Anti-Gun Politicians Respond to Gun-Free Zone Shootings With Calls for…More Restrictions on Gun Rights…Again…Still…

It’s as predictable as it is disgusting. Antigun politicians — before knowing any facts, or even worse, ignoring them — rush to demand more anti-gun restrictions on law-abiding citizens in the wake of horrible tragedies perpetrated by deranged criminals.

Doing so doesn’t keep people safe. Suppressing Constitutional rights leaves good people defenseless and emboldens those who don’t care about laws in the first place.

After the recent horrible tragedies at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, and at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, it was the same predictable demands from gun control activists and antigun politicians, despite the fact that none of the demands would have prevented the horrific events nor prevent them from happening in the future.

For the gun control advocates and politicians making such demands, it’s the same song every time — blame everything else but the criminal and penalize good, peaceful people.

Student Leaders Murdered

The masked murderer has yet to be apprehended after using a 9mm handgun to open fire on a closed-door classroom at Brown University on Saturday afternoon. Nineteen-year-old Ella Cook, who served as the vice president of the Brown University College Republicans, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov were both killed, according to Fox News. Nine others were injured.

Investigators have confirmed few details other than releasing video footage in hopes that the public can help identify the suspected murderer, who remains at large. Police, however, did confirm that a 9mm firearm was criminally misused in the attack.

Facts never have mattered much to U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), so it’s not surprising – yet still disgusting – that this gun control movement darling would reflexively blame firearms and even President Donald J. Trump for the shooting.

“Over the last year, President Trump has been engaged in a dizzying campaign to increase violence in this country,” the senator told CNN after the Brown University shooting. “He eliminated the White House Office of Gun Violence Protection, and he has stopped funding mental health grants and community anti-gun violence grants… So he has been engaged in a pretty deliberate campaign to try to make violence more likely in this country. I think you’re unfortunately going to see the results of that on the streets of America.”

To be clear, President Trump did not stalk outside the Brown University classroom before murdering students. President Trump did not illegally carry a firearm into a gun-free university campus. President Trump did not pull the trigger to murder two and leave nine others injured.

Police have yet to release any other details surrounding the murders, yet Sen. Murphy is quite confident he believes who the perpetrator is. And firearms chambered in 9mm are the most commonly purchased firearm in the country — including by African American women seeking to protect themselves and children in neighborhoods where crime is rampant. Is Sen. Murphy calling for an unconstitutional ban on handguns, too? The blame-shifting is nauseating.

Not Alone

Sen. Murphy wasn’t the only one exploiting the tragedy to  immediately call for gun control.

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat, quickly jumped to post a video message calling for gun restrictions on firearms that weren’t even used in the Providence, Rhode Island, murders.

“It is time to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in our nation,” the Congresswoman stated. “I am just so disgusted with my Republican colleagues and their lack of acknowledgement that these lives matter.”

Again, facts be damned. The FBI crime data revealed the previous federal “assault weapons” ban did not reduce crime when it was in place.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz didn’t want to be left out of any news coverage following the tragedy that happened halfway across the country. The governor is looking for anything to distract from the current state fraud and taxpayer fund abuse that’s become known, so of course Gov. Walz used the Brown students murders to create a new news cycle for himself.

“Gwen and I are extending our deepest condolences to the Brown University community as Americans mourn yet another tragic mass shooting,” the governor posted. He followed that up by immediately announcing he was enacting executive orders to “combat gun violence,” and shifting blame for his failed gun control special session to the Minnesota Speaker of the House.

“There is one person stopping us from having a vote in the House of Representatives right now to ban assault weapons,” he said at a press conference where he signed the orders.

Brady United President Kris Brown made her opinion known once again. The gun control advocate stated, “Guns are the leading cause of death for youth in this nation. Only in America do we live in fear of being shot and killed in our schools, places of worship, and grocery stores. Now, as students, faculty, and staff hide and barricade themselves in immense fear, we once again call on lawmakers in Congress and around the country to take action against this uniquely American public health crisis.”

She didn’t offer any realistic policy solutions. But she did falsely claim guns are the leading cause of death for youth.

Tragedy Down Under

The horrific shooting at a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, resulted in the deaths of 15 innocent Australians and dozens more injured. It was the largest attack on Jewish citizens in the world since the heinous October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel. There is ample and shocking video footage showing the perpetrators using bolt-action rifles and shotguns during their shooting spree. The perpetrators, a father-son duo of radicalized Islamic terrorists (the father was shot and killed by law enforcement), had received government permission slips to own their firearms in a country with strict, even “gold standard,” gun control restrictions.

What did Prime Minister Anthony Albanese do in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy? He called for even stricter gun controls on law-abiding Australians.

“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” PM Albanese told reporters “People’s circumstances can change. People can be radicalized over a period of time. Licenses should not be in perpetuity.”

Those remarks and a failure to address the underlying antisemitism and rise of radical violent Islam in Australia has led to harsh words from other leaders. Former federal treasurer and deputy leader of the Liberal Party in Australia Josh Frydenberg took the prime minister to task for his response.

“And, Prime Minister, I heard you say yesterday that you are ready for the fight on guns. Well, let me tell you, guns may have stolen the lives of 15 innocent civilians, but it was radical Islamist ideology that pulled the trigger,” he said in a longer message to media.

Politicians who respond to tragedy by calling for more restrictions on law-abiding citizens are betraying the very people they are elected to protect — peaceful, non-violent citizens. Ignoring criminals and blaming others won’t lead to safer communities, but more vulnerable ones. And more innocent lives will continue to be harmed.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.