Editor’s Note: This article contains reference to gun violence.
Following the shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill, multiple Republican politicians lofted the typical, clichèd thoughts and prayers toward the students, faculty and victim’s family. After decades of needless death and devastation, these thoughts and prayers have evolved into stinging and painful reminders of an apathy endemic in the Republican Party.
Take Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson for example. He simply said, “Our prayers are with all of those involved and pray that this situation ends swiftly.”
Such callous sentiments can only be found in the same man who, less than two weeks after the Parkland shooting in 2018, referred to the survivors as “spoiled, angry know-it-all children,” “immature ‘media prosti-tots’ [who] need to grab a passy” and “spoiled little bastards.”
This nonchalant mindset persists today, as shown by the NC Firearms Coalition, which tweeted, “For all the #libtards out there clamoring for gun control already in the wake of the #UNCChapelHill shooter situation – looks like gun control is already in place on the UNC Chapel Hill campus!”
Weirdly enough, I agree with the Firearms Coalition here. Gun control at UNC is never going to end gun violence — not while guns are readily available at the nearest Walmart or Dick’s Sporting Goods.
But what really struck me was the vilification of students traumatized by the UNC shooting. I initially thought Robinson’s statements were the result of an immensely depraved right-wing hack, but no. This is a common stance in the modern Republican Party.
The NC GOP, responding to a rally held at UNC by student organizers, said, “Reprehensible rhetoric in the midst of politicizing a tragic loss of life for partisan gain. Your NC Democrats, y’all.”
This statement, while milder than Robinson’s statements, stems from the same place. A man has died, and the GOP would rather cower in their blood-stained pews than look at what allowed such crimes to occur so easily.
The GOP believes there is nothing to be done and because of this, the only thing that can save us is divine intervention. Thus, after these almost-daily tragedies, we get statements like this, from UNC alum and North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore: “My prayers are with the students, staff and all of my Tarheel family.”
Or we can look at State Rep. Chris Humphreys, whose daughter was on campus for the shooting. He said in a now-removed tweet that “mental health and woke society” are to blame, not guns. There is no known sign of political motivation or mental health complications, and even if there were, perhaps guns shouldn’t be so readily available to someone influenced by ideology or individuals with mental illnesses.
Unsurprisingly, Humphreys voted in favor of SB 41, North Carolina’s recently passed pistol purchase permit repeal. Following the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting, Humphreys said, “I think our gun laws are strict enough; there’s background checks. Things fall through the cracks. It’s unfortunate, but you know, good guys need to have guns.”
The Uvalde shooter purchased his firearms and weapons just a few days before carrying out his attack. The “good guys” waited outside the classroom the shooter was in for an hour. When it comes to life and death, we cannot afford to have a system where “things fall through the cracks.”
And these cracks are foundational. Such cracks can lead to the collapse of an entire building. In our case with gun laws, politicians like Humphreys know they exist, but they still insist there’s nothing to be done.
We keep playing the same song and dance after every shooting. People die. Politicians pretend to mourn instead of enacting change to prevent such tragedies. Then we repeat. It’s exhausting.
This is all to say that God is not relevant to the GOP stance. It is simply a way to accomplish their true goals of gridlock. The more time spent praying, the less time spent voting. And by the time the rage brought on by a shooting is allowed to be discussed, a new shooting takes its place that requires more praying.
The GOP could change things, but they won’t. We know the solutions and we have for more than a decade. Red flag laws, mandatory waiting periods, expanded background checks and so much more have been shown to reduce gun violence. But because we must pray before we address the cause of the problem, the problem goes unaddressed.
Columbine occurred three years before I was born. I was 10 years old when 26 people, including children only a few years younger than myself, were slaughtered at Sandy Hook. I was 16 when students my age were massacred in Parkland. I was 20 when gun violence struck the small town of Uvalde.
I am just as capable of chronicling my life with significant mass shootings as I am of more conventional benchmarks. My life, and those of my peers, has been fundamentally defined by an era of perpetual gun violence both in and out of school.
The blood of these gun violence victims over the last two decades is on Republicans who would rather clasp their hands together and close their eyes than see reality and use those hands to sign gun reform into law.
You’ve been praying to God for over 20 years. It’s time you get the memo that it is your job to fix this, not God’s. So, for the love of God, protect North Carolinians.
