Virginia House Democratic Whip, Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington/Fairfax), nails it:
29 people dead. Dozens injured in two mass shootings. Tragic. Gut-wrenching. Avoidable.
Two points.
1) The El Paso massacre (not a mass shooting but a premeditated massacre) is the largest premeditated attack on Latinos in U.S. History. Make no mistake – this is the byproduct of the Trump era’s racist, ugly, and poisoning anti-Latino/anti-immigrant invective. Many have feared this for a while now. How many (almost daily) nods and winks from the President need to happen before another sociopathic and racist domestic terrorist acts?
2) Predictably – Republicans in Congress and in the Virginia General Assembly continue to live in thrall of the gun lobby and their mangled interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. It has been months (and years) since the killings in Virginia Beach – and Sandy Hook – and Aurora – and Las Vegas – and Orlando – and still Republicans refuse to pass a single piece of sensible gun violence prevention legislation to address the easy access to the weapons of war on our streets.
Enough is enough. We will rise above this – and ensure that families no longer have to live in fear of these acts of senseless hate and gun violence.
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