The United States continues to reel from seven mass shootings in seven days, with one in Atlanta, Georgia that killed six Asian American women and eight people in total, along with another in a Boulder, Colorado grocery store that killed 10 people, including a police officer.
After the shooting in Boulder, President Joe Biden called on lawmakers to ban assault weapons once again, saying:
"While we're still waiting on more information regarding the shooter, his motive, the weapons he used, the guns, the magazines, the modifications to those weapons that have apparently taken place here, I don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take commonsense steps that will save lives in the future. We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again."
The tragedies come less than two weeks after the House of Representatives passed a pair of gun law reform bills that would expand background checks for gun owners and extend time for the FBI to conduct these background checks.
As a result, Republicans are scrambling to justify why these mass shootings are necessary for Americans to be free, and why any restrictions or heightened thresholds for gun ownership are an infringement on the Second Amendment.
But one conservative-leaning newspaper—the New York Post—sided with Biden in an op-ed from its editorial board.
Editorial: The Post says: Get weapons of war off America’s streets https://t.co/McewVQjZJp https://t.co/fAZtruP0MJ— New York Post (@New York Post) 1616588487.0
It reads in part:
"The New York Post does not see this as a conservative or liberal issue — it's an issue of life and death. Curbing guns is what led to New York City's three-decade reduction in murders. And, sadly, it's the dismissal of that progress that has led to a rise in shootings here. Outside the city, the toll of semi-automatic weapons is a sad litany of cities and schools: Newtown, Parkland, Aurora, Las Vegas. It's a national shame."
The paper—owned by the same family that owns Fox News, the Murdochs—saw instant backlash from conservatives.
AR-15 is not a weapon of war......close ur mouth, ur ignorance is pouring out, get the criminals off AMERICA'S stre… https://t.co/0WWhnB5pi7— eugene ryman (@eugene ryman) 1616604515.0
Nah I’m good thanks. https://t.co/VOUo1gei8Z— Mopar_Pat (@Mopar_Pat) 1616595188.0
"Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play." Statist propaganda. https://t.co/4lc2TWZuq7— Freedom in Arms (@Freedom in Arms) 1616594026.0
These so called “weapons of war” allow us to defend ourselves from tyranny #2A https://t.co/m5Y6KvRqc5— cob (@cob) 1616593602.0
Editorial: Get journos off America's streets and leave guns alone. https://t.co/2Q6qahWh1N— Abe (@Abe) 1616591434.0
@nypost I expect ignorant editorials from the NY Times, not the Post. Try again.— Mark Worthington (@Mark Worthington) 1616623094.0
But not everyone was opposed.
Amen. Don’t need it. Get rid of it! https://t.co/7HneUP5Sko— Joseph E. Lucas (@Joseph E. Lucas) 1616590608.0
exactly there is no reason why anybody should have these guns except the military https://t.co/YZkTQer50C— sabit715 (@sabit715) 1616593526.0
Nobody needs a weapon like this to protect their home and family from intruders or to go deer hunting. Get this shi… https://t.co/MSkreh5Z2q— JoeM (@JoeM) 1616620178.0
But until something is done about the 60 vote threshold imposed by the Senate filibuster, even moderate gun law reform is almost certain to fail.