Gun safety advocates argue for stricter policies to keep firearms out of minors' hands after a teenager stole a gun from a South Austin gun store. They also recommend more secure storage and background checks. Austin police released a mugshot of a 17-year-old suspect arrested Sunday following multiple shootings across South Austin.
A weekend shooting spree across Austin that injured four people is renewing calls from gun safety advocates for stricter policies to keep firearms out of minors’ hands after a teenager stole a gun from a South Austin gun store.
that injured four people is renewing calls from gun safety advocates for stricter policies to keep firearms out of minors’ hands after a teenager stole a gun from a South Austin gun store. Nicole Golden, executive director of Texas Gun Sense, said the situation has been difficult to absorb.
“It’s horrific... And it is a lot to process,” Golden said. She added, “No one policy can do everything we need. ” The gun was stolen Saturday from Central Texas Gun Works, according to the store’s owner, Michael Cargill.
Cargill said staff did not realize the suspects were minors. The Texas Handgun Association says licensed gun retailers are required to ask for identification when a gun is being purchased, but not before a customer enters the store. Some gun store owners say they go beyond that requirement. Zifeng Wang, owner of Zero Whiskey Tactical Arms in Austin, said employees typically ask for identification if someone appears young.
“If you look a little bit too young, we’ll typically ask, like, hey, can we see your ID? Or, you know, just kind of go off that basis,” Wang said.
“So, if you’re under 18, typically we won’t let you touch the handguns unless you’re with someone who’s like 21 years older. ”“Like rolling shutters, we have safes. Most of our guns, you can see it’s actually inside the counters... Alarm systems, motion sensors, we do have overnight security as well,” he said.
Under current laws, a person must be 18 years old to buy a rifle or a shotgun and 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed retailer. Golden said stronger policies are needed to prevent minors from getting guns.
She recommended “things like requiring a background check on every gun sale, requiring guns to be secured,” adding that “easy access to firearms for our young people or perhaps people with histories of documented violence should not be able to easily access them and cause harm. ”Cargill said he will be installing more security measures to prevent another theft. When asked to see what those upgrades would look like, he denied the request.
Austin police released new details Monday, including the mugshot of the 17-year-old suspect connected to this weekend’s string of shootings, stolen vehicles andThe owner of Central Texas Gun Works, Michael Cargill, admitted the gun used in the spree of 12 shootings in Austin over the weekend was stolen by a teenager. HTwo suspects are in custody and a third remains at large Sunday afternoon following at least 10 shootings across South Austin that left four people injured.
A man died in a single-vehicle crash in North Austin early Monday morning, according to police. Around 4:46 a.m., officers responded to the 9000 block of East DrFour Austin barbecue restaurants earned spots on Yelp's newly released list of the top 100 BBQ restaurants in the United States, with Franklin Barbecue landing
Austin Shooting Spree Gun Safety Advocates Stricter Gun Policies Background Checks Secure Storage Teenager And Gun Central Texas Gun Works Zifeng Wang Texas Handgun Association Michael Cargill Bioethicsquestions
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