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As Congress works on gun-safety laws, Las Vegans discuss next steps in curtailing mass shootings

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From Columbine to Sandy Hook to Parkland to Uvalde, each time a mass shooting takes place at a school—or anywhere in the U.S.—the conversation seems to go in circles. And the country seems to go nowhere in terms of preventing them from happening.

After survivors, families and advocates called on lawmakers in Congress to take meaningful action in the form of gun-safety laws, Senate leaders announced an “agreement” on gun-safety legislation. That came less than a month after the May 24 Uvalde, Texas, shooting, during which an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School and murdered 19 children and two teachers with an assault rifle and 315 rounds of ammunition he had legally purchased two days earlier.

Before the agreement, a U.S. House Committee heard testimonies from Uvalde students and families—including 11-year-old survivor Miah Cerrillo, who said she covered herself in her deceased classmate’s blood to appear dead, in hopes of avoiding being shot.

“It was sobering,” says Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, who has two children who attend school locally. The lawmaker, who worked on background checks and gun laws during his time as a Nevada Senator (2012-2014), added that the news from Uvalde cast a shadow on his daughter’s high school graduation, which occurred on the same day as the shooting. “When I was in school, we didn’t have active shooter drills,” he says. “Gun violence has been a part of her experience—and every student’s experience—for years now.”

For Las Vegas and many U.S. cities, threats of gun violence and mass shootings have featured prominently in our experience, and in conversations about public safety. On October 1, 2017, a gunman used assault rifles and bump stocks to fire continuous rounds at concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 60, injuring hundreds and devastating the entire community.

Jones says it can be difficult to remain optimistic after the succession of mass shootings but that he believes the Congressional legislation will “move some things forward” and that he’s encouraged by the prospect of more federal funding being dedicated to mental health resources.

In addition to mental health funding, the framework of the Senate’s agreement (which had yet to be voted on at press time) includes enhancing background checks for gun purchasers younger than 21 and funding for states to implement so-called red flag laws. The framework does not include banning or restricting sales of assault weapons or rapid-fire accessories like bump stocks. It also does not include raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase an assault rifle—a measure that would have made it more difficult for the gunman to obtain the military-grade weapons used at Robb Elementary.

Diane Goldstein, executive director of Law Enforcement Action Partnership, which advocates for criminal justice and public safety reforms using perspectives of law enforcement, also says she’s encouraged by the Senate’s agreement. A retired lieutenant who spent 21 years with the Redondo Beach Police Department and now resides in Las Vegas, she says she sees a shift in public discourse surrounding reasonable gun laws and the role of mental health in mass shootings.

“Uvalde was a moment to discuss law enforcement responses and raise the question, how do we support responsible gun ownership?” she says, adding that an effective system for background checks for gun purchasers needs to be a part of that conversation. Extending the amount of time it takes to obtain a firearm can provide a “cooling off” period and reduce the likelihood or severity of a mass shooting, she says.

Congress passed a federal background check requirement in 1994, requiring them only for transactions involving federally licensed dealers. That left a loophole for transactions involving unlicensed dealers, such as online sellers or some sales at gun shows. The Senate’s framework proposes “clarifying the definition” of federally licensed dealers to include anyone who sells firearms.

The framework also includes a provision to require the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to investigate mental health and juvenile criminal records for gun buyers younger than 21, a process that could take hours, or up to 10 days, according to reports. Such a provision would not necessarily have stopped the Uvalde shooter, whom police say did not have such records on file, but it would create another check on gun buyers aged 18 to 20, moving forward.

Red flag laws also could impose a waiting period on potentially dangerous gun buyers. A 2018 study published by the American Psychological Association looked at data from 50 states from 1981 to 2015 and found that red flag laws in Connecticut and Indiana (implemented in 1999 and 2005, respectively) corresponded with a reduction in firearms suicides during the 10 years following those laws’ implementation.

Nevada passed a red flag law in 2019, which allows family, household members and law enforcement to file a petition to a judge demonstrating that an individual is a danger to herself or others. The judge then determines whether to issue an order to confiscate and prohibit the individual’s ownership of firearms for up to one year. Some rural Nevadans and outspoken sheriffs railed against the law when it went into effect in 2020,claiming it violated Second Amendment rights.

Goldstein says that compared to a few years ago, she sees more law enforcement leaders supporting evidence-based policies. She notes that American gun culture can be a distraction or an obstruction to passing and implementing “common sense” laws that reduce the potential harms of firearms.

“We need to talk about community health and safety from an evidence-based perspective,” she says. “‘Taking people’s guns away’ is a political talking point that creates fear.”

When it comes to finding an effective, lasting solution to gun violence, Goldstein says mental health resources and funding should be the priority, not arming teachers or increasing campus police.

“When legislators are unwilling to invest in efficacious programs for the long term, we end up funding law enforcement from the back end,” she says, adding that public safety involves not just police, but social services and other preventive measures. “When it comes to talking about increasing police, what we really need to talk about is improving mental health services.”

The Senate’s framework for gun safety laws will include “national expansion of community behavioral health center model; major investments to increase access to mental health and suicide prevention programs; and other support services available in the community, including crisis and trauma intervention and recovery,” according to a press release from Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s office.

Senators are working on a final draft of a gun safety bill, which is expected to come to a vote in coming weeks, reports say. If passed, it will be the first “meaningful” federal gun safety legislation passed in 28 years.

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Shannon Miller

Shannon Miller joined Las Vegas Weekly in early 2022 as a staff writer. Since 2016, she has gathered a smorgasbord ...

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