It was ‘only a matter of time.’ It was ‘predictable and preventable.’ It should have been ‘flagged.’ When have we heard these laments before? After nearly every shooting involving a mentally ill perpetrator. One of the most recent such incidents took place at Houston’s Lakewood Church on Feb. 11, when Genesse Moreno opened fire between services at the megachurch. Two were injured in the shooting, including Moreno’s young son, and Moreno herself was killed by two off-duty law enforcement officers working security.
Moreno was a complicated case. She had a criminal record and had expressed antisemitic views as well. Despite her troubled history and documented mental health issues, court records suggest Moreno legally obtained the AR-15 and .22-caliber rifle in her possession at the time of the shooting. She was essentially a walking timebomb, and the people in her life knew it. Not entirely unlike Robert Card, the Lewiston, Maine, shooter whose family reported their concerns about his mental health. Card himself told cops he felt ‘capable’ of ‘something.’ That ‘something’ ended with 18 dead.
While the contribution of mental illness to mass shootings has declined over time, it’s not at zero. Red flag laws, or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), are intended to offer recourse in those situations. But Texas doesn’t have one, and Maine’s so-called yellow flag law is ‘useless,’ according to a gun expert. And, of course, enforcement is key.
When effectively implemented, ERPOs don’t just reduce the likelihood of a tragedy. They create an opportunity to connect individuals in crisis with resources and support services, improving mental health outcomes and reducing the likelihood of future crises. Thus, ERPOs not only address imminent risks of gun violence but also promote a holistic community approach to mental health.
Americans want to protect the Second Amendment, but 80% of us also support laws that would allow police to remove guns from those who pose an immediate danger to themselves or others. Timely identification, intervention, and a collaborative response between law enforcement and healthcare professionals can help at-risk individuals like Moreno and Card receive support for untreated conditions that could otherwise lead to violence.
On the Hill
Two Florida Democrats have introduced legislation that aims to track suspicious gun and ammo purchases. The Identify Gun Stores Act would allow credit card companies to create new merchant category codes to better identify sellers of guns and ammunition. The codes would enable the companies to detect sales they deem suspicious and flag the activity. Rep. Maxwell Frost said such a measure could have allowed the internet searches and credit cards purchases of the Parkland shooter to be flagged before his rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. It’s unlikely to go anywhere in the GOP-controlled House.
We say: This bill has an intrusive ‘big brother’ quality to it that would leave gun buyers vulnerable to government and corporate snooping. Despite good intentions, this is not the answer.
More on the Hill:
Schumer pushes to reauthorize Undetectable Firearms Act —Spectrum News
Survivors of recent mass shootings revive calls for federal assault weapons ban –CBS News
Despite rhetoric, both Trump and Biden have had limited power to change gun policy –Pennsylvania Capital-Star
In the Courts
Hawaii’s Supreme Court has ruled that a man can be prosecuted for carrying a gun in public without a permit in the state, overturning a lower court’s decision that this would violate his Second Amendment rights. In 2017, Christopher Wilson was found in possession of a handgun loaded with a 10-round magazine without a permit, as required by state law. The state Supreme Court concluded: “We reject Wilson’s constitutional challenges. Conventional interpretive modalities and Hawaii’s historical tradition of firearm regulation rule out an individual right to keep and bear arms under the Hawaii Constitution. In Hawaii, there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public.”
More in the courts:
Biden administration asks U.S. Supreme Court to hear 'ghost gun' appeal –Reuters
Gun rights group appeals Illinois assault weapon ban to Supreme Court –The Hill
U.S. Supreme Court asked to end Maryland's assault weapons ban –Reuters
Teens, firearms coalition can challenge Georgia ban on gun carry –Bloomberg
Pa. appeals courts sides with Philadelphia’s ban on 3D-printed gun parts –The Philadelphia Inquirer
Gun rights groups, residents sue city of Roanoke –The Roanoke Times
In the States
Amid public outcry over the mass shooting last week at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, Democrats in Missouri have proposed a state constitutional amendment that would allow Kansas City, St. Louis, and other local governments to set stricter limits on guns. Missouri has some of the loosest gun laws in the country and currently restrains local municipalities from setting their own firearm regulations. The proposed change would have to be approved first by the Republican-controlled General Assembly (not likely) and then by voters. It would not, however, need the approval of Gov. Mike Parson, who has supported legislation expanding gun rights in the past.
More in the states:
Colorado: Assault weapons ban proposed in revived bill –Denver Post
Idaho: State pushes to arm more teachers, whether schools want it or not –The Wall Street Journal
Maine: Maine’s yellow flag law has been invoked nearly once a day since Lewiston mass shooting —Portland Press Herald
Maryland: General assembly considers bill to allow AG, citizens to sue gun manufacturers –WMAR
Michigan: Michigan becomes 21st state to enact red flag laws –Governing
Michigan: Flint man becomes first person charged under new gun storage law –ABC News
Minnesota: Man who shot 2 officers and a firefighter wasn't allowed to have guns –ABC News
Minnesota: Democrats offer modest gun control agenda, fearing election backlash –Minnesota Reformer
New Hampshire: Senate Republicans block gun bills, including ‘red flag’ law and waiting period –New Hampshire Public Radio
New Mexico: Gun buyers would have to wait one week under bill passed by Senate –Source New Mexico
New York: How Suffolk County streamlined risk protection orders –The Trace
Tennessee: Kids could start learning firearm safety in public school by 2025 –WPLN News
What is Garland v. Cargill all about?
On February 28, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Garland v. Cargill, a case involving the legality of bump stocks. Banned by the federal government in 2018, bump stocks are devices that cause a semiautomatic firearm’s trigger to buck against the shooter’s finger, as the gun’s recoil causes it to jerk back and forth—repeatedly “bumping” the trigger and causing the gun to fire as if it were fully automatic.
At issue in the case is whether a 1986 law that prohibited the purchase or sale of machine guns justifies a modern ban on bump stocks. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said no, ruling that bump stocks do not fit the legal definition of machine guns and, therefore, can’t be regulated using the 1986 law.
In the absence of congressional action, presidential administrations have relied on the federal rule-making process to limit access to certain kinds of guns or paraphernalia. The Supreme Court could upend this strategy if it decides that a decades-old ban on machine guns cannot be applied to the modern gun market—and effectively legalize civilian ownership of automatic weapons. Stay tuned. (Sources: Vox, Deseret News)
“I recently attended Elizabethtown College’s Evenings of Enlightenment Lecture Series to hear [97Percent Executive Director] Olivia Troye speak about her experience as a national security official and as then-Vice President Mike Pence’s lead staffer on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. She became executive director of the gun safety advocacy group 97Percent in October. It is an organization focused on getting gun owners to participate and have their priorities understood and incorporated into gun safety efforts. I was very happy to hear about this organization.
We must come together to save lives. Simply demanding a federal assault weapons ban after each mass shooting only alienates many gun owners, whose support is essential to develop measures that have a realistic chance to be implemented and decrease deaths from gun violence. I ask gun owners to look into 97Percent and take a role in promoting safety and responsible gun ownership. It can protect your Second Amendment rights and save lives. That’s a win-win.” —Edward T. Chory, M.D., retired general surgeon and board member at the Partnership for Public Health
More from Dr. Chory: Do mass shootings really reflect who we are? —Lancaster Online
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