More people die from guns in California than in war in Ukraine

01/26/2023

4 minutes read

2023.01.26 09:28

By Kristina Sobol

Budrigannews.com – California was devastated by a massacre at a dance studio in Monterey Park and a rampage at two farms in Half Moon Bay in less than 72 hours. According to police, one man used a gun that the state had banned, while the other used a gun that he legally owned.

The twin attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 18 people, once more brought to light the jumble of laws and rulings that have hampered efforts to reduce the number of fatal mass shootings in the United States. Even California’s gun laws, which are among the strictest in the nation, can be circumvented.

According to Giffords Law Center’s chief counsel, J. Adam Skaggs, “It does illustrate the challenges of regulating state by state when firearms are so easily carried across state lines.”

There is little hope for new federal gun laws.

The first federal gun legislation in decades was passed last year by Congress. It included billions of dollars to address mental illness and to encourage states to pass laws allowing authorities to take guns from dangerous people. It is highly unlikely that the newly Republican-controlled House of Representatives will advance any new gun regulations.

Republicans have repeatedly resisted attempts to impose more stringent restrictions like the ban on high-capacity magazines and universal background checks. They claim that these measures will violate the rights of law-abiding gun owners while not deterring criminals.

Additionally, any new federal law would need to withstand legal challenges at the United States Supreme Court, where a conservative majority expanded gun rights in a landmark June 2013 decision that made carrying a weapon in public a fundamental right.

Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety, two anti-gun groups, say they will continue to push for bipartisan support in Congress and pursue other options, such as industry reform and state-level legislation.

As part of a campaign to persuade the general public that gun manufacturers are profiting from violence and to force them to place a higher priority on safety, Everytown has collaborated with mayors of 31 cities to release data tracking the manufacturers of guns recovered in crimes.

“The industry is a missing piece of the gun debate in this country,” stated Everytown senior vice president for law and policy Nick Suplina.

Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing the firearms industry, stated that numerous efforts have been made to ensure that guns “stay out of the hands of someone who shouldn’t have them,” including enhancements to the national background-check system.

Giffords said that this year, after Democrats won majorities in both state legislatures, they will work to strengthen gun laws in Minnesota and Michigan. Additionally, the group is opposed to Ron DeSantis’s, a Republican governor of Florida, plans to let people carry guns without a permit.

By banning handguns or semiautomatic long guns and buying back millions of weapons, other nations, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia, have reduced the number of mass shootings.

Gun-control advocates assert that those options appear remote in the one nation with a greater proportion of privately owned firearms than people. Skaggs stated that individuals who are determined to carry out massive attacks will likely be able to obtain the weapons they desire so long as guns are readily available in some regions of the United States.

April Zeoli, a faculty member at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan, stated, “If you know you can’t pass a background check in Michigan, you can just drive to Ohio and buy from a private seller.” Private transactions are not subject to the federal background checks that apply to licensed dealers.

The Violence Project, a non-profit organization that keeps a database of attacks, says that most of the guns used in mass shootings were legally obtained.

According to authorities, the gun and high-capacity magazine used by the suspect in Saturday’s dance hall shooting are both prohibited in the state. They have not disclosed their source. According to police, the weapon used by the Half Moon Bay attack suspect was legally his.

According to Giffords, certain high-capacity semiautomatic weapons have been outlawed in eight states. A background check is required to purchase guns and ammunition in six states; Ammunition can be purchased without oversight in the majority of other states.

According to advocacy groups, there is less gun violence, including homicides and suicides, in states with stricter regulations. According to federal data, California, for instance, ranked 43rd in the rate of gun deaths in 2020.

The RAND Corporation’s Science of Gun Policy initiative found inconclusive evidence regarding the impact of background checks on such incidents in a report released this month. However, there was evidence to suggest that banning high-capacity magazines reduces the number of mass shootings.

Gun control advocates claim to be aware of the significant challenges they face. The National Rifle Association worked for decades to get the Supreme Court to rule in 2008 that the Constitution of the United States of America gives every American the right to own a gun.

Skaggs stated that the kind of cultural shift needed to reverse that might also take a long time.

He stated: