Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) officially confiscated the Patriot cards of Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and the rest of his Republican cohorts for refusing to hold town hall meetings and answer to their constituents. Gohmert’s cowardice is particularly egregious because the congressman cited Giffords’ shooting as the reason he didn’t want to hold any town hall meetings.
On Saturday, January 8, 2011, a gunman in Tuscon, Arizona, shot Giffords in the head before turning his focus on the crowd. Six people lost their lives, and Giffords suffered brain damage as a result. Recently, Gohmert sent out a letter to his constituents in which he tried to blame his unavailability for town hall meetings on the potential threat of gun violence. Gohmert said:
“At this time there are groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety.
“To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls.”
She also took her message to Twitter to further drive home her message and incidentally further deepen Gohmert’s now Grand Canyon sized emasculation.
As a member of Congress, I believed that listening to my constituents was the most basic and core tenet of the job I was hired to do. #TBT pic.twitter.com/8TOLZb6jFf
— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) February 23, 2017
To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls.
— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) February 23, 2017
Giffords also touched on the hypocrisy of Gohmert and other GOP lawmakers who regularly lobby for looser gun regulations while dismissing gun violence. She continued:
“In the past year, campaigning for gun safety, I have held over 50 public events.”
“Many of the members of Congress who are refusing to hold town halls and listen to their constituents concerns are the very same politicians that have opposed commonsense gun violence prevention policies and have allowed the Washington gun lobby to threaten the safety of law enforcement and everyday citizens in our schools, businesses, places of worship, airports, and movie theaters.
“To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls.”
Here’s Gohmert speaking just after the Giffords’ shooting, advocating for Congress to be allowed to carry guns instead of being assigned security details. He said:
“We don’t need another wedge between us and constituents.”
It’s hilarious how Gohmert, who’s such a staunch Second Amendment open carry advocate, is suddenly concerned about gun violence at town halls. Where was this concern since 2011? And since Texas is an open carry state, the congressman should feel reassured that a “good guy with a gun” would stop any potential act of violence, right?
Since President Donald Trump tripped and landed in the White House, people from across the nation have rediscovered their civic duty and have made their representative’s lives a living hell. Now weasels like Gohmert are running for the hills, looking for any excuse to hide from awake and angry constituents.
But Giffords sent a clear message to those yellow-bellied snakes. Don’t hide behind me.
Featured image via YouTube.
