A mass shooting Tuesday at a primary school in Uwalde, Texas – which killed 21, including 19 children and two teachers – has sparked a heated debate over how to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
As in previous mass shootings, elected officials appear divided over gun control reform. Last week, President Joe Biden called on Congress to “keep weapons of war out of our streets,” drawing on the support of many Democrat MPs on Capitol Hill. But some Republican members of Congress, such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have ruled out a dramatic increase in gun laws, as the reform could prevent “law-abiding citizens” from acquiring guns, they said.
Despite the apparent disagreement, a bipartisan group of senators is discussing potential legislation, which could include expanded background checks and red flag laws that protect guns from the hands of individuals whom authorities say may pose a threat.
Meanwhile, some Republicans have proposed alternative solutions such as armed guards and other safety precautions in public places, as well as expanded mental health services. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a Republican, took a broader view, telling reporters that attacks like the one in Uwalde stemmed from “cultural issues” that the law has no “zero chance” to fix.
The proposals drew criticism from some Democrats, who accused Republicans of allaying fears about the presence of firearms.
Evidence shows that gun control laws offer the most direct and immediate solution to tackle mass shootings, experts on gun violence told ABC News. They reaffirmed the value of a broader approach that includes mental health services and cultural change.
“From a purely rational point of view, everything has to be on the table to solve problems, including stronger gun control,” Daniel Webster, a professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Hopkins, told ABC News.
The states with the lowest gun deaths are those with the strictest gun laws, according to a study by the Center for Solutions to Gun Violence. In particular, the most effective reduction in deadly mass shootings is the result of policies that require licensing for gun buyers and limit high-capacity magazines, according to a 2020 study co-authored by Webster.
A record of the sheriff’s crime scene is seen outside Rob Elementary School as U.S. troops guard the area in Uwalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022.
Allison Dinner / AFP via Getty Images
He and other experts criticized various proposals to limit mass shootings in schools, including armed guards, narrow and fortified entrances and drills.
“All these decisions are geared towards accepting that someone with a gun will enter your school, so let’s be prepared,” he said.
In the days following the attack on Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, then-President Donald Trump offered to arm teachers. In 2012, after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, then-vice president of the National Weapons Association Wayne Lapierre said, “The only thing that stops the bad guy with a gun is the good guy with a gun. ”
Mike Lawler, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven in Connecticut and a former Democratic MP, told ABC News that he questioned the effectiveness of an armed officer or teacher in stopping mass shootings.
“If someone shows up ready, willing and able to be killed and has an AR-15 and in some cases a bulletproof vest, what will that person do?” Lower said.
School security measures introduced over the past two decades have failed to show empirical evidence that they reduce gun violence in schools, according to a 2019 study published by researchers in the journal Violence and Gender.
On Wednesday, Senator Cruz told Fox News that schools must deal with mass shootings by restricting entry and exit to a door where armed police can guard against an attack.
The proposed single-door solution raises fire safety concerns, Webster said. He also failed to take an expansive or systematic approach to the causes of the mass shootings, he added.
Webster mentioned a mass shooting last week at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, which killed 10, all blacks and three others.
“It can happen in a supermarket or a church. We can go on indefinitely and more about the settings, “he said. “People who want to defend the status quo, make this the narrowest possible problem and develop the narrowest possible solution.”
Another proposal that has gained momentum since the Uwalde shooting is the expansion of mental health services. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week attributed the mass shooting in Uwalde to mental health problems and vowed to step up mental health programs.
Mental health advocates have criticized Abbott for taking resources from agencies that monitor mental health programs.
Experts say expanding mental health services could help tackle mass shootings, especially among young people who are tackling mental health challenges amid the pandemic.
“Adolescents in particular are really struggling in terms of mental health and need a lot more than they get,” Webster said. “These approaches to public health can go a long way in preventing these terrible tragedies.
A significant proportion of adults and adolescents have had mental health problems. Approximately 49.5% of adolescents have experienced a mental health disorder at some point in their lives, the National Institute of Mental Health found in a 2020 study. Twenty-one percent of the adult population had some form of mental illness in 2020. found the study. Proponents say people with mental health problems are more likely to be victims than perpetrators.
Lawler, a professor at the University of New Haven, said mental health programs must take a proactive approach that helps identify students at risk of violence.
A security guard stands next to a store in New York on June 11, 2020.
NurPhoto via Getty Images, FILE
“It’s one thing to have services available, but someone has to include someone in it,” he said.
Another view of gun violence treats the problem as a symptom of a broader cultural problem that cannot be solved by legislation, as suggested by Lankford, a Republican senator from Oklahoma.
Experts acknowledged that the problem was partly due to cultural values, especially the weapons culture in the United States. Lawler attributes the continuing popularity of the weapons culture and the proliferation of weapons in part to the marketing of arms manufacturers.
“This is the historical culture of the United States – cowboys, the Wild West and this is in the Constitution – but this phenomenon of flooding the country with weapons intentionally and aggressively is relatively recent,” he added.
Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social care at the University of California, Los Angeles who specializes in school violence, told ABC News that the divisive culture around guns hinders agreement on tangible solutions, including gun regulations.
“Public health is first and foremost education,” Astor said. “I don’t think we should look at it as a Second Amendment or a Non-Second Amendment – it’s a rabbit hole that leads us nowhere.”
He added: “I would like to find a common language – Democrats, Republicans, gun owners, unarmed people – to use at least weapons responsibly with the same regulations as other hazardous materials and things in people’s homes.
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