一名前共和党议员谴责他的前政党在更多的大规模枪击事件后在枪支控制方面做得很少，称前同事和他们的选民对第二修正案“宪法无知”。
上周末，两起致命枪击事件再次将枪支管制辩论置于美国政治的前沿和中心，第一起发生在德克萨斯州埃尔帕索的白人民族主义恐怖袭击，第二起发生在俄亥俄州代顿的一家酒吧，袭击者是一名动机不明的左翼嫌疑人。
在埃尔帕索，21岁的枪手帕特里克·克鲁修斯，张贴了一份充满仇恨的反对西班牙移民的宣言在沃尔玛枪杀22人之前。宣言使用了与唐纳德·特朗普总统相同的反移民“入侵”言论。他被捕入狱，没有保释。
在代顿，24岁的康纳·贝特斯，他有暴力厌恶女性的历史在警察开枪打死他之前，他在内德胡椒酒吧打死了9个人，包括他自己的妹妹。警方仍在调查贝特斯的动机可能是什么。
佛罗里达州前美国代表戴维·乔利(David Jolly)告诉MSNBC，聚焦特朗普“让更广泛的共和党通过”，因为“正是他们的沉默使这种叙事在全国的升级正常化。”
“这是他们在枪支管制上的无所作为，合理的枪支管制措施。我把自己也包括在内。听着，我试图在党内挑起事端，但失败了，在这一刻承认这一点很重要，”乔利说，他现在是一名独立人士。
“今天，我发现自己提供了与帕克兰枪击案当晚几个小时在我们佛罗里达州的家中所提供的同样的洞察力，那就是:共和党人永远不会在枪支控制方面做任何事情。从来没有。他们不会的。
“想想拉斯维加斯——当500人受伤时，他们什么也没做。脉搏夜总会，50人死亡。这个国家面临的问题是:我们允许恐怖分子、可疑恐怖分子购买枪支吗？共和党人什么也没做。帕克兰，他们什么也没做。
“伊曼纽尔·AME在南卡罗来纳州，什么都没有。去康涅狄格州的桑迪胡克，没什么。匹兹堡的犹太寺庙，什么都没有。圣地亚哥的犹太寺庙，什么都没有。萨瑟兰泉，德克萨斯州的福音教会，什么都没有。
“现在我们有德克萨斯，现在我们在同一个周末有俄亥俄州，我们得到的只有沉默。所以我这样说，是因为如果这是影响你意识形态的问题，作为一名选民，在这一时刻汲取的力量是致力于击败共和党人。”
乔利敦促民主党:“打败他们。打败他们每一个人。甚至是房子里的保险箱。打败他们。在参议院击败他们。夺回参议院。”
此外，乔利说，那些认为第二修正案“是为了在这个国家悲剧的时刻保护枪支权利，允许用战争武器进行屠杀”的共和党人“从根本上说，在宪法上是无知的”
“如果你知道这不是它所保护的，你继续无所作为，你比宪法上的无知更糟糕，你是个恶棍。当我看到共和党人什么都不做的时候，我所能想到的就是你的时代即将到来，”乔利说。
反对枪支方面更严格规定的共和党人试图将话题转移到心理健康上，称这是大规模枪击事件的真正原因，尽管他们的反对者指出其他国家没有枪支，也没有经历过类似的暴力。
特朗普也把焦点放在了精神健康上对他自己民族主义言论的批评埃尔帕索枪击事件后，确实提出了枪支管制的问题——但这与他不能通过民主党控制的众议院的移民改革有关。
“我们不能让那些在得克萨斯州埃尔帕索和俄亥俄州代顿遇害的人白白死去。同样对于那些受了重伤的人。特朗普周一在推特上写道:“我们永远不会忘记他们，以及那些在他们之前的人。”。
“共和党人和民主党人必须走到一起，接受强有力的背景调查，或许将这项立法与急需的移民改革结合起来。我们必须从这两个悲剧事件中得到一些好的东西，如果不是伟大的话！”
EX-GOP CONGRESSMAN SAYS REPUBLICANS WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING ON GUN CONTROL: 'NOTHING, EVER'
An ex-Republican congressman has condemned his former party for doing little on gun control in the wake of yet more mass shootings, calling ex-colleagues and their voters "constitutionally ignorant" regarding the Second Amendment.
Over the weekend, two deadly shootings put the gun control debate front and center of American politics once again, the first a white nationalist terror attack in El Paso, Texas, and the second an attack on a bar in Dayton, Ohio, by a leftist suspect whose motive is unknown.
In El Paso, the alleged shooter Patrick Crusius, 21, posted a hate-filled manifesto against Hispanic migrants before shooting 22 people dead at a Walmart. The manifesto used the same anti-immigrant "invasion" rhetoric as President Donald Trump. He was arrested and jailed without bond.
In Dayton, Connor Betts, 24, who had a history of violent misogyny, killed nine at Ned Peppers Bar, including his own sister, before police shot him dead. Police are still investigating what Betts' motive could have been.
David Jolly, a former U.S. representative from Florida, told MSNBC that focusing on Trump "gives a pass to the broader Republican Party" because "it is their silence that has normalized this escalation of this narrative across this country."
"It's their inaction on gun control, reasonable gun control measures. I include myself in that. Look, I tried to move the needle within the party and I failed, and it's important in this moment to acknowledge it," Jolly, who is now an independent, said.
"I find myself today offering the same insight I did the night of the Parkland shooting a few hours from our home in Florida, which is this: Republicans will never do anything on gun control. Nothing, ever. They won't.
"Think about Las Vegas—they did nothing when 500 people were injured. The Pulse Nightclub, 50 killed. The question for the nation was: Do we allow terrorists, suspected terrorists, to buy firearms? Republicans did nothing. Parkland, they did nothing.
"Emanuel AME in South Carolina, nothing. Go to Sandy Hook in Connecticut, nothing. The Jewish temple in Pittsburgh, nothing. The Jewish temple in San Diego, nothing. Sutherland Springs, evangelical church in Texas, nothing.
"Now we have Texas, now we have Ohio in the same weekend, and all we get is silence. So I say that because if this is the issue that informs your ideology, as a voter, the strength to draw in this moment is to commit to beating Republicans."
Jolly urged Democrats: "Beat 'em. Beat every single one of 'em. Even the safe ones in the House. Beat 'em. Beat 'em in the Senate. Take back the Senate."
Moreover, Jolly said those Republicans who believe the Second Amendment "was envisioned to protect gun rights in this moment of national tragedy, to allow carnage with weapons of war" are "fundamentally, constitutionally ignorant."
"And if you know that's not what it protects and you continue to do nothing, you're worse than constitutionally ignorant, you're a scoundrel. And all I can ever think of in this moment when I see Republicans do absolutely nothing is your time is coming," Jolly said.
Republicans who oppose stricter rules around guns seek to shift the conversation onto mental health, arguing that this is the true cause of mass shootings, though their opponents point to other countries that do not have guns and do not experience similar violence.
Trump, who also pushed the focus onto mental health as he faced criticism over his own nationalist rhetoric in the wake of the El Paso shooting, did raise the issue of gun control—but tied it to the immigration reforms he cannot pass through the Democrat-controlled House
"We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for those so seriously wounded. We can never forget them, and those many who came before them," Trump tweeted Monday.
"Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!"
