WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:03.270 Welcome back to cheddar news wrap americans woke up to 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.570 the news of more mass shootings on sunday, Police 00:00:06.570 --> 00:00:10.099 say at least six people were killed and 12 wounded 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:14.160 in downtown Sacramento and a killing that involved multiple shooters 00:00:14.490 --> 00:00:17.100 and a couple of hours earlier, gunmen opened fire 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:21.050 at a rap concert in Dallas texas killing one and 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:25.949 injuring 11. These are among 119 mass shootings this 00:00:25.949 --> 00:00:28.920 year and are part of a surge in gun violence 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:32.179 that began in 2020. Joining me now is David 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:35.369 , Casino Deputy Chief Counsel Giffords Law Center to prevent 00:00:35.369 --> 00:00:38.149 gun violence. David, the number of mass shootings 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.259 increased during the pandemic. Why is that happening? 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.740 Well ken what we've seen is not just a rise 00:00:45.740 --> 00:00:47.679 in mass shootings, but a number of, in 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:50.829 homicides overall in a particular firearm homicides. Um, 00:00:50.829 --> 00:00:52.429 I don't think we can say for certain why this 00:00:52.429 --> 00:00:54.439 is happening, but there are some factors that early 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:56.399 research shows the case. Um, one of those 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:58.619 is just that the virus caused so many disruptions. 00:00:58.630 --> 00:01:00.560 That's an economic life that's in the provision of social 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.119 services. Um, the kinds of things that we 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:04.519 see um, correlated with rising gun violence and things 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:07.140 that are intended to bring it down. Um, 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:08.040 in addition, that coincided with a huge surge in 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:10.379 the number of guns that were sold. So you 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:11.329 had more guns on the streets with guns in private 00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:14.700 hands. Um, and so the kind of disputes 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:15.569 that would normally have been resolved without firearms are now 00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:19.989 becoming becoming violent. Another thing we saw was the 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.969 coincidence social unrest and social justice movement. Um, 00:01:22.969 --> 00:01:26.540 and that was coordinated around, um, civil rights 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:29.439 issues after the murder of George Floyd. Um, 00:01:29.450 --> 00:01:32.379 and there was community distrust after that event. Um 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:34.409 , as well as some is a pullback in policing 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:36.560 efforts. So all of those things could have contributed 00:01:36.569 --> 00:01:38.010 . So, do you think there's a link perhaps 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:41.959 in the rise of mental health health issues during the 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:47.060 pandemic and the increase in gun violence? I think 00:01:47.060 --> 00:01:49.969 there's some misperceptions on that issue in the way in 00:01:49.969 --> 00:01:52.180 which mental illness intersects with gun violence. In fact 00:01:52.180 --> 00:01:53.409 , it's the case that those who suffer from mental 00:01:53.409 --> 00:01:56.359 illness are more likely to be the victims of violence 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.840 than the perpetrators. So, sunday's shooting in sacramento 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:01.170 was its second in about a month. So, 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:04.280 this county in California is one of those states has 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.500 the toughest gun laws. So, what else can 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:08.629 they do? Well, part of the problem is 00:02:08.629 --> 00:02:12.639 that California, while it has very strong gun laws 00:02:12.650 --> 00:02:15.699 , um, those laws don't extend outside their borders 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:17.009 , and so it's very easy for folks who wouldn't 00:02:17.009 --> 00:02:19.860 be able to purchase a gun in California because the 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:21.960 strong regime they have in place, um, to 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:23.960 either go across the border into a state with the 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:24.729 laws and get them, or even to purchase a 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:27.719 gun on the black market in California because there's a 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:30.159 lot of trafficking of firearms outside of California to it 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:31.310 . It's a very lucrative market. Now, gun 00:02:31.310 --> 00:02:35.520 control opponents, they argue that most crimes are committed 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.060 using illegal guns. Is that what we're finding in 00:02:38.060 --> 00:02:38.810 these mass shootings are all the guns that are being 00:02:38.810 --> 00:02:43.360 squeezed, that innocent people illegal. Uh, it 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:45.729 it really is something that varies, but overall the 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:49.479 crime guns are very much trafficked weapons. They're very 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.340 much guns that were illegal, that the person who 00:02:51.340 --> 00:02:53.099 used the gun wasn't allowed to purchase wasn't legally had 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:55.520 to purchase or purchase in an illegal manner. Um 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.500 , and so what we're seeing is a lot of 00:02:57.500 --> 00:02:59.759 the gun violence is fueled by that illegal market in 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:00.280 firearms. And a lot of that is the kind 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:02.060 of trafficking patterns I was talking about, you know 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:04.909 , coming into California, but that's the same pattern 00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:06.759 on the East Coast. Um, the phenomenon we 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:08.370 call the iron pipeline, where firearms are sold in 00:03:08.370 --> 00:03:10.469 States with poor gun laws, the traffickers who then 00:03:10.469 --> 00:03:13.289 bring them up in the States, the stronger gun 00:03:13.289 --> 00:03:15.580 laws in particular to new york city, where it's 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:16.379 more lucrative to sell them and where they can then 00:03:16.389 --> 00:03:19.550 end up on the streets are used in crime when 00:03:19.550 --> 00:03:22.370 it comes to California. What do they do now 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:23.509 ? I mean, like you said, it seems 00:03:23.509 --> 00:03:25.590 like it doesn't matter how strict gun laws are, 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:29.039 they're coming in through places that are not strict. 