No Loopholes Anywhere for Anyone

Today is the 159th day of the year, and we’ve suffered 80 more mass shootings than days in 2022. Look at The Gun Violence Archive for the details, and if it doesn’t piss you off, you need not read further. If it does, give me six minutes.

Years ago in the military, I learned a simple but very effective after-action assessment process. We used it after most operations in training and while deployed. We discussed what worked, what failed, and how we could get better – everybody took part. Then we developed an action plan. I’ve used the same process in private practice for over two decades, and it remains equally useful. Whether the operation, business relationship or contract was successful or a failure, we deferred to the process for an assessment.

Most of the month of May 2022 in America was an abject failure.   

Let’s look at the process and suggest some actions:

1.    What are we doing that we could do better?

2.    What are we doing that we don’t need to do anymore?

3.    What are we not doing that we should be?

What are we doing that we could do better?

Less than two months after Jan 6, 2021, House lawmakers approved $30 million to clean up the capital after the riot. Three months later, the House approved $1.9 billion in supplemental security funding known as the Capitol Security Bill. A five-month security deployment by the National Guard cost another $521 million. Factoring-in beltway accounting, the likely approved number exceeded $2.6 billion.

Not a single member of Congress died on Jan 6, yet we’re spending billions to protect them. Immediate legislation was drafted and approved for funding - expedited processes for unprecedented funding.

Let’s make that the #1 thing we could do better – pass legislation quickly and fund it even quicker.      

The Protecting Our Kids Act is a decent start, but mass shootings happen in workspaces, supermarkets, movie theaters, and elsewhere. We’ve all seen it. Regarding schools, public funding priorities need to change immediately to reinforce schools with automatic door locks, surveillance, and enhanced security measures, among others. Federally funded. If we can send $40B of our tax dollars to reinforce Ukraine, we can spend commensurate amounts or more at home. It’s a start.

Bill Barr agrees. The Former AG recently noted, “It wasn’t too long ago where we didn’t have airport security. Anyone could walk up to the gate. And now, 20-25 years later, we have intense security at airports and in office buildings we never had. And now we do. And I’m afraid we’re at the point where we’re going to have to have it at schools. I mean, our most precious resources in these schools, are young children, and we must take care of them and protect them.”

#2 - One must be 21 in America to purchase a handgun, and 18 for a rifle. That’s like 21 for beer, 18 for whiskey. Make the ages the same for both – not a bad precaution for young adults whose brains don’t fully develop until 25. 

#3 - Red flag precautions work. Enhance them and give them some teeth. Law enforcement checks can delay and preclude gun permits where required. Behavioral threat assessments followed by monitoring protocols can also delay acquisitions of weapons.

Florida has been using the Baker Act for fifty years, a legislative success that has unquestionably saved countless lives. One of the intents of the Act was, “to facilitate [a] persons’ return to normal community life.” Though that does not always happen, the imperfect Act has stood the test of time, and can result in an involuntary examination of up to 72-hours. Maxine Baker of Miami, for whom the Act was named, stated at the date of passage, “In the name of mental health, we deprive them of their most precious possession – liberty.”

That’s an unalienable right from our Declaration of Independence that Florida has been depriving for decades in the name of mental health. That’s something we could do better as a nation.

What are we doing that we don’t need to do anymore?

#4 – Don’t blame the gun industry - work with them. Over forty-million firearms were purchased between 2020 and 2021, both record years. These were legal purchases, backed by myriad laws and guaranteed by our Constitution, and a substantial portion of those customers vote. The FBI ran over 78 million background checks during the same timeframe – also record numbers. The firearm industry is nearly $20 billion in America. Those are big numbers with an enormous apparatus of support.   

The overwhelming majority of these gun owners are trustworthy, responsible citizens when it comes to their firearms. They want background checks, red flag laws, mandatory safety classes, etc. In most cases, their respect for their firearms and the harm that comes from irresponsible use or abuse is second to none.

“We think it’s reasonable to provide mandatory, instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone.” That was Wayne Lapierre, then Executive Vice President of the NRA on May 27, 1999 - thirty-seven days after the Columbine shooting.

