“Santa, please bring ammo”: US Congressman sparks outrage on Twitter

US Congressman Thomas Massie has sparked outrage on Twitter after posting a picture of his family holding guns with the caption “Santa, please bring ammo”.

US Congressman Thomas Massie was met with outrage and criticism after posting a Christmas-themed photo on Twitter in which all members of his family are pictured holding guns in front of a Christmas tree. The caption reads “Merry Christmas! p.s. Santa, please bring ammo”.

The Republican, from Kentucky, posted the photo just days after four teenagers and a teacher were killed in a school shooting in Michigan at the hands of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley. The tragic incident, which also left another six people injured, occurred on November 30.

The politician’s open defense of the right to bear arms has provoked a wave of criticism from friends and family of the victims of such indiscriminate mass violence and those who oppose the sale and usage of firearms.

Massie, who represents a solidly Republican district, published the photo of himself and another six people holding what appears to be an M60 machine gun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and a Thompson submachine gun.

Family members of the victims responded fiercely, criticising Massie for his lack of empathy. Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jaime Taylor, a teenager who was killed in a school shooting in 2018, shared a photo of his daughter with the message “since we are sharing family photos, here are mine. One is the last photo that I ever took of Jaime, the other is where she is buried because of the Parkland school shooting. The Michigan school shooter and his family used to take photos like yours as well.”

The director of Massie’s campaign, Johnathan van Norman, did not respond to immediate demands for comment on Twitter.

The Michigan school shooting was the latest in a series of fatal incidents which have led to fierce debate regarding school safety and the right to use guns.

Some semiautomatic weapons are made to look almost identical to fully automatic weapons such as machine guns. According to United States law, weapons such as machine guns may only be used by the armed forces, law enforcement, and civilians who have obtained special licences for guns made before May 1986.

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Written by

Tamsin Brown

Originally from London, Tamsin is based in Malaga and is a local reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering Spanish and international news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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