Say, How Often Are Background Checks, Red Flags, And Assault Rifles Involved In Mass Shootings?

Good on John Woolfolk of the Mercury News to do actual research

Mass shootings: How often were background checks, assault weapons and red flags a factor?

In the wake of three deadly shootings in Gilroy, Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, Congress is being pressured to consider a trio of gun laws — already used in California and other states — designed to keep weapons out of the hands of potential killers.

But would universal background checks, red flag laws and a ban of assault weapons reduce the bloodshed? This news organization looked at three years worth of recent active shooter incidents from 2016 through 2018 compiled by the FBI to see how often they involved background check loopholes, disturbing “red flag” signals from the shooter beforehand, and military-style assault weapons.

In more than two-thirds of the 75 cases reviewed, the shooters telegraphed their troubled state on social media, in remarks or messages to friends or family or with signs of mental illness or distress.

That raises the potential for them to have been disarmed beforehand through red flag laws like those in California and 16 other states. A recent study found 21 cases in which California’s red flag law appears to have headed off threatened mass shootings since it was enacted in 2016. Last week, a Long Beach hotel worker was arrested after a co-worker told police he threatened to shoot up the place, and a teenage girl in Orlando was arrested after her threats to shoot people at her sister’s school were reported.

But, do the people who are giving the ability to file a red flag see this information? The Dayton shooter’s mom did, but she did not report his actual name. Red Flag laws, if done properly could work, especially if they included the ability to charge someone who falsely reports it.

In nearly a third of the cases, military-style assault weapons banned in California and six other states were used, though the shooters often had other types of guns too. Most used ordinary pistols, shotguns and rifles.

So, even though banned in California, they were still used. But what of the other 2/3rds? Will the gun grabbers demand that they be banned, too?

The review found that guns were obtained in a variety of ways. Most of the shooters either legally bought weapons and passed background checks or used a gun that was stolen or belonged to a relative or friend.

Hmm, so enhanced background checks wouldn’t work? How about that? All they’d do would be create a database of who owns what, the easier to confiscate.

It’s a long read that delves into all three, worth the read.

Here’s an idea: go hard on people who use a firearm in the commission of a crime. Go hard on those who unlawfully possess one.