Weapons of Mass (Murder) Destruction James Alan Fox and Monica

Transcription

Weapons of Mass (Murder) Destruction
James Alan Fox and Monica J. DeLateur*
I. INTRODUCTION
Some of the most prominent and powerful news stories in recent years
have involved rampage shootings in America, especially those in public
places.' From the January 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona that claimed
the lives of six people and wounded several others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, 2 to the July 2012 midnight rampage at a Colorado movie theatre,3 the December 2012 mass shooting at a Connecticut
elementary school that resulted in the deaths of twenty young children and
six staff members,4 and the September 2013 shooting spree at a Washington D.C. navy yard,5 these and other multiple-victim rampages have
sparked heated debate in political circles on the streets of America and on
the media airwaves about gun control.6
Despite the attention given them, mass shootings, defined as homicide
incidents in which at least four victims-not counting the assailant or assailants-are killed by gunfire, actually represent a rather small percentage
* James Alan Fox is the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at
Northeastern University. Monica J. DeLateur is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and law student at Northeastern University.
1. See Polls Ranks Top 10 News Stories of 2012, USA TODAY, Dec. 20, 2012,
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/20/year-top-news/1783303/ (citing the AP
annual survey of journalists that found mass shootings was considered the top news topic of
2012, eclipsing both the presidential election and Hurricane Sandy).
2. Marc Lacey & David M. Herszenhom, In Attack's Wake, PoliticalRepercussions,
N.Y.
TIMES,
Jan.
8,
2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09giffords.html?pagewanted=all.
3. Michael Pearson, Gunman Turns 'Batman' Screening into Real-life 'Horror
Film', CNN (July 20, 2012), http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-shooting/.
4.
Sandy
Hook
Shooting:
What
Happened?,
CNN,
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/
(last visited Jan. 30,
2014).
5. Rebekah Metzler, D.C. Navy Yard Shooting Kills At Least 13, US NEWS (Sept. 16,
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/09/16/dc-navy-yard-shooting-kills-at2013),
least- 13.
6.
Stephanie Condon, Obama Urges Congress to Act in Wake of Mass Shooting,
CBS NEWS (Sept. 17, 2013), http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-urges-congress-to-actin-wake-of-mass-shooting/.
313
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CONFINEMENT
314
[Vol. 40:313
(about 1%) of America's gun homicides and are hardly representative of
the larger problem.7 Nevertheless, these rare but profound episodes of extreme violence have forced many Americans to reassess their positions on
gun availability and gun restrictions.8 Mass shootings, especially those occurring in public places, have pushed the limits of public anxiety to the
breaking point.9 With the help of saturated media coverage, Americans
have witnessed massacres in schoolyards and shopping malls, trains and
planes, post offices, and fast food establishments, causing many to wonder,
"is nowhere safe"? 10
In the wake of virtually every large-scale mass shooting, significant debate surfaces about the role of firearms in facilitating a bloodbath." For
this reason, in this article we focus specifically on the role of guns in mass
shootings and the impact on both legislation and public opinion.
The overwhelming majority of mass killers use a gun, if not several, to
carry out their murderous assaults. Indeed, it is difficult to perpetrate a methodical slaughter of a large number of victims at one time with other
weapons, such as a knife or a club. 12 Typically, mass killers are enthralled
with guns and own large collections of handguns and rifles, including military-style assault weapons, and have marksmanship skills to match. 13
In July 2012, for example, twenty-six-year-old James Eagan Holmes,
dressed head-to-toe in protective gear, reportedly set off two tear gas grenades and then started spraying a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado with
gunfire from an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and two .40caliber handguns.1 4 In just a matter of minutes, twelve people were killed
and dozens more wounded before Holmes surrendered to the police.' 5
When the authorities searched Holmes' apartment, they discovered evidence of his long-term planning.1 6 He had purchased thousands of rounds
7.
JAMES ALAN Fox & JACK LEVIN, EXTREME KILLING: UNDERSTANDING SERIAL AND
MASS MURDER 288-89 (3d ed. forthcoming Apr. 2014).
8.
Josh Blackman, No, the Number of Mass Shootings Has Not Tripled Since 2008,
JOSH BLACKMAN'S BLOG (Jan. 9, 2014), http://joshblackman.com/blog/2014/01/09/no-the-
number-of-mass-shootings-has-not-tripled-since-2008/.
9. Annie Linskey, Mass Shootings Fuel Fear, Account for Fraction of Murders,
BLOOMBERG POLITICS (Sept. 16, 2013), http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-17/massshootings-fuel-fear-account-for-fraction-of-murders.html.
10.
Id.
11.
See 25 Deadliest Mass Shootings in U.S. History Fast Facts, CNN,
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/20-deadliest-mass-shootings-in-u-s-history-fast-facts/
(last visited Jan. 31, 2014).
12.
Fox & LEVIN, supra note 7, at 281.
13.
Id.
14.
Pearson, supra note 3.
15.
See id.
16.
See James Holmes, Aurora Shooting Suspect, Purchased6,000 Rounds of Ammu-
WEAPONS OF MASS (MURDER) DESTRUCTION
2014]
315
of ammunition over the Internet.17 As details surfaced about this deeply
disturbed man who had recently failed out of graduate school, many observers questioned how and why it should be so easy for someone on the
fringe of sanity to acquire such deadly weapons. 1 8
Firearms, and high-powered ones in particular, are the weapons most often used in rampage-style killing sprees.19 Guns are preferred by mass
murderers not only because they are especially lethal in comparison to other weapons, enabling them to slaughter large numbers of victims in a short
period of time, but, unlike bombs and explosives, they allow for selectivity
in targets.20 As shown in Table 1, among the two-dozen mass murders in
the United States with at least ten victims slain, three-quarters involved a
firearm.
Table 1: U.S. Mass Murder Incidents with 10+ Victims Killed
Nam(s)
Timothy 1.McVeigh
Julio Gonzalez
Andrew Kehoc
Jack Gilbert Graham
David Burke
Scung&Hui Cho
Adam Peter Lanza
Humberto de la Tone
George Jo Hennard
James Oliver Huberty
Charles Whitman
Ronald Gene Simmons
Patrick Sherrill
Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold
George Banks
Howard Unruh
Jiverly Wong
Nidal Malik Nisan
Willie Mak, Benjamin Ng & Tony Ng
Aaron Alexis
James Esgan Holmes
Mark 0. Barton
James Ruppert
Michael Kenneth McLendon
h
d
VA_
J
aMICS
ames
on
ouc
war
Victims
168
87
45
44
43
32
27 (26+1)
25
23
21
16 (14+2)
16 (14+2)
14
13
13
13
13
13
13
12
12
12 (9 4-3)
II
10
10 (8+ 2)
Year
1995
1990
1927
1955
1987
2007
2012
1982
1991
1984
1966
1987
1986
1999
1982
1949
2009
2009
1983
2013
2012
1999
1975
2009
1990
crunary iocanon
Federal building
Night Club
School
Airplane
Airplane
College
School
Hotel
Restaurant
Restaurant
College
Home
Post office
School
Home
City street
Immigration center
Military base
Night Club
Navy base
Movie theater
Office building
Home
Home
Office buildint
Place
Oklahoma City, OK
New York. NY
Bath, MI
Denver, CO
Cayucos, CA
Blacksburg, VA
Newtown, CT
Los Angeles,
CA
Killeen, TX
San Ysidro, CA
Austin, TX
Dover, AR
Edmond. OK
Littleton, CO
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Camden, NJ
Binghamton, NY
Fort Hood, TX
Scattle, WA
Washington, DC
Aurora. CO
Atlanta. GA
Hamilton. OH
Geneva, AL
Incksonvlle
F
j k_ PLi
(July
POST
HUFFINGTON
Online,
nition
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/james-holmes-aurorashooting_n 1691191.html.
17.
Id.
18.
Id.
19.
20.
21,
weaponisl
Bomb
Fire
Bomb
Airplane
Airplane
Gun
Gun
Fire
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun/Knife
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
Gun
2012),
316
[Vol. 40:313
In November 1991, for example, Gang Lu, a twenty-eight-year-old
graduate student at the University of Iowa, methodically shot and killed
five people-those he specifically held responsible for denying him a coveted dissertation prize. 2 1 The determined gunman described in a letter to
the media how his gun helped to right the terrible wrongs that he felt had
been done to him: "Private guns make every person equal, no matter
what/who he/she is." 22 For Gang Lu, the gun was a necessary instrument to
achieve his desired outcome, and it was likely the only weapon that would
do. 23 Gang Lu's plan was not to kill just anyone but exclusively those who
were his intended targets for payback.2 4 A firearm was his only logical
choice.2 5 It also facilitated his final goal, that of suicide.26
Many Americans argue that murders, including mass shootings, often
occur in large part because of easy access to lethal weapons. 27 It is noteworthy, however, that gun homicides have actually decreased in recent
years, despite the fact that public opinion holds otherwise. 28 The rate of
gun homicide in America in 2011, for example, was about half the level of
1991 (from 6.5 per 100,000 population in 1991 down to 3.2 per 100,000 in
2011).29 Yet, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 56% of
Americans think that the rate of gun crime is higher than twenty years ago,
and only 12% believe that the rate is lower. 30 Clearly, public opinion is
heavily driven by extreme cases, especially mass shootings involving large
death tolls.3 1 A few high profile shooting sprees can easily eclipse the statistical facts in the collective consciousness of the nation. 32
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
Id. at 282.
