Do not let them rest

Be like Benjamin Hernandez

As I write this, the news cameras are pointed at Chattanooga, where two people were shot dead and one was killed by a car in an attempt to escape gunfire in the wee hours on Sunday. In all, some 17 people were injured at that particular event.

Meanwhile, two men got into a fight in Philadelphia, pulled out guns, and began firing on a crowded street, killing three and injuring 12.

By the time you read this, there most likely will be a more recent mass shooting. Gun Violence Archive is keeping a running list, and at one point last night, CNN said there had been at least eight mass shootings in the preceding 48 hours.

Inaction or worse in D.C. is not acceptable, nor is a political process that forces us to pretend to be polite. The time for that is over. If you are at all able to do so (I recognize that not everyone is confrontational), if you see a politician — Republican, Democratic, it doesn’t matter — ask them what they’re doing to quell gun violence. Listen to the answer. If they are doing nothing, do not let them leave the premises without explaining why. (Don’t like confrontation? Write letters. Call offices. Raise hell.)

Or be like Benjamin Hernandez, who confronted Ted Cruz at a sushi restaurant after Cruz spoke at a recent blood-gargling NRA convention.

Or be like Beto O’Rourke.

Put your own spin on it, but do not let them rest. What we’re doing now is not working. Do not let them eat comfortably in public. Confront them and make them say — out loud — why they won’t act. Ask them for a number. Ask them how many more people have to die before they’ll crawl out of the NRA’s pocket and do their job?