In the wake of two deadly shootings less than a week apart, SNL’s “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost accused Republican lawmakers of loving “guns more than people you don’t know.”
Jost began the “Weekend Update” segment by noting President Biden has recently called for universal background checks for gun purchases.
“And background checks are a great start, but shouldn’t we also do current checks?” Jost ponders. “How about this: If you want a gun, the gun store has to talk to at least five people from your life who agree it’s a good idea for you to have a gun. It’s not really that much to ask.”
Jost quips, “You’ve got to list three references on an application to work at Foot Locker.”
“And Republicans, please stop pretending this is a Second Amendment issue and just admit you love guns more than people you don’t know. These are your political ads; look at them,” Jost says, bringing up a photo collage of Republican lawmakers posing with firearms, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (Ga.) and Madison Cawthorne (N.C.).
“You look like you’re running for president of ISIS. If you actually cared about the Second Amendment, you’d also care about the well-regulated militias part. And I don’t know if you noticed when they almost hung you two months ago, but our militias aren’t super well-regulated,” Jost continues.
A USA Today/Ipsos poll conducted shortly after the Boulder, Colo. shooting found that around two-thirds of Americans supported stricter gun laws, but support for such laws had dropped among Republicans by 20 percent.
“In these highly tribalized times, cues from leadership become especially important in how the public forms their stance around issues. The partisan cuing around gun reforms has changed among Republican leadership, and the Republican base has followed suit,” Ipsos President Cliff Young said.