Id. at 283.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
D'Vera Cohen et al., Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public
Unaware,
PEW
RESEARCH
CENTER
2
(May
7,
2013),
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2013/05/firearms_final-05-2013.pdf.
29.
WILLIAM J. KROUSE, GuN CONTROL LEGISLATION
10 (2012), available at
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32842.pdf.
30.
Cohen et al., supranote 28, at 2.
31.
See generally id. (connecting the Newtown shooting, news coverage, and the public's interest in and perception of crime).
32.
See generally id. ("Mass shootings are a matter of great public interest and concern. They also are a relatively small share of shootings overall. According to a Bureau of
Justice Statistics review, homicides that claimed at least three lives accounted for less than
1%of all homicide deaths from 1980 to 2008.").
2014]
WEAPONS OF MASS (MURDER)DESTRUCTION
317
II. MASS SHOOTINGS AND GUN LEGISLATION
Because of their high-profile nature, mass murders are often exploited
for the sake of advancing some political agenda, and this is certainly true
when it comes to the role of firearms as a contributing factor. The debate
over gun control received the most intense attention in the months immediately following the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. 33 Actually, many of the shifts in public opinion and political action have come in the wake of large-scale mass
shootings, as gun control proponents insist that the carnage would not be so
great were it not for the easy availability of high-powered firearms, especially assault weapons. By playing on public sentiment and sympathy associated with horrific crimes, gun control advocates have pushed legislation
at both the state and federal levels. 34
In 1989, for example, Patrick Purdy executed five children and wounded
thirty more in a mass shooting at the Cleveland Elementary School in
Stockton, California. 35 This tragic event resonated throughout the political
community to such a degree that even President George H.W. Bush took
action. 36 The conservative pro-gun Texan, with strong political ties to the
National Rifle Association (NRA), signed a temporary freeze on the importation of foreign-made assault weapons, which did little but advance the interests of domestic manufacturers of firearms by eliminating overseas competition.37
In 1993, California banned particularly deadly models of firearms in response to a massacre, which had claimed the life of eight people at a San
Francisco law firm.38 The shooting involved a disgruntled former client
who entered the law office wielding a pair of 9mm semiautomatic IntraTec9s, a .45-caliber pistol, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. 39 However,
the resulting legislation identified prohibited guns by name and model, not
by type.40 This oversight created a loophole which allowed outlawed guns
to be easily reintroduced to the California market, after merely changing
33.
See generally Gun Debate Draws More Interest than Immigration Policy Debate,
& THE PRESS (Apr. 8, 2013), http://www.peoplepress.org/2013/04/08/gun-debate-draws-more-interest-than-immigration-policy-debate/
(stating that the gun control debate ranked higher than other contemporaneous issues, like
immigration).
Fox & LEVIN, supra note 7, at 153-54.
34.
Id.
35.
36.
Id.
37.
Id.
38.
Id.
39.
Id.
40.
Id.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE
3 18
[Vol. 40:3 13
the design and model number.4 1 In fact, the IntraTec Firearms Company
renamed the IntraTec-9 as the IntraTec DC-9, with no significant modifications in the weapon's design, functioning, or lethality.4 2
The San Francisco law firm slaughter was one of a disturbing flurry of
high-profile shootings witnessed during the early 1990s, which included
Gang Lu's 1991 shooting spree at the University of Iowa and the 1991
massacre of twenty-three customers at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. 43 These and other rampages became the catalysts for Congress' passage
of the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of
1994,44 more commonly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.4 5
The legislation included a sunset provision for expiration after ten years,
unless Congress exercised its power to extend it.4 However in 2004, the
political climate in Washington had shifted right, and a minority of elected
officials were unable to renew the prohibition. 47
III. SCHOOL SHOOTINGS AND POLITICAL WILL/WON'T
Mass shootings, especially those involving schools, have put tremendous
pressure on political leaders to identify and implement legislation designed
to protect children from active shooters, be they some unhappy student
avenging years of bullying or a disgruntled adult seeking payback against
all of society by targeting defenseless innocents. 48 The path of political
buck-passing stops at the front door of the White House. 49
A late 1990s cluster of school shootings, seven of which involved multiple victims, prompted a proactive response from President Bill Clinton.50
In 1999, one week after the Columbine High School massacre, Clinton
pushed for a series of gun control initiatives, which were strongly criticized
41.
Id.
42.
Id.
43.
Id.
44.
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-322,
108 Stat. 1796 (repealed 2004).
45.
Fox & LEVIN, supra note 7, at 153-54.
46.
Id.
47.
Id.
48.
See generally Eric Madfis, Averting the Unlikely: Fearing, Assessing, and Preventing Threats of Rampage Violence in American Public Schools 20, 70-71 (Aug. 1, 2012)
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Northeastern University) (on file with Northeastern University),
available
at
http://iris.lib.neu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article 101 6&context-socdiss.
49.
BRADY
See generally PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FIRST YEAR: FAILED LEADERSHIP, LoST LIVES,
CENTER
TO
PREVENT
GUN
VIOLENCE
2
(2010),
http://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/obama- 1styear-report.pdf.
50.
See id. at 19; see generally Madfis, supra note 48, at 11, 14, 32, 79.
available
at
2014]
319
by gun-rights organizations.5 At the political fringe, a group known as
Cutting Edge Ministries condemned the Clinton administration for its gun
control response. 52 Cutting Edge released a map displaying the major
school shootings that had occurred during Clinton's presidency.5 3 Oddly
enough, the locations of the handful of school rampages fell almost exactly
along two straight lines intersecting at Hope, Arkansas-Bill Clinton's
birthplace. 54 Based on this curious coincidence, Cutting Edge alleged that
President Clinton was part of "an unholy conspiracy to disarm America." 5 5
Soon after the wave of school shootings of the late 1990s subsided,
America voted in one of its most gun friendly presidents.56 The election of
George W. Bush quelled the fears and anxiety of the "I'll give you my gun
when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" crowd.5 7 Under the Bush administration, the NRA and other pro-gun interest groups strengthened their
stranglehold over America's political agenda.5 8 Additionally, the Supreme
Court upheld the validity of the Second Amendment in multiple challenges
to gun bans, facilitated by the shift in political balance brought about by
President Bush's appointment of two conservative-leaning justices. 5 9 The
U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the validity of the Second Amendment in
successful challenges of long-standing gun bans in Washington, D.C. and
Chicago. 60
President Bush had a rather different position on gun control than did his
predecessor, particularly with respect to promoting school safety.61 In the
fall of 2006, President Bush's alliance with the gun lobby was severely
tested when a string of four school shootings occurred over a period of just
51.
See generally PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FIRST YEAR, supra note 49, at 16, 19.
52.
See generally School Shootings Have a Pattern that Implicate the President and
his Government-Gun Control is the Objective! Black Magick Witchcraft is the Power!, THE
CUTTING EDGE, http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/nl344.cfm (last visited Jan. 30, 2014).
53.
See id.
54.
See id.
55.
Id.
56.
57.
Id.
58.
Id.
Id.
59.
60.
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 592 (2008) (establishing an individual right to arms); McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020, 3045 (2010) (holding the
right to arms is binding on states pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment); see generally
Elizabeth J. McEvoy, Note, Are Our Schools Doomed? The Effects of the New Second
Amendment Jurisprudenceon Gun-FreeSchool States, 3 NE. UNIv. L. J. 329, 330 (2011).
61.
Compare, e.g., Mike Allen, Bush Takes On School Shootings, TIME (Oct. 9,
2006), http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1544388,00.html, with, e.g., Alex
Altman, Obama Takes a FirstStep on Gun ControlAfter Sandy Hook, TIME, Dec. 19, 2012,
http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/19/obama-takes-a-first-step-on-gun-control-aftersandy-hook/.
320
[Vol. 40:313
two weeks, including a siege upon an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines,
Pennsylvania during which ten young girls were shot, five of them fatally. 62 Bush hastily convened an invitation-only White House summit on
school violence, excluding from the event anyone considered to be a gun
control advocate. 63 President Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and other
members of the hand-picked line-up of speakers made no mention of the
common thread among the school-based rampages that had prompted the
conference. 64 No matter what the speakers believed about the role of firearms, the topic of gun control was the elephant in the room, conspicuously
absent from the discussion.65
The November 2008 election of President Barack Obama was expected
to bring a new approach on guns. 66 The Democratic nominee had promoted
various gun control measures during his campaign run, which gave the
NRA and other gun-rights proponents much reason for concern. 67 However, based on Obama's first term in the White House, the pro-gun rhetoric
was hardly consistent with political reality. 68 If anything, Obama was, from
the point of view of gun control groups, disappointingly friendly to the gun
lobby, so much so that the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence gave
him a failing grade on its 2010 report card. 6 9
Even though Obama's first term showed no evidence of a presidential
push for gun control, critics from the NRA interpreted this as just a clever
ploy. 70 At a 2012 speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee
(CPAC), Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA, outlined
Obama's scheme to ambush the Second Amendment.71 "All that first-term
62.
Raymond McCaffrey et al., Five Killed at Pa. Amish School, THE WASHINGTON
POST
(Oct.
3,
2006),
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/10/03/AR2006100300229.html.
63.
See Allen, supra note 61.
64.
See id.
65.
See generally JAMES ALAN Fox & H. BURSTEIN, VIOLENCE AND SECURITY ON
CAMPUS: FROM PRESCHOOL THROUGH COLLEGE (2010).
66.
See D'Angelo Gore, Obama 's Gun Ban?, FACTCHECK.ORG (Dec. 8, 2008),
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/12/obamas-gun-ban/.
67.
