What to do to avoid massacres in the US?
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(CNN) -
A new pro-gun law in Texas that took effect Wednesday allows most Texans who legally possess a firearm to carry it openly in public without obtaining a permit or training.
According to experts, the move will make it more difficult for law enforcement to protect people from gun violence.
The controversial "constitutional carry" legislation is the latest in a series of pro-gun bills that state lawmakers passed this year as incidents of gun violence increase in Texas and across the country.
The number of shootings in Texas, excluding suicides, increased 14% this year with approximately 3,200 shootings compared to the same period in 2020, which recorded approximately 2,800 shootings, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive (GVA).
Incidents of gun violence this year represent a 50% increase over the same period in 2019, in which there were 2,100 shootings, data shows.
"In Texas, revoking the permit completely is a sea change," said Andrew Karwoski, a policy expert at Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation's largest gun violence prevention organization. "Allowing almost anyone to carry a gun in public, with no questions asked, no background checks or safety training, is really dangerous."
Conservative activists had lobbied for trespassing proposals for years, but stalled in the last three legislative sessions.
By declaring that the law "instilled freedom in the 'lone star state,'" Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill, which the state House of Representatives approved in a vote of 82-62, making it law in June. despite opposition from Democrats, some law enforcement leaders, and gun control advocates.
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Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said people who carry firearms have made it harder for officers to tell a "good guy with a gun from a bad guy with a gun."
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"Possessing a firearm and being able to safely deploy a firearm requires not only familiarity with the weapon system, but also a level of proficiency," said Frank Straub, director of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies. of the National Police Foundation.
Known as House Bill 1927, the law applies to Texans 21 and older and excludes individuals who are legally prohibited from owning a firearm, such as those convicted of a felony. , assault, domestic violence or terrorist threats.
Before the law took effect Wednesday, residents could carry guns with only a license and had to complete training, as well as pass a written exam and proficiency test.
Republican supporters of the bill have argued that by removing the license requirement, they are removing an "artificial barrier" to residents' right to bear arms under the Constitution and ensuring that more Texans have access to "protection of themselves or of their families "in public.
"This bill, to me, is a restoration of the faith and trust of our citizens," said State Senator Charles Schwertner, Republican and sponsor of the bill.
"If you own a firearm, you should be able to carry a firearm."
Texas joins several other conservative states, such as Iowa, Tennessee, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, which passed legislation this year allowing some form of carrying without permission as President Joe Biden pushed for executive action to address gun violence. in the wake of several high-profile mass shootings.
In more than 40 states, people can carry loaded semi-automatic rifles in public without a license or training.
Five states, including California and the District of Columbia, prohibit the open carrying of loaded long guns, while only Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey require permits to carry long guns openly, according to Everytown.
In 29 states, civilians can carry openly loaded long guns around state capitals, according to Everytown.
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"As we have seen gun extremism continue to rise in this country, we have also seen people openly carry them at marches and rallies and then show up at elected officials' homes, at polling places, legislatures and then on January 6 at the US Capitol, "said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, which has been fighting for gun safety since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six educators.
What to do to avoid massacres in the US?
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Earlier this year, Texas law enforcement officials held a press conference in Austin to oppose the so-called "constitutional bearing" legislation.
Among them were Garcia, the Dallas police chief, and Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union.
"A minimum level of training is not asking too much to carry a firearm and is consistent with the Second Amendment," Garcia said at the news conference.
"It makes our work, the work of our men and women, more dangerous," he added.
"Gun owners have a duty to ensure that their firearms are handled safely and a duty to know the applicable laws."
If a person is seen carrying a firearm at a protest or in a store, there is little law enforcement can do unless the person is acting illegally, according to Everytown's Karwoski.
"One of the reasons open carriage is so dangerous is because it is so difficult to enforce," Karwoski said.
"It is difficult for law enforcement when they see someone walking down the street with a military-style assault weapon to understand their intentions and respond accordingly."
