Atlantic magazine editor David Frum released a slew of tweets politicizing Wednesday morning’s congressional baseball shooting in Alexandria, Va., only to call on Americans to remember “political decency” just hours later.
Frum began calling for gun control on Twitter less than two hours after James T. Hodgkinson fired more than 50 rounds at a group of Republican congressmen, hitting House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others. Hodgkins later died of wounds sustained during the firefight.
Virginia:
No background checks
No licensing
No registration
No permit req’d for concealed carry of long guns
Open carry long guns & handguns— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 14, 2017
Frum’s first tweet raised eyebrows and questions. First, Virginia does require background checks for gun purchases (which Frum later acknowledged), and second, one does not simply conceal carry a long rifle, a fact many reminded him of on Twitter.
Frum wasn’t done, however. He went on to criticize people for offering prayers in an allegory involving “gods” and “plagues,” then used Tuesday’s London fire to push for gun control, and then rebuked those telling him his timing was in bad taste.
We seem to dread that we’ll offend the gods if we seek to prevent the plagues that regularly ravage our villages. Prayers instead!
— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 14, 2017
There was a terrible fire in London.. Would any British person say in the aftermath “this is not the time to discuss fire safety?”
— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 14, 2017
When people say “not now” they mean “not ever.” https://t.co/CS6Gulwcn1
— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 14, 2017
Just hours later, Frum published a piece on Atlantic’s website headlined “Reinforcing the Boundaries of Political Decency,” in which he argues President Donald Trump is the greatest offender against political decency.
“Because the president has put himself so outside the boundary of political decency, it is vitally important to define and defend that border,” Frum wrote. “The danger in acts of political violence like this is that some unscrupulous people will use this crime to write a narrative of victimhood.”
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