Prayers don't do a fucking thing...

Democrats to GOP: Prayers are not enough

'I would much rather have moments of action than moments of silence,' Rep. Schiff says about the latest mass shooting.

By Nick Gass

Democrats are scolding their Republican colleagues for not backing up their calls for "thoughts and prayers" with real action that could curb the gun violence plaguing the United States.

As Americans are still trying to make sense of Wednesday's massacre in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 and injured another 17, Democratic voices are saying enough with the platitudes.

Appearing on CNN's "New Day" on Thursday morning, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said he is through with moments of silence, noting that he had just been part of a moment of silence on the House floor mere days ago after a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that killed three last Friday.

"This has become a ritual in the House. I would much rather have moments of action than moments of silence on the House floor," Schiff said.

"Your 'thoughts' should be about steps to take to stop this carnage. Your 'prayers" should be for forgiveness if you do nothing - again," tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday, whose own state is approaching the three-year anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown.

As the situation unfolded thousands of miles away in California, Richard Blumenthal, one of the state's Democratic senators, tweeted that "Congress is effectively complicit for its inaction."

In the aftermath of Wednesday's shooting, in which the motive is still unknown, several Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates shared messages on social media expressing that their thoughts and prayers went out to the victims and their families. Newly installed House Speaker Paul Ryan asked for a moment of silence on Wednesday evening as he kicked off a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. "Before I begin I just want to say that we are all thinking of the current and ongoing tragedy in California today," Ryan said. "Please keep the victims and their families in your prayers right now."

Appearing on "CBS This Morning" on Thursday, Ryan focused on mental illness as the most pressing issue, saying Congress needs to fix the country's laws concerning those with mental illness being able to acquire firearms and carry out these shootings.

"What we have seen is the theme of mental illness, and we need to fix our mental illness laws, our policies. They’re outdated, and that is something that we are working on right now," he said, referring to Murphy's bill to overhaul the mental health system.

He also called attention to growing concerns about homegrown terrorism.

“Now, without knowing the facts in San Bernardino, we also know that there are homegrown jihadists," the speaker said. "We also know that there are ISIS inspirational events, and we need to figure out how to handle that as well. So there are multiple things that need to be addressed, and we are working on those that need to be addressed.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday morning, tore into the White House's approach to such violent events, saying that the fact that Wednesday's shooting came on the heels of the Nov. 13 terrorist attack in Paris "underscores that we are at a time of war."

"Whether or not the current administration realizes it or is willing to acknowledge it, our enemies are at war with us," the Texas senator said. "And I believe this nation needs a wartime president to defend it."

Shortly after Cruz's remarks, Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley appeared on MSNBC for a previously scheduled interview, where he acknowledged that the shooting could be a case of domestic terrorism but that gun laws are an underlying factor.

"Look, this may well be an act of domestic terrorism, but it’s also one that’s made easier by the fact that we're the only developed nation on the planet that doesn't do a damn thing to keep combat assault weapons out of the hands of those who shouldn't be able to get them," he told José Díaz-Balart.

Republican candidate Carly Fiorina earlier called upon the enforcement of gun laws already on the books.

"We have loads of guns that are illegally owned in this country. Why don't we prosecute them?" the former Hewlett-Packard CEO asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe. "I think people would be willing to do more if some basic common sense steps were taken. We don't enforce the laws in this country. That's why, that's why some of the cities and states with some of the most stringent gun-control laws also have mass shootings."

There has been growing frustration that little has been done in Washington regarding gun violence, despite a series of wrenching and frequent mass shootings. The most significant reform push came after the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and six adults. But the legislative effort ultimately fell apart, with reform advocates continually pleading for action as the number of mass shootings pile up. The Washington Post reported Friday that more mass shootings had occurred than days in the year — 351 mass shootings in 334 days.

Many have blamed the entrenched power of the National Rifle Association, while others have placed some fault with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for not pushing forcefully enough and seizing on fleeting momentum sparked by some of the shootings.

On the Senate floor Thursday morning, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the NRA "quasi-militant wing of the Republican Party."

"Those who choose to do the NRA's bidding will be held accountable by our constituents," Reid said. "Something has to be done. We must take a stand. The American people are desperately looking for help, some help, any help. It will never be possible to prevent every shooting. We know that. But we have a responsibility to try. There are certain things we can do."

As the situation was still unfolding on Wednesday afternoon, Obama expressed frustration in a CBS News interview with Norah O’Donnell that there appears to be no end in sight for these tragedies.

“We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world,” Obama said. “And there's some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently.”

Obama said the still-stalled effort to enact new gun controls is unacceptable. The U.S. has no-fly lists, he noted, but those same people can go anywhere in the country and purchase a firearm. “And there’s nothing that we can do stop them,” said Obama, echoing his repeated calls for Congress to pass common-sense gun safety laws and stronger background checks.

“We don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is, is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal,” he said. “We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries.”

It’s not clear, however, that gun reform has any better chance now than it has in the recent past.

At least one paper joined Democrats in taking offense to Republicans' condolence messages in light of the latest shooting.

"GOD ISN'T FIXING THIS," the New York Daily News' front page blared Thursday, featuring tweets from Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and presidential candidates Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Elsewhere on Twitter, Igor Volsky, a staffer at liberal outlet ThinkProgress, drew wide notice on the network, becoming a Twitter Moment for an ongoing tweetstorm calling out Republicans for skirting the issue.