Editor’s note: This story was adapted from the May 8 edition of CNN’s Meanwhile in America, the email on US politics for a global readership. Click here to read previous editions and subscribe.
CNN
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At this point, it’s no surprise that there has been another mass shooting in the United States.
The latest tragedy occurred Saturday in Allen, Texas, when a gunman opened fire on shoppers at a mall. It was another horrific attack on people simply going about their lives, be it in shops, a bank, parties, schools, places of worship or even in their homes.
After every shooting, the political rituals are the same. Republicans who have leveraged their party with activists who want to loosen gun laws are offering prayers for victims and talking vaguely about a mental health crisis. Democrats are demanding more gun control and a ban on rapid-fire assault weapons that can kill multiple people in seconds.
But nothing ever changes.
Is there a way out of this endless cycle of death? Or the political system is simply too gridlocked, even though a majority of Americans in most polls favor some sort of reform to gun laws.
Meanwhile, he asked three expert contributors to CNN’s “Guns in America” unit about the implications of the latest horror and the state of gun policy in the country.
Jennifer Massia is a senior reporter for “The Trace,” an independent news operation dedicated to covering America’s gun violence epidemic.
In the meantime: Some pro-gun Texas state officials have argued that because mass shootings also happen in liberal states with stricter gun laws, more restrictions wouldn’t work. This is true?
Mass shootings happen in states with strict gun laws, as we saw with Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California earlier this year. But states with the laxest gun laws still tend to have higher gun death rates.
According to the CDC’s most recent figures, the states with the lowest gun death rates (which includes both homicides and suicides) are Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island; California is 8th. All of these states have gun owner licensing, which means you must obtain a license or permit before you can even purchase a gun. This process typically involves a thorough background check, law enforcement interviews, character references, mandatory firearms training and fingerprinting. Gun owner licensing, also known as a permit to purchase, is considered the most effective policy in reducing gun deaths.
Meanwhile: What are the states with the most gun deaths?
The states with the highest rates of gun deaths are Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Wyoming; Texas is 28th. With the exception of New Mexico, all of these states (including Texas) have enacted permit-free carry, meaning gun owners are not required to obtain a license or receive training to carry a concealed weapon in public. There are now 27 permit-free carry states, and studies have shown that gun violence increases after states loosen concealed carry requirements. A study last year by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the average rate of gun assaults rose 9.5 percent in the first decade after 34 states relaxed their concealed carry restrictions . Missouri provides an interesting case study: Until 2007, the state required permits to buy guns, as do Massachusetts, California and a dozen other states. In the five years after permit-to-buy was repealed, the homicide rate rose 14 percent, a study found. Missouri further loosened its gun laws, enacting permit-free carry in 2017. In 2019, the Kansas City Star found that Missouri’s gun death rate had increased 58 percent since 2007, when the ‘state removed the purchase permit.
Meanwhile: How does the US compare to the rest of the world?
Bottom line: When it comes to gun violence, you’re safer in California than Texas. But you are still safer in other countries than in California. That’s because, to quote UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, “California has the strictest gun laws in the US, but some of the laxest and most permissive gun laws in the industrialized world.” And that explains why California still has mass shootings: Our strongest gun laws are still no match for Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Israel, and others. These countries are very careful about who they allow to have guns and the selection process takes many months. The only system that is comparable is New York City’s gun permit process, which is overseen by the NYPD.
Abene Clayton is the lead reporter for The Guardian’s “Guns and Lies in America” team
Meanwhile: Texas officials seemed very reluctant to offer many specific details about the mass shooting at the mall. what’s going on here
I believe that Texas, and the majority of officials who are staunch gun rights and Second Amendment protectors, are working overtime to put distance between guns and the violence we saw this weekend and continue to see daily . I think that in addition to wanting to keep their voter base happy, many officials are genuinely afraid of armed resistance from extremists who have guns and are willing to die or create mayhem if there is even a hint that there will be limitations on gun ownership. and retention
I also believe that the lack of recognition of the broader issues of gun violence is intended to perpetuate the narrative that mass shootings are the result of spiritual warfare or innate evil. Conveniently for officials, none of these factors can be legislated, so it gives them the opportunity to point to a reason for the shootings, but not take responsibility for supporting and creating solutions that keep people safe.
In the meantime: If local state officials won’t enact measures to stop the massacres, or at least try to, what are their obligations to, say, do anything meaningful to address the mental health issues they always cite, or to help mitigate the victim trauma?
There are federal and some state victim assistance programs that specifically target people with mass violence and terrorism. (…) I believe that state officials need to support, empower, and uplift survivors of mass shootings, even as some become politically active on issues—like red flag laws and assault weapons bans — which may not be acceptable to the base of right-wing lawmakers. .
Politicians like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, both Republicans, and all the local and state officials who refuse to make good faith arguments about gun violence prevention solutions (other than tougher police and school) must show at least. genuine care for people who lose loved ones and are irreparably injured after a shooting.
Stephen Gutowski founded “The Reload,” a subscriber publication created to provide sober and informed reporting on gun ownership in the United States.
In the meantime: Is there any chance the country’s fractured politics can produce anything to stop this cycle of shootings?
There is broad agreement that more needs to be done to prevent mass shootings. The problem is that there is little agreement among the parties on how to do this. Democrats generally favor broad gun restrictions and bans. Republicans generally favor stricter enforcement of current gun laws and mental health intervention. There is likely to be some crossover at any point between voters, but little between their elected representatives.
If these high-profile murders continue to rise, and they are happening at a record pace this year, no matter which count you look at, it could increase pressure for new gun restrictions. That’s what led to last year’s federal gun control law. But there’s little reason to think it could lead to a new national ban on AR-15s or other firearms because there’s no support among congressional Republicans, and even 50 votes in favor are unlikely in the Senate, as some Democrats also oppose a ban.
Meanwhile: Where is the action to watch over gun policy legislation?
Politics at the state level is becoming increasingly polarized based on the politics prevailing in each state. Red states focus on reducing attacks by making it easier for law-abiding citizens to obtain and carry guns. Blue states have increasingly moved to ban “assault weapons” and ammunition magazines that hold a certain amount of ammunition. “Red flag” laws that allow officials to temporarily confiscate guns from people a judge determines are a threat to themselves or others have mostly found their way into Democratic strongholds.
But Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, is trying to address some of those concerns in a new proposal that the Republican-controlled Legislature will debate in a special session. If they can come up with a policy that addresses the concerns of gun rights advocates, that could create momentum for the policy in other states. That makes this gun policy debate the most remarkable of the moment.
