The Pulse nightclub shooting has been getting mentioned a lot during the gun control debate that has been reintroduced into American politics as of late. I want to revisit a post I had thought about publishing at the time, because I want to illustrate the hypocrisy that is evident here.
Less than 2 months prior to the shooting, there was a Muslim cleric from Iran who gave a speech at Sanford’s Husseini Islamic Center. This cleric was reported by WFTV’s channel 9 news as saying that homosexuality’s only cure is death. Look at the video of the report:
After the shooting, this became news and the Islamic center’s staff went to the press and vehemently denied the allegations that they had anything to do with the shooting or the shooter himself.
The connection between the speaker, the Islamic faith, the Husseini Islamic center, and the shooting were promptly sent to the memory hole. After all, we can’t blame an entire religion for the acts of one deranged madman, can we? The speaker for the Islamic center was taken at his word.
Yet, the religious connection to this shooting having been forgotten has no bearing on how gun owners are being vilified and derided based on the actions of one person. In the furtherance of gun control, it appears that you CAN blame a large group of people for the acts of one person.