BOSTON — By Saturday afternoon, Arkansas State Representative Nate Bell (R-AR) was admittedly “pretty tired of explaining the joke” behind a tweet he posted, which read: “I wonder how many Boston liberals spend the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine? #2A.”
The tweet was composed during the manhunt for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing; residents of the city had been asked to stay inside in order to protect them from the armed and dangerous young man. Representative Bell capitalized on the hilarity of the situation, but has voiced concern that the people of Boston “just didn’t get it.”
“I’m a pretty edgy guy,” said Bell, “so I think the whole joke might’ve just gone over their cowardly heads. See, it was topical humor—I was referring to the Manchin-Toomey amendment, which basically just made it a little harder for people with a history of violence or mental illness to purchase assault weapons. And here’s the kicker: it got shot down!”
“Pun totally intended,” said Bell with a satisfied grin.
Indeed, the amendment did not receive enough support to clear a GOP-led filibuster on Wednesday, despite the fact that nearly 90% of Americans support the background checks it proposed. While 60% of gun sales in America do include background checks, those made through the Internet or at gun shows remain exempt.
Bell later issued an apology for the timing of his tweet, clarifying that, while he wholeheartedly endorsed its content, “the timing was all wrong, and timing is everything in comedy.”
“I know a lot of lives were shattered that day, but did your collective funny bone get broken? I mean, seriously,” said Bell. “I mean, the assault weapons ban never even made it to the Senate floor. You get why that’s funny, right? Because those yellow-belly liberals actually could get an AR-15. Pretty much anyone can.”
