Ending 2023 on a hopeful note
Looking ahead to a new year
Last Thursday, a story out of Ohio revealed that a 13-year-old boy was arrested, accused of planning a mass shooting at a Canton synagogue. The suspect shared a “detailed plan to complete a mass shooting” on the online platform Discord, which has been used by mass shooters in the past to discuss their plans and extremist ideologies before carrying out their attacks. The posts were reported to law enforcement, triggering an investigation by the Stark County Sheriff's Office. The boy has been charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct.
Thankfully, in this case, a catastrophe was averted. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Too often, it does not. Too often, laws aren’t enforced. Dangerous people fall through the cracks. Warning signs are ignored or downplayed. But as we approach the end of a tragic year for gun violence in the U.S., we’d like to take a hopeful look at those occasions when, as in Canton, the system worked.
While incidents in which red flag laws weren’t properly used or enforced rightfully get a lot of attention, it’s critical to acknowledge the wins. Red flag laws prevented 58 mass shootings in California from 2016-2018. And of the 40% of red flags issued for fear of suicide, all suicides were prevented.
According to PBS Newshour, in 2020, police seized 59 guns from a Colorado man who complained of hitmen coming to get him, bragged about shooting someone, and repeatedly threatened his ex-wife. In New Jersey in 2019, police took seven guns from a man threatening on Facebook to attack a Walmart. And in Washington state in 2018, police removed 12 guns from the home of a man who posted on social media about killing Jews in a synagogue and kids in a school. “None of those shootings happened,” the report says. And there are plenty of other examples, too.
Here’s the rub: Research indicates that red flag laws work—but only if people know about them. In a 2021 cross-sectional survey study, more than 2,000 Californians were polled on their awareness of Extreme Risk Protection Order laws or ERPOs, their willingness to use them, and their concerns if unwilling. The findings were that awareness is low (though less so among gun owners), willingness is high, and of those who were unwilling: “Approximately two-thirds of respondents cited a lack of awareness of ERPOs as a reason why they were unwilling to use an EPRO.”
It all comes down to awareness, and that’s why we’re here. It will take every one of us to make 2024 a safer year. Thanks for being part of the solution.