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Among the anti-gun set, the mention of “thoughts and prayers” is treated as an annoying cliche. They don’t want thoughts and prayers. They don’t want sympathy. All they want is for pro-gun lawmakers to repudiate everything they believe and do what they’re told to do.

A prime example comes from MSNBC (shocking, right?) when host Ari Melber decided to lambast Republicans for “ritual grief” after mass shootings, but not doing anything about it.

MSNBC host Ari Melbertore into Republican lawmakers for offering their sympathy after major mass shootings, but voting no on additional background check measures and resisting votes for limited gun control.

Melber, who was discussing the issue due to an increased background check bill that recently passed in the House, began the segment by discussing the GOP reaction to the 2014 [Name Redacted]shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

MSNBC host Ari Melbertore into Republican lawmakers for offering their sympathy after major mass shootings, but voting no on additional background check measures and resisting votes for limited gun control.

Melber, who was discussing the issue due to an increased background check bill that recently passed in the House, began the segment by discussing the GOP reaction to the 2014 [Name Redacted] shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

“[The GOP senators] were speaking in dual roles… they were speaking as representatives — who, sure grieve with their communities — but also as lawmakers,” Melber added. “Public safety is never limited to expressions of love or thoughts or prayers.”

Note how Melber’s solution isn’t to improve the process so background checks can be done more quickly. No, it’s to automatically demand a law that will affect far more law-abiding citizens than it ever would stop criminals.

In his world, the only appropriate expression of grief is to create new gun laws.

What people like him always fail to understand is that our opposition to gun control isn’t because we’re unfeeling or uncaring. We don’t think they’d solve the real problem. We’re not evil, we just disagree.

But Melber doesn’t want us to think. He wants laws created from pure emotion, regardless of who is impacted.

Frankly, I resent the hell out of his implication. After all, he’s saying that if you have real grief, you’ll roll over and turn your back on your principles and go along with the gun control crowd. Well, my grief following a mass shooting was personal as hell. This wasn’t some event on the news. This was something that hit me on a visceral and personal level.

And I’m still pro-gun.

Melber implies that I didn’t really grieve. I didn’t really break down like a baby and cry for a long time curled up under my desk because someone I cared about was taken from the world by a maniac pissed that he wasn’t welcome in a coffee shop.

To Ari Melber, I say this: Go to hell.

Those lawmakers are making a stand. They don’t agree with you on how to address the problem. You’re free to disagree as you wish but to call it “ritual grief” because they don’t respond the way you think they should is nothing more than emotional totalitarianism, and you can rot because of it.