In the aftermath of the mass shootings in El Paso, Dayton – and before that Virginia Beach, Pittsburgh, Parkland, Annapolis, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Orlando, Charleston, Newtown, Virginia Tech, Columbine, etc., etc. – the United States Conference of Mayors is out with a statement urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “to immediately call the Senate back to Washington to take action on bipartisan gun safety legislation.” Specifically, the statement notes that “H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112 are bipartisan, sensible gun safety bills that would make our cities and our people safer, and would in no way compromise gun owners’ rights.”
Signing on to the letter from Virginia are:
- Justin Wilson (Mayor of Alexandria, VA)
- McKinley L. Price DDS (Mayor of Newport News, VA)
- Levar Stoney (Mayor of Richmond, VA)
Not listed on the letter are Mayors from several Virginia cities, including Charlottesville (Independent Nikuyah Walker), Hampton (Independent Donnie Tuck), Norfolk (Democrat Kenny Alexander), Roanoke (Democrat Sherman Lea), and…Virginia Beach (Republican Bobby Dyer). Now, it very well might be that these folks would have signed, but weren’t asked or whatever, or that they might sign in coming days, as most of them support taking serious action to prevent gun violence.
That last one – Virginia Beach, which just had a mass shooting on May 31 – really jumps out, though. Dyer, as noted, is a Republican. He also was a government professor at Pat Roberton’s Regent “University” (in air quotes), who after the May 31 mass shooting in his city, warned against a “knee-jerk reaction.” So yeah, when I say “jumps out,” I don’t mean “is surprising.” To the contrary, Dyer’s absence from this letter is about as expected. Still, it’s pathetic that he’s unwilling to take any serious action on this issue, despite the horrible tragedy that just happened in his own city so recently. Hopefully, voters will remember this the next time Dyer’s name’s on the ballot.
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