At the recently kickstarted NRA convention in Houston, Jason Selvig — one half of the activist duo known as The Good Liars — cleverly confronted National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre over the gun lobby’s widely perceived role in fostering circumstances that helped allow for the recent elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and similar incidents.
Selvig phrased his criticism as praise, although it was clear — at least to outside observers — what he actually meant. With the satirical version of slavish praise for LaPierre that Selvig presented, Selvig laid out the ridiculousness of the right-wing’s reliance on “thoughts and prayers.” He also pointed out the length of the list of mass shooting incidents weighing on the push for stricter control of dangerous weapons. Selvig commented:
‘I am sick and tired of the left-wing media and frankly, people in this room today, spreading misinformation about Wayne LaPierre. Whenever there’s a mass shooting, they all say that Wayne LaPierre isn’t doing enough to stop these mass shootings, and even implying that Wayne LaPierre has played a part in making it easier for these shooters to get guns, to get weapons. You heard it after Las Vegas, you heard it after Pulse nightclub in Orlando, you heard it after Columbine, you heard it after Parkland, you heard it after Virginia Tech, you heard it after Sandy Hook, you heard it after El Paso, you heard it after Buffalo.’
The point, of course, seems to have been referencing just how many mass shooting incidents have unfolded — and yet, Republican leaders (some of them, at least) haven’t broadly changed their stance on gun policy. After the recent Uvalde tragedy, Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, pushed the prospect of arming teachers — which could obviously go very wrong. Besides, having more guns around doesn’t automatically mean mass shooting incidents will be swiftly stopped — it was apparently over an hour between police arriving at the Uvalde school and the attacker getting killed. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), meanwhile, has promoted the idea of limiting the number of doors at schools… which could also go very wrong. What about fire safety? What about windows?
At the NRA convention, where thousands of demonstrators against the dominance of the gun lobby turned out last week, Selvig mockingly added as follows:
‘The NRA under Wayne LaPierre’s leadership has provided thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. And maybe these mass shootings would stop happening if we all thought a little bit more, and we prayed a little bit more… If we give enough of these thoughts and these prayers, these mass shootings will stop.’
Check it all out below or over at this link:
We spoke directly to Wayne LaPierre at the NRA Convention and thanked him for all his thoughts and prayers. pic.twitter.com/EfdDrgD4Af
— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) May 29, 2022
Featured image: Lorie Shaull, available under a Creative Commons license
