London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

GOP holiday photos with guns are the real war on Christmas

GOP holiday photos with guns are the real war on Christmas

Given the extent to which school shootings have become the norm in America, I was deeply saddened but not surprised by what occurred in Oxford, Michigan, last month, when a 15-year-old boy is alleged to have unleashed gunfire on his fellow students, killing four of them and injuring several other people.
I was, however, shocked and repulsed by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who, within days of this heartbreaking event, posted a holiday message on social media featuring himself and his smiling family, each member posing with a gun. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., then joined ranks with Massie by sharing a picture of her own minor children posing with their own large guns, as though the incident in Oxford hadn’t occurred the week before.

I hope that one day I’ll live in a country where parents, communities and lawmakers work to shield schools and children from gun violence with the same energy they apply to banning accurate portrayals of American history, books and little-known academic theories. But for starters, I would like elected officials to stop glorifying the instruments of death and injury that are devastating so many families.

According to Everytown Research and Policy, a group that tracks gun violence, there have been “at least 149 incidents of gun fire on school grounds” this year. And according to a study conducted by the Child Welfare League of America, “Participants identified that frequent media portrayal of guns glorifies their use and promotes using gun violence as an acceptable means of conflict resolution.”

With gun-related research funding largely blocked by the government, studies haven’t clearly connected the glorification of guns to the rate of gun deaths. But it seems intensely counterproductive for public officials to normalize the appearance of deadly weapons in what should otherwise be innocuous holiday photos, given that children and teens in the U.S. “experience staggeringly high rates of gun deaths and injuries” compared to other high-income countries, according to Everytown, and that firearms are the second-largest injury-related cause of death for children and teens. Exploiting their children as props to glorify and promote gun-wielding is nothing short of alarming.

While the country is certainly reckoning with a gun violence epidemic, Massie and Boebert show us that we’re also facing an empathy and humanity problem. Where are the empathy and basic humanity for the victims, families and communities that will spend this coming holiday in a wave of gun-violence-induced grief?

Holiday photos posted by public figures depicting children fraternizing with weapons in the wake of the deadliest school shooting since 2018 translate into an egregious lack of compassion for the latest victims, families and communities — which my work connects me with. Since my institution has vast connections and partnerships with teachers and students across Michigan, my colleagues and I all know someone who knows someone who was either directly or indirectly affected by the shooting in Oxford.

The lack of decency and care by politicians like Massie and Boebert is matched by their bold refusal to consider any kind of sensible reforms that could reduce gun violence, even when, according to the Pew Research Center, the vast majority of the country favors at least some restrictions on firearms.

This means that the strategy of fighting gun violence simply by limiting access to guns isn’t sufficient. Thankfully, prosecutors such as Oxford’s Karen McDonald are tackling gun control via alternative routes, such as holding allegedly negligent parents accountable for their children’s crimes.

The Oxford High School suspect’s parents have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and are being held in the same county jail as their son. All have pleaded not guilty. McDonald has alleged that the boy’s parents bought their son a gun even though there were glaring signs that he could be a danger. The charges have been described as potentially signaling a new trend.

Massie, whatever his intentions with his holiday picture may be, is a poster child for a different national trend — the desensitization of Americans not just to guns, but also to mass shootings and their victims. When public-facing figures use their platforms to advertise and celebrate their gun fetishes and offer no compassion for dead children and their families, the country needs people like McDonald finding other ways to prosecute, manage and potentially prevent future tragedies.

My hope is that, thanks to the powerful message McDonald’s prosecution sends to all who may be watching, a large swath of the gun-toting public is soon to be re-sensitized to this country’s gun violence epidemic. When it’s made clear that gun owners can be held legally accountable for their offspring’s crimes, perhaps then they’ll understand how their interests converge with those of us who’ve been begging, pleading and voting for a safer country. And perhaps they’ll be interested in sending out season’s greetings with messages of peace instead of advertising our national love affair with assault rifles.
Comments

General Butler 4 year ago
There may have been some school shootings that were real, unprovoked by a federal agency, but the vast majority, if not all, have been engineered events, the objective of which is to incite articles like this and manufacture public consent for giving up your human right of self defense.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×