While everyone has the right to buy and bear arms under the Constitution's Second Amendment, Straub said, those individuals "must go through a process that ensures that the possession of a firearm is done safely."
But not everyone should have access to a gun, Straub said, especially those struggling with suicidal ideation, certain mental health problems and a history of domestic violence.
"We need to have safeguards that protect the person who carries the firearm as well as the people in general," he said.
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The 2019 mass shootings at a Walmart in El Paso and a wave of shootings around Midland and Odessa left 30 dead and dozens injured, and prompted Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to briefly consider a gun control proposal that would make it difficult. buying a firearm for Texans.
But during his annual state of the state address earlier this year, Abbott stressed the need to "erect a complete barrier against any government official who wants to trample on gun rights in Texas."
Texas has seen a steady increase in mass shootings over the past four years.
As of Aug. 31, the state had 38 mass shootings, a 40% increase from the same period last year and a marked increase from the 19 mass shootings in 2019 and 10 in 2018, according to GVA data.
Nationwide, there have been 464 mass shootings as of Aug. 31, compared to 418 last year and 286 in 2019, GVA data shows.
CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as a shooting that injures or kills four or more people, not including the shooter.
Several high-profile mass shootings in recent years have prompted law enforcement officials and legislators to call for stricter gun control laws, including restrictions on open carry.
In Dallas in 2016, five officers were killed and seven others wounded in an ambush that marked the deadliest incident for US law enforcement agencies since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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White nationalists who attended the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 stormed the city while openly carrying pistols and rifles. The demonstration ended with one person dead and 19 injured after a white supremacist crashed his car into a group of counter-protesters. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, a group of men who openly carried guns during protests after the police shooting of Jacob Blake included Kyle Rittenhouse, then 17, who shot three people with his long gun.
A report released last week by Everytown and the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) includes a study of 560 events between January 2020 and June 2021 in which protesters, counter-protesters or other individuals or groups were present. , either carrying or brandishing firearms.
"Contrary to claims that the presence of firearms in public spaces makes people safer," says the report, "demonstrations involving at least one armed individual tend to be violent or destructive 16% of the times".
The study found that armed protests are nearly six times more likely to turn violent or destructive compared to unarmed protests.
While armed demonstrations turn violent or destructive about 16% of the time, unarmed protesters can turn violent 3% of the time, the report says.
"The data shows that visible weapons make people more aggressive, so the next logical step is to believe that open bearing makes disagreements more likely to escalate into violent conflict," said Watts of Moms Demand. Action.
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In 2013, a group of mothers who volunteered with Moms Demand Action were having lunch at a Dallas-area restaurant when they confronted a group of 40 men openly carrying long guns, Watts said.
"They pretended to target the volunteers inside the restaurant and there was nothing the manager could do, because it was legal to carry long guns," he said.
"We were surprised that this was legal behavior and it seemed like an alarming practice designed to intimidate and silence us."
In states where open carry is legal, Watts said, members of the organization have been routinely surrounded by mostly armed men while holding demonstrations, marches, volunteer events and private gatherings.
Moms Demand Action volunteers have helped dozens of corporations ban open carry in stores since 2013 and will continue their work in the face of the new Texas carry-on law, he added.
Part of the problem is preference laws that make cities "bear the brunt of gun violence without allowing them to change the policies that could address it," Watts said.
These laws are enacted in more than 40 states, including Texas, preventing cities and local municipalities from passing their own gun safety measures.
"Having broad preference laws is incredibly stifling for local leaders when they want to create local solutions to gun violence and that includes open-mindedness," said Karwoski of Everytown.
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As a result, he said, densely populated cities and large urban centers are subject to the same rules and regulations as rural and suburban areas where the gun violence crisis is very different.
"It means that localities cannot regulate locally," Karwoski added.
"If they try to do this, they could be sued, subject to fines and other punitive measures that possibly have a chilling effect on any locality that regulates guns."
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