Just hours after news broke that a domestic terrorist killed more than 50 people in a mass shooting in Las Vegas, conservatives were already raring to go over not turning the awful situation into a “political” one. National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch — who recently tried to incite violence against The New York Times over negative coverage of Donald Trump — was an early passenger on the “don’t politicize tragedy” train. Others, like Fox News host Howard Kurtz, soon followed.

There’s no doubt numerous Republican pundits and congresspeople (who — shocker! — are bankrolled by the NRA) will continue their damage control in the hours and days following this shooting. It’s insensitive to speak up about gun control at this moment, they’ll claim. Right now we want to honor the victims, they’ll tweet. It was a “lone wolf” and an isolated incident, they’ll argue.

God, they need to shut up.

There are many problems with this idea that mass shootings shouldn’t be “politicized,” starting with the fact that tragedy — especially gun tragedy — often strikes because we don’t have sensible laws in place. The decision by our lawmakers on all levels to consistently deregulate the gun industry, and resist gun control, is entirely political. The government’s job, at the end of the day, is to keep its citizens safe, and our current representatives are actually working to not do that. - Refinery29.com