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I served two combat tours in Iraq. I never thought I would see weapons in my community reminiscent of the type that my Marines and I used on the battlefield. Yet here we are, again. Nineteen children and three adults dead in another senseless act of gun violence in my home state of Texas. I am heartbroken. I am frustrated. I am seething.

This tragedy comes only 10 days after a racially motivated mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10 people. Nearly a decade after 20 first-graders and six adults were murdered in Newtown, Connecticut. I mourn with the victims families and stand in solidarity with Uvalde, a small, predominantly Hispanic town 85 miles west of San Antonio.

As a gun owner and a veteran, I understand the many reasons to possess a firearm. I do not comprehend our leaders inability to enact bipartisan gun safety reform. Especially with the breakneck rate at which these horrific events continue to rip our neighborhoods, families and country apart.

FBI data reveals an upward trend in the frequency of mass shootings and killing sprees that span multiple locations. The FBI designated 61 active shooter events in 2021, a 50% increase from the previous year.

When will it end? When will Congress act? The shooting in Uvalde is the most recent reminder that our society values gun ownership more than education. More than mental health services. More than innocent human lives. I support two pieces of legislation that Tony Gonzales, the incumbent representing Uvalde in Congress, voted against: the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Violence Against Women Act, which contain common-sense solutions to prevent guns from falling into the hands of those who aim to commit violence.

Without measures to prevent gun violence or prohibit the mentally unstable from accessing a firearm, it is only a matter of time before another community is thrust into the national spotlight. We need to reconfigure our priorities. We need to limit access to combat weapons, and we need to hold our leaders in office accountable for their failure to ensure that our communities are safe places to live, work, shop, pray and study.

The shooting in Uvalde is the most recent reminder that our society values gun ownership more than education. More than mental health services. More than innocent human lives.

The FBI defines a mass shooting as an event with three or more casualties. There have been eight mass shootings in Texas since 2009.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz are scheduled to speak on Friday at the National Rifle Associations 2022 annual meeting. Will they acknowledge that the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history at a Sutherland Springs church happened on their watch? Or that the El Paso shopping center shooting in which 23 people were killed took place almost two years later, also during their tenure?

If Texas had adopted extreme risk laws, the massacre in Uvalde might have been thwarted. Under this policy, if someone displays signs that they may intend to harm themselves or others, their weapons can be temporarily seized. Nineteen states have enacted this proven, evidence-based, life-saving measure. Why not Texas? The gunman posted multiple photos of his weapons days before his rampage.

I recognize the pain the people of Uvalde are feeling. As a father, I cannot imagine sending my daughter to school in the morning and never seeing her again. Uvalde is a tight-knit, minority-majority community of modest means. I come from a working-class Latino family. When a family loses a loved one, it is devastating for everyone. Twenty-three families are reeling from unimaginable grief.

Today we mourn. Tomorrow we fight for gun safety reform so that no more families suffer the same fate.

Read this article:
Weapons Like The Ones I Saw In Iraq Were Used In The Uvalde Mass Shooting - HuffPost

Joshua Bold grew up in a Christian home, but his faith took some time to grow. In his teen years, he struggled with drugs, everything from cocaine to meth.

"It took me for a ride. By the time I was 25 years old, I was pretty much spent as a human being. My relationships were broken and so was everything else," said Joshua.

His dad had given him a bible for Christmas that previous year and told him he had done everything as a father that he knew to do.

"He said, I am going to give you this Bible, and at a time of your life when you feel like all hope is lost, I pray that you will turn to God's word."

One night while at his lowest point, he pulled out the Bible and flipped it open. It landed on Psalms 8.

"I called my mom, I was high and probably drunk and didn't know what was going on, but I told her, I think God wants me to be a preacher or something."

The following week there was a men's conference in New Mexico that his dad was attending. His father asked him to come with him.

"I went to this conference, and I saw 1000 men worshiping Jesus, real men. Men that had been through things," Joshua explained. "They didn't look like they grew up on church pews. They looked like men who had seen some things. I felt the presence of God in a real powerful way, and I prayed a prayer. I told God if he'd save my life, I'd give him everything. At that moment, I was delivered from addiction."