See Michael O'Brien, Gun Control Group Gives Obama an 'F',THE HILL (Jan.
19,
2010), http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/76717-gun-control-group-givesobama-an-f.
68.
See Frank James, Obama Finding Gun Control Voice, Which Had Gone Quiet In
White
House,
NPR.ORG
(Dec.
18,
2012),
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/12/18/167562866/obama-finding-gun-controlvoice-which-had-gone-quiet-in-white-house.
69.
O'Brien, supra note 67.
70.
See Sean Lengell, NRA Official: Obama Wants to Outlaw Guns in 2nd Term, THE
WASH.
TIMES (Feb.
10,
2012),
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/insidepolitics/2012/feb/10/nra-official-obama-wants-outlaw-guns-2nd-term/.
71.
Id.
2014]
321
lip service to gun owners," argued LaPierre before a decidedly receptive
audience "is just part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and
hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment during his second term"[!] 72
The NRA official was explicit in his grim view of a possible second
Obama term: "We see the president's strategy crystal clear: Get re-elected
and, with no more elections to worry about, get busy dismantling and destroying our firearms' freedom, erase the Second Amendment from the Bill
of Rights and excise it from the U.S. Constitution." 73 LaPierre concluded
with a note of urgency: "All of what we know is good and right about
America, all of it could be lost if Barack Obama is re-elected. It's all or
nothing." 74
In a hotly-contested race against Republican challenger Mitt Romney,
who vowed to protect the rights of gun owners, Obama appeared unwilling
to pursue a gun control platform. 75 During an October 16th, 2012 nationally televised campaign debate at Hofstra University that took place just a
few months following the stunning mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, the candidates were asked by a member of the audience about the possibility of restoring the expired federal assault weapons ban. 7 6 Obama, as
well as Romney, danced around the question, presumably for fear of alienating a major block of voters who hold gun rights as a paramount issue.7 7
Shortly after his re-election, Obama did change his posture, but not so
much because of any second-term immunity from political fall-out that had
been predicted by LaPierre and the NRA. 78 Rather, just a few weeks after
celebrating his November victory, Obama's hand was forced when a heavily armed man stormed into a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school and
massacred twenty children and six staff members over the course of a few
horror-filled minutes. 79
72.
73.
74.
Id.
Id.
Id.
75.
See Rachel Weiner, Where Obama and Romney Stand on Gun Control, THE
WASHINGTON
POST (July 20, 2012), http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/thefix/post/where-obama-and-romney-stand-on-guncontrol/2012/07/20/gJQAwMpNyWblog.html.
76.
See President Barack Obama And Former Gov. Mitt Romney ParticipateIn A
CandidatesDebate, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York (CNN television broadcast
Oct. 16, 2012).
77.
See id.
78.
See Wayne LaPierre, NRA Exec. Vice President, Speech at the 2012 Conservative
Political
Action
Conference
(Feb.
10,
2012),
available
at
http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/12730/saving-the-future-of-freedom/.
79.
James Barron, Children Were All Shot Multiple Times With a Semiautomatic, Officials
Say,
N.Y.
TIMES,
Dec.
15,
2012,
322
[Vol. 40:313
In the aftermath of the Newtown school shooting-a drama that unfolded as millions watched on their television screens and computer monitorsmedia pundits and political leaders alike decried the expiration of the 1994
federal ban on certain military-style assault weapons. 80 Several members of
Congress, with support from the Obama administration, pushed to restore
the ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines holding more
than ten rounds of ammunition.81 With solid opposition from the NRA,
which instead advocated for armed guards at all school entryways, 82 the
hurriedly-crafted gun control measures failed to achieve a majority on Capitol Hill."
Obama, however, did exercise his Presidential prerogative in issuing
twenty-three executive orders directing federal agencies to increase their
understanding of the causes of firearm violence and possible interventions. 84 Obama stated that these orders are "to protect our children and our
communities from tragic mass shootings like those in Newtown, Aurora,
Oak Creek, and Tucson."85
The Newtown shooting also prompted legislative initiatives in a number
of states, with mixed success.8 Most notably, Connecticut and Colorado,
which had suffered the two most devastating mass shootings of 2012, enacted new legislation limiting the sale and possession of assault weapons as
well as high-capacity magazines.87 Despite successful efforts in several
other states to fortify their gun laws, more states actually did the reverse by
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/gunman-kills-20-children-at-school-inconnecticut-28-dead-in-all.html?pagewanted=all&r-0.
80.
Olivier Knox, Obama Unveils Sweeping Plan to Battle Gun Violence, YAHOO!
NEws (Jan. 16, 2013, 11:59 AM), http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-unveilssweeping-plan-battle-gun-violence-165956859-politics.html.
81.
Obama Announces 23 Executive Actions, Asks Congress to Pass Gun Laws, CNN
(Jan. 16, 2013, 2:32 PM), http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/16/obama-to-announce-guncontrol-proposals-shortly/.
82.
See ASA HUTCHINSON, REPORT OF THE NATIONAL SCHOOL SHIELD TASK FORCE 1,
5, 6, 12, 15 (2013), availableat http://www.nraschoolshield.com/NSS Final FULL.pdf.
83.
Arlette Saenz, Senate Remains at a Standstill Over Gun Legislation,
PM),
17,
2013,
4:45
ABCNEWS.COM
(Sept.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/09/senate-remains-at-a-standstill-over-gunlegislation/.
84.
Knox, supra note 80.
85.
Now is the Time To Do Something About Gun Violence, WHITEHOUSE.GOV,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence (last visited Jan. 26, 2014).
86.
See 2013 State Scorecard: Why Gun Laws Matter, LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN
VIOLENCE (Dec. 9, 2013), http://smartgunlaws.org/2013-state-scorecard-why-gun-lawsmatter/.
87.
CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. § 53-202p-202q (West 2013); COLO. REv. STAT. ANN. §§
18-12-301, 18-12-303 (West 2013).
2014]
WEAPONS OFMASS (MURDER) DESTRUCTION
323
weakening their statutes or expanding gun owner rights.88 Even in states
that managed to pass stricter measures on gun possession or sales, several
legislators suffered significant political fallout, including recall votes, for
having supported gun control.89
Efforts at the state and federal levels to pass gun control measures reflected a shift in public opinion brought about by the 2012 spike in mass
shootings. 90 A Gallup poll completed just a few days after the Newtown
school massacre found that a majority of Americans, 58%, favored makin
laws pertaining to the sale of firearms more strict, up from 43% in 2011. 9
It is especially striking, as shown in Figure 1, that the December 2012 jump
followed a more or less steady two-decade long decline in public preference for gun restrictions. 92 Time will tell whether increased support for
tighter gun control is a temporary response to high profile tragedies or a
genuine change in public sentiment. 93
Figure 1: Gallup Poll Results Concerning American's Preference for
Changes in Gun Laws
100%
20%
1.90 12-91 11-9310.95 9.91 899 701 6-03 545 4-07 2-09 t11 12-12
Date
*Moe
strict ---
Kept asis -o-Leass strict
88.
See 2013 State Scorecard,supra note 86.
89.
See Jack Healy, Facing a Recall After Supporting Stronger Gun Control Laws in
Colorado, N.Y. TIMES (July 28, 2013), http:// www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/us/facing-arecall-after-supporting-stronger-gun-laws-in-colorado.html.
90.
See generally Mark Follman et al., A Guide to Mass Shootings in America,
MOTHER JONES (Feb. 27, 2013), http://www.mothejones.com/politics/2012/07/massshootings-map.
91.
Lydia Saad, Americans Want Stricter Gun Laws, Still Oppose Ban, GALLUP NEWS
SERVICE (Dec. 27, 2012), http://www.gallup.com/poll/159569/americans-stricter-gun-lawsoppose-bans.aspx.
92.
Id.
93.
See Steve People, Year After Newtown, Gun Control Group Keeps Hope, AP-GFK
(Dec. 11, 2013), http://ap-gfkpoll.com/featuredlyear-after-newtown-gun-control-groupskeep-hope. The poll indicated a 6% drop in the percentage of Americans who prefer stricter
gun control, but this may just be a correction effect after post-Newtown spike in gun control
support. Id.
324
[Vol. 40:313
IV. THE ASSAULT WEAPON DEBATE
Much of the recent public and political debate about guns focuses
squarely on the federal assault weapon ban that expired in 2004.94 Former
President Clinton, speaking out in the wake of the Newtown massacre, specifically linked the expiration to what he saw was a surge in mass shootings. 95
There is some evidence that a ban on certain high-powered military-style
firearms may have an impact on levels of gun crime generally, or at least
cause displacement to less deadly alternatives. 96 But in terms of mass
shootings, the 1994 ban does not appear to have produced much in the way
of the desired effect.9 7
A comparison of the incidence of mass shootings during the ten-year
window when the federal assault weapon ban was in force against the time
periods before implementation and after expiration shows that the legislation had virtually no impact, at least in terms of murder in an extreme
form. 98 As shown in Table 2 and Figure 2, the average incidence and victimization levels during the federal prohibition were not especially different
than in the years before or after the law was in force. 99
94.
See Ashley Killough, Gun Debate Gains Traction as Some Lawmakers Say It's
Time
To
Act,
CNN
(Dec.
16,
2012,
5:32
PM),
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/16/gun-debate-gains-traction-as-somelawmakers-say-its-time-to-act/.
95.
See Kristen A. Lee, FormerPresident Bill Clinton Pushes For Stricter Gun Control During Consumer Electronics Show Speech, N.Y. DAILY NEws, Jan. 10, 2013,
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bill-clinton-pushes-stricter-gun-control-cesspeech-article- 1.1 237283#ixzz2HajS6DH2.
