In the wake of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, my emotions have run the gamut from shock, to sadness, to anger. It is very hard to analyze some events that hit you so hard emotionally.

The brutal killing of Black Americans in a local grocery store just because they were people of color exposes the truth behind Republicans’ appeals to racism and white supremacy. If I had a dollar for every time, I have heard a Republican launch into a tirade over the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, Stacy Abrams, I would be buying myself a new set of golf clubs. Their anger rises to a level that cannot be the result simply of her policy positions. As a mainstream Democrat who believes that government can be a force for good, she is a capitalist and a believer in fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution, including voting rights and opportunities for all Americans. I am convinced that their over-the-top, visceral anger lies in a deep-seated immoral belief in white supremacy. When a major political party assumes the radical and ugly beliefs of its disgraced ex-president, Donald Trump, and then weaponizes those beliefs by claiming white people are victims and endangered, that party bears a huge responsibility for the actions of the most radicalized people within their political base. They bear responsibility not only for the foul personal attacks on Stacy Abrams, but also for the ugly racist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the brutal racial killings in Buffalo, New York, and the unforgiveable venomous attack on our Capitol on January 6, 2021. The reason they cannot escape responsibility for these other events is because they have accepted, rationalized, justified, and promoted the racist beliefs within the Trumpified GOP.

As for the killings of the teachers and school children in Uvalde, Texas, the killer’s motivation did not appear to be racial. Like the Buffalo shootings, though, it does embrace cold, pure evil. How someone could shoot their own grandmother and then drive to an elementary school and randomly and callously murder innocent children and their teachers is something most people can hardly comprehend. While Republicans continue to parrot the lies and misinformation of the National Rifle Association (NRA), they bear huge responsibility for this preventable tragedy. Their sadness and offers of prayer and support for the victims’ families rings very hollow to me. My views on sensible gun safety/control have changed in recent years. I see no legitimate reason for the sale and ownership of assault weapons or large clips of semiautomatic rounds of ammunition. While legitimate and necessary for soldiers, these weapons are not for ordinary citizens. Furthermore, there is no legitimate reason for selling guns to anyone younger than 21 years old. Households should keep legally purchased guns in a gun safe to protect children. No one at any age with a criminal record (including domestic violence) or a recent history of severe mental illness or extremist views should ever be able to purchase guns. Thorough background checks of prospective gun owners before any gun sale takes place should be the law everywhere. These simple, common-sense gun laws, while certainly not a guarantee that all gun violence will end, would go a long way toward reducing gun violence and death. Ridiculous ideas by the gun lobby and its acolytes in the House and Senate and state legislatures such as arming teachers or school security personnel is not the answer. The Republican Party’s response to gun violence in general and mass shooting specifically is like Pontius Pilate. They want to wash their hands of any responsibility for the horror and the heartbreak. At the same time, they want to reap the benefits of campaign contributions from the IRA and preserve the right to arm their rabid base of potential insurrectionists with the most malevolent and powerful weapons available.

Now is the time for people of good faith and honor to stand up to the gun lobby and the politicians controlled by them. The people who died in these awful shootings had their lives stolen. Their families grieve and expect politicians to do something. Those Republican politicians unwilling to confront this evil amongst us are no better than the shooters. They deserve removal from office if they once again do nothing. They seem more concerned with appeasing far right voters and feeding at the campaign trough of the NRA. If ever there were a time to stop this gun madness, that time is now.