On April 21 gun control proponent Andy Parker suggested the GOP-led repeal of the Social Security gun ban epitomizes the kind of Congressional actions that enables “social media killers” like Steve Stephens.
Thirty-seven year old Stephens shot and killed 74-year-old Robert Godwin at point blank range on Easter Sunday and streamed the incident on Facebook Live. Days later–on April 18–Stephens killed himself. He had no criminal record and told his mother he decided to kill someone due to frustration he felt over an argument with his girlfriend.
Parker’s daughter, Alison, was killed by a 41-year-old gunman on August 26, 2015. The gunman uploaded video of the incident to the internet before taking his own life.
Parker is now suggesting the repeal of the Social Security gun ban will enable more “social media killers” in the future.
Writing in Newsweek, Parker pointed to the repeal, then said:
This is the hypocrisy of the NRA-controlled Republican Congress. When confronted with the proliferation of gun violence, their response has historically been, “It’s not a gun issue, it’s a mental health issue.” They’re half right—it’s both. Yet they do their master’s bidding because, hey, it’s more gun sales. And by the way, let’s keep those potential terrorists on the no-fly list purchasing at the flea market gun shows, too!
We’re never going to entirely stop that crazy man with a gun who wants to kill someone on a live feed. We must hold the paid NRA politicians accountable. No, they didn’t pull the trigger, but along with their President Trump, who next week will bask in the frothing adulation of 80,000 NRA faithful attending their annual conference, they perpetuate the carnage.
It is interesting to note that Parker does not mention that neither Stephens nor Alison’s gunman was old enough to be Social Security recipients. Moreover, he completely glosses over the two biggest problems with the Social Security gun ban: 1. It lumped people suffering from minor mental health problems–like depression or anxiety–with people suffering from major ones–like bi-polar disease or schizophrenia. 2. It allowed the Social Security Administration to strip beneficiaries of their Second Amendment rights without due process.
Parker also touches on the April 16, 2007, attack on Virginia Tech and the June 12, 2006 attack on Orlando Pulse, intimating that these attacks do not even register with GOP Representatives. While Parker does a good job focusing on the terrible loss of human life in these attacks, he fails to mention the one thing they both shared in common–they occurred in gun-free zones.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com