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On Wednesday night, at least 18 people were killed<\/a> when a gunman opened fire at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine. According to a database<\/a> maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today,<\/em> the tragedy marked<\/a> the United State\u2019s 36th mass killing\u2014when four or more people, not including the perpetrator, have been killed\u2014in 2023, and was by far its deadliest. Given the regularly occurring nature of these horrific incidents, you might be wondering if there was any hope that Republicans would finally be ready to pull their heads out of their asses and support meaningful gun control legislation, like the kind that was in place<\/a> between 1994 and 2004. And while you could have guessed, given their track record, that the answer was a big, resounding no\u2014and maybe even a \u201cHave you met a Republican lately?\u201d\u2014new House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/strong>\u2019s comments on the matter have made it more than a little clear that Republicans don\u2019t care how many people die by gun violence in the US every year and that they probably never will.<\/p>\n In an interview with Sean Hannity<\/strong> that aired on Thursday night, Johnson was asked by the Fox News host what his \u201canswer\u201d to \u201cthe left\u201d demanding Congress do something about the epidemic of mass shootings in this country, following the tragedy that occurred this week in Maine. His answer? That mass shootings have nothing to do with guns. \u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d Johnson insisted, \u201cthe problem is the human heart, it\u2019s not guns, it\u2019s not the weapons. At the end of the day, we have to protect the right of the citizens to protect themselves, and that\u2019s the Second Amendment, and that\u2019s why our party stands so strongly for that.\u201d Pressed by Hannity on whether there was \u201cany specific gun law\u201d he would seriously consider, Johnson doubled down on the absurd claim that guns aren\u2019t the problem, saying, \u201cThere will be lots of discussion, as there are after these heartbreaking tragedies.\u2026 In Europe and in other places, they use vehicles to mow down crowds at parades\u2014where they\u2019ve done that here at the United States. It\u2019s not the weapon, it\u2019s the underlying problem. I believe we have to address the root problems of these things, and mental health, obviously, as in this case, is a big issue, and we\u2019ve got to seriously address that.\u201d<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Republicans, of course, have a long history of blaming literally anything but guns for gun violence\u2014a list that includes but is not limited to abortion<\/a>, women in the workplace<\/a>, vaccines<\/a>, and zombies<\/a>. (Johnson himself has blamed abortion and the teaching of evolution<\/a> on mass shootings.)<\/p>\n In response to Johnson\u2019s most recent claim, a spokesman for the Joe Biden<\/strong> White House told Vanity Fair:<\/em> \u201cWe absolutely reject the offensive accusation that gun crime is uniquely high in the United States because of Americans\u2019 \u2018hearts.\u2019 Gun crime is uniquely high in the United States because congressional Republicans have spent decades choosing the gun industry\u2019s lobbyists over the lives of innocent Americans. Gun violence is now the main reason that American children\u2019s hearts stop beating. Not cancer, not car accidents\u2014gun violence.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Friday, Maine senators\u00a0Susan Collins<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Angus King<\/strong>\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0they support gun control measures based on \u201cfunctionality\u201d rather than a full ban on assault weapons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nX content<\/h4>\n