To Kevin McCarthy, 3 dead kids and 3 dead adults are not ‘facts’ enough for gun control | Opinion

When asked about gun-control legislation on Wednesday in the wake of the Nashville school shooting that left six victims dead, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he must “see all the facts” first.

Apparently, three dead children and three dead adults are not enough “facts” for the Republican speaker.

The tragedy in Nashville occurred Monday at a private Christian school. The shooter was a 28-year-old former student named Audrey Hale, who was killed by police responding to the emergency.

Those shot to death were three students — Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, who were all 9 years old — and three adults — Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

Nashville police said Hale used two assault-type weapons and a handgun in carrying out the attack.

Those are facts. Here is another one: The Monday incident was the latest in 130 mass shootings in America so far this year. That is more to this point in the year than any year since 2013. The Gun Violence Archive, which compiles such data, considers an event to be a mass shooting if at least four people are shot.

Here’s another fact: The Kaiser Family Foundation says guns are the leading cause of death in American children ages 1 to 19. Ponder that for a moment. Guns kill more kids than car crashes, medical emergencies, accidents, or illnesses.

A CNN reporter pressed McCarthy to explain what additional facts he needed to consider gun control legislation. The House Speaker refused to answer, “and left through an exit.”

So much for courageous leadership.

Republican challenge

Republicans get twisted into philosophical knots when mass shootings occur. GOP House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a shooting victim himself, also refused to discuss gun-control measures on Wednesday.

CNN reported Scalise repeated GOP talking points about improving mental health and securing schools as possibilities. “I really get angry when I see people try to politicize it for their own personal agenda, especially when we don’t even know the facts,” Scalise said.

Actually, the facts could not be more obvious.

The issue is assault weapons

As if any more proof was needed about where many Republicans stand on the issue of controlling weapons, the GOP-led Legislature in North Carolina on Wednesday voted to allow handgun purchases in the state without first requiring a sheriff’s permit.

Associated Press reported that the North Carolina bill eliminates a longstanding permit system requiring sheriffs to perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants. The repeal of the previous law took effect immediately.

McCarthy, Scalise and the Republican leadership have enough facts to review if average Americans should be able to legally possess assault weapons. Tired references to the Second Amendment are not a good enough justification. Even Second Amendment supporters, like the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, believed gun rights came with some caveats. “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,” Scalia wrote in the landmark 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. “The right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

Getting rid of guns entirely is not the issue. It is assault weapons. That should be reviewed by elected leaders.

Until then, Americans have proven adept at killing each other with military-grade weapons that have no reasonable application in everyday life. That is a fact even McCarthy cannot ignore.