The story of a puppy who died on a United Airlines flight this week shocked many Americans, after reports surfaced that a flight attendant put the dog’s crate in an overhead bin despite the owner’s protests.

But after a Republican senator immediately pledged to introduce legislation that would prevent such deaths, critics noted the disconnect between the lawmaker’s rapid response to the incident involving pet safety and his dismissive attitude towards gun control efforts aimed at ending the mass slaughter of human beings, including students and children, each year.

Kennedy tweeted his response to the dog’s death on the same day that thousands of students, teachers, and parents across the nation staged protests demanding stricter gun control reforms, including universal background checks and strengthening of the background check system, a ban on military-style weapons like the AR-15, and a raised minimum age for gun purchasers.

The demonstrations marked one month since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 people were killed—just the latest of several mass shootings in recent years, many of which involved the AR-15.

Kennedy has shrugged off proposals for gun control reforms in recent weeks, saying, “I don’t think we need more gun control laws…we need more idiot control.” The senator has received more than $200,000 from the National Rifle Association (NRA) over the course of his career. 

The Department of Transportation found last month that 18 animals died last year while in the care of United. In a letter to the airline on Wednesday, Kennedy called the pattern of deaths “simply inexcusable.”