Donald Trump came out in the wake of the first shooting saying,
"Isn't it interesting that the tragedy in Paris took place in one of the toughest gun control countries in the world"He was speaking in regards to the Charlie Hebdo attacks wherein on the morning of 7 January 2015 at about 11:30 local time, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, they killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the building. After leaving, they killed a French National Police officer outside the building. The gunmen identified themselves as belonging to the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, who took responsibility for the attack. Several related attacks followed in the Île-de-France region, where a further five were killed and 11 wounded.
His tweet, the only one I know of in regards to such an event implied heavily that gun laws do nothing, and called the fact that this occurred interesting. Now, while his latest tweets in regards to the most recent Paris tragedy is alright,
"My prayers are with the victims and hostages in the horrible Paris attacks. May God be with you all."What he said in January could easily be applied here and I feel like that is why it was so easy for this mix-up to occur. I still think that this is an inappropriate platform for him to stand on, no matter how long ago his statement occurred, and say, or rather imply, that gun laws don't matter or make a difference.
Everything that has happened in Paris and just France in general has been awful and the fact that these things took place at all is not interesting. It's horrible. I don't understand why you would take a shooting of any kind, no matter the country, and use it to imply that the gun laws, or lack-there-of, make no difference.
Now, I posted an image on Instagram:
I had expressed how distasteful such a comment was (this was before I knew it was from January despite the date at the top. Blame it on my lack of attention to detail) and how this horrible tragedy is not a platform for Donald to stand on and speak against gun laws.
I captioned the above image with,
"France is a country with tougher guns laws, yes, however that does not mean that shootings will NEVER be a thing that happens. There might always be that rare occasion (or in the case of this year, two) when it does, but the laws make it less likely. Nevertheless, what happened in Paris is not a platform for you to stand up and "shoot" down stricter gun laws
What happened to Paris is awful, and now is NOT the time for you to make ignorant comments in favor of your beliefs and views."
Some guy later commented on my image saying:
"True. Also true when Obama did the EXACT thing after the last tragedy. Used it as a platform to make comments in favor of his beliefs and views. I'm sure that disgusts you as well ya?"Well, first of all I wasn't talking about Obama, so I don't see the point in bringing him up, TBH, and I never said in my post that I was disgusted with anything.
Second of all, I'm not sure what exactly Obama said in "favor of his views and beliefs" that you're talking about, but from what I could find, Obama used the shooting in Oregon as a way to address gun safety and bring up the fact that the gun laws in our country need to change to prevent further tragedies from happening because what happened in Oregon was horrible. He wasn't being biased in favor of his beliefs, he was just using common sense and trying to do his job as president of the United Stated. Trump took the fact that a shooting occurred in even a country with stricter gun laws, called it interesting and implied that stricter gun laws simply don't do anything, because that's what he believes, and those are his views, and while he has the right to those views and beliefs, (no matter how detrimental such views and beliefs could be to the safety and welfare of hundreds if not thousands of lives down the line,) Paris, France, and the things that occurred there are not a platform for him to stand on and imply that gun laws are useless. He could instead be trying to help them or offering some moral support, which he did with the latest attack, and that's nice.
Donald's January 7th tweet lacked empathy towards a terrible situation. Obama's addressing of the Oregon shooting, which is the tragedy I assume this guy is referring to, was entirely about how we need better gun safety laws and stricter gun laws so we can prevent shootings and massacres from happening all over our country every month, because it's horrifying. Should I be disgusted that he wants to prevent further tragedies from occurring in our country?
My comment about how now was NOT the time for such an apathetic comment to come about was about how after such a horrible thing happens, what Donald said is not the first thing that someone should say about a tragic event. Like I said, it lacked empathy, and decency.
RELATED POST: http://ineeners.blogspot.com/2015/10/school-massacres-shootings-and-stricter_2.html
So, moving on, if you don't know what happened in Paris... well where have you been?
On November 13th 2015, a series of attacks —consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings, and hostage-taking— occurred in Paris, France.
They took place at various locations, such as:
- Near Stade de France
- Rue Bichat and rue Alibert (Le Petit Cambodge, Le Carillon)
- Rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi (Casa Nostra)
- The Bataclan Theatre
- Rue de Charonne (La Belle Equipe)
In total there have been 139 deaths and counting. For more detailed information on the attacks, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks
Here are some ways you can help:
The Red Cross: The French Red Cross has announced it already has hundreds of volunteers on the ground working with the victims and their families. You can donate here. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are also options, although you cannot donate directly to the French Red Cross and donations to those two organizations go toward their overall efforts around the world, not specifically the Paris victims.
Follow or participate with the hashtag #PorteOuverte: The phrase means "open door" and has been used by Parisians offering their homes as shelter for anyone who needs them. People in other nations have also used it to offer a place to stay for French citizens who are stranded by plane delays or by the country closing its borders in the wake of the attacks.
Donate blood: For those in Paris or the surrounding area, you can arrange to donate blood through the French National Blood Service or by using the Don du Sang à Paris app.
Local French organizations: The Secours Catholique-Caritas France and the French Secours Populaire are two organizations that provide assistance during emergencies.
Check in with loved ones: For those in Paris whose families may be worried about their safety, Facebook has activated its Safety Check feature. Normally used for natural disasters, the feature allows users to let friends and family know their status in the wake of a catastrophic event.
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