CHRISTOPHER S. KOPER ET AL., AN UPDATED ASSESSMENT OF THE FEDERAL
96.
ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: IMPACTS ON GUN MARKETS AND GUN VIOLENCE, 1994-2003, 96-97
(2004),
available
at
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve/?Fileid=b53 Idaeb-a954-41 f8a21c-268cceccb4c4.
97.
Id. at 51-52.
98.
JEFFREY A. ROTH & CHRISTOPHER S. KOPER, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE,
RESEARCH IN BRIEF: IMPACTS OF THE 1994 ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: 1994-96, 2 (1999),
available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffilesl/1 73405.pdf.
Monthly counts of mass shooting incidents and victims were created using the
99.
FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports as well as Florida Department of Law Enforcement
(FDLE) records for years that were missing from the FBI database. See Supplementary
Homicide Report (OMB Form No. 1110-0002), FBI.GOv, http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/cjis/ucr/nibrs/addendum-for-submitting-cargo-theft-data/shr (last visited Jan. 31, 2014).
2014]
325
Table 2: Average Monthly Count of
Mass Shooting Incidents and Victims
Time Period
Prior to AWB
During AWB
After AWB
Incidents
1.4777
1.5537
1.7701
Victims
Killed
6.7813
7.0579
8.5287
Figure 2: Effect of the Federal Assault Weapon Ban on Mass
Shootings
4035
-
30
-
25
0
15
10
1976
1981
1986
1991
-Incidents
1996
2001
2006
2011
-Vidims
For a more precise test of the impact, we regressed the monthly counts
of mass shooting cases and victim toll on dummy indicator variables reflecting the time periods before, during, and after the federal assault weapons ban as well as a time trend variable.10 0 As shown in Table 3, the effect
of the ban on the number of mass shootings was fairly negligible.' 0 ' On the
other hand, the ban's impact on the victim toll appears stronger, partially as
a consequence of several especially large-scale episodes before the ban
(e.g., twenty-one killed during a 1984 shooting at a McDonald's Restaurant
in San Ysidro, California, and twenty-three killed at a Luby's Cafeteria in
Killeen, Texas, in 1991) as well as after its expiration (e.g., thirty-two
killed at Virginia Tech in 2007, and three separate shootings in 2009 each
carrying a double-digit death toll).102
100.
101.
102.
See supra Table 2.
See infra Table 3.
Whatever small increase that has occurred in incidence or victimization since the
326
[Vol. 40:313
Table 3: Poisson Regression of Mass Shooting Incidents and Victim
Toll
Constant
Time
During AWB
After AWB
b
.315
.001
-.064
-.003
Number of Incidents
SE(b)
Wald p-value
.104
9.168
.002
.001
.758
.384
.159
.162
.688
.231
.000
.991
b
1.824
0.001
-0.096
0.011
Number of Victims
SE(b)
Wald p-value
0.049 1405.0
0.000
0.000
4.942
0.026
0.074
1.669
0.196
0.107
0.011
0.918
Notwithstanding the loud rallying cry about assault weapons heard in the
chambers of Congress and on the public airwaves, and despite Obama's
call to restrict semi-automatic rifles as part of his plan to reduce gun violence, 103 the overwhelming majority of mass murderers actually use firearms that would not be restricted by an assault weapons ban. 104 According
to a database of public-setting rampages compiled by the Mother Jones
news organization, assault weapons are not as commonplace in mass shootings as some gun control advocates believe. 05 Specifically, only onequarter of the public mass shootings between 1982 and 2012 were committed using assault weapons. 06 By contrast, nearly half involved semiautomatic handguns and the remaining quarter involved either shotguns or
revolvers. 0 7 Moreover, the mass murderers who did kill with an assault
weapon could have identified, if necessary, an alternate means of mass casualty, although that would possibly have impacted the death toll. 08
In an analysis of mass shootings from January 2009 through January
2013, Mayors Against Illegal Guns confirmed the limited role of militarystyle assault weapons in mass shootings.109 Only twelve of the fifty-six inmid-1970s may to some extent reflect the modest increase in the U.S. population over this
time span.
103.
Now Is THE TIME, THE WHITE HOUSE 5 (2013), available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/does/whnowisthetime-full.pdf.
104.
See generally GRANT DUWE, MASS MURDER IN THE UNITED STATES: A HISTORY
(2007).
105.
See Mark Follman et al., More Than Half of Mass Shooters Used Assault WeapJONES
(Feb.
27,
2013),
ons and High-Capacity Magazines, MOTHER
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/assault-weapons-high-capacity-magazinesmass-shootings-feinstein.
106.
Id.
107.
Id.
108.
Jason Pye, Study: Assault Weapons Not Used in Most Mass Shootings, Background Checks Largely Ineffective, UNITED LIBERTY (Jan. 15, 2014, 1:20 PM),
http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/16213-study-assault-weapons-not-used-in-most-massshootings-background-checks-largely-ineff.
109.
See MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GuNs, MASS SHOOTINGS SINCE JANUARY 20, 2009,
at
(2013),
available
at
1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2013/02/mass-shootings_2009-13_-
2014]
327
cidents examined by this gun-control advocacy group involved assault
weapons or high-capacity magazines.1 10 Of course, limiting the size of
ammunition clips would at least compel a gunman to pause to reload or
switch weapons, potentially giving others a brief window of opportunity to
escape or even intervene.
Obama's gun violence reduction plan includes a prohibition on magazines holding more than ten rounds. 12 However, such an initiative would
likely limit access to only newly-produced accessories.113 Unfortunately,
there is an ample supply of large-capacity mapazines already in circulation
for anyone determined enough to locate one.1 4 Regardless of how compelling the arguments for and against various restrictions, much more research
is needed 1 5 to evaluate fully the effects of bans covering specific weapons
or ammunition. 116
V. EXPANDED BACKGROUND CHECKS
Unlike the fiercely debated issue of banning certain high-powered
weapons, most Americans, including a majority of gun owners, appear to
support enhanced backgound checks on all gun purchases, including transactions at gun shows. "'Many public officials and private citizens alike insist that we must find a way to keep guns away from our most dangerous
element.1 18 In his gun plan, Obama advocates background checks of all gun
purchasers, noting that currently 40% of all gun sales are exempt from
jan_29 12pml.pdf.
Id.
110.
111.
See Colleen L. Barry et al., After Newtown - Public Opinion on Gun Policy and
Mental Illness, 368 NEW ENG. J. MED. 1077, 1077 (2013); Joel Best, How Should We Classify the Sandy Hook Killings?, REASON.COM (June 16, 2013, 1:00 PM),
http://reason.com/archives/2013/06/16/the-politics-of-gun-violence.
112.
NOW ISTHE TIME, supra note 103.
113.
Robert A. Hahn et al., FirearmsLaws and the Reduction of Violence: A Systematic Review, 28 AM. J. PREVENTIVE MED. 40, 48 (2005).
114.
See id. at 49.
115.
Id.
116.
Id.; see INSTITUTE OF MED., PRIORITIES FOR RESEARCH TO REDUCE THE THREAT OF
FIREARM-RELATED VIOLENCE 3 (Alan I. Leshner et al. eds., 2013), available at
http://www.iom.edu/-/media/Files/Report%20Files/2013/FirearmViolence/FirearmViolenceRB.pdf (discussing strategies to minimize firearm-related violence and associated burdens).
117.
Barry et al., supra note 111, at 1077; see Stephanie Condon, Strong supportfor
more gun background checks, poll shows, CBS NEWS (Jan. 31, 2013, 12:24 PM),
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/strong-support-for-more-gun-background-checks-pollshows/; Tom Cohn, Gun focus shifts from ban to checks and trafficking, CNN (Feb. 9, 2013,
11:02 AM), http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/politics/weapons-ban/.
118.
Barry et al., supra note 111; see generallyBest, supra note 111.
328
[Vol. 40:313
background checks.1 9 However, many proponents of enhanced screening
may be blinded by passion and anger from confronting the practical limitations to achieving that desirable objective.120 Further, this strategy would
not in any way address the underlyin social and economic factors that underlie extreme acts of lethal violence. M
The move to enhance background checks reflects a shift in focus from
guns as instruments of lethal violence over to the gunmen who use them.122
As it happens, most mass murderers do not have criminal records or a history of psychiatric hospitalization.1 23 They would not be disqualified from
purchasing their weapons legally. 124 Aurora theater shooter James Holmes,
for example, may have alarmed those who knew him or even the psychiatrist who had been treating him, but nothing prevented him from purchasing a large arsenal of guns and ammunition over the Internet.125
A recent examination of fifty-six mass shootings over the four-year time
frame from 2009-2012, conducted by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found
no indication that any of the assailants were prohibited by existing federal
law from possessing firearms because they had been adjudicated mentally
ill, or involuntarily committed for treatment. 126 And in just four of the fiftysix cases was there any evidence that concerns about the mental health of
the assailant had been brought to the attention of a medical practitioner or
legal authority prior to the shooting spree.127 Leshner also suggests that the
119.
Now is THE TIME, supra note 103.
120.
Dana Bash & Tom Cohen, 'Enough is enough, ' Feinstein says in proposing new
gun ban, CNN (Jan. 26, 2013, 3:18 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/politics/congressgun-control/; Thomas Whalen, POV: 50 Years after Dallas, It's Time for Gun Control,
BOSTON UNIVERSITY (Nov. 22, 2013), http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/pov-50-years-afterthe-kennedy-assassination-its-time-for-gun-control/.
