Firearm Violence
The seemingly endless epidemic of mass shootings is something that has affected this generation throughout the duration of our lives. I think most would regard the Columbine Massacre as the beginning of this era, an event that occurred a month after my own birth in 1999. Gen-Z has never known a world where the next mass shooting wasn’t always an impending threat, where we didn’t practice active shooter drills in school or see again and again another mass shooting on the news, from Sandy Hook to Uvalde, Virginia Tech to Las Vegas, in movie theaters, schools, concerts, and churches. Our own district is sadly no stranger to mass violence either. The deadliest mass shooting in New York occurred in Binghamton in 2009, and the Buffalo shooter in 2022 came from Conklin. This conflict is not something that we can ignore, it isn’t something happening in far-off lands and cannot be willed away with well-intentioned thoughts and prayers, no matter how much we wish it were so.
For the families and survivors of mass shootings, the hurt is irreparable. The ripple effects of trauma, medical debt, lifelong disability, and compounding suicide create an unending cycle of pain and suffering. So while the news moves on, and another town is added to the long list of mass shootings, the pain and trauma remain, and often grow. We cannot continue on as a society while this persists.
Most of the policy, statistics, and general knowledge on reducing firearm violence contained in this section are from a free online course entitled: “Reducing Gun Violence in America: Evidence for Change” from Johns Hopkins University. This is the foundation of my understanding of the issue, and I’ve attempted to condense the most relevant policy points here. I highly recommend the course for anyone looking to learn more about how to reduce firearm violence.
When I started researching the topic of firearm violence and how to prevent it, I was surprised at how complex and nuanced the issue is, and how little I had initially understood it. Of the nearly 50,000 lives lost every year to firearms, over half are by suicide, and around 40% are by homicide. About 600 deaths are the result of mass shootings (depending on how data is recorded). The remaining amount are from things like accidents and law enforcement-related shootings. None of these deaths are unacceptable, and the rate in which they are occurring is horrific. It’s time to act.
The approach that I would like to pursue, backed by the data we have available, is a prevention-focused strategy based on the human element of firearm violence. That means developing policies targeted at suicide prevention, the illegal gun market, firearm violence analysis, crime solving, gun safety, and accountability. I want to examine these situations in detail to help explain where and how new laws would be effective.
Suicide
One of the most heartbreaking statistics is the ever-increasing number of suicides in this country. 2022 set a morbid new record at 49,000, and over half of those were by firearm. What the data tells us about suicides, is that suicidal acts are often impulsive, and the crisis felt in that moment frequently passes. The vast majority of people who survive a suicidal attempt do not go on to commit suicide. The issue when guns are brought into this situation is that the suicide attempt is lethal a vast majority of the time. The otherwise passing crisis becomes permanent, and the lives of the person who loved that individual are forever changed. One study that compared gun death suicides in states with a high number of gun ownership vs a low number of gun ownership found that there were over 5,000 more suicide deaths in the high ownership states, with everything else being equal. The simple act of having a gun in the home significantly increases the chance of someone committing suicide, whether it was the person who bought the gun or not.
Illegal Gun Market
Almost all illegal firearms start out as legal. They generally enter the illegal gun market through one of three ways: unregulated private transactions such as the gun show loophole, “straw buyers” (meaning someone bought a weapon for someone who could not buy one legally), and theft. Over 380,000 guns are stolen every year, and most are stolen in the South where firearms are overwhelmingly prevalent. The unregulated nature of this industry is a major source of crime, allowing weapons to fall into the hands of those with a history of violence.
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is an incredibly upsetting and frustrating topic, and the source of too much misery in this country. Firearms only serve to make the situation that much worse. Although they can occasionally provide vital protection for the victims of domestic violence, more often they are used by the perpetrators. Firearms are used in 50% of domestic violence homicides, and when a violent intimate partner has access to a firearm, the risk of a female partner being murdered increases by 400%. A major issue when it comes to domestic violence and firearms is that only about half of severe domestic violence events are reported to the police. There are existing laws to prevent people with a history of violent domestic abuse from buying firearms, but if there is no conviction or reporting, then that history will obviously not appear in a background check.
