out, things may change. If they retain their seats, nothing will change.
Pretty simple.— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 26, 2022
It’s an accurate point, especially because Mitt Romney isn’t about to return his $13+ million in donations from the NRA, nor will we see the same from the other lawmakers on the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence’s list of gun-lobby contributions.
King, who wrote an essay called “Guns” after the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting, has made no secret of his own firearm ownership. However, he has vigorously argued that semi-automatic weapons should be largely banned while also calling out how it’s simply too easy to purchase them. Meanwhile (this week) in Oklahoma, GOP lawmakers continued with their crusade of doing everything possible to make it even easier to purchase guns.
Yep, there’s a reason why “Sudafed” trended on Twitter this week — because it’s disproportionally more difficult to buy certain OTC cold medications than it is to acquire a gun. And yet, the NRA is still forging ahead with their pre-planned celebratory conference this week, and yes, Ted Cruz will be in attendance.