.markzbarabak: The solution is uniform federal gun safety laws but that, of course, requires bold action by Congress. Which seems highly unlikely
haven’t taken place, though doing so may offer incentive and amount to a dare to some sick individual. “Tragedy upon tragedy,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was in a hospital meeting with victims of theUnimaginable, said officials in Half Moon Bay, a small oceanside oasis about 30 miles south of San Francisco.
But it’s not, really. We swaddle ourselves in a kind of mental bubble wrap, rationalizing that such an atrocity could never happen. But we’ve long since learned that it can happen anywhere, at any time. None of us are ever really safe the moment we set foot in public. News accounts of the past 48 hours have invariably pointed out that California has some of the stiffest gun laws in the nation, the implication being they have somehow failed to work.California’s rate of gun deaths has notably declined as the state has passed safety legislation while rates have soared in states such as Texas and Florida, which have moved the opposite way in a seeming competition over which place can more be promiscuous in its fetishizing of firearms. But California is not, as some might prefer, an island. An assault-style weapon that is outlawed in California is obtainable just a quick jaunt away, across the border at a gun show in Arizona or Nevada. The solution is uniform federal gun safety laws but that, of course, requires bold action by Congress.All lawmakers could manage was some tinkering — expanding background checks for gun buyers between ages 18 and 21, nudging states to pass so-called red flag laws to keep firearms away from the dangerous and deranged — after some particularly awful mass shootings last summer.passed by Congress in nearly 30 years, and its meagerness spoke to the fecklessness of the moment. Polls show most Americans favor tougher gun laws and considerable majorities support common-sense measures such as creating a federal database to track firearm sales and preventing those with mental illnesses from buying a gun. And yet Congress is unmoved, in good part because the pro-gun lobby routinely out-muscles advocates of gun safety. People who oppose gun controls are often deeply, singularly and unceasingly involved in the issue. People who wish to end gun violence may be passionate as well, but they tend to be more sporadic in their political engagement and limited in their attention spans. Robert Spitzer, a professor of political science at the State University of New York at Cortland, summed up the dynamic in a 2018 interview, many tragedies ago. “It’s only when the mass shooting occurs that the public pays real attention,” said Spitzer, who has written several books on gun policy. “But the sentiment doesn’t last long. Most people turn their attention back to other things, as does the media, and soon it’s back to business as usual.”Half Moon Bay shootings that left seven dead appear to be a case of workplace violence, law enforcement officials say. At the same time, lawmakers have generally become less reliant on broad support and more beholden to their political bases, as gerrymandering — the purposeful drawing of congressional boundaries to advantage one party over the other — has taken away much of the competition between parties. There are 82 swing congressional districts, according to the The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, a nonpartisan guide to campaigns and elections. That’s half the number that existed in 1999. “The smaller number of swing districts means fewer members need to strike balances and support compromises,” the report’s founder, Charlie Cook, wrote. Indeed, he said, “There are more Republican members of Congress in danger of losing a primary than a general election —hence, they are constantly looking over right shoulders.” And there, with ballot at the ready, are some of the fiercest opponents of gun safety legislation. Even as the death toll mounts, they are unyielding in their oppositionFor most, that’s too high a price. But until the political dynamic shifts — until gerrymandering stops and voting against gun control becomes a liability and not a reason lawmakers stay in office — it’s a price our society and countless innocents will continue to pay.
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