GOP Sen. Ron Johnson Blames Uvalde Shooting Literally on ‘CRT’ and ‘Wakeness’

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) not only said this week that he opposes new gun laws to combat mass shootings, but also blamed critical race theory and “vigilance” for the horrific massacre at the Uvalde School, in which 19 small children died.

In the wake of the tragic carnage at Robb Elementary School, gun conservatives have proposed everything from “human traps” to “ballistic blankets” to door control to counter the never-ending scourge of America’s mass shootings. At the same time, they have routinely ignored the need for sensible gun safety measures, even going so far as to claim that gun control caused the Uvalde tragedy.

During an appearance on Fox Business Network on Thursday, Johnson—who earlier this week blamed the shooting on “loss of faith” and the “secularization of society” — and flatly rejected the expansion of any gun laws following this latest mass murder.

Amid mounting support for restricting gun sales to anyone under the age of 21 – the shooter was 18 and bought his firearms legally – presenter Neil Cavuto asked Johnson what he thought of these possible measures.

“There are hardly any solutions here in the federal government,” complained the ultra-conservative senator. “I think the federal government creates or worsens more problems than it ever solves.”

Noting that Republicans had insisted it was primarily a mental health issue, Cavuto explained that mass shootings appear to be largely an American problem, before questioning how much mental health will be addressed as part of the solution must.

“That’s the problem. You know, there’s a disease in our society. I’ve always said the overall solution is renewed faith, stronger families, more supportive communities,” Johnson replied, adding, “This is a society-wide one Problem, a society-wide disease that cannot be solved by just any gun law, additional gun laws here in Washington, DC”

With the vast majority of Americans supporting universal background checks, the Fox Business host discovered that gunman Salvador Ramos legally purchased two assault weapons shortly after his 18th birthday. (“When assault weapons are used in mass shootings, six times as many people are shot,” found advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.)

“Well, we didn’t have the paper trail and record to get to your point, but do you think we might need stricter background checks?” Cavuto pressed the Wisconsin legislature.

“You know, no matter what you do, people fall through the cracks,” Johnson shot back. “You cannot identify all these problems. You can’t arrest someone for a crime they haven’t already committed. These are difficult issues.”

Johnson reiterated his belief that the solution lay in “renewed faith” and “strong families,” then quickly plunged into the recent right-wing moral panic.

“We have stopped teaching values ​​in so many of our schools. Now we teach awakening,” the senator fumed. “We indoctrinate our kids with things like CRT and tell some kids that they are no match for others and that they are the cause of other people’s problems.”

Cavuto pushed back, interjecting, “But school shootings happened long before CRT.”

Undeterred, Johnson maintained that “CRT has also been under the radar for a while,” stating that “vigilance” and “liberal indoctrination” have also been going on for a long time.

“This is a much bigger problem than a simple new gun law, it won’t solve it, it won’t solve it,” he concluded.

Critical race theory is, of course, an academic concept that has been used in law schools and graduate courses for decades, generally as a way for scholars to understand how racism has publicly shaped American policies and laws. Although it is not taught in elementary schools, conservatives have recently claimed that lesson plans focused on equality and diversity are part of CRT, prompting GOP-led state legislatures to ban its use in the classroom.