In the bloody wake of what happened in Nashville this week, many have taken to social media to express their outrage, sorrow, and frustration. Singer Dee Snider has always been an active Twitter user and outspoken critic of right wing politicians, especially those who use Twisted Sister's youth anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" at rallies and other events meant to support values Snider himself does not hold. That, or they simply reflect ideas that are, by and large, out of step with the beliefs and customs of the modern era.
Recently, a frustrated fan tweeted at Snider, "Dee, if we organize and demand an assault weapons ban, may we use your anthem?" Snider replied, "I am a gun owner … that said, HELL YEAH YOU CAN USE 'WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT' AS YOUR ANTHEM!" You can see the exchange below.
This is not the first time Snider has spoken out against the use of assault-style rifles or firearms in any other scenario besides combat. Later in the exchange, Snider took a swipe at the weak arguments made for such a need, saying those who hoard assault weapons aren't exactly the crack shots they'd like to intimidate many people in the United States into believing.
As far as "We're Not Gonna Take It" goes, Snider has been pretty vocal over the years about who he does and doesn't want the song representing. Ukrainians battle Russians over the invasion of their homes? Hell yeah. Floridian anti-maskers? Hell no.
The United States government allowed the Assault Weapons Ban lapse in 2004, and since that time, a streak of mass killings and school shootings has been the genuine, merciless pandemic which has been wiping human beings off the map at an alarming pace, this cited in a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Report published in 2019. Logic would dictate a simple reinstatement of the assault weapon ban would go a long way it ending the wave of terror. But, for American citizens, they are still suspended in a constant state of terror, as their lawmakers continue to play a deadly game of political football with their own constituents.
As of late March, the Gun Violence Archive has counted 130 mass shootings in the United States this year. Without question, amassing an arsenal is not a constitutional right, it's a provocation of violence, in and of itself.