Republican Impediments to Reform
For the past 40+ years, Republican politicians have passed bills that increased firearm violence, as well as made it harder to reduce it. These pieces of legislation will need to either be repealed or changed in order to save lives:
- Firearm Owners Protection Act (1986)
- Made it easier to sell guns without a license, and made private sales easier
- Made it harder to convict sellers for gun sale violations, and reduced penalties
- Limited compliance inspections
- Banned computerized records of firearms sold and purchased
- Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act: This Bush Administration act created legal protections for gun sellers and makers and virtually eliminated liability. These “protections” are completely unlike any other industry, and prevents victims from suing gun manufacturers for wrongdoing
- Dickey Amendment: Severely constrains government agencies from even studying firearm violence and how to reduce it: “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the CDC may be used to advocate or promote gun control”
- Tiahrt Amendment: Further limited the availability of gun crime tracing data.
Solutions
One of the best tools at our disposal for reducing firearm violence is known as ‘extreme risk’ or ‘red-flag’ laws. These are risk-based, time-limited gun removal laws where a family member, close intimate partner, or law enforcement official can petition the court when they believe someone is at risk of harming themselves or others with a firearm. This is critical in suicide and domestic violence situations. A civil court can determine if the situation warrants temporarily restraining someone’s weapons in crisis. It’s important to note that this is not criminalizing, creates no record, and the person in question will still have access to due process. The priority is preventing a permanent tragedy, and I think this is a really effective and fair means by which to achieve that. New York State has already implemented a form of this policy with promising results. We continue to be one of the safest states in the nation when it comes to firearm violence, and the evidence is that our laws are a big part of that. Making this a nationwide solution will not only improve America as a whole, but prevent violence from spreading into our community from states with weaker laws and protections.
Handgun Purchaser Licensing Laws requires potential buyers to get a license before buying a handgun, and must show the license to dealers.ย This is currently a law in New York State and has been proven to be effective, but crimes are committed here from states with weak laws. Passing a national law will help to prevent homicides as well as suicides by creating a basic check and barrier for people most at risk of committing violence.
Waiting Period laws are designed to reduce violent acts that are committed by impulse. By increasing the amount of time between the decision to purchase a firearm and receiving the firearm, it gives individuals considering suicidal or homicidal behavior the opportunity to “cool off”. Often the crisis they feel in the moment passes after a short amount of time.
Policies known as child access prevention laws require the safe storage of firearms. About half of U.S. homes do not store weapons properly, and too often young children are accidentally killed or injured as a result. Firearms kill more children each year than drowning, falling and poisoning combined. When stored in a gun safe/cabinet, locking case, or gun rack, unloaded and separated from ammo, there is minimal risk for accidental deaths. Safe storage laws are not enforced until after a death has occurred, and is more about creating a culture of safe storage and its importance.
Of additional note is the fact that 34% of firearm homicides are committed while under the influence of alcohol. Safety precautions such as safe storage are an effective means by which to prevent the worst outcomes in these situations.
Assault Weapons are more common in mass shootings and violence against police than overall gun crime. From 1994-2004 we had a nationwide ban on certain assault weapons and large magazines, and the evidence we have indicates that it led to a reduction in crime and mass shootings. After the ban expired, mass shootings increased and have been growing ever since. The biggest issue with assault weapons is their accessibility, it is far too easy to acquire for those with the intent to commit mass murder. Additionally, many of the high-powered firearms used by cartels in countries like Mexico originate from U.S. manufacturers. The data shows that restoring the ’94-’04 prohibition would save lives and reduce crime, so it should be reinstated. I would only add that I am open to allowing their use in certain scenarios such as gun ranges or special licenses for hobbyists who present the least risk of committing violence or allowing the weapons to fall into unauthorized hands.
Micro-stamping is a type of technology where each bullet cartridge receives a unique print which ties it to the gun it was fired from. More than 50% of homicides in this country go unsolved, so this practice will allow law enforcement to quickly investigate and hopefully reduce that number. NYS currently has this law in place, and we can further increase its effectiveness by making it national.
Background checks for private sales have led to lower rates of firearms being trafficked across state lines, and are a valuable complement to other firearm violence laws.
Solving our firearm violence problem will have a multitude of benefits for society as a whole. It will lead to reductions in suicides, homicides, domestic violence, accidental deaths, hospital visits, police resources, and the general ripple effects of trauma and despair. We cannot continue to live in a society where this type of violence is routine, and we cannot become numb to something that should never be considered normal. We know how to reduce deaths and injuries, what we need now is for leaders that will have the courage to act and finally end this ongoing crisis.