Ayanna Pressley will never be the politician who negotiates to make an incredible deal. She’s happy to be a progressive Democrat, even if that means that she won’t help to make America a better place to live. She doesn’t care what the Republicans want – and she doesn’t really care what moderate Democrats want, either.
It’s no surprise that Pressley, a House Democrat out of Massachusetts, is a member of the Squad.
Gun control is one of the hottest issues in light of the mass shootings that have taken place around the country. The only way that something will get passed is if both sides can agree.
Well, Pressley isn’t interested in bipartisanship, and she’s said it openly.
The congresswoman has a long list of things that she wants included in the measures adopted by her colleagues. This includes “red flag” laws, raising the legal age to purchase firearms to 21, universal background checks, and a ban on assault weapons.
Of course, most of this would make little to no difference to those who are hell-bent on breaking the law.
Now, approximately 85 percent of Americans support background checks. And in most states, they already exist. Law-abiding citizens don’t mind going through a background check.
The mass shooting that happened at Sandy Hook a decade ago has brought the argument of gun control full circle. When the shooting happened in Connecticut, Americans were outraged and demanded that Congress do something. Only, nothing was ever done – and much of that is because there hasn’t been enough willingness to focus on bipartisan legislation.
Pressley explained, “The goal is not bipartisanship. The goal is justice. The goal is impact. The goal is saving lives. And I think, I don’t know how much should I be willing to compromise when we’re talking about our children, our elders, our educators.”
The problem with Pressley’s comments is that she’s emotional about it. She mentions her 13-year-old daughter and wants to make sure that she’s using every tool possible to keep her safe.
She’s demanding that the GOP step up to “grow a spine” and stud up to the gun lobby so that the tragedies can be prevented in the future.
Background checks are not a problem – many Republicans support them.
However, a ban on “assault weapons” is a problem because there’s no such category. Many people use rifles for target practice and have never once thought about killing someone.
Raising the age to 21 isn’t fair to every 18-year-old who has always wanted to own a gun to go out and hunt or to participate in a skeet shooting contest. And, if an 18-year-old is allowed to join the military, why shouldn’t they be able to buy a gun? If anything, that would help them to earn the “expert marksmanship” badge and become a better soldier.
No one is arguing that we don’t need to save lives. Pressley wants to portray the Republicans as soulless politicians who believe that it’s okay that mass shootings happen.
That’s not the case at all.
Her unwillingness to focus on bipartisanship means that she’s not even willing to listen to the right’s argument.
There has to be more security in the schools. There has to be more mental health counseling. There has to be a stronger justice system.
If a person wants to cause injury to a mass amount of people, they’ll do so whether they can get their hands on a gun or not. Just look at the states where there is the greatest number of gun laws. Shootings still happen every day.
Ayanna Pressley is showing her ignorance. And her emotional pleas will only result in law-abiding citizens being punished for things that they did not do. When all of the gun restrictions are in place and another mass shooting happens, perhaps she’ll finally be ready to listen to the other side’s argument.
