So 'this isn't the time' to talk about gun violence? What are we waiting for? | Opinion

Pamela Castellana
·2 min read
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Ten people went to the grocery store in Buffalo on May 14. They were all shot dead.  The shooter was wearing body armor and a military-grade helmet. He was carrying a modified Bushmaster XM-15 rifle. He said he was motivated by the "Great Replacement Theory" which has been pushed by far-right talking heads like Tucker Carlson and he identified as a white supremacist.

A Texas community sent their elementary school students to school on May 24. A man there legally purchased a semi-automatic rifle from a local gun store on May 17, 2022, a day after his 18th birthday, and purchased another rifle three days later. He used those weapons to wreak havoc on an elementary school, shooting second-, third- and fourth-graders and teachers. So far, 21 humans — 19 children and two teachers —have died.

That's 31 dead Americans in 10 days.

A sign with hands around each person's name who died in the mass shooting was left across from the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Ave. in Buffalo, NY with a message on May 16, 2022
A sign with hands around each person's name who died in the mass shooting was left across from the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Ave. in Buffalo, NY with a message on May 16, 2022

One of our local state representatives, Randy Fine, has yet to issue a substantive statement of condolence regarding the massacre in the Texas elementary school. Yet he had time to tweet and post on Facebook what seemed to many to be a threat to the president of the United States for "politicizing" yet another massacre that I say we can easily lay at the hands of the NRA.

Fine went on to say he isn't interested in any ideas that come from his political opposition party, making it clear there is no dialogue to be had, and making it clear he doesn't think any of the 42,809 Democrats in his district have a voice worth listening to.

I am so tired of people saying we shouldn't "politicize" these things. And "This isn't the time.” Hell, 10 only days elapsed between those two events. How can we find "the time" in between slaughters? What are we waiting for? Not politicizing hasn't saved one single life.

Pamela Castellana
Pamela Castellana

So politicize away, all elected officials who stand with the majority of Americans in wanting sane, common sense gun policy. Do not let the NRA-funded GOP convince you to wait for an "appropriate time.”

We compromised 31 lives in 10 days.

No more compromise. Democracy is worth fighting for. And so are each of the precious lives lost in those 10 days.

Pamela Castellana is chair of Brevard Democrats.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 'Not the time' to talk gun violence and policy? Oh, it's time | Opinion