“We’re not going to fix it.” That instantly infamous line, delivered by a Republican congressman in the wake of a mass shooting at a private school in Nashville late last month, was supposed to be the lesson learned by anyone hoping for a robust response to another mass murder. Dispensing with thoughts, prayers and other feints in the direction of social or political responsibility, Representative Tim Burchett spoke truth to powerlessness, and did so unambiguously: It’s unfortunate that so many of you will die, but we won’t take any of the actions that we know could help you live.
Yet that ugly lesson went decisively unlearned. Instead, young activists marched to the Tennessee capitol demanding laws that value human life more than the convenience of firearm consumers.
In response, Republican leaders in the state legislature decided enough was enough; they would deliver a lesson that the kids wouldn’t soon forget. They expelled two Black lawmakers who had joined the protests and re-established the legislature as a safe haven for radical gun culture.
