Illinois Lawmakers Want to Fingerprint Gun Buyers

With gun reform being a key legislative topic, the majority of time, energy, and resources have focused on preventing mass shootings, which amount to just 2-3% of gun-related homicides. The rest affect majority communities of color, which policy, lobbying, and reform efforts have largely ignored. Even with local violence-reduction efforts like Oakland’s LIVE FREE focused deterrence or a Chicago school’s focus on cognitive behavioral therapy showing impact, the allotted resources at the federal level continue to pass them by.

While most Americans and politicians from across the partisan aisle support universal background checks for firearm purchases, that system has shown to not be as effective as many think. Instead, states are implementing licensing systems that require individuals wanting to buy a gun to take safety courses, apply with local law enforcement, provide references, and have their background checked. States that have such systems in place have seen a steady decline in gun homicides and suicides.

Since July 2019, New Zealand has held gun buybacks across the country and collected over 10,000 firearms. After a mass shooting at Christchurch mosque, the government rushed through legislation to ban semi-automatic and automatic firearms, offering owners of such weapons cash and a no-questions-asked policy. Such legislation has been implemented in other countries as well, including Australia, who in 1996 collected over 600,000 weapons.

In Washington, state legislators have passed an innovative measure that would allow individuals to suspend their own gun rights. The bill was started as a proactive measure for those experience mental health issues to be able to prevent themselves from harming themselves in the future. While they’re still working on publicizing the new measure, those that do know about it simply have to fill out a short form at any count clerk’s office – the rest is taken care of within 24 hours.

Around the country, a dozen states have passed “red flag” gun laws. These laws allow officials to temporarily take away legally owned guns from individuals who are deemed either at-risk of suicide, or a danger to others. Colorado is the most recent state to introduce a similar law to legislation, and if passed would allow law enforcement to initially seize guns for 14 days while a judge hears the case.

Across the United States, state legislatures are passing “red flag” laws as a preventative effort to mass shootings. These laws make it possible for law enforcement to take guns away from people showing signs of violence or suicide. While there has been push back from gun-rights advocates, with fourteens states passing laws like these, it seem to be a part of a larger, cultural shift.

The U.S. continues to resist restrictive gun laws. Australia and Britain significantly decreased mass shootings through the banning of certain guns, more restrictive permits, buyback programs, and a national firearms registration system.

As Kansas City tries to decrease violent crime in the area, it looks to a decades-old initiative that may have worked in the past: gun buybacks. Such a response was first tried in 1994, and saw a decline in homicides the following year. While the new mayor looks to try this in the city, they face state legislation prohibiting gun buybacks and pushback from critics who say such responses don’t actually work.

Since Australia’s National Firearms Act, passed over 20 years ago, the country has seen zero mass shootings. The legislation mandates a 28-day waiting period, bans automatic and semi-automatic firearms, and offers no-questions-asked gun buybacks. As mass shootings continue to plague the United States, many look to Australia’s legislation as a model of success, but with very different cultures and histories, some think that kind of legislation isn’t possible for America.

Little attention is given to black men who are victims of gun violence but survive and need help. An organization in California is mobilizing all gun-violence victims to voice their opinion on criminal justice reform and support for victims.