Republican VP nominee JD Vance thinks that mass shooting are a "fact of life": Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz disagrees

Vance made his comment, minimizing school shootings, in Phoenix.

From Politico -

It’s ‘not a fact of life’: Walz responds to Vance’s school shooting comments

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sharply criticized Sen. JD Vance’s response to this week’s school shooting in Georgia, telling an LGBTQ+ advocacy group Saturday evening that such events are “not a fact of life.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, Walz and Democrats have fiercely condemned Vance’s comments about the shooting after he responded to a reporter’s question Thursday by saying: “I don’t like that this is a fact of life.” A 14-year-old boy is accused of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle to kill two fellow students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta. At least nine others were wounded.

[snip]

On Saturday evening, Walz recalled Vance’s comments as he addressed the Human Rights Campaign, a major LGBTQ+ advocacy group, during its annual dinner in Washington.

“It’s a fact of life some people are gay. But you know what’s not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools,” Walz said.

“That’s not a fact of life,” he added. “Folks are banning books, but they’re okay with weapons of war being in our schools.”

Vance's comments:

From the linked AP story, emphasis added by me -

JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Thursday that he lamented that school shootings are a “fact of life” and argued the U.S. needs to harden security to prevent more carnage like the shooting this week that left four dead in Georgia.

“If these psychos are going to go after our kids we’ve got to be prepared for it,” Vance said at a rally in Phoenix. “We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it.”

Vance has an interesting definition of dealing with it - deride and oppose efforts to address mass shooting.

Arizona legislative Republicans respond to the Nashville school shooting in their usual way

Of course, their "usual way" involves craven cowardice.

Before he became president, John F. Kennedy wrote a book, Profiles in Courage.

The library at the state capitol should include its sequel, Profiles in Cowardice; a book not yet written (I think), but when it is, it'll feature every member of the R caucus at the legislature.

My reason for believing that?

The behavior of the legislative Rs in the aftermath of the shooting.

The webpage with archived video of the lege in action (or, more to the point, inaction) is here.

As I haven't yet figured out how to save the video and embed it here, all time references will pertain to videos of the Senate and House floor sessions of 3/28.

In the AZSenate, Democratic Sen. Raquel Teran spoke about the mass shooting (starting at 1:06:45), not asking for any form of gun control that she listed, saying for that each of those, "That ask has gone unanswered."

At 1:10:10, she did ask for one thing -

"I ask this body and this nation find the courage to side with our children, our future generations, and 

not the gun lobby, any longer."

Based on the lack of action from the Republicans in the lege, I'm guessing that ask will go unanswered, too.

Teran

At 1:10:34, Republican Sen. Anthony Kern "rebutted" her statement (not someone most people want fronting for their "purity patrol; he has credibility issues), blaming LGBTQ people for the killing, and at 1:11:18 opining that the reason for the killing was that "we have taken God out of our schools."

So who wants to tell him that the targeted school was a private Christian school.

As bad as the Senate was, the House may have been more brazen in their cowardice.

In the AZ House, at 9:20 of the video, Democratic Rep. Jennifer Longdon moved HB2192.be considered immediately.  (Disclosure time: I lived in Rep. Longdon's district and have voted for her, and am proud of those votes).

Longdon, proposing her motion

The common sense bill would require that all firearms at home be kept under lock and key except when in use or on someone's person.

At 9:47, Republican Rep. Leo Biasucci moved a substitute (replacement) motion.

Biasucci making his own motion

Every R voted for the substitute, killing Longdon's motion.

At 11:27, the House Speaker pro tem instructed his colleagues "If you support the substitute motion to go into the Committee of the Whole for the bills on the calendar, vote yes, if you oppose that motion, vote Aye."

The Republican House Speaker pro tem fixing the vote.  OK, even I thought he misspoke, if only because the vote wasn't in need of fixing.