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Telemachus Orfanos (right), a 27-year-old naval veteran, was among the victims of the shooting in Thousand Oaks, California. (Facebook)
Marc and Susan Orfanos woke up at 2 am Thursday in Thousand Oaks, California, following a call from a family member in New York City. The wide-eyed couple has fallen into a ritual that is familiar to parents in Columbine, Blacksburg, Aurora, Newtown, Orlando, Parkland – and, starting this week, also in the peaceful outpost of Los Angeles.
They waited to find out if their child, who had survived the deadliest gun kill in modern American history in Las Vegas last year, had perished during a new shooting incident. many victims.
"You always keep hope," said Marc Orfanos, 63, in an interview. He and his wife had run to the Borderline Bar and Grill, where a student-only online dance party ended when only one armed man opened fire shortly before midnight. While they were waiting in a crisis center nearby, several survivors told the distressed couple that they thought they saw their son run away from the bar.
It was not until Thursday afternoon that a police officer told them the news: their son, Telemaque Orfanos, 27 years old, was dead.
This marked the end of an ominous ritual and the beginning of another, when Orfanos' parents channeled their private anguish into a public call for gun control – a cry that has echoes Aurora in Newtown and beyond.
But what distinguishes their appeal is the absolute disavowal of society's reaction to the violence that cost their son their life.
"I do not want prayers. I do not want thoughts. I want gun control, "Susan Orfanos told local television.
"And I hope no one else will send me prayers," she said, shaking her head vigorously. She insisted on every word, demanding: "More guns."
Her husband stated that the victim's parents know that this is not certain.
"If Sandy Hook's 5-year-old kids do not get noticed, nothing will escape," said Orfanos, a semi-animate substitute teacher. "In the end, the NRA owns most of the Republican Party, and probably also a part of the Democratic Party. Until this vice is broken, it will not end. (The NRA has provided financial support to a handful of Democratic Congress members during this cycle, according to the Center for Responsible Politics, a non-partisan research group.)
On Thursday, support for action to restrict access to guns was barely raised. The debate took place according to familiar principles. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Leader of the House of Representatives in the House of Commons, promised to fight for "bipartisan and common sense solutions to prevent gun violence."
Everytown for Gun Safety, founded and funded by former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, request "Sound strategic actions" to reduce armed violence. Gabrielle Giffords, a former Democratic Congressman from Arizona who was shot and wounded in 2011, said she was "broken, angry and that she will never accept it." like a normal thing.
The NRA, meanwhile, sharp California's tight controls – the state was the first to ban assault rifles nearly 30 years ago. The spokesperson for the organization, Dana Loesch, to discuss mental illness, a problem not unique to the United States, where the rate of firearm homicides is nevertheless much higher than in other high-income countries.
Authorities said Ian David Long, 28, had legally purchased the .45 caliber handgun that he had brandished inside the bar. He also used an extensive magazine that, according to officials, required further analysis to determine how many towers he could hold and determine if he had been able to break the state's law.
Democratic legislators have expressed hope that the new balance of power in Washington, ratified by the mid-term elections on Tuesday, would change the debate. Lucy McBath, whose son was killed during a shootout in 2012, has won major victories. The Democrat has seized a siege under tight surveillance in the suburbs of Atlanta.
"It is unfortunately not surprising that the same day that I formally became a member of Congress, other families in this country receive exactly the same appeal as the one I had received six years ago. years ago when I learned that my son had been murdered, "said McBath in a statement. Thursday declaration posted on Twitter. She said that she would work to "make our communities safer".
In the Colorado District, which includes Aurora, the suburb of Denver, where 12 people were killed in a movie theater in 2012, Democrat Jason Crow overthrew Republican Rep. Mike Coffman. Firearms were also a fault line in northern Virginia, where Republican Barbara Comstock fell into the hands of Democrat Jennifer Wexton.
At the same time, 60% of the mid-term voters, including 42% of gun owners, were in favor of tighter controls, according to a poll at the exit of NBC News, while 36% were opposed.
But the NRA also had winnings to celebrate. The deep-seated organization-backed candidates won many more races than they lost, according to one tracker managed by The Trace, a gun-related media. The NRA helped oust Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly in Indiana and helped elevate senator-elect Marsha Blackburn, a Republican congressman from Tennessee.
Blackburn says Fox News On Thursday, the shooting clearly showed the need to "protect the second amendment and protect our citizens" before moving from discussion to mental health.
Orfanos said that his son, who had gone through "Tel", was hardly a critic of the Second Amendment. In fact, the 27-year-old was a little passionate about guns.
During his stay in the Navy, he often went to the shooting ranges and, when he returned home to live with his parents, several years ago, he asked her for He could keep a firearm at home. They would not allow it.
"I have the feeling that if there is a gun in the house, there is always a possibility of accident or suicide," said his father. "It increases the chances."
Orfanos hoped his son would change his mind after the Navy veteran survived last year's mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas. His son suffered post-traumatic stress disorder due to the episode, in which he helped pull the mutilated bodies from the firing line, said Orfanos.
"He always thought that people could have their weapons," said his father. "But even he said they did not need long magazines, which the person who murdered my son had."
He said the country's "gun culture" was the cause of his son's death – a culture maintained by what he condemned as an alarmist campaign against the NRA.
"I blame the Wayne LaPierres of the world, the Dana Loesches, outright because they put the fear of God in some of those people who think they need to own small arms," said Orfanos, referring to the vice Executive Chairman of the NRA and the prominent spokesperson for the group.
The only way to change the culture, he said, is to adopt a "rational law on guns" that protects the ability of people to defend themselves in the interest of self defense, but prohibits weapons such as AR-15s and high-powered handguns.
The father of the victim said that it was time "to concretize his efforts and put an end to this violence". His wife, said Orfanos, remained inconsolable until Thursday.
"My son was a naval veteran and, fortunately, he never faced fighting," Orfanos said. "Last year, in Las Vegas, he survived, his friends were shot all around him, only to return home and be murdered in our hometown."
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