Florida Senator Marco Rubio just unveiled his so-called comprehensive gun control proposal, and Parkland, FL shooting survivor Cameron Kasky is not having it.
Rubio outlined six bills he plans to propose or already supports and claimed that all would likely enjoy robust “bipartisan support.”
But Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student survivor Cameron Kasky shot it down on Twitter, sight unseen. He lost faith in Rubio in the wake of the shooting, after the Senator’s flaccid performance at a CNN town hall on gun control and continued stumbles on addressing the issue since the tragedy.
I haven’t had enough time to read R*bi*’s little proposals, but you guys know we don’t have to settle for less, right?
Dirty blood money politicians like him want to throw us 2 pennies and make us thank them on our knees as if they just paid off our mortgage. We won’t have it.
— Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) March 1, 2018
Rubio’s plan includes a measure that would target “straw purchases,” which are transactions wherein one person purchases a firearm for another who is prohibited from doing so for failing a background check.
He also wants to put forth “lie and try” legislation, which would require the FBI to tell local law enforcement when someone who fails a background check tries to purchase a gun, so that local law enforcement can prosecute.
He focuses on school safety and other watered-down gun control reforms that are likely safe, bipartisan approaches.
Rubio does not seem to express any interest on changing the minimum age required to buy a gun to 21. And The Hill reports he is merely considering revisiting his position on high capacity magazines. Presumably, he’s currently all in favor of them.
Rubio is clear on his approach: he’s open to pursuing the kind of weak measures that don’t actually touch the issue of gun ownership or gun control because those are what have the highest likelihood of passing. They don’t, however, have the highest likelihood of being effective in preventing the next mass shooting.
And that’s what Cameron Kasky is so angry about. The Parkland shooting represents a watershed moment. There’s no more time for watered down, safe, centrist proposals that shy away from offending gun owners. Guns are the problem and their owners need to come to terms with that.
Anything less than legislation that acknowledges that reality is cowardly and useless.
