Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

NRA Spokeswoman Just Blamed Latest Mass Shooting on California's Strict Gun Laws, and People Can't Even

NRA Spokeswoman Just Blamed Latest Mass Shooting on California's Strict Gun Laws, and People Can't Even
DALLAS, TX - MAY 04: National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. The National Rifle Association's annual meeting and exhibit runs through Sunday. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Seriously?

Dana Loesch, the national spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, blamed the Wednesday night mass shooting in California on the state's strict gun control laws.

"What happened was horrific," Loesch tweeted Thursday morning. "Evil is real. So are CA gun laws." Loesch then listed all of the supposed "evil" elements of California's state firearm regulations, none of which are extreme or excessively prohibitive.


"Universal BG checks - May issue - 10 round mag limit - Purchase limitations - 10 day waiting period - No reciprocity with other states - “Assault weapons” ban & registration - Ammo thru FFL - Registration if moved," she wrote

Loesch's tweet was a reply to New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who noted: "these kinds of incidents don't happen in normal countries where there is some reasonable regulation of firearms, starting with universal background checks."

Followers on Twitter blasted Loesch for her callous spin just hours after a gunman opened fire in a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, killing 13 people including armed sheriff's deputy Ron Helus.

When challenged over how to keep guns out of the hands of those who harbor ill-will, Loesch didn't have a solution.

Her callousness was not welcome.

As the NRA's public liaison, Loesch is one of the gun lobby's most powerful voices.

Loesch, having offered no evidence to support her claims that gun control causes mass shootings, was confronted with the inconvenient truth that states with stricter firearm rules have fewer gun-related deaths.

And that the one "good guy with a gun" was among those killed.

Would Loesch prefer guns in bars?

Perhaps Loesch should listen to the eyewitness accounts of the latest mass shooting to cripple the country.

The scene at Borderline Bar & Grill Wednesday night was described as "horrific" by first responders.

A 28-year-old gunman entered the bar, a local hotspot enjoying "College Country Night," and opened fire with a handgun. He was found dead inside the bar.

“It’s a horrific scene in there,” Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean told reporters. “There’s blood everywhere. The suspect is part of that.”

Dean said the violence “is part of the horrors that are happening in our country and everywhere, and I think it’s impossible to put any logic or any sense to the senseless.”

Helus "died a hero,” Dean said, “because he went in to save lives."

President Donald Trump shared his condolances for the victims on Twitter and praised local law enforcement for their swift response.

Witnesses and survivors described to what happened inside the bar as the shooting began.

The Washington Post chronicled some of the first statements from those who were there.

“It was sheer panic,” said Teylor Whittler, 19, who was inside. “Everyone ran and dropped as fast as they could.”

“And then all, of a sudden," she added, "a couple of guys started running to the back door and said, ‘Get up he’s coming.'”

Matt Wennerstrom, 20, said the shooter was a "tall figure" wearing "all dark clothing" who initially targeted employees working behind the bar.

“At that point," Wennerstrom recalled, "I grabbed as many people around me as I could and pulled them down underneath the pool table that we were closest to until he ran out of bullets for that magazine and had to reload." He said he was able to push "30 or 35 people" out of the bar through a window shattered by a bar stool.

Others recounted how they were able to escape

“He fired the first shot,” a stepfather who was at the bar with his stepson said. “And I knew it was real. My son thought it was a joke, so I pulled him down and got some cover. I looked up, and he was moving to the right. He shot the front doorman, who was just a young man. Then he shot the cashier, just a young girl.”

Rachel Hammons, 24, said she made a break for the exit as soon as she had the chance.

“All of a sudden we heard four shots, you know, ‘bang, bang, bang, bang.’ Everyone got down on the floor. Everyone ducked and covered each other,” she said. “As everyone crouched down on the floor, I figured that my only chance would be to run out to the nearest exit. I saw the nearest exit, and I ran out as fast as I could.”

“You’ve got to hurry, you’ve got to get in there,” she urged police, having watched them swarm the premesis from her car.

So far in 2018, there have been 308 mass shootings in the United States. We're on day 312.

More from News

Karoline Leavitt
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt Slammed After Suggesting Reports Of Deadly Strike On Iranian Girls' School Are Just 'Propaganda'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was criticized after she rejected reports that the U.S. struck a girls' elementary school in Iran, killing 175 people, insisting in remarks to the press pool that it's just Iranian "propaganda" that they've "fallen" for.

Iranian state media and health officials said the strike occurred early Saturday morning in Minab, in the country’s southern Hormozgan Province. Journalists from international news organizations have not been granted access to independently verify the reported death toll or the circumstances surrounding the strike.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @madswellness's TikTok video
@madswellness/TikTok

Woman Sparks Debate With Her Viral Hot Take That We Should 'Normalize Not Liking Dogs'

We're all different people with different interests, and it's perfectly okay that we like different things.

But there are some people who passionately, even vehemently, draw the line at other people liking or disliking dogs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @vanellimelli030's TikTok video
@vanellimelli030/TikTok

Model Accuses Fashion Brand Of Using AI To Recreate Her Looks For Ad Instead Of Hiring Her

There used to be laws in place for someone's likeness being used without their consent, and most certainly if their likeness was being used in an exploitative way for profit.

But now with the rise of AI-generated photographs, advertisements, and other digital products, the lines seem to have become muddied between the illegal stealing of someone's likeness and AI "inspiration."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @anissahm15's TikTok video
@anissahm15/TikTok

TikToker Secretly Records Unhinged Spectrum Employee Screaming At Her For Trying To Cancel Her Service

Employees in commission-based positions are feeling increasingly pressured to acquire new clients, retain previous clients, and solve the issues their clients call in about with high satisfaction ratings.

Even though tensions are high, and the pressure they're feeling may be unrealistic for any one person to take, that doesn't give them the right to mistreat people who do not want to sign up or want to cancel.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @hustleb***h's TikTok video
@hustleb***h/TikTok

Travel Influencer Posts Viral 'Hack' Using Hotel Coffee Maker To Wash Her Underwear—And We're Horrified

We've all worried about packing enough clothes when we go on a trip, especially when it's the really important stuff, like underwear and socks.

But travel influencer @tarawoodcox11 thoroughly grossed out the internet when she shared a hack for maintaining clean, or at least cleaner underwear, while on the go. The video was later shared by the TikTok platform @hustleb*tch where it went viral.

Keep ReadingShow less