Resisting gun reform just invites more death

Americans are not divided on mass shootings. Communities across the United States are linked together in sorrow and anger over mass shootings, whether they occur in California, Uvalde or, now, Lewiston, Maine.

Few people in America fantasize about mass murder, and yet enough do to regularly rob lives and scar this nation. Few people in America take pleasure in the haunting and familiar news coverage that follow mass shootings or in the violence that forever destroys lives and surviving families.

Americans are not divided about mass shootings. Americans are not even divided on basic policy responses to reduce gun violence. Poll after poll has shown most Americans want stricter gun safety laws: mandating universal background checks, raising the purchase age for firearms, banning assault-style weapons, banning high-capacity magazines. The division in America around mass shootings is over what has been done — or not done — to prevent these atrocities.

On Wednesday night in Lewiston, Maine, a gunman killed at least 18 people and injured 13 in a crowded bowling alley and a bar. It was the 565th mass shooting in America this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

An undeniable fact is that mass shootings are carried out by people who should not have had access to such weapons.

We know this before we know anything about the shooter, motive or victims. We know this before Second Amendment absolutists offer “thoughts and prayers,” even as our thoughts and prayers are for lawmakers to enact policies that will save lives and prevent these attacks.

We know this before statements from politicians that the aftermath of a mass shooting isn’t the time to talk about guns because it injects politics at a moment of grief.

We know this before we see the once-smiling faces of the newest casualties and hear their devastated families’ tearful remembrances.

We know this before flags again fly at half-staff.

Acknowledging that a person who has committed a mass shooting should not have access to firearms should not be a point of contention. But it is in America’s political arena, so there will always be another mass shooting. Monterey Park, Calif.; Half Moon Bay, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Allen; Philadelphia; Hampton, Ga.; Lewiston, Maine.

As of this writing, authorities do not know know, or have not released, the motive of the Lewiston shooter, who was found dead Friday and was an Army reservist and trained firearms instructor.

But the shooter recently reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, and he threatened to shoot up a National Guard base in Maine.

Maine doesn’t have a red flag law, a reform that enjoys broad public support and would allow officials to preemptively disarm someone displaying signs they could be dangerous to themselves or others. It does have a “yellow flag law,” which requires a medical assessment of potentially dangerous people before allowing a judge to remove their guns.

Because Maine has very few foundational gun safety laws, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, the state ranks 25th for gun law strength (Texas ranks 32nd). Now, with 18 dead and 13 injured, it is among the datelines for one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.

“This is a dark day for Maine,” Gov. Janet Mills said at a news conference.

In recent years, motives behind mass shootings have included racism, antisemitism and mental illness. It’s now routine, after every mass shooting, for gun rights advocates to blame the shootings on everything except the common denominator: guns. Specifically, the AR-style weapons so often used in these atrocities.

It is always important to understand the motive of a mass shooting so we can prevent more violence. Yes, we need to address hatred, improve mental health care, and respond to all those reasons that might fuel a shooting.

But we also must deal with the fingers on the triggers, which means access to weapons that can kill so many in seconds.

Last month, President Joe Biden announced the creation of a new office devoted to gun violence prevention. Vice President Kamala Harris will run this office, which can streamline a federal response to gun violence and use executive authority to promote reforms. But it falls to Congress to enact reforms to combat mass shootings.

We know gun rights advocates, like gun safety activists, wish the shooting in Lewiston had never happened.

That lives could be restored and families made whole. Gun rights activists are crucial to crafting meaningful reforms.

But it is resistance to commonsense reforms and regulations that makes these weapons accessible and the loss of life inevitable.

Americans share

both sorrow of mass shootings, desire for policies to curb the bloodshed

Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press Jess Paquette expresses support for her city in the wake of Wednesday’s mass shootings. The alleged shooter, who was found dead Friday night, was somone who should not have had access to such a weapon.