Politics & Government
Las Vegas Shooting: Now Is Not Time For Silence, Rep. Moulton Says
After the most deadly mass shooting in U.S. history, Rep. Seth Moulton said now is a time for action, not for a moment of silence.
SALEM, MA — "Thinking of everyone in Las Vegas, and praying Congress will have the courage to do more than stand in silence to commemorate them," Rep. Seth Moulton tweeted on Monday morning after the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, in which over 50 people were killed and over 500 were wounded.
Moulton, who represents the 6th Congressional District of Massachusetts, is a Marine Corps combat veteran of Iraq. He has taken a hard stance on gun laws in the United States, supporting the restriction of gun ownership in the U.S. and has called for universal background checks for gun buyers in the U.S.
The 6th Congressional District includes the entire North Shore, reaches as far west as Billerica and as far north as Salisbury, including seafarers to techies, whose representative has won a Bronze Star for valor in combat.
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Other officials have taken to social media, as well, to show their support for the victims of the brutal shooting.
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64-year-old Stephen Paddock was identified as the shooter in Las Vegas, and killed at least 58 people at a music festival with an arsenal of at least half a dozens firearms.
After the vicious Orlando Pulse night club shooting last year, Moulton said that he knows assault rifles, having carried and used one in Iraq, adding that they have no place here at home.
#LasVegas https://t.co/k6S1QIq4Sd
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) October 2, 2017
After that shooting, he joined Rep. Katherine Clark in refusing to participate in the moment of silence held in the House of Representatives, according to Wicked Local, which was meant to honor the victims. He will do the same this time. Such moments of silence, he says, can become excuses for inaction.
As after #Orlando, I will NOT be joining my colleagues in a moment of silence on the House Floor that just becomes an excuse for inaction.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) October 2, 2017
Moulton called on Speaker Paul Ryan to take action. "How many Americans have to die before you do your job?" he asked the Speaker in a tweet soon after 1 p.m. Monday.
.@SpeakerRyan, how many Americans have to die before you do your job? Allow us to have a debate and a vote. You're letting America down.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) October 2, 2017
Article image Steven Senne/Associated Press
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