Policy Changes and Questions Following More Mass Violence
by Alexis Barton
Gun violence is not a new concept to the American people. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a not-for-profit organization with the mission of creating awareness about gun violence in America, there have been over 600 mass shootings in the United States in the 2022 calendar year. Recent shootings at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, CO and a Walmart in Chesapeake, VA have brought conversations regarding gun control and media narratives back into the public sphere.
Individual businesses and stores, especially those that cater to minority communities like Club Q in Colorado Springs, have responded with amping up security or taking a brief period of closing to help quell any fears about safety. However, according to a 2021 Pew Research report that over half of Americans would favor some form of stricter gun laws. Several states across the country, including Colorado and Virginia, have “red flag” laws in place. These laws empower judicial authorities to take actions when gun owners are proven to pose a threat either to themselves or to others (Merrefeld, 2022). While laws like these have good intentions, they are not always applied to the fullest extent. In 2021, the Club Q assailant was charged with kidnapping and menacing; the charges were later dropped, which may have led to authorities not labeling them as a threat. Governor Jared Polis has called into question the current implementation of the law and hopes to expand it in the future, making it more effective for situations similar to the Club Q shooting.
State-level legislation aside, there has been a nationwide call to examine the role of the media both in coverage of mass shootings and in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Colorado representative Lauren Boebert has been spotlighted in the media for her own discriminatory views towards the queer community in her home state. Though some question the role that Boebert and other pundits’ opinions play on the actions of “normal” individuals, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly-gay member of the president’s cabinet, went on the record to say, “…if anybody claims to be surprised that political attacks on a community that doesn’t hurt anybody are sometimes followed by violent physical attacks on that same community, I just don’t think they’re being honest.”
As the new Congress moves towards their official swearing-in in January, the eyes of the American public will be set on new leadership as they determine the viable options for keeping Americans safe.
