“The blood of the 3 beautiful babies we lost in Nashville is on that money, the store owners said.
QUICK FACTS:
- ‘FLWR Shop’ owners Alex Vaughan and Quinn Kiesow refused to work for a Republican National Committee (RNC) event, instead encouraging other shops to boycott the group.
- Vaughan and Kiesow “immediately declined” the job, claiming ideas speakers at the upcoming event represent go “beyond our comfort level,” including Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
- The owners said they “cannot ignore the work the RNC has done to create this tragedy and so many others like it.”
- A letter describing the situation was released on the business’s Instagram account, with one of the owners writing in the caption, “George Washington upon leaving office said, ‘political parties may now then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and usurp for themselves the reins of government.”
- “Either party holds the potential for what GW warned against but right now there is one party in particular that stands out,” the caption added. “And since they’ve gerrymandered my district to the point of taking away my representation and those of so many others, these are the means by which I can make my voice heard. The budget for this job was large. Not something we would ordinarily turn down. But as the email says, there’s blood on that money and we can have no part in that.”
FROM THE LETTER:
- “We would like to challenge others in the Nashville event industry to say no to taking money or jobs from the Republican party until they begin to make the changes to gun laws that most Americans are calling for,” the Instagram letter reads.
- “The Republican party not only refuses to enact change, but many members of the party have worked to pass legislation that makes this problem worse, like the recent changes to gun laws here in Tennessee,” the letter adds. “The Republican Party has wasted taxpayer money and precious legislative will on banning drag shows, rather than assault rifles that are being used to murder children in their classrooms.”
- “To make things worse, when a tragedy like this happens, the Republican party disingenuously uses fear about losing 2nd amendment rights to stir yet more division so they can raise money,” the flower shop owners continue.
- “We will not be accepting any of your money. The blood of the 3 beautiful babies we lost in Nashville is on that money. We cannot find any logic in a morality that refuses to try to prevent the murder of children just to ensure that people aren’t inconvenienced when they want to obtain a gun. We certainly can’t find the moral login in helping that set of ideas spread. So, we will have no part in it.”
BACKGROUND:
- Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) recently changed his stance on gun control as he called for his state’s legislature to pass a red flag law.
- The red flag law would allow the temporary removal of firearms from individuals considered to be a danger or threat.
- Lee told reporters, “I’m asking the General Assembly to bring forward an order of protection law” as a “new, strong order of protection law will provide the broader population cover, safety, from those who are a danger to themselves or the population.”
