Liberals have again blamed the National Rifle Association for the mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and disparaged those who sent thoughts and prayers to the victims.
A lone gunman entered a church and began firing on Sunday, killing 26 people and injuring 20 others. The shooter was found dead with a gunshot wound, in his vehicle a few miles from the church. It is unclear if the shooter shot himself or was shot by a resident who returned fire at the gunmen. Authorities have identified the shooter as 26-year-old Devin Kelley and said he used a Ruger AR-556 rifle.
Business Insider reports the gunman shouldn't have been able to legally posses a firearm.
Devin Patrick Kelley, the man authorities say killed 26 and injured 20 in the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history, should have been prohibited from buying a gun under US law.
A former airman with the US Air Force, Kelley, received a "bad conduct" discharge from the military after charges of assault against his spouse and child led him to be court-martialed.
Military members dishonorably discharged cannot legally purchase a gun, but Kelley's bad-conduct discharge falls just short of that mark.
Kelley apparently was not convicted of domestic violence in the incidents that led him to be disciplined; such a conviction could have also legally disqualified him from gun ownership.
But even if the assault charges didn't technically go down as domestic violence, assault alone can be treated as a felony, which should preclude gun ownership. And even if the charges didn't go down as felonies, the twin charges carried a maximum sentence of over a year in prison, and therefore should preclude gun ownership.
Before all the facts of the case were known, liberals were quick to blame the NRA for the shooting.
https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/927284435472601089
Thanks, @NRA, for helping us focus on the real issues here, literally minutes after more Americans are massacred. https://t.co/umCqUFouKA
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) November 5, 2017
THIS HORRIFIC, PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY IS POLITICAL. I won't wait to talk about how lawmakers allow the @NRA to endanger us.
Sutherland Springs https://t.co/64qNmhhNE2
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) November 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/SofieRKarasek/status/927383947318910976
MSNBC anchor Joy Reid said the NRA is "soaked and bathed in blood."
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/927272911538450433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fjacobb-38%2F2017%2F11%2F05%2Fhelpful-joy-reid-slams-nra-as-soaked-and-bathed-in-blood-after-san-antonio-church-shooting%2F
Comedian Chelsea Handler blamed Republicans for the shooting.
Innocent people go to church on Sunday to honor their God, and while doing so, get shot in killed. What country? America. Why? Republicans.
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) November 5, 2017
Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) weighed in and asked his colleagues how they sleep at night.
Can you sleep tonight, colleagues, when the price of gun lobby goodwill is this - blood soaked church and school floors, city streets?
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 5, 2017
Aside from casting blame at the NRA, other liberals disparaged politicians and others who sent thoughts and prayers to the victims.
The murdered victims were in a church. If prayers did anything, they'd still be alive, you worthless sack of shit. https://t.co/iGHxPrYrLN
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) November 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/927284820094390272
https://twitter.com/JamesPMorrison/status/927391957915070464
They were in church. God was with them the whole time.
Their President did nothing to protect them. https://t.co/XhxljskiH5
— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) November 5, 2017
They and this entire nation need so much more from you and your cronies than your "prayers". https://t.co/EjA0cqtnXE
— Audra McDonald (@AudraEqualityMc) November 5, 2017
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said thoughts and prayers are not enough.
Thoughts & prayers are not enough, GOP. We must end this violence. We must stop these tragedies. People are dying while you wait.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 5, 2017