Dear President Trump,

What is it you know that we don’t know (yet)? Why the crazy sounding lukewarm condolence tweet when 50 people were shot and killed and hundreds more were sent to the hospital by a deranged gun man? What are we going to find when Stephen Paddock’s home and electronics are searched? Lot’s of NRA memorabilia along with dozens of Trump hats and right wing screeds condemning debauched youth? What? I shudder to think how much more outraged you would have come across had there been even a hint that the shooter was Middle Eastern or Black or Hispanic. Are you going to intimate that there are always two sides to every situation? Ok, that is beyond the pale even for you, but I really do wonder whether you have more information on Paddock’s motives and background than has been released to the public yet and this is (part of) why you came out with such a lame message following the massacre. It’s certainly possible you are so out of touch with normal human responses that “my warmest condolences and sympathies” is literally the best you can do.

Oh, but wait. We can actually set aside whether Paddock was an NRA member or an ardent supporter of yours. If you were to come out with a strong, passionate statement about the devastating and tragic loss of life at the hands of someone armed to the teeth with automatic weaponry, the next logical thing would be to question the availability of the automatic weaponry. From the little bit I’ve been able to glean, Paddock had no criminal record and there’s no indication he would have been legally barred from owning as many weapons as he wanted so it wouldn’t work to just claim we need stronger background checks. No. The only logical thing would be to stand up to the NRA and the rabid second amendment people and say enough is enough — there is absolutely no need for assault style automatic weapons to be in anyone’s hands and they need to be banned. Banned. This is why you are being so tepid. Keeping your gun lobby and gun mega-millionaires happy is way more important than the lives of a few concert-goers. Interesting, though, that it was a country music concert — maybe there is a glimmer of hope in that (as opposed to an outdoor rap or rock concert like we’d have here in Seattle). Maybe.

May we be safe to just be.
May we be happy to beat our weapons into plowshares.
May we let go of our addiction to violence.
May we get a backbone and stand up to the gun lobby.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson