MSNBC contributor Claire McCaskill expressed heartbreak over the Kansas City parade shooting, noting it ruined a moment of community joy and togetherness.
She argued Missouri has very permissive gun laws, allowing open carry of military-style long weapons in urban areas, which challenges law enforcement.
“First of all, my heart is breaking. This is a wonderful community and there were about a million plus people there today that were loving each other and were forgetting about all their differences and coming together in a joyous moment, and now it will always be defined by whoever did this unbelievable act,” McCaskill said.
McCaskill criticized Republican state leaders for prioritizing rural gun rights over safety in densely populated cities, where such weapons can rapidly inflict mass casualties.
She characterized this incident as another sad chapter in America’s embrace of military-style firearms that endanger crowds, saying people deserve change regarding how dangerous public spaces have become.
“I will tell you what i think most of my friends are feeling right now in Kansas City is both heartbreak, but also anger. There is something that is the anger that people feel that someone would ruin this, that would ruin this sense of community, this joyous sense of community, is terrible,” she said.
“You know, Missouri has some of the most open, liberal gun laws in the country in terms of, you know, anybody can carry a long gun in open anywhere. Our police departments in urban areas are challenged by the laws because they are so limited as to what they can do with people who are carrying weapons of war openly on the streets of St. Louis and Kansas City.”
McCaskill defended raising the political issue of guns in response to such tragedies, arguing most want reforms to address the proliferation of weapons that can kill many people quickly.
“You know, they want to make sure the Missouri legislature has been dominated, Missouri has been dominated by rural leaders, Republican leaders, that think guns are okay because they relate to rural areas as opposed to a million people in a concentrated area and the kind of damage that a long gun can do, especially one that can be fired rapidly to human life,” she said.
“It is another sad, sad chapter in America’s love affair with military-style long weapons that can kill a lot of people and hurt a lot of people in a short period of time. I don’t care if anybody says, ‘Oh, she’s being political about guns at this terrible moment.’ Yeah, well, that’s when you have to be. That’s when people, I guarantee you the majority of people in this country want something to change about how dangerous it has become to be in crowded urban spaces or school rooms. It is just unconscionable that we have allowed guns to go this far in this country,” McCaskill said.
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