121.
Don B. Kates & Gary Mauser, Would Banning FirearmsReduce Murder and Suicide?, 30 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y. 649, 665 (2007).
122.
See, e.g., Park Elliott Dietz, Mass, Serial and Sensational Homicides, 62 BULL.
N.Y. ACAD. MED. 477, 478 (1986) (exemplifying the focus on the killers and not the weapons).
123.
See, e.g., id.
(explaining the background of mass murderers).
124.
Jane M. Orient, "Gun Violence" as a Public Health Issue: A Physician's Response, 18 J. AM. PHYS. & SURG. 77, 81 (2013).
125.
Nicholas Riccardi, James Holmes, Aurora Shooting Suspect, Used Internet For
Arsenal,
HUFFINGTON
POST
(July
23,
2012,
7:27
PM),
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/james-holmes-weaponsinternet n_1694451.html.
126.
See MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS, FELON SEEKS FIREARM, No STRINGS
ATTACHED: How DANGEROUS PEOPLE EVADE BACKGROUND CHECKS AND BUY ILLEGAL
GuNS
ONLINE
9
(2013),
available
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/images/FELONSEEKSFIRE
ARMREPORT.pdf.
127.
See generally id. at 10.
at
2014]
329
effectiveness of controlling access to guns through background checks is
far from clear. 128
Aside from the ability (or inability) of the background check system to
prevent dangerous individuals from obtaining a gun, enhanced screening
raises concerns over denying qualified Americans the right to purchase a
gun.129 For the most part, citizens cannot be denied their Second Amendment rights just because they look strange or act in an odd manner. 130 In
fact, as discussed by Leshner, violence risk prediction with respect to mental health is imprecise and poorly understood: "mental health issues that
foster a propensity toward violence and risk taking are not well defined and
not readily recognized by authorities" in a way that would trigger a prohibition of a sale of a firearm.13 1 Despite the hindsight-assisted secondguessing that is commonplace in the aftermath of mass shootings, a consistent and workable profile of mass shooters does not exist, at least one
that is sufficiently limiting to permit such early identification.' 32 The dilemma is that any possible indicator of propensity toward extreme violence
is far more prevalent in the general population than in the small cadre of
mass murderers.13 3 Moreover, even if reasonably reliable prediction and
early identification were possible, no particular interventions are known to
be effective.1 34
With this emphasis on background checks, there has been a recent shift
in the focus of public opinion from gun availability itself over to the availability and quality of mental health treatment. 135 After high-profile mass
shootings, there is often a call to address the needs of the mentally ill. 13 6
The popular belief is that guns don't kill, psychotic people do. Many Americans assume that expanded mental health services can prevent mass shoot-
128.
129.
INSTITUTE OF MED., supra note 116.
Jane M. Orient, "Gun Violence" as a Public Health Issue: a Physician's Re-
sponse, 18 J. AM. PHYSCIANS & SURGEONS 77, 82 (2013).
James Alan Fox, Q&A: What the Right and Left Get Wrong About Mass Shoot130.
ings, DALLAS NEWS (Sept. 20, 2013), http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sundaycommentary/20130920-qa-what-the-right-and-left-get-wrong-about-mass-shootings.ece.
131.
JEROME P. BJELOPERA ET AL., CONG. RESEARCH SERV., R43004, PUBLIC MASS
132.
SHOOTINGS IN THE UNITED STATES: SELECTED IMPLICATIONS FOR FEDERAL PUBLIC HEALTH
AND
SAFETY
POLICY
10
(Mar.
18,
2013),
available
at
www.fas.org/syp/crs/misc/R43004.pdf.
133.
Id. at 16.
Id. at 21.
134.
Ashley Killough, Refraining the Gun Control Debate: Is Mental Health the Next
135.
Focus?, CNN (Sept. 20, 2013, 7:39 AM), http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/19/politics/gunsmental-health/.
136.
See id.
330
[Vol. 40:313
ings. 137 In fact, as part of his plan to lower gun violence, Obama included
an initiative to improve mental health services and launch a national "conversation" to increase understanding about mental health services. 138
Moreover, shortly after the Sandy Hook school shooting, Obama stated that
we need to "help people struggling with mental health problems get the
treatment they need before it's too late."1 39 It would seem that the concern
for those afflicted with mental illness is less about their well-being than the
well-being of those they might kill.140
According to a September 2013 Gallup poll taken shortly after the
Washington D.C. Navy Yard shooting, Americans believe mental illness is
to blame for
violence, more so than any other factor, including gun
availability.14 Similarly, in January 2011, after the shooting in Tucson, Arizona that injured Representative Giffords, the same percentage of Americans believed that the mental health system is to blame for gun violence.142
By contrast, the percentage of Americans who think that easy access to
guns is to blame dropped significantly, from 46% in 2011 down to 40% in
2013.143
Enhanced background checks also have their limitations in preventing
gun access. If thwarted by gun sales regulations, would-be mass killers can
readily identify alternative means of securing the needed weaponry.1 44
Numerous mass shooters have used firearms that have been purchased, borrowed or stolen from a family member or friend.145 For example, twenty-
137.
Id.
138.
Now IS THE TIME, supra note 103, at 15.
139.
President Obama Speaks on Reducing Gun Violence (Apr. 8, 2013), available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2013/04/08/president-obama-speaksreducing-gun-violence#transcript (emphasis added).
140.
James Alan Fox, Mentally Ill Doesn't Mean Murderer, USA TODAY (Sept. 24,
2013), http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/24/mental-health-navy-yard-auroranewtown-column/2865509/.
141.
Lydia Saad, Americans Fault Mental Health System Most for Gun Violence,
GALLUP (Sept. 20, 2013), http://www.gallup.com/pol1I64507/americans-fault-mentalhealth-system-gun-violence.aspx.
142.
Id.
143.
Id.; see also Fox & LEVIN, supra note 7. Whatever the value is for society generally in improving the mental health system, the extent to which this would reach the dangerous few is far from clear. To a great extent, what a mass murderer seeks is fair treatment,
not psychiatric treatment. Id.
144.
James Alan Fox & Monica J. DeLateur, Mass Shootings in America: Moving Beyond Newtown,
18 HoMICIDE STUD.
125,
135-36
(2013), available at
http://dropbox.curry.com/ShowNotesArchive/2013/12/NA-576-2013-1222/Assets/War/20on%20Crazy/Homicide%20Studies-2013.pdf.
145.
Mark Follman et al., A Guide to Mass Shootings in America, MOTHER JONES (Feb.
27, 2013, 7:45 AM), http://www.mothejones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootingsmap?page=2.
2014]
331
year-old Adam Lanza, the Newtown school shooter, though suffering from
serious mental health problems, secured his weapons from his mother's
collection of handguns and rifles, all of which were purchased legally.146
The Columbine High assailants, although too young to purchase guns legally, were able to convince an older friend to acquire weapons on their behalf147 Furthermore, individuals can obtain firearms without background
checks and through unlicensed sellers at guns shows, private sales, or straw
purchases.1 48
VI. CONCEALED CARRY
Mass shootings have been exploited fairly effectively by gun-rights
groups to promote legislation allowing ordinary citizens to carry concealed
weapons in public places-so-called "right to carry" (RTC) laws.149 Gun
control opponents argue that not only is there an important deterrent effect
of having a well-armed citizenry, but if more people had weapons within
reach, they could take defensive action against an active shooter and victim
counts would be much lower.150
In the wake of high-profile public mass shootings, run sales and applications for concealed weapons licenses often increase.
Apparently, few of
these alarmed (and now armed) citizens fully consider how people react
under such unanticipated and suddenly chaotic situations.' 5 2 The notion
that they will whip out their loaded weapon, gun down the assailant, and
save scores of innocent lives in the process may be more fantasy than a realistic expectation.153 At the same time, a post-massacre spike in gun sales
potentially creates greater peril to the extent that newly armed citizens act
irresponsibly. 154
146.
See Aswain Suebsaeng et al., What Happened in the Newtown School Shooting,
JONES
(Dec.
14,
2012,
12:52
PM),
http://www.mothejones.com/politics/2012/12/what-happened-newtown-connecticutelementary-school-shooting.
147.
Where'd They Get Their Guns?: An Analysis of the FirearmsUsed in High-Profile
MOTHER
Shootings,
1963-2001,
VIOLENCE
POLICY
CENTER
(Apr.
20,
1999),
http://www.vpc.org/studies/wgun990420.htm.
148.
149.
See Mark Follman, The NRA Myth of Arming the Good Guys, MOTHER JONES
(Dec. 28, 2012, 1:11 PM), http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/nra-massshootings-myth.
150.
See id.
151.
See David Ingram, Gun checks soar 39 percent, set new record: FBI, REUTERS
(Jan.
3,
2013),
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-usa-guns-recordidUSBRE9010HO20130102.
152.
See generally id.
153.
Follman, supra note 145.
154.
Mary Thompson, Why Gun Sales Often Rise After Mass Shootings, CNBC (Dec.
