About four percent of the population of the tiny town of Sutherland Springs, Texas, was killed on Sunday in a mass shooting at First Baptist Church. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Nov 07, 2017
Gun control advocates pushed back on Tuesday against President Donald Trump's claim that stricter gun regulations would have led to "hundreds more dead" in Sunday's shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
On Sunday, Devin Patrick Kelley massacred 26 people--half of them children--using an AR-15 assault rifle while they worshiped at the local First Baptist Church. After Kelley went outside he exchanged gunfire with a neighbor, who then chased him from the scene.
In a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, the president chastised a reporter for daring to bring up the shooting before reluctantly answering her question about whether he would consider any legislation to make it harder for people to buy guns, in light of two of the nation's deadliest mass shootings taking place in a span of five weeks.
\u201cTrump on civilian who intervened in Texas shooting: \u201cIf he didn\u2019t have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more.\u201d\u201d— CNN (@CNN) 1510045464
"If [the neighbor] didn't have a gun, instead of having 26 dead," Trump claimed, "you would have had hundreds more dead."
But as journalist John Ladarola said in response, "There is absolutely no evidence for that statement."
The notion that "good guys with guns" are a necessary feature of society in order to keep citizens safe has been aggressively pushed by the National Rifle Association and parroted by Trump and other Republicans for years, despite a mountain of evidence that countries with less gun ownership experience far fewer shootings.
As has become customary after a mass killing, news outlets including the New York Times have published reports this week showing the clear correlation between the prevalence of firearms in the U.S. and that of shootings in churches, schools, and other public places. With six times as many guns as any other nation, the U.S. has experienced more than 90 mass shootings in the past five decades, while no other country has had more than 18.
On social media, a number of critics expressed a lack of patience with Trump's perfunctory use of the NRA's talking point--one that has become as predictable as mass shootings themselves.
\u201cBREAKING\u2014Trump says \u201chundreds\u201d would\u2019ve died if Texas shooter wasn\u2019t stopped by an armed man. \n\nThis myth must end. https://t.co/ONcH8qgpID\u201d— Splinter (@Splinter) 1510044970
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Gun control advocates pushed back on Tuesday against President Donald Trump's claim that stricter gun regulations would have led to "hundreds more dead" in Sunday's shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
On Sunday, Devin Patrick Kelley massacred 26 people--half of them children--using an AR-15 assault rifle while they worshiped at the local First Baptist Church. After Kelley went outside he exchanged gunfire with a neighbor, who then chased him from the scene.
In a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, the president chastised a reporter for daring to bring up the shooting before reluctantly answering her question about whether he would consider any legislation to make it harder for people to buy guns, in light of two of the nation's deadliest mass shootings taking place in a span of five weeks.
\u201cTrump on civilian who intervened in Texas shooting: \u201cIf he didn\u2019t have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more.\u201d\u201d— CNN (@CNN) 1510045464
"If [the neighbor] didn't have a gun, instead of having 26 dead," Trump claimed, "you would have had hundreds more dead."
But as journalist John Ladarola said in response, "There is absolutely no evidence for that statement."
The notion that "good guys with guns" are a necessary feature of society in order to keep citizens safe has been aggressively pushed by the National Rifle Association and parroted by Trump and other Republicans for years, despite a mountain of evidence that countries with less gun ownership experience far fewer shootings.
As has become customary after a mass killing, news outlets including the New York Times have published reports this week showing the clear correlation between the prevalence of firearms in the U.S. and that of shootings in churches, schools, and other public places. With six times as many guns as any other nation, the U.S. has experienced more than 90 mass shootings in the past five decades, while no other country has had more than 18.
On social media, a number of critics expressed a lack of patience with Trump's perfunctory use of the NRA's talking point--one that has become as predictable as mass shootings themselves.
\u201cBREAKING\u2014Trump says \u201chundreds\u201d would\u2019ve died if Texas shooter wasn\u2019t stopped by an armed man. \n\nThis myth must end. https://t.co/ONcH8qgpID\u201d— Splinter (@Splinter) 1510044970
Gun control advocates pushed back on Tuesday against President Donald Trump's claim that stricter gun regulations would have led to "hundreds more dead" in Sunday's shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
On Sunday, Devin Patrick Kelley massacred 26 people--half of them children--using an AR-15 assault rifle while they worshiped at the local First Baptist Church. After Kelley went outside he exchanged gunfire with a neighbor, who then chased him from the scene.
In a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, the president chastised a reporter for daring to bring up the shooting before reluctantly answering her question about whether he would consider any legislation to make it harder for people to buy guns, in light of two of the nation's deadliest mass shootings taking place in a span of five weeks.
\u201cTrump on civilian who intervened in Texas shooting: \u201cIf he didn\u2019t have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more.\u201d\u201d— CNN (@CNN) 1510045464
"If [the neighbor] didn't have a gun, instead of having 26 dead," Trump claimed, "you would have had hundreds more dead."
But as journalist John Ladarola said in response, "There is absolutely no evidence for that statement."
The notion that "good guys with guns" are a necessary feature of society in order to keep citizens safe has been aggressively pushed by the National Rifle Association and parroted by Trump and other Republicans for years, despite a mountain of evidence that countries with less gun ownership experience far fewer shootings.
As has become customary after a mass killing, news outlets including the New York Times have published reports this week showing the clear correlation between the prevalence of firearms in the U.S. and that of shootings in churches, schools, and other public places. With six times as many guns as any other nation, the U.S. has experienced more than 90 mass shootings in the past five decades, while no other country has had more than 18.
On social media, a number of critics expressed a lack of patience with Trump's perfunctory use of the NRA's talking point--one that has become as predictable as mass shootings themselves.
\u201cBREAKING\u2014Trump says \u201chundreds\u201d would\u2019ve died if Texas shooter wasn\u2019t stopped by an armed man. \n\nThis myth must end. https://t.co/ONcH8qgpID\u201d— Splinter (@Splinter) 1510044970
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.