00:03:29.050 --> 00:03:30.389 Is there something they can do to close that seal 00:03:30.389 --> 00:03:31.409 ? Or is this something you're just gonna have to 00:03:31.409 --> 00:03:34.729 live with. Well, there's a few things that 00:03:34.729 --> 00:03:36.689 California can do. Um, One of them is 00:03:36.689 --> 00:03:38.699 something that it's already been a leader in doing that 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:39.699 needs to do more, which is funding violence intervention 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:42.800 programs. Um, these are community groups that are 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.229 on the street that are trying to deescalate crises that 00:03:45.229 --> 00:03:46.069 are trying to turn what could be a violent event 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.719 into something that gets results of that violent means. 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:51.770 And so that work is tremendously important in bringing down 00:03:51.770 --> 00:03:53.120 the amount of gun violence. Another thing we're seeing 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:55.030 , um, is that a lot of these guns 00:03:55.030 --> 00:03:58.039 are what are called ghost guns. These are weapons 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:00.639 that evade um, state and federal regulation because they're 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.669 sold in parts and there's unfinished parts fit into a 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:04.719 loophole and therefore they're not counted as a gun. 00:04:04.729 --> 00:04:06.449 Um, and so folks who wouldn't be able to 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:09.240 buy a gun from a gun dealer because they feel 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.020 a background check are able to order these online, 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:12.849 have them delivered to their door or even go to 00:04:12.849 --> 00:04:14.810 a gun show cash and carry, walk out with 00:04:14.810 --> 00:04:15.649 the weapon with no record of them having purchased it 00:04:15.649 --> 00:04:18.079 at all. And this is something that California should 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:19.649 tighten up their law and they have something on the 00:04:19.649 --> 00:04:21.680 books now, but it's really focused on the end 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:25.399 user requiring that they, after acquiring the weapons to 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:27.199 go and have it serialized and they register it. 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:28.959 And obviously people who have criminal intent are not going 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:30.199 to do that. So we really need something on 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:31.310 the front end on the seller's side to make sure 00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:32.879 that there's gonna be some check before they get into 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:34.680 criminal hands. Now, is there anything that the 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:36.889 government can do to suppress gun violence in these mass 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:41.339 shootings? One thing that would be really important is 00:04:41.339 --> 00:04:44.850 that the federal level closing the loopholes that allow for 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:46.970 private sales to go forward without a background check. 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:48.019 So under federal law right now, the only people 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:50.360 who have to conduct a background check before they sell 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.060 a gun or licensed dealers. So if you're a 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:54.870 private person or somebody who claims to be a private 00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:57.319 person, um, you can sell guns without going 00:04:57.319 --> 00:04:59.350 through a background check. Sometimes this is called the 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:00.810 gun show loophole because a lot of these private sellers 00:05:00.810 --> 00:05:02.939 go to gun shows, but it's not strictly about 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:04.029 gun shows at all. It's just if you're a 00:05:04.029 --> 00:05:08.069 private seller, there's been legislation at the federal level 00:05:08.069 --> 00:05:10.519 to make background checks universal, would close that loophole 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:12.569 and make sure that everybody who's purchasing a gun goes 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:15.319 through a background check that passed the House of Representatives 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:15.480 that has been stalled in the Senate? And that's 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:17.209 something the federal government could do that would really tighten 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:20.740 up. How often are these mass shootings occurring in 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:25.199 states with the stricter gun laws compared to states with 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:27.529 not a strict gun laws? Well, what we 00:05:27.529 --> 00:05:29.850 see overall is that the states that have the strongest 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:31.040 gun laws are the ones that see, um, 00:05:31.050 --> 00:05:33.509 less shooting, less gun violence? Um, that's 00:05:33.509 --> 00:05:36.480 something my organization tracks through a scorecard, and what 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.379 we show is we categorize all of the gun laws 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:41.709 across the country. We evaluate each state based on 00:05:41.709 --> 00:05:44.040 how strong their gun laws are and the stronger estates 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:45.949 gun laws are, the less gun violence they see 00:05:45.949 --> 00:05:46.970 . That's the correlation that we find. Alright, 00:05:47.209 --> 00:05:49.600 David, Faustino, Deputy Chief Counsel Giffords Law Center 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:51.889 to prevent gun violence. David, thank you as 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:53.629 always for joining.