Murkowski, Sullivan can't get past 'thoughts and prayers' on Texas massacre

After the Texas children’s massacre, the New York Times asked every Republican senator, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan about their position on strengthening background checks for people who want to buy guns.

You would think that Murkowski and Sullivan would have something to say about easy access to guns.

But you would be wrong. They refused to state a position.

The bills, which will be up for a vote in June, would mandate background checks for online and gun show purchases and allow 10 days for an FBI review, as compared to the 3 days now in law. These measures will not take away people’s guns.

But Murkowski has an “A” rating from the NRA, while Sullivan has an A plus. They don’t want to endanger their report cards.

On Thursday, Murkowski and Sullivan joined every other Republican in supporting a filibuster on the so-called Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, which would set up new offices to deal with white supremacists and other threats.

The vote was 47-47, stopping the bill, which Republicans claimed was unnecessary. It takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Meanwhile, neither Murkowski nor Sullivan were listed as participants in a bipartisan meeting with Democrats to find common ground and at least 60 votes to move the sluggish Senate into action.

“The Republicans at the meeting included Mr. Toomey and Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; another Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, called in. Other Democrats in attendance included Mr. Heinrich and Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona,” the New York Times said.

“Participants insisted that the gutting images from Uvalde had created a new sense of urgency.”

I think most people recognize that perhaps making it easy for 18 year-olds to acquire military-style weapons is an urgent problem. The AR-15 is the weapon of choice for many mass murderers.

Alaskans who contacted Sullivan’s office and asked him what he planned to do, if anything, were treated to a couple of tweets manufactured by his staff:

“Julie and I are horrified by the events that occurred yesterday in Uvalde, Texas. At the heart of these evil acts is a sickness threatening our nation. The common theme of almost all of these mass shootings is the social alienation of sick young men, often fueled by social media.

”In that regard, I believe our nation is in the initial stages of a severe mental health crisis manifesting in the worst ways imaginable, especially among our youth. The causes are multifaceted, and I am deeply committed to understanding and addressing this crisis.”

The common theme from Sullivan and the other A-plus NRA senators is to refuse to consider any limits on killing capacity. And to always blame the deranged characters, one after another, without doing anything to keep weapons out of their hands.

Sullivan is right that the problem is multifaceted. He won’t talk about the gun facet. He only wants to talk about the mental health facet, the social media facet and the other safe targets that won’t trigger those who think the Second Amendment means that no limits of any kind are ever justified.

Four years ago he said that violence on TV, in the movies and on video games probably has something to do with mass shootings and something needed to change. He didn’t mention firearms.

Like Sullivan, Murkowski said the Texas killings were horrible. And like Sullivan, she didn’t mention how easy it is to get access to firearms.

"Words cannot express the horror of the mass shooting and loss of life at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. We are all heartbroken that 18 children and a teacher were killed in this senseless act of violence.”

This was before the death toll rose to 19 children and two teachers.

“For the sake of our children and our country, we must stop these mass shootings,” said Murkowski.

She’s been saying we must stop these mass shootings for a long time and will probably stick to the same facets that appeal to Sullivan, which means never dealing with easy access to certain guns or requiring more thorough background checks.

Nine years ago, Murkowski opposed a bipartisan measure promoting background checks, as did Sen. Mark Begich. Even an Alaska exemption wasn’t enough to get their support.

“Alaskans have been watching the Senate debate gun legislation very, very, closely, because they want to keep Americans safe as much as anyone. We just don’t believe we need to compromise our 2nd Amendment rights to get there,” Murkowski said.

That was on April 18, 2013, many, many mass shootings ago.

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