GOP congresswoman wants to know why 'the media doesn't talk about' all the Democratic mass murderers

Rep. Claudia Tenney has an opinion on gun control

(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

published 22 February 2018

The latest school mass shooting, and the vocal advocacy of student survivors at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has made enacting new gun restrictions a viable possibility for the first time in years. Not everyone is happy about that. In a discussion Wednesday about calls for stricter gun laws, first-term Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) offered an interesting rebuttal. "Yeah, well, obviously there is a lot of politics in it, and it's interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats, but the media doesn't talk about that either," Tenney told Talk 1300 Radio host Fred Dicker.

Tenney already has a Democratic challenger for November, state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, and he called the comments "disgusting" and "toxic." He urged Tenney to apologize, but instead she issued a statement Wednesday night saying she is "fed up with the media and liberals attempting to politicize tragedies and demonize law-abiding gun owners and conservative Americans every time there is a horrible tragedy."

The people who perpetrate "these atrocities have a wide variety of political views," Tenney clarified, adding that her comments were "about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime," and she "will continue to stand up for law-abiding citizens who are smeared by anti-gun liberal elitists." Tenney did not explain why she thinks "anti-gun liberal elitists" would care about the party affiliation of mass shooters, when what they really want is fewer military-style weapons for any civilian.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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