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Gun-control activists gird for tough national fight in wake of deadly rampages: ‘We’re playing the long game’

Written by Email Bio Follow Brittany Shammas and Annie Gowen, Washington Post Published: 27 March 2021

Hours after a gunman killed 10 people in a grocery store in Boulder, Colo., the second deadly shooting in less than a week, gun-control activists once again called for lawmakers to take action.

But even as they did so, some acknowledged that progress on the issue has been frustratingly slow. Across the country, lawmakers at all levels have struggled to pass meaningful legislation, and courts sometimes strike down what does become law.

It’s an even bigger challenge at the federal level, where no major gun-control measure has passed in more than two decades, even though nearly 20,000 Americans were killed by guns last year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

“Solutions are not the priority for our politicians. It’s never ending,” said Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin, 17, was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in 2018…

After Monday’s King Soopers shooting, President Biden signaled that he wanted to change the dynamic, promising not to wait “another minute” to propose a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as an expansion of background checks…

Mike Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, said the Boulder shooting showed gun control doesn’t work, noting that Colorado already has universal background checks, a red-flag law and a large-capacity magazine ban.

“With everything we have, we’ll fight to keep meaningless, counterproductive gun control from passing,” Hammond said.

Read more at The Washington Post