A mass shooting in Maine, and Republicans can offer are prayers to the church of guns

Newly minted Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson responded to the horrific mass shooting in Maine – at least 18 dead and 13 injured – with the standard GOP pablum: “Prayer is appropriate in a time like this, that the evil can end and this senseless violence can stop.”

In the face of mass killings that occur with almost rhythmic frequency, prayer without action is as worthless as Johnson’s words. Moments later, the new speaker had the audacity to say: “Everyone wants this to end.”

Do they, Speaker Johnson? Because neither you nor your party have done or appear interested in doing a damn thing to protect Americans from an epidemic of gun violence that allows tragedies like the one in Maine to erupt.

Republicans offer prayers for end to ‘senseless violence’ then hug gun lobbyist

In an Oct. 17 social media post – just more than a week ago – you shared a photo of a yourself meeting with members of a pro-gun group: “It was great to catch up with the Women for Gun Rights representatives today to discuss the safeguarding of our Second Amendment rights.”

Yes, clearly the most important thing is preserving gun rights and not, you know, making sure guns aren’t in the hands of people like Robert Card, the Maine shooting suspect who, according to state police, spent two weeks in a mental health facility this past summer.

The group Johnson boasted about meeting with says on its website that part of its mission is to “counter the disinformation gun control groups circulate by informing our friends, families, communities, and legislators with the truth that gun rights are human rights.”

Police barricade a road that leads to the scene where multiple people were killed in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25, 2023.

I think spending a Wednesday evening at a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine – a city of about 38,000 – without being slaughtered by a man armed with a rifle capable of mowing down dozens of people in a flash is more of a human right, but maybe that’s just me.

Biden responds to Maine shooting with sensible call for assault weapon ban

On Thursday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to act.

“Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers,” Biden said in a statement. “This is the very least we owe every American who will now bear the scars – physical and mental – of this latest attack.”

President Biden: I’m doing everything I can to reduce gun violence, but Congress must do more

He’s right. The very least our political leaders owe us, the human beings who have to live in this country under the constant specter of a broken person wielding a fully-functioning weapon of war, is to enact common-sense gun laws aimed at ebbing the tide of violence.

A woman hugs a law enforcement official as they investigate outside the site of a mass shooting at Schemengees Bar and Grille on Oct. 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the shooting, Robert Card, who allegedly killed 18 people in two separate locations on Wednesday night.

But Republicans only seem capable of giving us the very least: prayers. As if a higher power hasn’t given us the ability to manage our own affairs and clean up the mess we created by doling out powerful weaponry to virtually anyone.

‘Stop electing apologists for murder’

Author Stephen King, who lives in Maine, took to social media Thursday and noted that he lives less than 50 miles from where the shooting happened: “It’s the rapid-fire killing machines, people. This is madness in the name of freedom. Stop electing apologists for murder.”

A recent poll by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that more than 70% of Americans – and about half of Republicans – want stricter gun laws. Nearly 60% of Americans favor a ban on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic weapons.

Lewiston shooting reminded me: The strange reality of being old enough to remember when mass shootings shocked us

Gun zealots and lawmakers in the pockets of gun manufacturers will shout and holler about mental health, and they’ll point to the reported mental health issues of the alleged shooter in Maine, and they’re not wrong. We absolutely need better access to mental health services nationwide. But Republicans never seem to do a thing on that front either. And besides, why can’t we address both mental health and access to firearms and high-capacity magazines at the same time?

Pray for the families in Maine, but take action to actually stop gun violence

Prayers for the families of the dead and wounded in Maine are appropriate and necessary. Their lives stand forever changed by gun violence, same as the lives of so many Americans impacted by the domestic carnage wholly unique to this gun-obsessed nation.

Jess Paquette expresses her support for her city in the wake of Wednesday’s mass shootings at a restaurant and bowling alley, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine.

But I and, I believe, a strong majority of Americans want nothing to do with Republicans like Speaker Johnson praying “that the evil can end and this senseless violence can stop.”

We don’t need your prayers. We need you to do something, for God’s sake.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After Maine shooting, all House Speaker Mike Johnson has are prayers