Makes sense, right? So, what happened? The background check has been ridiculously contorted in a variety of ways, creating confusion and delaying legislation designed to ensure guns do not fall into the possession of those unfit to own them. 

Mass shootings since Columbine have reached a frequency of obscene proportions. In fact, dating back over a century, 70% of the deadliest shootings in America have occurred in the last decade.  

With more guns than people in America, the enormity of the gun control challenge cannot be underestimated. Andrew Exum wrote a great piece in The Atlantic, We Need to Learn to Live With Guns. He notes, “... the federal judiciary has only grown more conservative” since the Supreme Court’s decision on D.C. v. Heller in 2008. He added, “The courts will likely bar any meaningful restrictions on the possession of firearms for at least another generation.”

So, if we learn to live with guns, shouldn’t we also work to ensure those who shouldn’t have them don’t? There’s more common ground on this than ever gets reported - we all want a safer society.

What are we not doing that we should be?

#5 - Nationwide, anyone who communicates a threat involving a shooting, should be immediately arrested, and any weapons in their possession or at their disposal should be seized. Federal offense. Shortly after Uvalde, a 10-year-old boy was arrested in Southwest Florida for doing exactly that. So was a 23-year-old man in Suffolk, VA, and a 29-year-old man from Hyannis, MA – all for making online threats of school shootings. The latter was reported by several people who saw the post. Assaulting a flight attendant is a federal offense and can result in a felony conviction. The FAA has the authority to impose substantial fines that violate these laws. The DOJ needs to have the same capability and more to enforce actions against those that intend to do harm via mass shootings. 

#6 – Any person arrested for threatening a mass shooting should be banned for two decades (if not life) from owning a firearm and should be listed and clearly identified on a public registry, just like sex offenders. To be reinstated, they must follow an intense, protracted petitioning process at personal expense. Federally enforced.

 #7 - If the communication from this person is broadcast over social media or any internet forum and the platform did nothing to report it immediately to law enforcement, the entire platform is suspended for a minimum of 30 days, if not longer. Immediate would be defined as less than an hour after the threat is validated. Federally enforced. Preventing the post is not enough, neither is banning the individual from the platform. AI and ML technology exist to identify these individuals in record time. Lost revenue will be an eye-opener for so many of these platforms claiming to protect the First Amendment. Social media and internet platforms have an opportunity for good here, and it’s long overdue.

Three years ago, in August 2019, Dr. Jillian Peterson and Dr. James Densley of The Violence Project, wrote a brilliant op-ed for the L.A. Times. The piece referenced an exhaustive two-year study encompassing 53-years of mass shootings. Their findings were remarkable, especially in noting the commonalities of most mass shooters. One of them was, “seeking validation for their motives,” which is often accomplished online. Restricting the validation may very well serve as an immediate deterrent.  

#8 - Promote “see something, say something” across the country. This is a movement everybody can be a part of, including the firearm industry. For instance, any student that reports a bona fide potential incident of a school shooting is rewarded with a college education, or a reward of sorts. Colleges around the country would gladly step up to acknowledge a brave young student, and the public and corporate support would be overwhelming. I’d wager gun manufacturers would be willing to sponsor scholarships to those who help deter mass shootings.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of options – there are many more. Mental health programs, gun give-back programs, restoring family values, and restoring respect for authority are but a few of the other ideas. But more can be done sooner, as these are long-term agendas. None of these are easy - I would not begin to infer or suggest anything of the kind, but action needs to happen. Immediate, effective, longstanding action.  

Get involved and get your elected officials at the state and federal levels to do their jobs. They spent billions of our tax dollars to protect themselves because they were attacked. Out of fear and an unequivocal desire for self-preservation, they prioritized their safety. Now they need to make some changes and protect our children and our citizenry. Get angry about the horrors of May 2022 if you wish, be disgusted and horrified – you should be. The problem is bigger, so make sure you act, do your goddam job, and make them do theirs.

There’s a disruptor to this cycle of heinous shootings in America. There must be, so get active. We are the disruptor.