OPINION | Armed violence is an epidemic within the covid-19 pandemic

Fifth anniversary of the Pulse club massacre 0:51

Editor's Note:

Senator Ben Ray Luján represents New Mexico.

John Feinblatt is president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

The opinions expressed in this comment are those of the authors.

See more opinion at CNNE.com/Opinion.

(CNN) -

In recent months, Americans have received a series of horrifying reminders that even as COVID-19 deaths drop, one of our nation's deadliest public health emergencies continues: gun violence. .

Eight people were shot and killed in Atlanta.

Ten people were killed in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

Eight more, massacred in a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis.

Nine more died in San José.

Our hearts go out to the families and friends who left these tragedies behind, who are now part of a club that no one wants to join: the millions of people in this country whose lives have been shattered by gun violence.

And this club has grown even faster than normal in the last year.

Yes, as the United States came under lockdown orders, we saw fewer high-profile mass shootings. But what many people don't know is this: Nearly 4,000 more Americans died in non-suicide gun homicides or shootings in 2020, compared to 2019. And while the data is still being analyzed, it will undoubtedly show that communities Black women bore the heaviest load, given that they are 10 times more likely than whites to die from homicide with firearms.

There are many possible reasons for this increase.

For starters, an estimated 22 million guns were sold in 2020 according to an analysis by The Trace, nearly 9 million more than in 2019. At the same time, risk factors leading to gun violence were also on the rise. , and the results were predictable.

As shelter-in-place orders went into effect during the first months of the pandemic, calls to the Domestic Violence Hotline increased.

Time to strengthen the laws

It all adds up to this: While the coronavirus has killed at least 600,000 Americans, the rise in gun violence is another deadly by-product of the pandemic, and the most effective remedy is common sense laws. The U.S. House of Representatives has already done its part by passing a package of gun safety bills that would expand background checks on all commercial gun sales. Now is the time for the Senate to step up and take swift action to prevent guns from falling into dangerous hands.

The need to strengthen our background check laws is painfully obvious. At this time, only federally licensed gun dealers are required to conduct background checks. Unlicensed private sellers, even those who sell guns frequently, are not required to do so. This means that thousands upon thousands of gun sales, even at gun shows and among strangers found online, are not subject to a background check.

Americans were reminded how deadly this loophole can be in August 2019, when an attacker continued a wave of mass shootings in Odessa and Midland, Texas, that killed seven people and injured 17 more.

The attacker, who had a history of criminal activity and mental illness, attempted to purchase a gun from an authorized dealer in 2014, but was blocked because he failed a background check.

Tragically, this was only a minor inconvenience.

Under our current law, the attacker was able to easily and legally obtain an assault weapon from a private seller.

• Reactions to the 5th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting

They investigate the motives of the shooting in Texas 2:23

21 states, including New Mexico, and Washington, have stepped up and passed their own laws requiring background checks on all firearm sales. But that alone is not enough, because it is too easy for weapons from states with weak laws to flow into states with strong laws. In New Mexico, for example, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) recovered nearly 2,500 criminal weapons that originated in other states between 2015 and 2019, most of which came from of states without a background check law. In short, this is a national problem that requires a national solution.

As senators debate whether to prioritize firearm safety, they must consider the human cost of inaction.

In the 25 years since Congress last passed major gun safety legislation, more than 800,000 Americans have died from firearms.

So it should come as no surprise that common sense gun safety legislation has never been more popular.

According to an April Quinnipiac University poll, 89% of voters, including 84% of Republicans, support requiring background checks on all gun sales.

The bottom line is clear: It is time for the federal government to do everything it can to protect the American people from gun violence.

Because when it comes to this crisis, there is no vaccine on the horizon;

what we need now are courageous leaders and common sense laws.

Gun violence