By Rachael Lee, Alliance Intern from University of Texas – Austin ‘ 25
Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski. Do these names sound familiar? Fletcher and Harper, two beautiful children with two beautiful smiles, were taken from our lives during the welcome Mass for the new school year at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota on August 27.
How have we messed up to the point where two children are killed and 18 others seriously injured by the firing of more than 100 semiautomatic rifle rounds just fades into the overwhelm of everyday news and mass shootings? How do we regain our sense of indignation and actually take action to stop this widespread carnage?
Nearly 47,000 people died from gun-related injuries in 2023, with 722 people dying from the FBI-classified definition of mass shootings (where four or more people get shot at once), according to the Pew Research Center.
Gun violence is the second leading cause of death of all children in the US.
Response to rising gun death rates and mass shootings led the US Surgeon General to take the unprecedented step of declaring gun violence a public health crisis.
So, what can we do? Let’s look at what actions are currently being proposed to put an end to these horrifying realities.
Are These Real “Solutions” or Just Pablum for the People?
MN Republican and Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth opposes gun control legislation and instead is calling for increasing funding for mental health treatment beds and mandatory minimum prison time for repeat shooting offenders.
Have you heard these from the gun lobby and Republicans every time there’s a mass shooting? While these are necessary, do you think these actions alone will solve the problem?
Meanwhile, there’s a new “solution” being trotted out by many Republicans and the Department of Justice: Barring trans people from owning guns, since the perpetrator of the shooting is trans. Will that solve the gun violence epidemic in the US?
Are these adequate “solutions” or just attempts to dance around the elephant in the room? What effective preventative actions can we take to stop the violence before it happens?
Americans Want Real Solutions – A First Step Is Re-Banning Assault Weapons
A majority of Americans (52%) support a ban on the manufacture, possession and sale of semiautomatic guns, known as assault rifles, according to a November 2024 Gallup Poll.
Let’s listen to the parents of the Minneapolis shooting victims who pressed VP Vance to take action on gun violence during his visit to the Twin Cities. They and other parents of gun violence victims have been continually crying out for fast-enacting legislative action and restrictions on assault weapons. Youth all over Minnesota and across the country are walking out of school to support a ban.
In fact, they’re correct that a ban on assault weapons and high capacity gun magazines has proven to be one effective solution to reducing gun violence despite claims by the NRA.
“The NRA likes to say the 1994 federal Assault Weapons Ban didn’t work, but it did work. The data is clear: there were fewer mass shootings while the Assault Weapons Ban was in effect and significantly more after it expired,” according to US Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
Gun massacres of six or more killed decreased by 37% for the decade the ban was active, then shot up 183% during the decade following its expiration. There’s no disputing those numbers,” Feinstein continued.
These statistics are based on the work by University of Massachusetts researcher Louis Klarevas, author of the book Rampage Nation. He found the number of gun massacres dropped by 37% and the number of gun massacre deaths fell by 43% while the ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004, compared to the previous decade. After the ban lapsed in 2004, those numbers dramatically rose – a 183% increase in massacres and a 239% increase in massacre deaths.
The goal of the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994 was the same as it is today: to prevent mass shootings by beginning to dry up the supply of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. There are at least 20 million assault weapons in the US today, so no law will be immediately effective.
But as Sen Feinstein said, “By banning the manufacture and importation of new guns and implementing voluntary buy-back programs, we can again start to get these weapons of war off our streets. That’s how we’ll save lives, and we need to act now.”
We agree. Please join the Alliance in signing this petition from EveryTown for Gun Safety and demand that Congress reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban and ensure these mass-killing machines are banned!