Texas Governor Gregg Abbott: “I want the city of El Paso to know and El Paso police department and everybody in this entire community know that the state of Texas provides its full support for this community and their efforts to rebuild. For the country that I know has been paying a lot of attention to this, asking what they can do, I ask that you keep El Pasoans in your prayer. We know the power of prayer and the power can you have by using that prayer. For every mom and dad and son and daughter, we ask you put your arms around your family members tonight and give them a hug and let them know how much you love them.”

Texas Congresswomen Sylvia Garica: “I believe in the power of prayer so I will pray for El Paso. I also believe in the power of public policy. We have to do more!”

The NRA embraces the unrestricted sale and possession of military assault rifles. (“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” — Wayne LaPierre, following the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre of children. Nothing has changed since then, except the body count.)

Second Amendment to the Constitution: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Does anyone — from the conservative legal movement or the Republican delegation in Congress — believe that the Founders intended to prevent federal restrictions on access to assault weapons? What conservative principle stands in the way of doing more than extolling the power of prayer in the face of mass killing after mass killing after mass killing? (See Case #1 in this post on the current state of ‘conservative’ jurisprudence.)

(Image of Dayton Daily News website the morning the mass shooting in Dayton eclipsed the mass shooting in El Paso at the top of the news.)