Instead of honoring a moment of silence for the victims of Sunday’s Texas massacre alongside his Congressional colleagues, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) decided to walk out and talk about gun control on social media.
Lieu shared his condolences for the victims and in the same breath argued for stricter gun control laws, despite the fact that the Texas shooter broke gun control laws to carry out his attack.
Let’s break down Lieu’s argument for not wanting to “be silent.”
1. Lieu stated:
My colleagues right now are doing a moment of silence in the House of Representatives chambers. I respect their right to do that and I myself have participated in many of them. But I can’t do this again; I’ve been to too many moments of silences. In just my short period in congress three of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history have occurred. I will not be silent.
I understand that Congressman Lieu wants to respect the dead by taking action to prevent deaths in the future, but what a poor time to protest! Choosing to walk out on your colleagues when they are honoring those who lost their lives through silent reflection is not only disrespectful to your peers, it’s disrespectful to those grieving families individuals who are comforted by such gestures. Their silence was obviously meant to show respect, not to shirk the reality of the event, as Lieu suggests.
2. He finished in this way:
I urge us to pass reasonable gun safety legislation, including a universal background check law supported by 80 percent of Americans, a ban on assault rifles and a ban on bump stocks. We need to do that. We cannot be silent. We need to act now
Lieu must not realize that background checks are already in place for purchasing firearms. Furthermore, the only reason the Texas shooter was able to purchase his assault weapons was due to an error on behalf of the Air Force who did not report his previous domestic abuse charges, which would have barred him from obtaining the weapons in the first place.
The rest of Lieu’s argument shows that he is not so much concerned with the issue at hand as much as he is with politicized gun-control talking points. He even mentions a ban on bump stocks, a key political talking point used after the Las Vegas shooting. When will playing politics end and authentic public service begin?
If Lieu really seeks to make a true impact, he should drop the holier-than-thou “I will not be silent” talk, join his colleagues in respecting the dead and their loved ones, and work alongside his lawmaker buddies to impress some real heart change on his own constituents in these dark days.