Senate Republicans will blame anything else if it means getting away from passing common-sense gun control legislation. Despite the evidence that lowering the gun purchase age to 18 in his own state allowed the gunman to buy the weapon used in the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) cited rap music and video games as reasons shootings keep happening.
If this reasoning sounds familiar to you, it should. This is the same explanation politicians gave after the Columbine shooting – pointing to trenchcoats, rock and rap music, and video games as culprits instead of the broad access to guns.
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Rep. Jackson offered his thoughts and prayers during an interview with Fox News and said there would be discussions “in the media regarding Second Amendment rights.” From there, Jackson shifted the blame towards rap music and video games.
“When I grew up, things were different,” he continued. “And I just think that kids are exposed to all kinds of horrible stuff nowadays too. I look back, and I think about the horrible stuff they hear when they listen to rap music, the video games that they watch from a really early age with all of this horrible violence and stuff, and I just think that they have this access to the internet on a regular basis, which is just, you know, it’s not good for kids.”
I find it funny how it’s always rap music that gets blamed for horrible tragedies and not the representatives unwilling to act to protect the citizens they represent. Reportedly, the Senate GOP is willing to work on gun control legislation (I’ll believe it when I see it). There may be bipartisan interest in expanding background checks and “red flag” laws, but that’s the extent things could go.
It would take ten Republican Senators to vote yes, and if they didn’t do it after Columbine or Newtown, I have a hard time believing they will after Buffalo and Texas.
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