Joshua dedicated his life to God from then on, attending Bible School. Three years later, he moved to northern Iraq with his wife, where they decided to work as missionaries. It was also in Iraq where his life would change forever.

"We were in an area of a city that is not friendly to Americans and Christians. It was just one of those days you just don't think you're going to experience," said Joshua. "I was in a busy shopping area, and through a set of certain circumstances, I was surrounded by a group of men who didn't like that I was an American Christian, and they captured me."

They put three sets of handcuffs on his hands, stomped and beat him, cracking three vertebrae. They eventually brought him to a basement area, where they tied him to a chair and continued to beat him.

"In the middle of that situation, I thought, how am I going to get out of here and take care of my wife and daughter? I asked the men to let me go," Joshua explained. "They told me I'd never see the light of day and that I didn't have a wife or daughter anymore."

Joshua was at a loss, so he started to pray, asking God to deliver him from the situation.

"Right there, the Lord showed him that those men had no idea what they were doing and that they were walking in confusion. He said, ask them for forgiveness."

And that's what Joshua did. He told the men why he was in Iraq and asked for forgiveness for anything that his country may have done to make them angry.

"When I did that, those men became very confused. They started to argue and left the room for a few minutes. When they came back, they had a man on the phone."

Joshua talked to this man, told him who he was and asked to be set free.

"The man on the phone told me to admit that I'm guilty. At that point, I didn't know if that meant I would die or be set free. I said I would accept any accusation that these men make against me. All I ask is that you release me and allow me to stand in front of a judge."

The men in the room left again. This time they came back with a bucket of water and rags.

"They took the handcuffs off of me. They washed the blood off my face, and the one who had beaten me the worst kissed me on the cheeks and said, we're brothers now," Joshua explained. "They released me and brought me to my family."

"That is a story of God's deliverance," said Joshua. "If God can deliver me from a basement, being beaten by terrorists in Iraq. He can look at any man, woman or child situation on this planet. He can see the darkness that surrounds them. He can look at them, and his love can penetrate that situation and bring freedom and deliverance."

Joshua now spends his days as the president of aims.org, mobilizing the church to send native missionaries to the remaining unreached tribes of the earth.

Today on Connections, Joshua shares his powerful testimony. He'll also chat about the work that aims.org is doing.

Read more from the original source:
Bruised, broken and captured in Iraq: A story of survival and true faith - CHVN Radio

Patrick Mullen| St. Cloud

To the editor:

Our Constitution was written as a document to stand the test of time.In fact, the Second Amendment was added to the original document. It states A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.It can be changed. Assault weapons should not be in the hands of private citizens.

It is time to change the Second Amendment. Personally, I support the right of people to have a rifle for hunting or a personal gun for protection.Purchasing and being in possession of guns that are meant for mass murders needs to be restricted.

My congressman Tom Emmer's statements on his website need to be changed. Common-sense gun laws are needed. In the words of the president: When in God's name will we get the backbone to stand up to the gun lobby.

Congress is complicit, we need to vote for candidates that will demand changes that will limit weapons that are intended for mass shootings.Congressman Emmer, I encourage you to be a hero and stand up to the gun lobby.

Vote only for candidates that support common-sense legislation regulating weapons of mass murder.It is time in God's name to make a change.

Patrick Mullen

St. Cloud

Read more:
It's time to change the Second Amendment: Letter - SC Times

Former President Donald Trump repeated his support for a constitutional right to bear arms before his scheduled speech Friday at a National Rifle Association (NRA) event. Meanwhile, the Senate's top Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has signaled his openness to "a bipartisan solution that's directly related to the facts" in response to Tuesday's mass school shooting in Texas.

Calling into Sebastian Gorka's America First radio show on Thursday, Trump said the Second Amendment, which gun rights advocates say protects gun ownership, is crucial to Americans' safety and well-being.

"But on Friday night, I'll be in Houston and we'll be making a speech and discussing a lot of the things which you would agree to and, you know, you have to protect. You have to protect your Second Amendment. You have to give that Second Amendment great protection because without it we would be a very dangerous country, frankly," Trump said.

