Rubio, Diaz-Balart: Representative of politicians putting guns over children
Guns. Guns. Guns. More guns. Americans love their guns. And revere the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution which protects their right to own them.
Many politicians, charged with the security of their constituents before all things, appear to love guns oftentimes at the expense of their own children. Right here in South Florida, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart and Senator Marco Rubio love what the gun industry produces and too often look the other way when a mass shooting that kills our children occurs — as happened at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day 2018. At those moments, these two Miami pols run out to hug the Constitution and swear by the 2nd Amendment. There’s a reason.
You see, Mario and Marco have realized that people simply vote (and they’ve found ways of manipulating that vote in their favor), but guns, and the huge industry behind them… represents millions. And they’re not alone, but for these two, money in their pockets trumps (no pun intended) one or two dead kids as a result of an unregulated assault weapon in this country.
The Small Arms Survey stated that in 2018 in the United States, there were 393 million guns, or about 46 percent of the civilian-held worldwide total. Those numbers continue to grow. The FBI’s National Instant Background Check System estimates that there were over 12 million guns bought in the first seven months of 2020 — up more than 70 percent over the same time span in 2019.
As of February 28 of this year, there have been 107 mass shootings leaving 122 dead and 325 injured in the United States in 2021 alone. Mass shooting defined as “a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms, within one event.” Please note that the 107 mass shootings do not include the recent events in Boulder, Colorado, and before that in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Washington Post reports that “in 2020, gun violence killed nearly 20,000 Americans, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, more than any other year in at least two decades. An additional 24,000 people died by suicide with a gun.”
And if Americans took the time to hug their children a little more, and distance themselves from the love of their guns, they’d realize that every single day in this country 22 children and teens (1-17) are shot, according to the Brady website. (Brady was the aide to President Ronald Reagan who was permanently disabled as a result of the assassination attempt on the president in 1981.)
The deaths and pain caused by guns in this country are staggering. Statistics bear that out. And yet, mass shootings and the calamity that follows have become so commonplace that after a day or two of grief and false promises by politicians to do something about it, we quickly forget that on March 22, less than two weeks ago, for example, 10 people were murdered in Boulder, Colorado, by a man wielding a Ruger AR-556 pistol. A gun described as “a little lighter [than a rifle], a little less expensive and, for some gun enthusiasts, a little more fun to shoot, while still being as deadly as other guns.”
Marco and Mario
At the start I mentioned that Marco Rubio and Mario Diaz-Balart, and many others like them, care more for what guns can produce than the death of children whose parents vote for them. I can prove that.
Recent polling carried out by Morning Consult showed significant bipartisan support for making background checks before gun purchases a universal standard. Overall, 84 percent of voters said they backed universal background checks. That included 77 percent of Republicans, 82 percent of independent voters and 91 percent of Democrats.
The hell with what voters think, says Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who received $79,500 from the gun industry in 2018; a hefty $141,700 in 2016; and $98,957 in 2014. And if you thought Mario’s greedy, wait till you hear about Trump’s Little Marco. The Brady website ranks the top 10 senators who receive money from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Marco Rubio, who’s never thought twice of disrespecting what voters feel, ranks 6th having received $3,303,355 over the years — in a state, Florida, which averages 2,568 gun deaths per year.
As long as they’re paid politicians don’t seem to mind that we’re killing each other with guns that spit out bullets at a rate of 100 per minute. But what hurts most is that our sons and daughters are aware of the carnage, and are being led to believe that it’s normal.
Let me finish with a story of the days that followed the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School located less than half an hour from where I live. My daughter was 13 then. She watched the proceedings in awe of the kids from the school who bravely came together to protest what had occurred and what was occurring around the country. When they announced that they would be gathering in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2018 to protest gun violence, she asked if she could attend. We drove and stayed with a sister who lives in Virginia, a half hour from the nation’s capital.
What she did not tell me, that she later explained, is that kids like my daughter have grown up since kindergarten routinely practicing in case a shooter comes into the school. And the persons allowing this to happen, creating a world where our children fear for their lives — while at school! — are politicians like Marco Rubio and Mario Diaz-Balart.
It’s just another of many reasons to replace them.
