Bemoaning the tragedy of a gun shooting is normal. Praying for the victims and the injured of a shooting is a human response to horrific events. Concern for people’s mental health and creating better medical and psychological training is vital. Grieving for those lost is cathartic. These are the natural emotional reactions to gun violence such as occurred yesterday in Allen, Texas outside of Dallas. The failure to do something to prevent its reoccurrence is unacceptable. Not to demand change in state and federal gun laws will guarantee that in a brief matter of time the nation will be repeating this same set of reactions to another violent gun tragedy.
We know that medicine still cannot prevent cancer, but medical research has produced numerous treatments to attack it. Deaths from automobile crashes have not disappeared but the laws requiring all riders in cars—drivers, passengers, front, and rear--to wear seatbelts have dramatically reduced the number of automotive fatalities and serious injuries.
It would seem that the statistics alone should speak to the need for serious governmental action to control gun violence. Gun Violence Archive, which manages a database of U.S. shootings, reported that in 2023 there already were 199 “mass shootings” in which at least four people were killed or wounded. Within the past week alone five people were killed in Cleveland, Texas; six people were murdered in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and one person was killed and four wounded in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, yesterday, eight people were killed and nine hospitalized in Texas.
Controlling the availability of guns, formalizing the registration of guns, setting different rules for accessibility for different weapons (pistols, rifles, semi-automatic, and automatic), and requiring background checks will undoubtedly have a significant impact on some weapons (never all) becoming available. It will not stop the underground trafficking in guns and the misuse of existing weapons. At the same time, it will have nary any effect on the use and availability of guns for hunting or sports.
A poll taken by the Gallup Organization in February 2023 indicated that 63% of the American people are “dissatisfied with U.S gun laws” which was a seven percent increase over 2022. Even among Republicans there was a five percent decrease to 54% in their level of satisfaction with the laws. ( https://news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx )
A Fox News poll released on April 29, 2023, reported that 87% of those polled favored requiring criminal background checks for all gun buyers; 77% required a 30-day waiting period for all gun purchases; and 81% favored raising the legal age to purchase a gun to 21. https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-voters-favor-gun-limits-arming-citizens-reduce-gun-violence
All of these facts are known and have been trumpeted for years by the advocates of gun control. The shooting on Saturday in Texas, however, might open up a new possible avenue for those seeking to control the rash of shootings which have plagued the United States even within the last several months. Shooting random shoppers in a major crowded mall on a Saturday afternoon could well signal an outcry for gun reform—this time from a major segment of the economy to whom Members of Congress and state legislatures will need to listen.
Large store owners and national chains represented in the Allen Premium Outlet are no doubt running scared for the future of their brick-and-mortar facilities which are only now coming back after the pandemic. Crowded malls are the lifeblood of many retail outlets throughout the country. These companies do not want the public only buying online. They need in-store traffic in large chains to promote business in smaller and local operations. Malls thrive on the sociability generated in these large spaces to drive impulse buying as well as children and teenage driven sales. In addition, mall owners cannot survive if stores do not renew leases and stores lie vacant because there is inadequate traffic in the mall to justify the expenses to maintain a physical presence. A dramatic escalation in insurance costs will also drive retail operations to close.
This may be the most important counter to the National Rifle Association which Congress and state legislatures must finally address in order to quell the public’s fears. Businesses can urge elected representatives as well as governors and mayors to act against the scourge of gun violence which will affect the behavior of the shopping public.
The fear generated by uncontrolled firearms, as exhibited in the mall in Texas yesterday, can have dramatic consequences as well on the public’s social behavior in modifying their use and frequenting of other public facilities such as parks, movie theaters, amusement parks, etc. for fear that random shootings will follow. As has occurred so often, it is the economic and implied political consequences which might drive Congress finally to act.
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