In the wake of a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 21 people, most of them young children, writer Bess Kalb has taken Republican Senators to task for their inaction on gun control, pointing out the donation amounts they've received from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
A furious Kalb criticized those who care "more about the sanctity of guns than the sanctity of actual life."
Imagine caring more about the sanctity of guns than the sanctity of actual life.
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) May 24, 2022
She then used publicly available information from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and against gun violence, to call out GOP Senators who have taken the most money from the NRA, yet posted condolences on Twitter to those who lost loved ones in the massacre.
Kalb used these condolence tweets to name and shame the Senators for being bought and paid for by the NRA, thus enabling the bloodshed we see on a weekly basis.
For example, Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney has accepted more than $13 million from the NRA.
$13,647,676 from the NRA https://t.co/vg9biSc0kG
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) May 25, 2022
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has received more than $300,000 from the NRA.
$311,151 from the gun lobby. https://t.co/tHDhW66MjD
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) May 25, 2022
Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst has received more than $3 million from the NRA.
$3,124,773 from the NRA. https://t.co/vPcw70CIgI
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) May 25, 2022
And former Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue, who is currently in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign, has received more than $2 million.
$2,002,462 from the NRA. https://t.co/fXEWsYURBm
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) May 25, 2022
These numbers angered others online who quickly piled on.
Kids and a teacher are dead, but thank the heavens she got her NRA cash. https://t.co/rycHQmKYcX
— Evanthia (@evanthiahill1) May 25, 2022
Tired of empty words from politicians who are following the needs of there elites and corporate donors and not the actual electors https://t.co/ZhWP8jQx6D
— Beachie (@TFrench23320633) May 25, 2022
They don't want your prayers Ted, they want their children. https://t.co/3hOeN2K1JW
— Barb Benoit (@srqbej) May 25, 2022
The *best* the NRA can buy - a loser who skips town when its cold and lets an orange loser pick on his wife and dad. https://t.co/HVHIlblZzd
— Sassy Pharmacist 76 (@ElizabethCamde2) May 25, 2022
You sold your soul, Mitt Romney, how does that feel? https://t.co/zfH1hjWHWm
— Marg Hendrick (@margarethhendr1) May 25, 2022
Romney will always vote for the money in his bank account -- found #PainCapital after all? https://t.co/ZINUfMUBOk
— Gilligan's Mystery Ship (@goatrodeo11) May 25, 2022
19 children and two adults died during the shooting, which took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas early yesterday morning. The mass shooting was the second deadliest school shooting after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
Authorities identified the shooter as an 18-year-old male who was a resident of Uvalde and a student at Uvalde High School. He purchased two semi-automatic rifles through a local gun store last week, just days after his birthday.
The shooting took place just a week after a mass shooting that occurred at a Buffalo, New York supermarket. 10 people died during that attack and three others were injured. Most of the victims were Black.
The shooter subscribed to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory often touted by Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, which states White European populations and their descendants are being demographically and culturally replaced with non-European peoples.
