Talks go on as gun buyers seek ‘safety’ on their own

It’s hard to fathom the horrors reported from the shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, but to me the most haunting loss was Amerie Jo Garza.

The 10-year-old was shot by the 18-year-old gunman while she reportedly tried to call 911 for help on her new cellphone that her family said she received as a birthday present.

Help was not on the way for close to an hour, according to various reports.

While the Justice Department began an investigation into the chaos, the death of little Amerie Jo tugged at many hearts, including mine.

She relied on the authorities for help and the authorities let her down. The response was horrible, not only because of the loss of life but also the blow it renders to the public’s faith in the authorities assigned to keep us safe.

In the debate over gun safety that inevitably follows such horrors, systemic failures of this magnitude tend to drive more people to purchase more guns — increasing the prospects for home accidents or troubled individuals taking their own lives.

That drive already had become more intense during the pandemic. An estimated 7.5 million Americans became gun owners between January 2019 and May 2021, a time frame that straddles the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research by Matt Miller, a professor of health sciences and epidemiology at Boston’s Northeastern University.

The gun ownership surge began in 2005, Miller said, but differs from the past in the increasing diversity of the gun owners. Half of the new gun owners during the pandemic were women, Miller reported, and almost half were people of color.

People in lower-income, higher-crime neighborhoods, in particular, will tell you as they have told me that, no matter how much they support the police, they might as well try to rely on themselves.

Unfortunately, along with a rise in gun ownership, experts expect a measurable increase in suicides as well as gun-related accidents, both of which tend to rise statistically after guns have been brought into the house.

Is there any hope left? As he joined mourners in Texas, President Joe Biden implored lawmakers to “turn this pain into action.”

“Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?” he said.

We’ve heard those sentiments before. After failing to act on gun safety measures for more than a decade, Congress is again trying to build bridges on the issue and show the public they’re something better than comatose.

Most promising are expanding background checks before someone can legally purchase a firearm and a national “red flag” law to prevent those who pose a threat to themselves or others from making such a purchase.

Polls have shown the most support, even among National Rifle Association members, for expanding background checks.

Critics object to “red flag” laws as a possible infringement on due process by allowing a judge to make an initial decision, even if temporary, without hearing from the accused or that person having been convicted of a crime or adjudged mentally ill.

Those bumps in the road can be worked out if reason has not died in Congress by now. Both sides should remember the heroism of Amerie Jo. She knew her duty and tried to do it. Now Congress needs to do theirs.