In the Wake of a School Shooting, We Need Gun Control
As a law firm founded by mothers, we are deeply committed to protecting women, children, and families. One of the ways we do this is by holding corporate manufacturers accountable for producing unsafe products that pose risks to the most vulnerable in our community. Whether it’s toxic baby food, a faulty medical device or an unsafe home appliance, we have long fought to ensure that manufacturers take responsibility for the harm their products cause. But when it comes to guns, the legal landscape is different and more complex.
Unlike other products, as we all know, firearms are constitutionally protected under the Second Amendment. Texas has some of the loosest gun laws in the country, no longer requiring people to own a license to carry a handgun in most public spaces. Texas also has the highest number of school shootings in America totaling 61 incidents since 2008, with a rate of .21 shootings per 100,000 people.
To us, this comparison is no coincidence. Just because firearms are constitutionally protected does not mean they should be free from regulation. Constitutionally protected rights are regulated all the time—just think about free speech.
The First Amendment protects your right to say almost whatever you want to say, almost whenever you want to say it. But, despite that constitutional protection, you cannot, for instance, walk into a crowded theatre and yell FIRE. We’re no strangers to constitutionally protected rights being regulated for the safety and protection of our community as a whole.
We believe that, much like cars or pharmaceuticals, guns should be subject to more stringent monitoring aimed at preventing harm, particularly to vulnerable populations like children.
While we have established obstacles to challenging public gun use, there are still things we can do to prevent gun-related incidents. We should all be able to agree on effective gun control measures that promote responsible gun ownership. Here are my thoughts, from one gun owner to the rest:
Common Sense Gun Reform
Implement and Enforce Universal Background Checks
Implementing background checks and closing the loopholes around them can greatly reduce violent gun-related incidents. These checks prevent individuals with a history of violence, mental illness, or criminal activity from purchasing firearms in the first place.
In 2017, a local man in Sutherland Springs, Texas shot and killed 26 people and wounded 22 others at the local First Baptist Church, the deadliest shooting in Texas history. It was revealed later in the investigation that the man had previously been convicted of domestic violence.
A thorough background check would have found this red flag and may have been the difference in sparing innocent lives. This, of course, is just one example of many. Would this mean that mass shootings never happen? No. Would this prevent some? Yes. And that should be enough.
Checking Age and Increasing Age Limit
Many gun-related incidents could be avoided by more proactive behavior from gun sellers. As well as submitting detailed background checks, checking the age of the buyer is the very least that a firearm retailer should do. In the United States, the legal age to purchase a firearm is 18. We could begin by upping that age – how we can buy a shotgun before a margarita is baffling.
We would, of course, still have the issue of minors buying them illegally. Enforcing any age ban requires gun sellers to follow the rules.
In 2018, a 17-year-old student at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, was able to buy ammunition online unprompted to prove his age, ultimately killing eight students and two teachers at his school. Santa Fe acts as an example of the responsibility that gun retailers have to the safety of the public. Would he have gotten bullets somewhere else? Maybe. Maybe not. All we know is that he illegally got them after the gun seller illegally sold him bullets and he used those bullets to kill eight children.
Safer Storage Laws
One of the most effective measures to protect children from gun accidents is the enactment and enforcement of safe storage laws. In Texas, it is illegal to provide firearm access to children; however, there is no specification for how they should be stored, leaving room for dangerously negligent interpretation. The Washington Post found that of the 180 shootings committed by juveniles since Columbine, 86% of the weapons were obtained in the homes of parents, friends, or relatives. I don’t have all of the information on how each of those weapons was obtained from each of those households.
Recently, in Georgia, the father of a 14-year-old school shooting suspect faces two counts of second-degree murder for knowingly providing his son with an assault weapon, leading to four deaths at Apalachee High School. And earlier this month, a six-year-old in Memphis, Tennessee, brought a loaded gun to class which his mother claimed to have stashed underneath their couch cushions.
In Texas, parents who fail to keep guns away from their children are liable to face a Class A or Class C misdemeanor depending on the incident. But you are not required to show proof of a gun safe or other gun storage system before being allowed to legally purchase a gun.
Gun owners, especially parents, should be held accountable for negligence and they should ensure that minors do not have unsupervised access to firearms, whether at home or otherwise. People’s lives are at stake. A gun safe or safe storage system is not too much to require when we consider what is at risk. Would gun safes prevent every mass shooting or school shooting? No. Would it prevent some? I think it’s ridiculous to say it wouldn’t.
Gun Insurance
Another commonsense move might be requiring all gun owners to have insurance for their firearms. It would give not only victims of gun violence but also gun owners some extra protection in case something goes wrong. Just like car insurance, if there’s an accident—like the gun goes off by mistake or it gets stolen—insurance would help cover the costs. Plus, it would encourage safer practices since you’ve got a reason to be extra careful with how you handle and store your gun.
Now, again, car accidents still happen every day and reckless driving is almost a given on any Texas road. Implementing insurance on guns wouldn’t prevent every single shooting from happening. But it could make people think about their guns more as a dangerous liability.
Constitutional Considerations
Gun control reforms are often met with resistance due to the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms. However, courts have consistently upheld the notion that reasonable regulations on gun ownership do not violate constitutional rights.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, affirmed that while the Second Amendment protects individual gun ownership, it is not an absolute right. The ruling emphasized that certain regulations, such as restrictions on felons owning firearms or the prohibition of carrying firearms in sensitive places like schools, are constitutionally permissible.
As such, measures like universal background checks, age restrictions, and safe storage laws are well within the scope of the Constitution. These reforms do not strip individuals of their rights to own firearms but instead promote responsible ownership and reduce the risk of harm to society, particularly children.
Write to Your Representatives
We’re moms with children on school campuses, ranging from kindergarten to college. And we respect gun ownership – some of us own several guns ourselves. But pretending like common sense gun reform is too restrictive on the Second Amendment is just nonsense.
If you, like us at Carter Law Group, want to see more reform and less violence, feel free to copy and paste the following letter and send it to your local government representative. Find your Representative in the House and your Representative in the Congress by zip code. It only takes one voice to make a difference.
Dear Representative,
I, like millions of Americans and many others around the world, am horrified and devastated to watch and read about the tragic shootings that plague our communities and continue to grow in number. It has come to a point where I feel I must speak and act. I write to you today for stricter gun control to prevent another shooting like Apalachee Elementary School or Robb Elementary School from happening again.
I understand that gun control is challenged greatly, especially here in Texas, by those who do not wish their constitutional rights inhibited. However, we must consider the growing toll and negative impact that guns have on public health. Promoting and enforcing responsible gun ownership is not unconstitutional and for that reason, I ask you to support the following reforms:
- Enforce universal background checks for all gun-related purchases.
- Safer storage laws that require gun sellers to demonstrate the use of a lock and offer to sell one during every firearm sale.
- Raise the penalty for child access to a firearm to a 3rd-degree felony rather than a misdemeanor in cases where access results in death or serious bodily injury.
As representatives of our community, elected by the people for the people, we look to you for guidance and to represent us truly. It is your obligation to make decisions for the good of the public’s safety. You have the power to make these changes, which is why we ask you to enact impactful gun reform today.
Sincerely,
___________________
Constituent
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Rights (OCR). This is often the first step, where the OCR investigates the complaint and determines whether the school has violated Title IX. If the OCR’s resolution is not satisfactory, or if individuals prefer to bypass this process, they can file a lawsuit in federal court.
