By Bryan Matthew
Gun violence has once again claimed the lives of innocent Americans. On Wednesday, a shooter killed 18 people and injured 13 more at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine.
At the time of writing, the Gun Violence Archive reports that 566 mass shootings, defined as an incident in which four or more people are killed or injured, have occurred in the United States in 2023. That continues an upward trend that has been consistent over the past three years.
The country will now enter a familiar cycle. Leaders will offer their thoughts and prayers. Social media will erupt with demands for gun control legislation. Then another news cycle will usurp this latest tragedy with something even more ghastly, and Congress will do nothing. Then the next mass shooting will occur and the cycle will begin again.
This past December marked the 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre, and America is still having the same conversation about gun control without enough progress. Elected officials, and us as citizens, cannot become desensitized to mass shootings. The country needs its elected officials to act.
Gun laws were one of the top issues discussed during the 2022 midterm elections. However, the chances that Congress will enact comprehensive, aggressive anti-gun laws remain slim, due to the Republican Party’s control of the House. Some progress has been made: in 2022, Congress managed to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a compromise gun control bill that allocated funding for crisis intervention programs, barred convicted domestic violence offenders from owning weapons, and expanded background checks on buyers aged 18 to 21, among other provisions. But more policy change is needed.
This year, representatives have proposed multiple proactive gun control measures that Congress has a moral imperative to pass. On February 1, Rep. Brian Fitzpartick (R-PA) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), along with 180-plus cosponsors (mostly Democrats), introduced the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2023 to require a background check for all gun purchases. Currently, guns sold by unlicensed dealers are not required to undergo background checks. This bill would close loopholes and expand the categories of people barred from obtaining guns through background checks. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it remains.
On March 22, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced the Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2023 to establish the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Department of Justice. This office would bring together those most affected by gun violence, fund gun violence prevention programs, and create policy recommendations. The bill was also referred to the House Judiciary Committee, but has not progressed any further.
Due to Congress’ lack of progress, the Biden administration has taken some steps to regulate guns through rulemaking. The administration announced the establishment of the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention on September 22. Last year, the administration moved to regulate “ghost guns,” which could be sold, bought and assembled without serial numbers, and the Supreme Court recently ruled to uphold this ban. Although these regulations are steps in the right direction, gun violence needs to be a top priority that Congress and the administration need to work on together. If not, the country will experience more and more mass shootings.
Many American citizens and legislators have concerns about gun control. They say “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” and reference the Second Amendment. However, six in ten Americans say it is too easy to legally obtain a gun and favor stricter gun laws, according to polling from the Pew Research Center. In places where mass shootings have occurred, students continue to rally for tougher gun laws. The American people want a change and deserve to feel safe.
Both the Democratic and the Republican parties must unite to address mass shootings. This is a life or death issue. It is time the elected officials put the country first, over their respective parties. Further bipartisan collaboration is needed to break the cycle of tragedy that we saw on display in Maine this weekend.
Bryan Matthew is a Master’s of Public Administration student specializing in Advocacy and Political Action.
