Liberal writer blames NRA for Calif. school shooting — then conservatives hit back with facts

Following the recent elementary school shooting in San Bernardino, liberal writer Bob Cesca took to the pages of Salon magazine to record his apparent disdain and hatred for the National Rifle Association.

According to Cesca, the NRA is responsible for the shooting, which was a murder-suicide and resulted in the death of three people, two adults and one 8-year-old student. Cesca's article was titled, "When is the NRA complicit? San Bernardino school shooting comes after Republicans move to relax gun restrictions."

In his article, Cesca writes that for years NRA head Wayne LaPierre and Republicans blamed gun violence on mental illness and pushed for reforms that prevented mentally ill people from buying guns, only to repeal such reform, which was implemented in the lame duck stages of former President Barack Obama's presidency, earlier this year under President Donald Trump.

"Why? The most likely explanation is that it was authorized by a black president with a funny name. In other words, it’s constitutional unless Obama and the Democrats support it," Cesca wrote. "Once again, the NRA was Lucy holding the football and Obama was Charlie Brown."

He continued:

It goes without saying that the NRA and the GOP will continue to move the goalposts on gun control. It used to be that reasonable regulations were permissible. Over the last three decades, however, the line in the sand has been incrementally compromised and moved back, loosening regulations and growing the $13.5 billion firearm industry, thanks in part to the NRA and its exploitation of the Second Amendment as a skeleton key clearing the way for more gun sales.

After the repeal of the Obama rule, and following Monday’s horrendous shooting in San Bernardino, what excuse will the NRA roll out, now that augmenting the database has been abandoned? Who the hell knows.

However, there are a few facts that stand in the way of Cesca's argument. The shooting occurred in California, a state with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. Second, the idea that Republicans repealed Obama's rule because of his race is simply not true.

Obama's law, dubbed the "social security gun ban," allowed any person receiving social security benefits who needed some kind of assistance, such as to manage finances, to be investigated by the government.

Republicans argued that a large swath of Americans on social security, who weren't actually mentally ill or disabled, could have their gun rights revoked because of the law. That's why Trump signed a bill to repeal it in February.

Needless to say, Cesca's assertion that the NRA is to blame for Monday's school shooting and other gun violence is a very laughable one. People took to Twitter to throw facts his way.

Many people noted the record gun violence in Chicago isn't been quelled by gun laws, considering they, too, have very, very restrictive firearms laws:

@Salon Cause there's no way people can get guns if you ban them, just ask Chicago.

— Mark Snow 🖕 (@fromthedirt) April 11, 2017

@Salon One word for you wingnuts...Chicago

— Charles Bingham (@rRichSarasota99) April 11, 2017

Then there's the fact that the gun used in Monday's shooting didn't pull its own trigger. The shooter did that:

@Salon God forbid blame lie with the person who pulled the trigger.

— 🌹🌼🌻 Anna D 🌼🌷🌻 (@AnnaDsays) April 11, 2017

@Salon So when do we blame the cowards who have to harm innocent people.

— Doris (@Doris86556146) April 11, 2017

Plus the fact that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms:

@Salon Your article actually makes a bit of sense except for one point

Our Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms, not the @NRA

— Jim (@jimv245) April 11, 2017

And if a gun, or the NRA, is the reason a shooting happens, then who or what is responsible for the recent spike in trucks running people over in Europe?

@Salon Who should we blame for all the truck attacks across Europe? Ford?

— Em (@Myself03726095) April 11, 2017

Others simply pointed out that blaming the NRA for shootings is something liberals, and Salon, like to do as a way of pushing an anti-Second Amendment narrative:

@Salon So when did Salon not blame the NRA?

— The PissedOffTreeRat (@PissedTree) April 11, 2017

@vannsmole @Salon wants to blame 5M legal gun owners for the sins of one man who I dare say was probably NOT an #NRA member 🙄

— Carrie ❤️America🌹 (@carrieksada) April 12, 2017