Republicans Will Definitely Support Gun Control After an Armed Man Threatened Brett Kavanaugh—Right??

U.S. marshals arrested an armed man near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home early Wednesday, per the Washington Post. Sources told the Post that the man is from California and traveled to Chevy Chase, Maryland, before he was arrested on a street close to Kavanaugh’s home. The suspect was allegedly carrying a gun, a knife, and “burglary tools” when he was arrested just before 2 am. The arrest came after he reportedly told officers that he wanted to kill Kavanaugh. Local police are working with the FBI but the Post said that the man was upset about the impending fall of Roe v. Wade and recent mass shootings.

The New York Times identified the suspect as 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, and said he was charged with attempted murder. Per the affidavit, Roske himself called 911 and said he was having suicidal thoughts and had a gun in his suitcase. Roske also “indicated that he believed the justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws.” Roske allegedly planned to break in, murder the justice, then kill himself. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

Reasonable people are probably wondering how someone apparently so disturbed that he traveled across the country to try to kill a Supreme Court justice was able to own a gun. Seems like something our lawmakers should address through, say, strengthening background checks and implementing red flag laws!

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled that he does support passing something—but it’s a bill to beef up security just for the nine justices. Legislation to do just that has passed the Senate unanimously on May 9, following non-violent protests outside several justices’ homes, but the House reportedly wants the bill to include other employees of the court.

McConnell strolled on to the Senate floor and said he wants the House to pass the bill “before the sun sets today”:

The sun has set 25 times since a white supremacist murdered 10 people in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, and 15 times since the murder of 19 elementary schoolers and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas—both with assault weapons. The sun has set hundreds and thousands of times since Sandy Hook in 2012 and since Congress let the federal assault weapons ban lapse in 2004.

But McConnell has never spoken with urgency after mass shootings, demanding that a bill be passed the same day. Republicans in the Senate can protect people when they want to, and who they choose to protect should be a wake-up call for the entire country.