Editorial: No credibility in Trump’s Gilroy condolences.
The mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival was yet another slaughter of innocent Americans made possible by congressional and presidential indifference to assault weapons.
And it could have been much, much worse.
It’s horrifying enough that three innocent people were killed and 12 others injured when 19-year-old Santino William Legan opened fire with what police describe as an AK-47-style weapon.
But there could have been many more fatalities. Like the 17 students killed in Parkland, Florida. The 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The 14 people at a conference center in San Bernardino and 12 in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Or the 58 gunned down and hundreds wounded in Las Vegas.
Fortunately, in Gilroy, there was already a significant police presence at the very popular festival. Less than a minute after the call came in, officers had responded and were firing at Legan.
Otherwise, “There absolutely would have been more bloodshed, I believe, with the number of people and the small area they’re in,” said Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee.
Credit good planning. And credit bravery. Three cops with sidearms fatally wounded Legan even though they were, in the word of the chief, “outgunned.”
How many more times will this nation go through this before mostly Republican members of Congress and President Donald Trump stop genuflecting to the National Rifle Association?
Rather than even hint at any meaningful reform, Trump fell back on his expression of “deepest sadness and sorrow.” It was similar to his response after the Florida school shooting and the Las Vegas massacre. On this issue, his condolences have lost all credibility.
“We reaffirm our national will to answer violence with the courage, determination and resolve of one American family,” Trump said Monday morning at the White House.
Courage? Oh, please. Courage would require having the “resolve” to stand up to the gun lobby. To recognize that, when claiming gun rights, there’s a legitimate difference between a hunting rifle and an assault weapon. To support reinstatement of the assaultweapons ban that Congress allowed to expire, and universal background checks that passed in the Democratic-controlled House, but stalled in Republican-led Senate.
To top it all off, Trump went on, “We thank the brave members of law enforcement — they never let us down — who swiftly killed the shooter.”
You bet they were brave — running toward someone with an assault weapon rather than away. For that, we’re all deeply grateful.
But that raises the question: Why are we repeatedly putting our law enforcement officers in such danger rather than taking steps to get rid of assault weapons altogether? If the president truly wanted to show his thanks, he would stop putting police in needless danger.
This has gone on too long. California lawmakers have taken steps to stop the sale of assault weapons here. But, as Legan showed, they’re easily purchased out of state. This is a national problem that requires a national solution.
In the meantime, we’re left to feel lucky that “only” three innocent people died. That’s how low the bar has been set. It’s time to change that.