Jul 14, 2022

Share “God willing, it’s going to save a lot of lives.” So said President Joe Biden on June 25, after signing the most consequential gun-safety legislation in decades. Barely a week later, he was expressing shock at yet another senseless mass shooting — this time at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. Despair is not the answer to this depressing — and grimly familiar — juxtaposition. The fact is, the US is making real progress on gun reform, despite the best efforts of the Supreme Court and extremists in Congress. That progress must continue if the bloodshed is to stop. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Biden signed last month, is a significant achievement by any measure. It includes incentives for states to pass “red-flag” laws — which allow courts to temporarily prevent people from accessing guns when they pose a threat to themselves or others — and funding to train officials in applying those laws. It expands background checks for would-be gun buyers under age 21. And it closes the so-called boyfriend loophole, which had exempted certain domestic abusers from firearms restrictions. Not only did 15 Senate Republicans (and 14 of their counterparts in the House) join Democrats in passing the bill, they took barely one month to do so — a strikingly swift response by federal standards. Advertisement Elsewhere, there’s mounting evidence that Americans are fighting back against gun violence. After a 2018 shooting that left 17 high-schoolers dead, Florida’s conservative legislature passed a red-flag law, raised the age to 21 for the purchase of semiautomatic rifles, and banned the use of so-called bump stocks. After the Supreme Court foolishly overturned a century-old New York law limiting the issuance of concealed-carry permits, the state quickly passed laws requiring 16 hours of in-person training before such permits are granted, declaring specific venues no-carry areas, and expanding background checks to purchases of ammunition as well as firearms. It also raised the age limit for semiautomatics, following a mass shooting in Buffalo in May. Gun manufacturers, too, are under growing pressure. Earlier this year, the parents of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre won a $73 million settlement from Remington Arms Co., after suing the gunmaker for wrongful marketing practices. Similar suits are expected in response to the Buffalo massacre and one in Uvalde, Texas. Several states are attempting to make such lawsuits easier, especially against manufacturers that are marketing weapons to children. As for the federal government, more legislation is unlikely any time soon. But the Senate on Tuesday finally confirmed Steve Dettelbach as the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which had lacked a permanent director for seven years. Dettelbach should bring focus and vision to an agency that has lacked both for some time. Advertisement Now, it’s up to voters and lawmakers to build on these efforts. Looking ahead, two principles are worth keeping in mind. One is that the gun-safety movement will need to take a creative and multi-pronged approach going forward. At a minimum, that should include more proactive lawsuits, renewed efforts to advance commonsense reforms in state legislatures, and the aggressive use of federal regulations. The decades-long struggle to hold tobacco companies accountable offers an instructive model. Second, the movement needs to be realistic about what’s working. As one example, both New York and Illinois have passed red-flag laws. The shooters in Highland Park and Buffalo previously had run-ins with the police. Yet both managed to legally purchase firearms and carry out their killing sprees. It’s crucial that the criteria for disarming such subjects be revisited as needed. States also should use new funding from the bipartisan gun bill to ensure that officials are trained to invoke such laws and the public is widely aware of them. Advertisement It’s hard to be optimistic amid America’s epidemic of gun violence. But it’s essential to build on what progress has been made, and to carry on the fight for as long as it takes. More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion: • • • The Editors are members of the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion ©2022 Bloomberg L.P.