How many doubling-downs is it?
It’s not enough that the AR-15 is the weapon of choice for mass shooters, no. Republicans in Congress think that’s cause for celebration. In fact, Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia (what a guy!) handed out AR-15 lapel pins to Republican colleagues “during National Gun Violence Survivors Week,” writes Steve Benen at MaddowBlog:
But as it turns out, the Georgian wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines. The Alabama Media Group reported this week:
From “The Star Spangled Banner” to the hamburger, the United States has a number of official national symbols. An Alabama congressman’s bill would add another: a national gun. Rep. Barry Moore visited a Troy gun shop on Tuesday to unveil legislation making the AR-15 the “National Gun of America.”
In other words, the United States already has a national anthem, a national flag, and national holidays, but we do not have an official national gun. A Republican congressman in Alabama hopes to change that.
H.R.1095 has as of now three Republican co-sponsors. Pistol-packin’ Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Troll-in-Residence Clyde, and International Man of Mystery, Rep. George Santos of New York, all think The United States of Freakin’ America is incomplete without an official mass-murder weapon.
They’re trolling, Benen is sure, as that seems to be why they think voters sent them to Congress on your nickel and mine.
“If your instinct is to be disgusted by politicians who’d respond to mass shootings by celebrating the weapon used in too many of the slayings then the Republicans championing this bill are no doubt delighted,” Benen writes:
So why not ignore it? In part because efforts like these tell us something important about Republican politics: Members like Moore and his cohorts seem to realize that stunts like these will elevate them in the eyes of their party. The path to far-right celebrity status is paved with dumb bills that create fundraising opportunities and appearances in conservative media.
They are in Washington, D.C. to be extremist influencers, not legislators, and to further mutilate the very country that, in their delusions, they believe they came to save from effete liberal weenies. And to land future, higher-paying gigs at Fox.
Homeschooled Boy: And on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could fight the dinosaurs. And the homosexuals.
God Bless America.