Reload Founder Stephen Gutowski joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on The Lead to discuss how gun legislation could affect mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas.
In the aftermath of the attack, which left 19 students and two teachers dead, Tapper asked Gutowski what legislation might be passed to try and prevent such tragedies in the future. The pair discussed how congress may move on the issue and what policies may be put forth by legislators. The segment touched on topics including age restrictions on gun sales and weapons most often used by mass shooters.
Gutowski said the key takeaway is that there are no perfect answers.
“There’s no single policy that’s going to solve this issue just by flipping a switch,” Gutowski said. “A lot of people on either side will try to tell you if we just did red flag laws, if we just did an assault weapons ban, if we just had armed teachers, it would fix this problem. I don’t think it’s true.”
Sen. McConnell tells Sen. Cornyn to work with Democrats to find bipartisan common ground on gun reform. Firearms journalist @StephenGutowski talks about what could work and what won’t pic.twitter.com/MqnYSCfft5
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) May 27, 2022
Still, Gutowski said some policies could reduce the likelihood of the attackers succeeding.
The two discussed red flag laws and whether the policy could help stop active shooters before they commit acts of violence. Gutowski argued it was possible but noted potential infringement of due process and the policy’s ineffectiveness in fully treating dangerous individuals as significant drawbacks. Tapper pointed to the recent increase in active shooter incidents over the past few years, which has risen by 52% from 2020 to 2021, and asked what might be causing this.
“There does seem to be a long-term trend. It’s hard to identify what’s causing that.” Gutowski said. “There are commonalities on a lot of these shooters in that they’re young men who have a long history of family issues or domestic violence. They’re very troubled people, and they often leave warning signs before something happens. Although, it’s much easier to see a collection of warning signs in some of these cases after the fact.”
3 Responses
Jake Tapper is a Reload subscriber? That’s cool.
Well done Stephen, also good on Tapper for a level headed discussion.
Thank you for going on CNN, Jake Tapper seems like he wants to take the time to hear. Will he and his viewers listen?
Idea: Like an intervention with alcohol and drug abuse, maybe a judge can hand off the red-flagged client to a non-profit, who gathers as many of the intervenee’s family and friends to help walk him through possible paths of his life, and help support him getting back on track informally as well as through formal counseling. “Good community” failed this Uvalde murderer while he was cutting his face and shooting BBs randomly at persons.
I’m still hesitant, taking a part of the legal system in which a crime has been committed and so rectifies that act. However, it is now intervening in a situation where a crime has not been committed, but the judge, many times a political actor too, must determine if there is good cause, from the preponderance of the evidence, right then and there, that a crime may likely be committed, and so take away tools of an enumerated constitutional right. David French and we should reexamine that, in that light, and not under some “right to access my family” unenumerated constitutional right the domestic ERPO courts use.