Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington was quick to respond to the shooting at a Texas elementary school this week, issuing a tweet outlining the state’s gun control policies. “Now it’s your turn, Congress,” he concluded.
However, gun control legislation is unlikely to pass in Congress, and they are becoming increasingly rare in most states. Aside from a few Democratic-controlled states, the majority of states have either done nothing or pushed actively to extend gun rights in recent years.
That’s because they’re either ruled by Republicans who oppose gun limits or they’re divided on the issue, resulting in gridlock.
“Here I am in a position where I can do something, where I can present legislation, but knowing that it is almost definitely not going to pass is a feeling of powerlessness,” said state Sen. Greg Leding, a Democrat in the Republican-controlled Arkansas Legislature. He has unsuccessfully advocated for red flag laws, which would allow authorities to take firearms away from those who are deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Following the murders of 19 kids and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, Democratic governors and lawmakers throughout the country voiced impassioned pleas to Congress and their respective legislatures to implement gun regulations. Republicans have primarily advocated for increased measures to address mental health and to strengthen school security, such as the addition of security guards.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is one of them, having spoken out about mental health issues among teenagers and claiming that tighter gun legislation in places like New York and California are counterproductive. In Tennessee, Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison tweeted that security officers are needed “in all of our schools,” but he stopped short of vowing to file legislation during the next legislative session: “Evil exists, and we must defend the defenseless,” Faison stated.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has had numerous disagreements with the Republican-controlled Legislature over gun laws. He has asked for universal background checks and “red flag” measures, but Republicans have ignored him. Earlier last year, the Democrats vetoed a Republican bill that would have let concealed carry permit holders keep firearms in vehicles on school grounds and churches on private school grounds.
In a tweet, Evers added, “We cannot accept that gun violence just happens.” “We cannot tolerate the possibility that children would go to school and never return home. We cannot accept elected politicians’ open reluctance to act.”
Legislative Democrats requested that the Wisconsin gun safety laws be reconsidered on Wednesday, a day after the Texas shooting, but to no avail. Devin LeMahieu, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, and Robin Vos, the Republican Assembly Speaker, did not respond to messages requesting comment.
Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled legislature failed to pass a bill banning the ownership, sale, or manufacture of high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles on Wednesday, as House Republicans demonstrated their adamant opposition to gun regulations. Over the last two decades, the GOP-controlled Legislature has rejected Democratic governors’ requests to tighten gun control measures, including increasing background checks and limiting the number of handgun purchases a person can make in a month.
Michigan, which has a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled legislature, is in a similar scenario. Democrats in the state Senate failed to move a package of proposals on Wednesday that would force gun owners to lock up their firearms and keep them away from kids.
“Every day we don’t act, we’re choosing guns over children,” said Democratic Senator Rosemary Bayer, whose district includes a high school where a teen was charged in a November shooting that killed four people and whose parents are charged with involuntary manslaughter for failing to lock up their gun. “It’s time to call it quits.”There will be no more prayers, thoughts, or inaction.”
Ken Horn a Republican state senator responded by calling for a consideration of other possible causes of gun violence.
“I’d just like to emphasize that there are political solutions, but there are also spiritual solutions,” he remarked. “We have no idea what’s really going on in this world, what’s going on in this country, what’s going on with young males.”
Florida stands out as a state with a Republican governor that took action. Following the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in which 14 students and three staff members died, lawmakers there passed a bill with a red flag provision that allows law enforcement agents to petition a court to have a person regarded as a threat and gun taken.
Democrats now want the statute broadened to allow family members or roommates to petition the courts in the same way, but Republicans have shown little interest in changing the law. Instead, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has stated that he wants lawmakers to enable anyone to carry firearms without a license. A concealed weapons license is currently required by the state.
While Republicans have supported red flag laws in certain other places, the majority of gun-control legislation has been passed in Democratic-led states in recent years.
The governor of Washington State signed a package of measures related to weapon magazine restrictions, ghost guns, and expanding the list of places where guns are outlawed, including polling places, earlier this year.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and senior Democratic legislative leaders in California pledged on Wednesday to expedite gun legislation, naming around a dozen proposals they plan to pass this year. Newsom emphasized a plan that would allow private citizens to sue to enforce an assault weapons ban, akin to a Texas statute that prohibits most abortions through civil enforcement.
Bills requiring background checks, prohibiting guns on public school grounds, allowing handguns to be taken from people who pose a threat, and ensuring safe storage of firearms have been passed by Oregon’s Democratic-controlled Legislature. Following the mass shooting in Texas and the racially motivated massacre in Buffalo, New York, a group of six Democrats urged on Wednesday that more has to be done. They promised to take further action next year.
“We campaigned for office to solve huge problems and make life better for our citizens,” they said in a joint statement. “That includes taking on the gun lobby and politicians who prioritize money and political power over children’s lives.”
Even in Democratic-controlled states, however, there are limits, highlighting the difficulty of reaching a consensus to tackle the increased frequency of mass shootings in the United States.
In recent years, Rhode Island has enacted regulations such as banning firearms from school grounds and closing the “straw purchase” loophole, which permitted people to buy guns for others. Bills to outlaw high-capacity ammo magazines and assault rifles, on the other hand, have stalled in committee, owing to the fact that the predominantly Democratic body has many politicians who oppose the legislation, claiming their support for the Second Amendment.
After 20 students and six staff members were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Connecticut quickly passed gun control legislation supported by both parties. Additional gun control proposals, however, stagnated this year in the Democratic-led General Assembly, owing in part to a short legislative term and Republican threats to filibuster legislation.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, said Wednesday that he is undecided about calling a special session to address the measures. They would impose restrictions on large-scale firearm purchases and mandate the registration of so-called “ghost guns,” which are untraceable firearms that may be built at home.
“I believe it has devolved into a much-politicized debate in our culture right now,” Lamont remarked. “You know, 30, 40 years ago, it wasn’t like that.” That’s concerning, even in a state like Connecticut, where we had tremendous bipartisan support after Sandy Hook.”
