In the wake of each mass shooting in America, it seems like politicians return to familiar script. In a segment from MSNBC’s All In, host Chris Hayes put together a video mashup of House Speaker Paul Ryan‘s reactions to various mass shootings, and each time he regurgitates a familiar narrative.
Hayes started out with Ryan’s response to the shooting at a Florida high school this Wednesday that killed 17 people. Speaking on a morning radio show, Ryan declared, “Right now, I think we just need to take a deep breath and collect the facts.” At a subsequent press conference, Ryan said, “This is not the time to jump to some conclusion not knowing the full facts.” On another radio show, Ryan said, “So I just think what you don’t do is knee-jerk and say, ‘let’s just take away a citizen’s rights.'”
“If that sounds familiar, it is because it is,” Hayes said.
After the San Bernardino shooting that left 14 dead, Ryan said, “What we’re trying to do is find out the facts and make sure that what our response actually addresses the problems without infringing upon the rights of law-abiding citizens. … You have to think these things through before you have knee-jerk reactions.”
After the 2015 shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon that left nine people dead, Ryan said, “I think by going after citizens’ Second Amendment rights after these tragedies is to overlook the real problems that underlie these, particularly in the area of mental illness.”
According to Hayes, Ryan’s focus on mental illness “might be a little more persuasive if Congress did anything about that issue.” The MSNBC host went on to point out that “literally the only gun-related bill to be signed by this Republican president” was a bill last year that rolled back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illness to purchase a gun.
“So while Paul Ryan avoids a knee-jerk reaction to yet another mass shooting, we move forward towards the next one without any reaction at all.”
Watch Hayes’ segment in the video below:
Featured image via screen grab
