The veiled encouragement toward racism and violence by Donald Trump at his alleys has surely attributed to the increase in mass carnage by white supremacist over the past two and a half years.

I would go one step further and lay all the killings by assault type weapons since 2004 directly on the door step of the Republican Party. They are not just complicit; they are responsible for the carnage.

In 1994, an assault weapons ban was passed by the Democratic Congress, with some minor support from Republicans. The ban included semi-automatic assault type weapons and extended clips that would enable anyone to fire massive amounts of ammunition in a short time.

The ban was enacted for 10 years and expired in 2004. Attempts were made by the Democrat law makers to renew the ban, but President George W. Bush and the GOP lawmakers, spurred on by the NRA, made sure the assault weapons ban was not renewed.

Think of all the children and adults that have died under fire from a military assault type weapon and rounds from extended mega-clips, since 2004. All of those deaths are directly the result of a Republican Party that is more concerned with support from weapons manufacturers and gun extremist, than the safety of nation.

Every Republican lawmaker who voted  to kill the ban is just as guilty of this mass carnage as if they had personally held down the trigger.

William Gilliland

Farmington