Missouri Representative Billy Long, a Republican from Missouri's 7th congressional district, recently put his foot firmly in his mouth during a radio interview on local station KSSZ's Wake Up Columbia.
Long was asked to comment on whether he thought there was any interest within congressional Republicans in approaching gun control legislation after the multiple mass shootings that have taken place in recent weeks.
Long, who has received campaign donations from pro-gun organizations in the past, said guns weren't the issue.
He then dropped this absolute doozy of an opinion:
"When I was growing up in Springfield, you had one or two murders a year. Now we have two, three, four a week in Springfield, Missouri."
"Something has happened to our society. I go back to abortion, when we decided it was okay to murder kids in their mothers' wombs. Life has no value to a lot of these folks."
You can listen to Long's explanation for gun violence below:
Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) blames gun violence on abortion: "Something has happened to our society. I go back to abortion, when we decided it was okay to murder kids in their mothers' wombs. Life has no value to a lot of these folks." pic.twitter.com/RHAjakjHiG
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) June 1, 2022
Twitter users had more than a little bit to say about Long's theory.
Oddly enough, zero mass murders have been committed by aborted embryos.
Moreover, the overwhelming majority of mass shootings in the US are committed by males, none of whom has had an abortion.
Hmmm…
— Kevin Gromley 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@KevinGromley) June 1, 2022
Says mam who voted no to child Healthcare, no to family food subsidies, and no to gun reform
— 🌿🌊⚖Savage, Sassy, Saging Social Justice Warrior (@enlighten_me2) June 1, 2022
Says mam who voted no to child Healthcare, no to family food subsidies, and no to gun reform
— 🌿🌊⚖Savage, Sassy, Saging Social Justice Warrior (@enlighten_me2) June 1, 2022
He doesn't actually believe what he's saying. He's betting everyone who's desperate to protect gun industry profits and their own dependence on personal firepower for their sense of self-worth and superiority will fall all over themselves to pretend they believe it, too.
— The Notorious R.B.F. (@TheNotoriousRBF) June 1, 2022
Every time these politicians speak against gun control, I think we need to post how much they get from the NRA!
— LA LUNA BC (@Divine34398578) June 2, 2022
I'm thinking there is another explanation.https://t.co/xzRZ9sRLaZ
— shelly (@shelly2161) June 1, 2022
Sometimes there just aren't any words, Billy. No low is too low to try to blame killings from guns on ANYTHING but the guns.
— SukiFrance (@france_suki) June 2, 2022
Despite Long's claims, other countries where abortion is legal don't have similar levels of gun violence.
It seems like there is probably a different root cause.
