Two days after the first day of school, two children were gunned down inside Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. A man with three legally purchased guns—a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol—opened fire through church windows, killing kids as they prayed in the pews. Sorry, gun nerds and ammosexuals, I don’t have the exact makes and models yet.

And what do we get from our so-called leaders? The same recycled platitudes, the same worthless ‘prayers.’

President Cheeto Mussolini: “Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem: “Our deepest prayers are with the children, parents, families, educators, and Christians everywhere.”

President Barack Obama: “Michelle and I are praying for the parents who have lost a child or will be sitting at their hospital bedside after yet another act of unspeakable, unnecessary violence.”

President Joe Biden: “With all our hearts, we are praying for the victims, their families, and the community of Minneapolis.”

Governor Tim Walz: “I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.”

Prayers, prayers, prayers. It’s like they’re all reading from the same goddamn Hallmark card.

Now, I did my stint in the Catholic Church. I put in the time, including four years at an all-male Catholic high school. I was an altar boy, for Christ’s sake. And to answer your next question, no, I wasn’t assaulted by clergy or anyone else in the church, but I digress.

I may not have willingly stepped into a church in decades, but I still have reverence for the Church itself and for the many decent, devout people who honestly live their faith. Which is why I don’t take it lightly when I tell every last politician, Democrat or Republican… Enough with your fucking prayers.

It’s been twenty-six years since Columbine. Where have your prayers gotten us? Nowhere. They’ve gotten us Parkland. They’ve gotten us Sandy Hook. They’ve gotten us Uvalde. They’ve gotten us Minneapolis. At this point it looks like God himself has abandoned us, and I don’t blame him. He’s probably sick of watching America beg for mercy while doing absolutely nothing to stop the next massacre.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the one thing all these shootings have in common isn’t mental health, or video games, or music, or social media, or bullying. It’s the fucking gun. Without the gun, these shootings don’t happen.

But instead of passing meaningful gun reform, you drop to your knees and offer “prayers.” Instead of banning high-capacity rifles that tear children apart, you fold your hands and ask for divine intervention. Instead of saving lives, you let this country drown in blood while hiding behind a Bible verse.

And fuck the Second Amendment. It’s an archaic relic from a time when your “firearm” was a single-shot musket you had to reload with gunpowder and prayer. Guns today are engineered for one purpose: maximum carnage, maximum exit wounds, and thirty rounds per minute pumped into classrooms and churches. We’ve allowed this 18th-century scrap of parchment to be twisted into a death sentence for 21st-century kids.

So no, I don’t want to hear about your thoughts and prayers. I want to hear about legislation. I want to hear about banning weapons of war. I want to hear about why someone can just walk into a store, drop some cash, and walk out with an arsenal fit for a battlefield.

Two kids are dead in Minneapolis. Their classmates will carry bullet scars, both physical and emotional, for the rest of their lives. And unless somebody in power grows a spine, we’ll be right back here next week, next month, next year, reading another round of “prayers” while kids bleed out in places that should be safe.

Fuck your prayers. Do something!