School shootings are caused by porn in grocery stores, Tennessee lawmaker says

Apparently, they're selling a lot more than just milk and eggs at the grocery stores in Tennessee.

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), who is running for governor, held a meeting last week with several pastors, and the topic of gun violence came up. In audio of the meeting obtained by HuffPost, Black is heard lamenting the "deterioration of the family" and saying that pornography is a "big part" of school shootings. "It's available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store," she said. "Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there's pornography there. All of this is available without parental guidance. I think that is a big part of the root cause."

There have been 23 shootings of some kind on the grounds of K-12 schools or colleges this year, HuffPost reports, and experts say that reducing access to firearms and policies that help pull people out of poverty and poor social conditions will help lower gun violence. Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, tweeted that Black has "all of the data and experts at her disposal" yet she still blames "'grocery store pornography' for school shootings. And she doesn't mean the magazines that glorify guns."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up