A multiple-fatality attack in Kongsberg, Norway Wednesday by a man using a bow and arrows has ignited a furious debate in the U.S. over gun control laws, with Republican Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert eliciting some nasty reactions after tweeting that mass killings can occur despite strict gun control laws.
According to Reuters, the suspect killed five people and wounded two others, using a bow and arrow “over a large area” of the city. Police Chief Oeyvind Aas told reporters the suspect was apprehended.
The Associated Press is reporting that authorities are investigating the rampage as a “terrorist act.”
The suspect was identified as Espen Andersen Braathen, 37, a citizen of Denmark.
The AP quoted Hans Sverre Sjoevold, head of Norway’s PST, the nation’s domestic intelligence agency. He told reporters authorities have yet to establish a motive.
But Boebert’s tweet appears to have hit a nerve with anti-gunners for matter-of-factly observing, “Norway has some of the strictest gun laws around, yet mass killings still occur. Liberals need to understand it is not the gun – it is the criminal who commits the act!”
A man in Norway just killed a bunch of people with a bow and arrow.
Norway has some of the strictest gun laws around, yet mass killings still occur.
Liberals need to understand it is not the gun – it is the criminal who commits the act!
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) October 13, 2021
While the logic seems well-reasoned to gun rights activists, some of the reactions to Boebert from obvious gun control supporters attempt to demean the freshman congresswoman. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the worst messages came from people using pseudonyms in their responses.
“Hey Lauren, next time some guy kills 60 people and wounds 411 more with a bow and arrow like your NRA buddy at the Mandalay Bay Hotel shooting in Las Vegas, you might have a point,” wrote “Merrily vaccinated agnostic.”
Another respondent, identified as “GayMouthOfTheSouth” joined a number of others comparing Norway’s murder data to the U.S. “In 2020 31 people died from guns in Norway, in the US approx 19380 people died from guns. We know it’s not the gun ding dong. But if we did better with who is getting them then we would be better off. Simple logic, I know it escapes you.”
The reactions suggest Boebert’s critics either did not understand her message, or deliberately misrepresent it because while she is talking about how mass killers will find ways to commit an act, the critics try to diminish the argument by comparing the number of murders from one country to another, and the fact that gun ownership in the U.S. is protected by the Constitution.
Liberty Park Press reached out to Boebert’s office for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
