I missed the joke. When JD Vance described the 19 loaded guns found at his grandmother’s house after she died, the Republican National Convention erupted into laughter. Just days after a registered Republican, opened fire with an assault rifle, nearly killing their presidential nominee. This was somehow funny? Surely some of these leaders know that, according to Everytown for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign, every year, 40,000 Americans die from gun violence — over 700 deaths a week. This costs taxpayers, $557 billion a year— a cost to each American taxpayer of $2,100 a year. Over four times the estimated cost of illegal immigration.

The punch line for Vance? “This is who we fight for,” he told the audience. Who, I wondered? The older Americans stuck inside their homes, surrounded by loaded guns? “That’s the American spirit!” he finished, to applause. Really? Is that what Vance’s American spirit is all about? Swapping Lady Liberty’s torch of light with an assault rifle? I missed the joke.

Steve Kelley
Kennebunk