In order for gun laws to have any effect, they must be enforced. That has not happened in the past and there is no reason that things will be different in the future. Assistant U.S. Attorneys are appointed positions and have the total freedom to pursue only those cases that interest them. Bank robberies are rarely accepted for federal prosecution. The same is true for counterfeiting cases. There are a wide range of federal law regarding firearms, but they do not seem to interest prosecutors.
The cry is for new laws regulating the sale and possession of tactical rifles. It is universally agreed that Columbine High School changed the methods which school shooting situations are handled. But the fact is that the two shooters at Columbine did not use tactical weapons. They had pistols and shotguns as well as improvised explosive devices (which are already illegal to possess. Their intent was to implode the second floor library onto the first floor cafeteria and then driving to a mall less than a mile away and killing as many people as possible before dying in a firefight with police. When their gas canasters placed at the base of the library failed to detonate, they moved to the library killing before taking their own lives.
Let’s look at the issues being demanded:
COPS IN THE SCHOOLS
The fact is that, in most of the cases, there was an armed police officer on the campus when the incident began. In the time that it takes for the officer to move from one end of the campus to the other, the first responding units have arrived at the scene. School Resource Officers are generally assigned to the high school with responsibility for the feeder schools to that high school. The salary and benefits for school officers is borne by the School District. To place officer(s) in every school would exponentially increase the cost to the School District, taking money from other programs which benefit the students. The benefits of increasing those numbers has not shown to be effective.
RED FLAG LAWS
The weapon used by Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook) was purchased and owned by his mother, who he killed before going to the school. Since the weapon was not his, it could not have been seized under a red flag law.
James Holmes (Aurora Movie) purchased his weapon cache over a period of months and was never “flagged” as a potential threat. He had minor incidents at a junior college, but nothing that would qualify for seizure of weapons.
TACTICAL RIFLES
Unquestionably, tactical rifles are weapons of war with no other purpose than to take human lives. But they are used for sport shooting and competitive shooters as well. The fact is that MOST of the mass shootings have not involved handguns: Dylan Root and the South Carolina church; a mass shooting at a bank headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, Columbine High School, and many more.
HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES
A shooter in Cincinnati, Ohio who killed two and shot twelve more, who was killed by police, had a single low capacity magazine and over 100 rounds of ammunition which he stopped to refill in order to continue the rampage.
Other shooters have been found with multiple spare magazines which would be legal under the proposed law.
RAISING THE AGE
Raising the age of purchasing a rifle from eighteen to twenty-one would not have an impact on the ability to obtain a weapon in most cases. Shooters plan their deeds well before carrying them out. IF they do not have the weapons necessary to complete the act, they will steal them or find an alternative method.
CONCLUSION
People demand simplistic responses to complex problems. Their knee-jerk responses are intended to appease them rather than offer solutions. ALL of these shooters displayed behavior long prior to the incident that was ignored by those around them and then being astonished of the outcome.
The changes in the treatment of mental health issues has created an environment that allows people to act out. The reality is that almost all of these acts will be successful because the offender intends to be part of the body count. Anything above their own demise is simply a bonus. James Holmes intended to be killed in a shootout with police until his AR-15 tactical rifle malfunctioned and he did not know how to get it operational. He sat on the curb and waited for police to take him into custody.