332
[Vol. 40:313
Rather than being deterred by the prospect of armed resistance, a determined gunman might even secure additional weapons from those victims
who are carrying their own firearms.1 55 For example, thirty-four year-old
Aaron Alexis, who killed twelve people at the Washington D.C. Navy Yard
in September 2013, had attempted to obtain a semi-automatic rifle in a Lorton, Virginia gun shop, but could not meet the legal requirement that purchasers be residents of the state. 156 As a result, Alexis entered the Navy
Yard armed only with an 870 Remington pump-action shotgun that he carried unobtrusively in sections and then assembled in a men's room.15 7
Moving through the building, he apparently obtained a couple of semiautomatic 9mm pistols and ammunition from two of his fallen victims. 158
Many of the employees at the Navy Yard were carrying authorized firearms, but their presence in large numbers did not discourage the amassing
of a large body count. 159
The same restaurant shooting that had prompted calls for the assault
weapons ban, inspired one Texas woman who survived the massacre to
launch her own campaign to liberalize laws concerning carrying loaded
weapons in public places.160 On October 16, 1991, Suzanna Gratia Hupp
helplessly watched her mother and father die as George Hennard, Jr. methodically blasted away at a crowd of stunned and defenseless customers in
Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas.161 In the midst of the carnage, she had a
clear shot at the assailant and reached for her purse to get her gun. 162 However, Hupp soon realized that she didn't have it with her because Texas
state law, at the time, prohibited citizens to carry guns concealed inside
pocketbooks or clothing in certain public locations, including restaurants. 163
Believing to this day that she or some other customer might have been
able to overtake the gunman had licensed gun owners been allowed to have
17, 2012), http://www.cnbc.com/id/100321785.
See generally 12 Victims Killed, 8 Wounded in Shooting at D.C Navy Yard, Sus155.
pected
Gunman
Killed,
NBC4
(Sept.
17,
2013),
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Confirmed-Shooter-at-Navy-Yard-One-PersonShot-223897891.html.
156.
Id.
157.
Id.
158.
Id.
159.
Id.
See generally SUZANNA GRATIA HupP, FROM LUBY'S TO THE LEGISLATURE: ONE
160.
WOMAN'S FIGHT AGAINST GUN CONTROL (2009).
161.
Id.
162.
Suzanna Gratia-Hupp On Gun Control, BEFORE IT'S NEWS (Dec. 18, 2012),
http://beforeitsnews.com/libertarian/2012/12/suzanna-gratia-hupp-on-gun-control2473962.html.
163.
See id.
2014]1
333
guns in public places, Hupp became an outspoken and forceful advocate for
concealed weapons laws.I6 She suggests that gun-free zones, such as
schools and day care centers, are especially attractive to mass murderers
because there they can kill people "like fish in a barrel." 65
Commenting on several multiple shootings, including the Virginia Tech
rampage, Hupp has argued for expanded right-to-carry laws based on assumptions about the perpetrator's mind-set:
Think how just the knowledge that someone-or more than one-may
be legally armed and could shoot back would prevent these nut jobs
from taking the final step. In the case of these guys who are going for a
high body count, yes, it is likely they could kill a few people. But they
sure as heck would not get thirty-two before they were taken out of action.166
Hupp is hardly the only gun-rights advocate to suggest a connection between mass murder and citizen disarmament. 167 Students for Concealed
Carry on Campus (SCCC), a national grassroots organization formed following the April 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, insists that the extent of
carnage from that incident would have been considerably less had students
(and staff), other than the gunman, been armed and ready to retaliate.16 8
Even more than the opportunity to repel an armed assault with like weaponry, many advocates point to the deterrent value of having students, faculty, and citizens in general equipped with concealed weapons.1 69
Notwithstanding the "told you so" attitude among some gun advocates
following the Virginia Tech tragedy, law enforcement and security officials
were not comfortable with the notion of a heavily armed campus.' 7 0 Shortly after the Virginia Tech massacre, Dana Schrad, Executive Director of the
Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, told the ChristianScience Monitor, "I have my own concerns that, had there been a number of people who
164.
Id.
Suzanna Gratia Hupp Lobbies for WI CCW, N.J. COAL. FOR SELF DEF. (Nov. 3,
AM),
9:31
2005,
http://www.njcsd.org/site/index.php?option=comcontent&view-article&id= 135:- 10-yearrecord-would-vouch-for-expanded-gun-law-nc&catid4 1:newsitems&Itemid= 1.
HUpP,supra note 160, at 111.
166.
Id.
167.
168.
Id.
See Gregory Warchol, Concealed Carry University: Student Attitudes about Fire169.
165.
arms
on
Campus,
ACADEMIA.EDU,
http://www.academia.edu/4115082/Concealed Carry University
Student AttitudesaboutFirearms_on Campus (last visited Mar. 20, 2014).
Jared Flesher & Alexandra Marks, Should students be allowed to carry concealed
170.
weapons?,
THE
CHRISTIAN
ScI.
MONITOR
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0418/p02s02-ussc.html.
(Apr.
18,
2007),
334
[Vol. 40:3 13
had been in that classroom with guns, [there could have been] additional
persons killed just as a result of poor judgment calls."i71
In August 2011, with memories of the 2007 shooting spree still fresh in
people's minds, the Virginia Tech police received a phone tip from three
teenagers attending a summer program with information about a possible
gunman on campus.' 7 2 The campus police acted quickly in line with the
guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education that were crafted specifically based on the school's horrific shooting four years earlier.173 A campus-wide alert was sent warning of the potentially dangerous situation. 174
As it turned out, the three young witnesses who reported a man carrying
what seemed to be a handgun covered by some type of cloth were badly
mistaken.175 After several hours of follow-up investi ation with no indication of danger, the campus police lifted the warning. Of course, by then
classes had been cancelled and everyone had gone home. 177
This episode highlights potential problems with the campus concealed
carry movement. 178 If concealed weapons were permitted, how many times
would a nervous observer report seeing a "man with a gun" (or worse, if
this observer is also armed)? How should campus authorities respond to a
report of what appeared to be a handgun covered with a cloth? How many
times would campuses be closed down and classes interrupted by false
alarms?
In genuine active shooter situations, moreover, one must wonder how it
would be possible for anyone, no matter how accomplished in firearms use,
to be able to distinguish the "good guys" dressed in denim and toting backpacks from the "bad guy" dressed in denim and toting a backpack.'79 In
addition, there is evidence that even well-trained gun owners, when sud-
171.
Id.
172.
Virginia Tech Lifts Campus Alert After Gun Scare, CBS NEWS (Aug. 4, 2011,
3:17 PM), http://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-tech-lifts-campus-alert-after-gun-scare/.
173.
Id.
Id.
174.
175.
Id.
176.
Id.
177.
Id.
178.
See generally Guns on Campus's Laws for Public Colleges and Universities,
ARMED CAMPUSES, http://www.armedcampuses.org/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2014) ("Despite
the success of these gun-free policies, an increasingly extreme pro-gun movement in the
USA is promoting legislation and litigation to force colleges and universities to allow concealed guns on campus.").
179.
See Active Shooter Training, UNIV. OF OKLA. HEALTH ScI. CTR. POLICE DEP'T,
http://www.ouhsc.edu/police/CommunityPrograms/ActiveShooterTraining.aspx (last visited
Jan. 31, 2014) (stating that active shooter training is key for survival in active shooter situations).
2014]
335
denly immersed in a chaotic shooting scene, may not have the special skills
needed to respond without making matters worse.180 Despite the potential
risks of expanding gun possession on campuses, the SCCC network has in
recent years had some modest success in convincing legislators that the
body count in episodes like the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre would be reduced if properly licensed and trained students only were allowed to carry
guns to class.18 However, in light of the low rate of serious violence on
campus and the high prevalence of substance abuse and depression among
college students, it would seem ill-advised to encourage gun carrying by
anyone other than duly-sworn public safety personnel.
Even more dubious is the possible impact of concealed weapons in a
cinema or similarly crowded venue. Some have argued that James
Holmes's body count at the premiere showing of a Batman movie in July
2012 would have been reduced if members of the audience had been carrying guns. 182 But it is also possible that the anxiety-provoking crisis in a
darkened auditorium would have made the killer, who was dressed in costume just like many others in the audience, entirely indistinguishable from
his innocent victims.
In the aftermath of a mass murder, even law enforcement often cannot
distinguish victims from killers.183 Survivors are marched single file from a
crime scene, forced to keep their hands over their heads-just in case they
turn out to be perpetrators rather than victims. 184 During the first few hours
after a mass murder, media representatives frequently report incorrectly the
presence of two or more killers operating in concert. 18' Following Aaron
Alexis's September 2013 rampage at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C.,
for example, there were worrisome, yet inaccurate, media reports indicating
Ifl Only Had a Gun (ABC television broadcast April 10, 2009). But see Sam Har180.
ris,
The
Riddle
of
the
Gun,
SAM
HARRIS
(Jan
2.
2013),
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-riddle-of-the-gun.
181.
Over the past few years, several states have debated proposals for permitting concealed carry on campus. Although most failed to gather sufficient support legislatively, bills
in Mississippi and Wisconsin did pass, greatly expanding the rights of properly licensed students and faculty to carry weapons on college campuses. Guns on Campus: Overview,
(Mar.
2014),
OF
STATE
LEGISLATURES
NAT'L
CONFERENCE
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/guns-on-campus-overview.aspx.
Chris Molina, A Private Sector Solution to a Public Problem, 41 HASTINGS
182.
CONsT. L.Q. 421, 433 (2014).
183.
James Alan Fox, Gun Controlor Carry Permits Won't Stop Mass Murder, CNN
(July 21, 2012, 4:13 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/opinion/fox-mass-murder/.
184.
See generally id.
185.
Andy Campbell, Aaron Alexis Identified as Alleged Navy Yard Shooter, THE
HUFFINGTON POST (Nov. 4, 2013), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/16/aaron-alexisidentified-navy-yard-shooter n_3935770.html.
