A mass-shooting at a bar in California by a U.S. Marine combat veteran Wednesday night shows the need for more gun control, an activist said.
“It is a uniquely American problem and Congress is to blame. Every other developed Country has angry white men and mentally ill people but no other country arms them with easily concealed handguns and military style assault weapons without regulations and detection by law enforcement,” said John Rosenthal, founder and chairman of Stop Handgun Violence, based in Beverly, Massachusetts, in a press release Thursday. “While the shooter’s motives are still unclear, one thing is blatantly obvious: The time for action is now.”
The written statement interprets the general election results Tuesday as an endorsement of gun control.
“Tuesday’s vote was largely a referendum on gun violence prevention and Americans overwhelmingly supported candidates that favored strong gun laws. The newly elected Congress must act on this issue as soon as they are sworn in,” Rosenthal said in the written statement. “For decades, the majority in Congress have chosen blood money campaign contributions over public safety and the deadly consequences have reached a tipping point. It is clear that the current congress and President do not care and will not act against their gun industry benefactors.”
Republicans lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday’s election, but gained seats in the U.S. Senate to add to their majority.
Thirteen people died in the mass-shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, including the shooter, who killed himself.
Another Massachusetts commentator writing in Politico offer a broader analysis, blaming men in general.
“If we want to stop the problem of mass shootings, we need to fix the problem of toxic masculinity,” writes Laura Kiesel, a Boston-area freelancer, in an article in Politico titled “Don’t Blame Mental Illness for Mass Shootings; Blame Men.”
