Six weeks ago, we marked the 23rd anniversary of the fatal Columbine High School shooting. Americans took a moment to remember the 12 students and one teacher who were killed that day in one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history.
But just weeks after this anniversary had passed, the nation was once again shaken to its core when 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas by an 18-year-old with an AR-15 style rifle that he purchased legally. And just days earlier, a racially motivated mass shooting in a Buffalo grocery store killed 10 people.
In any other first-world country, this tragedy would be an anomaly. But in the United States, the Uvalde massacre marked another mass shooting in a year in which there have been 233 mass shootings in only 153 days. In just the last two weeks, mass shootings have taken place at a school, a hospital and a supermarket.
Gun violence in the U.S. is an epidemic that is destroying families and communities and marring our country’s collective sense of wellbeing. It is now incumbent on our elected leaders — both Democrats and Republicans — to look past their ideological differences, reach across the aisle and pass commonsense gun reforms, which the American public broadly supports.
Indeed, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans — a similar share of Independents — support stricter gun control laws, including nearly one-half (44 percent) of Republicans, according to a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll.
Given the American public’s support for stricter gun control measures, Republicans in Congress who have consistently blocked these efforts are clearly out of step with the national sentiment and with many of their voters — and it’s time for that to change.
While the Democratic Party’s views on guns are more in-line with national attitudes, Democratic leaders need to jettison the “all or nothing” mentality that has characterized their approach to politics during the Biden administration. With an evenly divided Senate, and a slim majority in the House, Democrats must be willing to scale down their proposals and meet Republicans in the middle.
There is a clear need — given the epidemic of gun violence — and desire — given the overwhelming level of public support for strict gun laws — for elected officials from both parties to come together on a common-sense approach to gun control.
Sens John Cornyn (R) and Chris Murphy (D) – whose respective home states, Texas and Connecticut, have experienced the two deadliest school shooting incidents in U.S. history — have stepped up to lead this effort in the Senate, and have gathered a bipartisan group of senators to work on the legislation.
While it is still early in the process, the framework for the Cornyn-Murphy bill seeks to expand background checks, increase funding for mental health services, increase investments in school security, and create incentives for states to pass red flag laws that would give the court power to temporarily confiscate weapons from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Positively, Americans widely support the policies outlined in the Cornyn-Murphy framework — including mandatory background checks on all gun sales (88 percent), expanding background checks at gun shows (81 percent), and preventing gun sales to people who have been reported as dangerous by a mental health professional (84 percent), according to the aforementioned Politico/Morning Consult poll.
Notably, Republicans also largely support these policies. More than 8 in 10 Republicans support mandatory background checks on all gun sales (86 percent), expanding background checks to purchases at gun shows (75 percent) and preventing gun sales to people who have been reported as dangerous by a mental health professional (81 percent).
To be sure, the Cornyn-Murphy approach is a good start, however, it is just a start. Measures like reinstating the assault weapons ban, which was signed into law under President Bill Clinton, should be seriously considered — perhaps not in this bill, but in future efforts.
Common sense gun control has been one of the most divisive and elusive subjects in American politics for decades, with Republicans staunchly opposing any efforts in recent years.
However, support for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns away from criminals and other dangerous people. It is simply too easy for the wrong people to get guns, leading to all kinds of violence — in schools, businesses and places of worship.
As a nation, we cannot continue down this path of one avoidable tragedy after another, lurching from massacre to massacre. Elected officials from both parties now need to do their part.
Republicans need to start siding with the American people — and the Republican electorate — on commonsense gun laws, rather than acting on behalf of the NRA.
Democrats can’t continue resisting a middle-of-the-road approach — which is our best shot at enacting change — and shaming the G.O.P. for their support of gun rights, rather than offering practical solutions.
If we are to truly honor the memory of the lives lost in Uvalde — and in the thousands of mass shootings in the U.S. over the last 20 years — our leaders need to put partisan politics aside and work to enact real, tangible change on guns.
Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to former President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.”