336
[Vol. 40:313
the possibility that one or two additional gunmen were still on the loose.18 6
As it happened, however, Alexis had acted alone.187
Whether a well-armed citizenry-in schools, on college campuses, or in
society more generally--encourages more violence or discourages it, concealed carry remains a hotly debated issue. 18 Kates and Mauser suggest
that it would be "simplistic to assume that all times and in all places widespread gun ownership depresses violence by deterring many criminals into
nonconfrontation crime." 89 Would potential mass murderers be deterred
by the risk that their intended targets may be armed, or would they instead
just fortify themselves for a possible shootout?
The potential for citizens to mount a counterattack while an assailant
stops to reload is but one reason why many gun-rights advocates argue
against firearms restrictions, at least for law-abiding, licensed gun owners.190 Specifically, many contend that the establishment of gun-free zones
(e.g., schools, churches, courthouses, and other government buildings)
makes citizens vulnerable to attacks by armed assailants.' 9 '
Proponents for expanding concealed carry rights argue that having more
people armed in public spaces would not only serve as a deterrent but permit citizens to overpower an armed assailant.192 These proponents suggest
that mass murderers avoid attacking locations in which they would expect
considerable armed resistance, such as a police station or gun club.19 Of
course, many mass murders occur in places that are not designated as gunfree zones.'1 4 Generally, the choice of location is based on the nature of the
assailant's personal grievance and has little to do with whether resistance
will be met.1 95 And while there has not been a mass shooting at a police
186.
Id.
187.
Id.
188.
Molina, supra note 182, at 422.
189.
Don B. Kates & Gary Mauser, Would Banning FirearmsReduce Murder and Suicide? A Review ofInternationaland Some Domestic Evidence, 30 HARv. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y
650, 672 (2007).
190.
JOHN R. LoTT & WILLIAM M. LANDES, MULTIPLE VICTIM PUBLIC SHOOTINGS 15
(2012), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract-272929.
191.
John Lott, Did Colorado shooter single out Cinemark Theater because it banned
guns?, Fox NEWS (Sept. 10, 2012), http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/10/didcolorado-shooter-single-out-cinemark-theater/print#ixzz2dOlrXblT.
David B. Kopel, Pretend "Gun-Free" School Zones: A Deadly Legal Fiction, 42
192.
CoNN. L. REv. 515, 540 (2009).
193.
Id.
194.
John Fund, The Facts about Mass Shootings, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE (Dec. 16,
2012),
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/33 5739/facts-about-mass-shootings-john-fund.
195.
Kopel, supra note 192, at 539.
2014]
337
station, several active shooters have specifically targeted cops.1 96 Over a
ten-day timeframe in February 2013, for example, former L.A. police officer, Christopher Dorner, selectively attacked police officers and their
families.197 The series of shootings resulted in four deaths, including three
police officers, and left three other officers wounded.' 98 The subject of a
massive multi-agency manhunt, Dorner ended his killing spree with suicide.199
Whatever the deterrent or intervention effects of right-to-carry provisions, critics have expressed concern that a shoot-out between an assailant
and citizens armed with concealed weapons could possibly result in injuries
to innocent victims caught in the crossfire. 200 Whereas mass killers are often described by witnesses as being noticeably calm and relaxed, the intended victims are taken by surprise and typically respond frantically. Of
course, whether or not concealed carry has any impact on the risk of mass
murder is an empirical question, and not just a debate involving hypotheticals. Examining the effect of right-to-carry laws in twenty-three states on
the incidence and magnitude of multiple-victim homicides from 1977 to
1995, Lott and Landes concluded that such legislation does help to reduce
the risk and extent of mass violence. 20 1 However, Duwe, Kovandzic, and
Moody, employing a more appropriate statistical model to a time frame expanded through 1999, found the impact of these laws to be negligibleneither encouraging nor discouraging mass shootings. 20 2
VII. ARMED FACULTY AND SCHOOL SECURITY
The debate over an armed citizenry has focused specifically on elementary and secondary schools, and the need to protect vulnerable populations
of students from armed assailants. Following the December 2012 Sandy
Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, amidst fervent demands
196.
Authorities FearCops Being Targeted After at Least 11 Officers Shot in 24 ffours,
Fox NEWS (Jan. 25, 2011), http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/24/authorities-fear-copstargeted-officers-shot-hours/.
197.
Eric Hartley, Christopher Dorners 10 days of terror, LADAILYNEws (Feb. 15,
2013), http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20130216/christopher-domers-10-days-ofterror.
198.
Id.
199.
Mike Brunker, DornerDied ofSelf-Inflicted Gunshot Wound to the Head, Authorities
Say,
NBC
NEWs
(Feb.
15,
2013),
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16978359-domer-died-of-self-inflictedgunshot-wound-to-the-head-authorities-say?lite.
200.
Fox & DeLateur, supra note 144, at 137.
201.
Lorr & LANDES, supra note 190
202.
Duwe et al., The Impact of Right-To-Carry Concealed Firearm Laws on mass
Public Shootings, 6 HOMICIDE STUDIES 271 (2002).
338
[Vol. 40:313
for stiffer gun control being heard far and wide, the NRA took a very different approach. 203 The powerful gun-rights group proposed that every
school in America-schools of every size, level, and type-be staffed with
an armed guard, someone who would be prepared to ward off any dangerous intruder. 204
In subsequent months, lawmakers in as many as six states promoted legislation to arm school teachers and train them to shoot. 205 For instance, a
South Dakota law, effective July 1, 2013, created "school sentinels," consisting of teachers, administrators, security guards and even volunteers
from the community empowered to carry guns inside of schools to protect
the student population. 20 6 And, based on a nationwide poll taken by the
Gallup organization, nearly two-thirds of Americans see merit in the
idea.20
Supporters of firearms-for-faculty laws maintain that ever since the early
1990s, when the U.S. Congress established schools as gun-free zones, an
armed assailant, be it a student-insider or a stranger-intruder, could be assured to face little or no opposition. 2 08 The belief is that arming teachers
and administrators might serve as a powerful deterrent to anyone contemplating a Columbine-style school shooting. 2 09 It is hard to imagine, however, that a vengeful student, who is willing to die by police gunfire or by his
own hand, would be dissuaded by knowing that the faculty were armed.2 10
The young assailant could even welcome the chance to engage the principal
203.
Id.; HUTCHINSON, supra note 82.
204.
HUTCHINSON, supra note 82.
205.
James Alan Fox, Nevada School Shooting Limits of Security, USATODAY (Oct.
22, 2013),
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/10/22/james-alan-fox-nevadamiddle-school-shooting-access-guns/3148421/.
206.
Id.; S.D. CODIFIED LAWS
§
13-64-1 (2013).
207.
See Frank Newport, To Stop Shootings, Americans Focus on Police, Mental
Health, GALLUP (Dec. 19, 2012), http://www.gallup.com/poll/159422/stop-shootingsamericans-focus-police-mental-health.aspx.
208.
See David Patten, Gun Expert Lott: Let Teachers Carry Arms, Ban Gun-Free
Zones
to
Halt
Mass
Shootings,
NEWSMAX
(Dec.
15,
2012),
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Lott-guns-Connecticutshooting/2012/12/15/id/467903; cf M.D. Harmon, "Gun-Free Zones, " Some of the Most
Dangerous Places in America, THE MAINE
WIRE
(July 26,
2012),
http://www.themainewire.com/2012/07/m-d-harmon-gun-free-zones-dangerous-placesamerica/ ("'[G]un-free zones' are among the most dangerous places in the country, as only
criminals will have firearms there.").
209.
See Patten, supra note 208.
210.
See, e.g., Russell Goldman et al., Colorado School Shooting Suspect May Have
Been Out For Revenge, Police Say, ABC NEWS
(Dec.
13,
2013),
http://abcnews.go.com/US/colorado-school-shooting-police-suspect-school-seekingrevenge/story?id=21211883.
339
2014]
in a shootout in front of his peers, showing them how tough and fearless he
- 211
iS.
The truth is that thousands of schools already have sworn police officers
on site. 2 12 Columbine High School, in fact, had an armed school resource
officer on duty the day in 1999 when two alienated adolescents turned their
school into a war zone. 2 13 Of course, Columbine was a fairly large campus
with nearly 2000 students enrolled, and the officer could not be everywhere
at once. 21 It would have taken a small army to patrol the entrances and
hallways in a school that large so as to eliminate the risk.2 15
Arming teachers, even with a requirement for firearms training, creates
the potential for tragic over-response by anxious school personnel. 16 Every
year in the United States, thousands of students are expelled for being in
possession of a gun at school (and sometimes just for fear of gangs or bullies). 2 17 What would occur if these students were observed by a faculty
member who was also armed and ready to respond with gun fire in order to
protect the school population? In addition, what would be the result if an
armed teacher were to mistake a cell phone or any shiny object for a gun,
especially in a climate where concerns for school shootings are elevated?
At the end of the day, school teachers are in the position to be educators,
211.
Id.
212.
See,
e.g.,
COPS
in
Schools
(CIS),
U.S.
DEP'T
OF
JUST.,
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item-54 (last visited Jan. 31, 2014) (Since 1999,
"COPS has awarded [funds] to more than 3000 grantees to hire more than 6500 [School Resource Police Officers] . . . .").
213.
Jefferson County Sheriffs Dep't., Narrative Time Line: The Columbine High
School
Shootings,
CNN,
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/NARRATIVE.Time.Line.htm
(last visited Jan. 31, 2014).
214.
Jefferson County Sheriffs Dep't,
April 20, 1999: Foreword, CNN,
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/FOREWARD.htm (last visited
Jan. 31, 2014).