On Tuesday, 19 children and two teachers were killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The gunman, an 18-year-old dropout named Salvador Ramos, was eventually killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent inside the school. The killings have renewed demands for federal gun control legislation, which has encountered Republican opposition after similar events, such as Connecticut's Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012. Twenty children and six adults died in that incident.

On the same day as Trump's remarks, McConnell said he directed Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn to talk to two Democratic senators, Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema and Connecticut's Chris Murphy, as well as "others who are interested in trying to get an outcome that is directly related to the problem" of gun violence, according to CNN.

McConnell added, "I am hopeful that we could come up with a bipartisan solution."

Following the shooting, Murphy spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday and, in a video that has been viewed more than 2 million times, passionately asked the chamber's members, "What are we doing?"

He went on to ask his colleagues why they spend so much time and effort becoming senators "if your answer is that as the slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing."

During his interview with Gorka, who was Trump's deputy adviser on national security issues, the former president noted the timing of his upcoming speech to the NRA. "You know I'm making a speech at the NRA in Houston. It'll be very interesting. It's, you know, an interesting time to be making such a speech, frankly."

Trump also touched on other subjects, such as election integrity; the documentary 2000 Mules, which claims to have evidence of voter fraud in the last presidential race; and Representative Liz Cheney. The Wyoming Republican has been an outspoken critic of the former president and is on the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

"Then, on Saturday night, I'm going to Wyoming to campaign against Liz Cheney, who's absolutely atrocious, the job she's done," Trump said.

Newsweek reached out to McConnell's office and a Trump representative for further comments.

View original post here:
Trump Urges 'Protection' of Second Amendment as McConnell Floats Gun Reform - Newsweek

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Biden isn't doing anything "to get rid of the Second Amendment" during a press briefing on Thursday.

Jean-Pierre's comments come amid increasing calls for stricter gun laws after alleged gunman Salvador Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The statement was made in response to a reporter's question, asking what President Biden believes "is the purpose of the Second Amendment?

"Getting down to brass tacks though, what does the president believe at this point is the purpose of the Second Amendment? And does he think that given some of the tragedies that we've seen that there should be a discussion about its ultimate purpose and whether or not it's still necessary?" the reporter asked.

TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: LIVE UPDATES

U.S. President Joe Biden reacts as he makes a statement about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas shortly after Biden returned to Washington from his trip to South Korea and Japan, at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 24, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Jean-Pierre said in response that President Biden is not talking about "doing anything to get rid of the Second Amendment," but rather calling for "common-sense gun reform."

"The president has been very clear. What he is calling for is common-sense gun reform. That's it. He's calling for common-sense gun reform to make sure that if you go to a church, you go to an elementary school, you go to a grocery store that you're not gunned down. That's what he's asking for. We're not talking about the Second Amendment or doing anything to get rid of the Second Amendment," Jean-Pierre said.

PHOTOS: FAMILIES, VICTIMS OF TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING

A law enforcement personnel lights a candle outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Biden said on Tuesday night during a speech after the elementary school shooting that he's "sick and tired" of the mass shootings, stating that action has to be taken on tighter gun measures.

"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And dont tell me we cant have an impact on this carnage," Biden said. "The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong."

UVALDE, TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF MASSACRE THAT LEFT AT LEAST 19 CHILDREN, 2 TEACHERS DEAD

A woman cries as she leaves the Uvalde Civic Center, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing multiple children and a teacher and wounding others, Gov. Greg Abbott said, and the gunman was dead. (William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Biden sent a message to those who "obstruct or delay or block the commonsense gun laws," stating, "We need to let you know that we will not forget."

He is planning to visit Uvalde, Texas on Sunday to "offer his comfort" and to "grieve with the family and the community."

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"He's going to go clearly on Sunday to offer his comfort to grieve with the family and the community. But at the same time, he is going to call on Congress to take action because it's been too long and now is the time to act," Jean-Pierre said.

Read more here:
White House says President Biden is not considering 'doing anything' to get rid of the Second Amendment - Fox News