After Lewiston shooting, Americans must insist on laws to limit AR-15 style weapons in civilian hands

A terrifying photo released by police of a man shooting innocent people in Lewiston, Maine — with the lethal AR-15-style rifle pointed toward the camera — undoubtedly made many frightened Americans feel they could have been the panicked ones suddenly looking helplessly down a gun barrel.

The response must not be to succumb to craven politicians and courts that refuse to do anything because they put gun industry profits ahead of public safety.

Rather, people should band together to wage a long-term, united battle to enact a federal ban on murderous weapons of war in civilians’ hands.

Meanwhile, because the political climate in Congress is not receptive at the moment to protecting Americans’ lives, those who wish to stand up against gun violence must also take their case to state capitals. Especially, we would add, those capitals in states near Illinois, because assault weapons can be surreptitiously carried across state borders.

Last year, Illinois enacted a sensible law to regulate the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition magazines and “switches” that turn firearms into automatic weapons, and to require those who already owned such weapons to register them with the state. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law, the Protect Illinois Communities Act, last year. An appeal is before a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the court has allowed the law to go into effect.

The wisdom of that law became instantly clearer Wednesday when an assault weapon — a machine of death — was used to kill 18 people and wound 13 at a Lewiston bowling alley, where a children’s league was underway, and at a bar where people had gathered to relax. Authorities named firearms instructor and U.S. Army reservist Robert Card, who has a record of mental health issues, as a suspect. Card remained at large Thursday.

Some Maine residents and officeholders said they never imagined such carnage could happen in their gun-friendly state. But the easy availability of military-style assault weapons means the bullets can fly anywhere, at any time. Assault-style weapons are designed to easily and efficiently kill people. They are not needed for hunting.

The 565th mass shooting this year

Just since March, AR-15-style weapons have been used in mass shootings in Nashville; Louisville; Allen, Texas; Farmington, New Mexico; and Lewiston. Lewiston was the 565th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In Illinois, the wounds have not healed from the July 4, 2022, Highland Park parade shooting, in which an assault weapon was used to kill seven people and injure 48.

Remember this: These are preventable tragedies.

Illinois has been a model for other states by enacting a series of laws to reduce gun violence, including background checks on private-party sales of firearms and a red flag law that allows guns to be temporarily taken from people who are a danger to themselves or others. Illinois also requires gun owners to obtain Firearm Owner’s Identification cards. Other states should follow Illinois’ example.

Constituents need to keep telling their members of Congress that this is an issue they care about and will continue to care about. They must elect lawmakers who will vote for laws that will keep people safe.

Over time, that can make a difference. In May, Everytown for Gun Safety released a new poll that found 65% of Americans support an assault weapons ban. Yet the federal 1994 ban on assault weapons was not renewed in 2004, a victim of gun industry lobbying.

As Vice President Kamala Harris reminded us Thursday, guns in America are the leading cause of death for young people, snuffing out lives of promise. Every day, traumatized people wonder if they or their loved ones might be next. Anyone can be a victim.

America’s peer nations don’t suffer from anywhere near as many shootings per capita. The United States needs to join those other nations and become a place where residents are far less likely to die unnecessarily in a hail of gunfire.

Our lives depend on it.

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