Sen. Joni Ernst sends her thoughts and prayers and absolutely, positively nothing else

UPDATE: As rough as this town hall was for Sen. Ernst, her Iowa colleague Rep. Steve King had the saddest town hall of all time.Every August, Congress gets a month off for a recess period. Elected officials make their way back home for state fairs, rotary luncheons, and the occasional town hall. That’s where Sen. Joni Ernst found herself over the weekend, taking questions from constituents in Iowa.

After a string of mass shootings from California to Brooklyn and everywhere in between, the crowd understandably wanted to know what Sen. Joni Ernst would be doing to press for common-sense gun law reforms when she returns to Washington. One attendee, a teacher, stood up and described the trauma she has to deal with on a regular basis as her school goes through active shooter drills. These realistic shooter drills involve the sounds of gunshots blasting. Sometimes the halls are filled with “victims” and this teacher says she even has to role-play meeting with parents at a “reunification” center after a tragic event like a mass shooting.

Listen as this teacher, with her voice shaking, describes these active shooter drills and asks, “When can I plan to get back to trainings that simply teach children to read and write?” Listen as the audience boos and shouts, “Do something!”