It was particularly abhorrent when three Democrat state lawmakers – Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson – joined protesters who invaded the Tennessee State Capitol in the wake of the shooting. They were chanting and demanding stricter gun laws, even though the shooter had already broken the law by possessing firearms illegally.
What’s more, a radical transgender group claimed that the Nashville shooter felt “no other effective way to be seen” than killing six people. This is a disturbing narrative that blames the tragedy on society’s treatment of trans people.
This is a dangerous double standard. Lawmakers should not be using tragedies to push their political agenda. Instead, they should work together to find real solutions to the problem of gun violence.
That’s why it’s encouraging to see Tennessee’s U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Haggerty introducing the Securing Aid for Every (SAFE) School Act in response to the mass shooting. This proposed bill would create a $900 million grant program to help schools train and hire former law enforcement officers and veterans to increase security for students.
This is a much better approach than the cheap political grandstanding we have seen from the Democrats. We must focus on real solutions to gun violence, not on using tragedies to push an agenda.
The Second Amendment is part of our Constitution and it is not going away anytime soon. We must protect it and make sure that law-abiding citizens can continue to exercise their right to bear arms.
