Hillary Clinton called out the NRA in her response to Las Vegas shooting
Following the deadliest mass shooting in American history (and that’s saying something, because we have a lot of mass shootings), Hillary Clinton has done what many politicians are unwilling to do. She’s called out the pro-gun lobbying NRA by name.
Last night, a gunman named Stephen Craig Paddock shot from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel at 22,000 people who were attending an open-air music festival below. He killed 50+ people and wounded 400+ more, according to the most recent numbers.
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He reportedly had at least 10 firearms with him, and based on video footage, it appears Paddock was using at least one automatic weapon.
His ownership of these weapons might not have even been illegal in Nevada, where machine guns, concealed-carry and open carry are all legal. You can buy an automatic weapon in Nevada as long as you don’t have a criminal record. Paddock reportedly didn’t have a criminal record.
Plus, in Nevada, there are no restrictions for how many guns you’re allowed to own, according to Newsweek. Gun owners are not required to register their weapons or have gun licenses.
If you’re shocked by these lax gun laws, a lot of the blame falls to the NRA, or the National Rifle Association. And Hillary Clinton is one of the few politicians who can admit that.
“Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get,” Hillary tweeted. “We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again.”
The fact is that the NRA has spent millions of dollars supporting politicians who will oppose gun control, so they can keep guns as legal and accessible as possible. It’s no secret that this leads to extreme cases of gun violence in the U.S., the likes of which are rarely seen elsewhere in the world except in wartime.
But if you listened to Donald Trump’s reaction to the shooting, you might not even realize there is a powerful lobbying group behind the availability of guns, especially assault weapons, in the U.S.
Trump called the shooting “an act of pure evil” in a televised address, and offered victims his “warmest condolences,” whatever that means, on Twitter. What he didn’t do was acknowledge our country’s problem with gun violence or offer any ideas for how we can stop these mass shootings from happening in America.
Anyway, here are Hillary’s tweets. You won’t see anything like this from Trump.
Las Vegas, we are grieving with you—the victims, those who lost loved ones, the responders, & all affected by this cold-blooded massacre.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017
The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots.
Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017
Our grief isn’t enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017
