#i am disgusted that ga-sen is so close

[barrowsteeth]

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[newstfionline]

Baseball field shooting captures both sides of the nation’s gun control debate

By William Wan and Mike DeBonis, Washington Post, June 15, 2017

The shooting of members of a Republican congressional baseball team on an Alexandria field Wednesday morning was in some ways a microcosm of the long-standing and heated debate about guns in American society.

For those in favor of gun control, that the shooter legally owned and carried a permit for the military-style semiautomatic rifle he used in a public place proved their point that too many guns with too much firepower are far too accessible. If he had not had access to such a rifle, would he have been able to injure multiple people?

For gun rights supporters, that armed officers from the U.S. Capitol Police stopped the shooter and prevented what could have been a mass slaying showed the importance of having guns in public so people can defend themselves against such attacks. Imagine what would have happened if it had been regular citizens on that field with no security detail in sight?

“It would have been a massacre without them,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said of the police officers who shot James T. Hodgkinson, the attacker.

“If this had happened in Georgia, he wouldn’t have gotten too far,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who was on the baseball field, told reporters. Loudermilk noted that one of his staffers keeps a 9mm handgun in his car when in Georgia but does not have a firearm with him in the D.C. area because of legal restrictions in the city.

Within minutes of the shooting Wednesday, it became clear that the right and left would both view the incident as tragic and reprehensible, but also that they would view the context very differently.

“If grown GOP were scared this am, can one imagine the terror kids had at Sandy Hook? Wake up GOP!!! #GunControl,” read an early-morning tweet.

“Before libs start w their Gun Control bs, this could have been done with a large truck or a butcher knife, good people w guns stopped it,” read an opposing early-morning tweet.

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told a Buffalo television station that he will now carry his gun everywhere in light of the shooting. “I have a carry permit,” he said to WKBW (Channel 7). “On a rare occasion, I’d have my gun in the glove box or something, but it’s going to be in my pocket from this day forward.”

In Virginia, where citizens may carry guns, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) argued for more background checks and to close a loophole that allows sales without background checks at gun shows in the state.

McAuliffe said his advocacy for greater gun control was “not for today’s discussion,” but he said: “I think we need to do more to protect all of our citizens. I have long advocated--this is not what today is about, but there are too many guns on the street.”

McAuliffe’s comments drew fire immediately from Katie Pavlich, a Fox News contributor.

“Of course, Governor Terry McAuliffe goes for more gun control as Republicans attacked say they only had baseball bats 2 defend selves,” Pavlich tweeted.

John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, retweeted Pavlich’s tweet and took an additional swipe at McAuliffe: “Disgusting. Not a day for politics.”

Yet the Second Amendment argument was almost unavoidable, with the notable wrinkle that the alleged shooter had made numerous anti-Trump statements on social media, appeared angered by Republican politics, was an ardent fan of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and lashed out at Republicans who support gun rights.