Every day in America, more than 100 people are killed by guns and more than 230 people are shot and wounded. That means almost 37,000 Americans are killed by guns every year. This horrific epidemic has resulted in almost 60 percent of American adults, or someone they care for, experiencing gun violence in their lifetime.
While there is no universal definition for a public mass shooting, the number of shootings in which four or more people are killed has risen dramatically since the 1960s. Furthermore, some of the most deadly shootings in America have occurred within the past 5 years.
The genesis of the federal law requiring background checks to purchase firearms might come as a surprise to those who have observed the current gun control debate in Washington.
On a rainy afternoon in March of 1981, President Ronald Reagan’s Press Secretary, James Brady, was shot in the head during a failed assassination attempt on the President. The mentally ill man who nearly killed Brady, John Hinckley Jr., hoped that shooting Reagan would impress actress Jodie Foster.
Following this life changing event that damaged his memory, impaired his speech and left him wheelchair bound, Brady became an advocate for greater restrictions on gun sales.
The culmination of 12 years worth of lobbying came for Brady in 1993 when President Clinton signed The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law. The law requires background checks for guns purchased from a licensed dealer, manufacturer or importer. In addition, the law established the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
However, current federal law does not require background checks on gun sales between unlicensed parties and 22 percent of Americans say they purchased their most recent gun without a background check. This means that people who should not be purchasing guns, due to their criminal history or mental health, are still able to purchase guns online and at gun shows.
In 2004, a 10-year federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was allowed to expire. As a result, 19 types of military-style assault weapons, including AK-47s, Uzis and TEC-9s, could now legally be purchased again and high-capacity magazines, that allow a shooter to fire many times without reloading, were no longer federally regulated.
While the effectiveness of the assault weapons ban has been widely debated, a 2004 report by the Department of Justice found that in the six cities studied, the number of gun crimes involving automatic weapons dropped by 17 percent when the ban was in effect.
The frequent and increasingly fatal mass shootings in America has resulted in an episodic effort by Democratic lawmakers to strengthen background check laws and renew the assault weapons ban. Democrats’ quest to reform federal gun laws is inevitably met, time and time again, by nearly uniform opposition from Republicans.
And while it is true that there is likely no combination of laws and regulations that will prevent all gun violence in America, this does not mean that Congress should do nothing in the face of such horrific tragedy.
Due to the filibuster in the Senate, 60 votes are needed to pass almost any legislation, including new gun control. Democrats, and advocates for greater gun control, need to do a better job persuading Republicans, and gun control opponents, that reasonable regulations will make America safer and more prosperous.
Democrats need to stop saying they want to take away guns from lawful Americans.
During a 2020 democratic presidential primary debate, former Congressman Beto O’Rourke said, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
In addition, O’Rourke along with then-Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Cory Booker said they supported mandatory gun buybacks for some firearms.
The talk of gun confiscation by Democrats plays right into Republican hands. For years, Republicans have falsely claimed that Democrats want to confiscate firearms from law-abiding Americans and create a world in which only criminals have guns.
Dick Cheney stoked fears of John Kerry confiscating guns if he became President. Johns McCain said that Barack Obama would put the rights of law-abiding gun owners at risk and Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton would take away the right to bear arms.
While none of these accusations were true, they had the powerful effect of preventing any new gun control regulations from passing, even as America experienced more and more mass shootings.
Democrats need to reframe how they talk about gun control. Democrats should say that they want to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of gangs, criminals and organized crime syndicates. Democrats should say they want to protect your communities and places of worship by ensuring that only law abiding Americans have the right to bear arms.
Democrats need to make clear to the American people that Republicans are putting them and their children at risk by making it so easy for domestic terrorists and thugs to acquire weapons of war. Democrats need to pin the next horrific school shooting on Republicans refusing to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
It is imperative that we tackle the gun violence crisis in America. No more innocent lives should be taken from their families because one political party refuses to do anything to stop the violence in our communities. Democrats must do a better job at communicating to the American people how we can stop this immense death and suffering if we pass new gun control.
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