Hi, Welcome to "Full Frontal!
I'm Samantha Bee.
Or should I say, "welcome to hell?"
Since the elementary school massacre
in Uvalde, Texas 13 days ago, there have been 33
mass shootings across America.
In the last month, shootings have taken place at churches,
grocery stores, doctor's offices,
and elementary schools.
In only 157 days this year, there
have been at least 246 mass shootings,
defined as four or more people shot and/or killed
in a single incident.
And that says everything you need to know
about America's gun problem--
that killing a mere three people at a time
isn't even a blip on the gun violence radar.
This week, Congress heard from parents
and a survivor of Uvalde.
And their words were as powerful as they were shattering.
Somewhere out there, there's a mom listening to our testimony,
thinking, I can't even imagine their pain,
not knowing that our reality will one
day be hers unless we act now.
How are we supposed to keep living like this?
According to the Gun Violence Archive,
the US hasn't had a single week without a mass
shooting so far this year.
It never stops.
Even Steve Harvey takes the occasional week off,
and he has like 100 jobs.
How does Steve Harvey do it?
Or should I say, how do Steves Harvey do it?
For years, we've known that we have a gun violence
epidemic in this country.
But the past few weeks have been almost unbearable.
And while you might think all this would finally
bring everyone together to do something,
you'd be wrong and, honestly, kind of dumb.
I mean, come on.
This is America.
JOURNALIST: 44% of Republicans nationwide indicate
that they accept mass shootings as inevitable, as part
of a, quote, "free society."
That is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard.
Human lives are not an acceptable cost for a hobby
unless your hobby is ritually sacrificing
human lives, in which case, OK, I
can at least follow the logic.
I mean, that's the whole point.
Sadly, it's not looking like things
will get better anytime soon.
In fact, in the short term, they're almost certainly
going to get even worse.
JOURNALIST 2: Bracing for a Supreme Court ruling
that could make it easier to carry
a gun in the state of New York.
JOURNALIST 3: New York bans carrying
a handgun openly in public.
Residents can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon
but only if they can show some special need.
Gun rights advocates sued, saying
that violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
JOHN ROBERTS: You don't have to say, when you're looking
for a permit to speak on a street corner or whatever,
that your speech is particularly important.
So why do you have to show in this case,
convince somebody, that you're entitled to exercise
your Second Amendment right?
Because guns kill people and words do not, you idiot.
New Yorkers already live in constant fear
of rising rent prices, rodent infestations,
and getting on an empty subway car
and realizing it's empty because someone
turned it into a mobile toilet.
And now everyone in New York City
might have to worry that one of the 300 people
crammed onto the next subway car is carrying a gun.
The new hard right majority of the Supreme Court
is most likely going to overturn New York's concealed carry law.
And New York officials are scrambling
to figure out what that could mean for some
of our most vulnerable places.
JOURNALIST 4: New York officials hoping
the court allows exceptions for so-called sensitive places.
That would allow the state legislature or the city council
to pass laws preventing people from bringing
weapons into businesses, schools, mass transit, even
Times Square.
AMY CONEY BARRETT: Can't we just say Times Square on New Year's
Eve is a sensitive place?
Of course Times Square is a sensitive place.
That's where New Yorkers go when they're lost and need to get
in touch with their feelings.
No one is more sensitive or comforting
than the off-brand minions of 42nd Street.
Their costumes didn't start off yellow,
but they sure did end up that way.
And it's not just New York that's at risk either.
If the Supreme Court deems the current law unconstitutional,
it could invalidate similar laws in other states
across the country, like California,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
But let's get our priorities straight here.
If there's one New Jersey law that needs to be invalidated,
it's the one that prohibits people
from pumping their own gas.
I mean, please.
I'm 37 years old.
I can pump my own gas.
In the worst case scenario, it could soon
be easier for almost anyone to carry a gun
in public for self-defense.
You'd think we'd know this by now,
but more guns do not make us safer.
There's a direct correlation between weak gun laws
and higher rates of gun deaths.
But America's gun fetishists won't
be satisfied with weakening just this one law.
Gun rights activists are working overtime
to fight all gun safety regulation,
with some Republicans even objecting
to common sense red flag laws.
JOURNALIST 5: What they do in general terms
is relatively simple.
Police or a family member can ask a judge
to order a temporary removal of weapons
from someone who presents a danger to him
or herself or others.
How the [BLEEP] is anyone against a red flag law?
It's so simple.
It's basically the "you'll shoot your eye out"
law but with cops instead of Santa.
If used correctly, red flag laws work.
And even strong majorities of Republican voters
are in favor of them.
19 states have some type of red flag law,
including a couple of pretty conservative states.
Just three weeks after the 2018 Parkland shooting,
Florida's Republican legislature and Republican governor
passed a gun reform package that included a red flag policy,
a three-day waiting period to buy most rifles,
funding for mental health resources,
and it raised the age minimum to purchase a gun to 21.
I mean, sure, you can probably get a fake ID
and McLovin yourself into an AR-15.
But at least the law adds a point of friction that keeps
guns away from many men under 21 who science has determined
are objectively the worst people alive.
Since 2018, Florida's law has been used at least 8,000 times
to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a risk.
That means Florida's red flag law is working, which
is surprising because Florida itself
is usually seen as a red flag.
Bipartisan talks in the Senate to encourage similar laws
are supposedly making progress, but it's
in the same slow, uncertain way that a pound of cheese
makes progress through your digestive system.
No one's sure if it'll get where it needs to go.
And it's going to hurt like hell trying to get there.
Unfortunately, many Republicans feel
the same way about gun restrictions
as they do about gun victims.
They'd prefer to just let them die.
JOURNALIST 6: The Protecting Our Kids Act proposed by Democrats
would raise age limits on assault rifles,
ban high capacity magazines, require safer gun storage,
and work to prevent gun trafficking.
Republicans say restrictions in Democrat-led cities
have not worked, and neither will this bill.
How dare you?
How dare you, you arrogant people?
We've seen what your ideas do.
They create more murder.
Oh, [BLEEP] off, Louie Gohmert, you dumb asshole.
First of all, no, they don't.
Second, we shouldn't waste our time listening
to the same person who just blamed mass shootings
on a lack of prayers.
Prayers don't work.
I know because if they did, Louie
Gohmert would spend the rest of his life stepping on rakes.
It's hard to be optimistic about the future
when half of our elected officials
won't even admit there's a gun problem.
And it is excruciating to see the headlines
about shootings day after day.
But we cannot look away.
The people who value guns more than lives
want us to get exhausted, to just
be relieved that it wasn't us or our kids who died this time,
and to move on.
They want us to accept mass shooting days
as a routine nuisance like rainy days
that you factor into your daily life.
They want us to forget the Sandy Hook kids who should be
in high school now, to forget the Columbine kids who should
be reaching middle age, and to forget all the chances
our leaders have squandered to prevent the countless shootings
that have happened since.
As long as these headlines keep piling up and as long
as Republicans are content to let our children
die as the cost of doing business,
we have to keep pressing the issue.
So expect to hear us talking again about guns
far sooner than any of us want to.
We'll be right back.
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