Cf Jefferson County Sheriff's Dep't, Law Enforcement Agencies and Support
215.
Provided,
CNN,
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/LE AGENCIESTEXT.htm
(last visited Jan. 31, 2014) (considering that the response to the Columbine shooting required thirty-five different law enforcement agencies).
216.
See, e.g., Val Van Brocklin, Arming teachers in schools: An argument against,
POLICEONE.COM
(Feb.
20,
2013),
http://www.policeone.com/active-
shooter/articles/6126130-Arming-teachers-in-schools-An-argument-against/ (noting that a
licensed elementary teacher with substantial firearms training "was humbled by a firearms
training simulator. [She] killed an undercover cop, two innocent bystanders to a bank robbery, and got [herself] repeatedly killed without saving anyone.").
217.
National Center For Education Statistics, U.S. DEP'T OF EDUc. (Jan. 31, 2014),
http://nces.ed.gov.
340
[Vol. 40:313
not executioners. 2 18 For them, marksmanship should remain a matter of A's
and B's, not guns and ammunition.
If using armed faculty and guards to protect our schools and schoolchildren is the way to go, then what about the playgrounds and athletic fields
outside the school buildings? And, what about the fleet of yellow school
buses transporting the children home after school? Are we going to arm the
bus drivers as well?
Notwithstanding the horror associated with school massacres, whether
they implicate an angry student seeking payback or a deranged adult looking to hurt society in the most profound way, these are exceptionally rare
events. 2 19 Transforming our schools into armed fortresses hardly provides a
comfortable and carefree learning environment with its constant reminder
that children have targets on their backs. 220
Whatever we do to fortify schools and shield students from harm should
be commensurate with the extremely low likelihood of an active shooter
striking any particular school. We need to protect our children's sense of
innocence as much as their physical safety.
VIII. CLOSING SHOTS
Many countries look disparagingly on the incidents of mass shootings in
the United States. 22 1 They do so critically and incredulously, not understanding why guns are so ingrained in American culture. For example, following the murder of a twenty-two year old Australian in Oklahoma by
three "bored" teenagers, Tim Fischer, Australia's former deputy prime minister, urged Australian citizens to boycott travel to the United States. 222
Fischer warned, "I don't believe [the United States's] Second Amendment
provides for semiautomatic or automatics in the suburbs. Australians and
anybody else should think carefully about traveling to the USA, until [the
United States] start[s] to make a move on gun and firearm sensible control."22 3
The rate of firearm-related deaths in the United States is indeed the
highest among industrialized countries.22 4 As discussed by Karp, the United States, although constituting under 5% of the world's population, holds
218.
Id.
Fox & Burstein, supra note 65.
219.
220.
Id.
Dylan Stableford, Australia's Former Deputy P.M. Urges Boycott of US. over
221.
Baseball Player's Killing, Lashes out at NRA, YAHOO! NEWS (Aug. 21, 2013, 9:54 AM),
http://news.yahoo.com/australia-usa-nra-oklahoma-murder-135410650.htnl.
222.
223.
224.
Id.
Id.
2014]1
341
35-50% of the world's civilian-owned guns. 225 The number of firearms for
sale or possessed by U.S. civilians reached 310 million in 2009226 and has
grown in recent years.22 7
Gun control advocates often point to other nations as proof that reducing
the extent of private gun ownership will lessen the risk of mass murder. 22*
Many in the United States look elsewhere and believe the "grass is greener" and the streets are safer. 229
In countries where guns are relatively inaccessible, mass killings are far
less likely to occur, even if the motivation for large-scale destruction exists. 230 For example, China's strict gun laws prevent angry would-be mass
murderers from securing a firearm and launching a deadly shooting
spree. 23 1 China forbids civilians to own guns unless they are approved by
law enforcement authorities. 23 2 In April 2010, a knife-wielding man in his
forties burst into the Leicheng First Primary School in the city of Leizhou
and stabbed eighteen children and a teacher before being subdued by the
police. 233 All of the victims were wounded, but none suffered life234
threatening injuries.
Although Great Britain has far tighter restrictions on guns than does the
United States, 235 mass shootings have occurred in British families, schools,
and even public places.236 On June 2, 2010, for example, a down-on-his225.
Aaron Karp, Completing the Count: Civilian Firearms, in SMALL ARMS SURVEY
2007: GUNS AND THE CITY 39,46 (2007).
226.
WILLIAM J. KROUSE, GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION 10 (2012), available at
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32842.pdf.
See generally Gun Ownership Trends and Demographics, PEW RESEARCH CTR.
227.
FOR
THE
PEOPLE
AND
THE
PRESS
(Jul.
27,
2013),
http://www.people-
press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographs/#profile-guns.
228.
See Why Own a Gun? Protection is Now Top Reason, PEW RESEARCH CTR. FOR
THE
PEOPLE
AND
THE
PRESS
(Mar.
12,
2013),
http://www.people-
press.org/2013/02/12/section-1-views-of-stricter-gun-laws/.
229.
See Chinese Man Breaks into School Stabbing 18 Students and Teacher, THE
TELEGRAPH
(Apr.
28,
2010,
11:54
AM),
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7644838/Chinese-man-breaks-intoschool-stabbing-18-students-and-teacher.html.
230.
231.
232.
Id.
Karp, supra note 225, at 50.
233.
THE TELEGRAPH, supra note 229.
234.
Id.
235.
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME, GLOBAL STUDY ON HOMICIDE 33
at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and(2011),
available
analysis/statistics/Homicide/Globalstudyon homicide_2011 web.pdf.
236.
See Ben McConville & Jill Lawless, Gun Control Laws Around The World
Spurred
By
Mass
Shootings,
THE WORLD
POST (Dec.
18,
2012,
6:22
AM),
342
[Vol. 40:313
luck cabbie, Derrick Bird, from Cumbria, a small town north of London,
used two licensed firearms, a .22 rifle and a shotgun, to kill his brother, his
lawyer, and ten others selected largely at random. 237 Although many Brits
considered this as a failure of gun control to prevent assailants bent on destruction, and others as justification for tighter restrictions, no set of laws
can guarantee that mass shootings will never occur. 238 Were it not for its
strict gun laws, England could conceivably experience more episodes than
it does.
Whatever the effects of restrictions on gun purchasing, on the one hand,
and right-to-carry provisions, on the other, it does make logical sense that if
society were purged of deadly firearms, the risk of mass murder would be
minimized, and Australia is often cited as proof. Following the 1996 Port
Arthur shooting rampage, in which twenty-eight year old Martin Bryant
gunned down thirty-five people, 239 the Australian government responded
swiftly in an attempt to control high-powered weaponry. 240 By virtue of the
1996 National Firearms Agreement, the Australian states and territories
banned the importation, manufacture, sale and possession of automatic and
semi-automatic firearms. 24 1 In addition, the government launched a massive gun buy-back program that netted over 600,000 of the newlyprohibited weapons. 2 The Australian government also implemented mandatory licensing and registration of all firearms (i.e., those not covered by
the ban on automatics and semi-automatics).2 43 Although there is some debate concerning the law's effect on gun crime generally, there have not
been any mass shootings in the half-dozen years since the law took ef-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/gun-control-laws-around-theworld n_2321894.html.
237.
Helen Carter, Derrick Bird talked of suicide before Cumbria shootings, inquest
told, THE GUARDIAN (Mar. 2, 2011), http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/02/derrickbird-cumbria-shootings-inquest.
238.
James Alan Fox, Gun Control or Carry Permits Won't Stop Mass Murder, CNN
(July 21, 2012, 4:13 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/opinion/fox-mass-murder/.
239.
Ralph Slovenko, Commentary: Rampage in Tasmania, 25 J. PSYCHIATRY & L.
151, 151 (1997).
240.
S. Chapman et al., Australia's 1996 Gun Law Reforms: FasterFalls in Firearm
Deaths, Firearm Suicides, and a Decade Without Mass Shootings, 12 INJURY PREVENTION
365, 365 (2006).
241.
See AustralasianPolice Ministers' Council Special FirearmsMeeting, CANBERRA
(May
10,
1996),
available
at
http://pandora.nla.gov.aulnphwb/20000426130000/http:/www.gun.law.gov.au/Guns/legislation/l1Omayresolut.htm.
242.
Chapman et al., supra note 240; Jeanine Baker & Samara McPhedran, Gun Laws
and Sudden Death: Did the Australian FirearmsLegislation of 1996 Make a Difference?,
47(3) BRIT. J. CRIMINAL 455, 455 (2007).
243.
Chapman et al., supra note 240; Baker & McPhedran, supra note 242.
2014]
WEAPONS OF MASS (MURDER)DESTRUCTION
343
fect.244 It is certainly difficult, of course, to compare Australia with the
U.S., given that the two nations differ in many respects-demographically,
economically, and culturally. 24 5
Whatever the truth about the impact of weapons bans on murder rates in
Australia, it is doubtful that such an approach would gain much traction in
the United States. Australia does not have a constitutionally protected right
to gun ownership-not like the United States where personal freedoms are
valued above virtually all else. 24 6
244.
See Chapman et al., supra note 240, at 370; Baker & McPhedran, supra note 242,
at 456.
245.
Don B. Kates & Gary Mauser, Would Banning FirearmsReduce Murder and Suicide?, 30 HARv. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 649, 676, 687 (2007). The association between the prevalence of private ownership of guns and the rate of firearm death becomes murkier when
looking across a wider span of nations. See id. at 673.
Abigail Kohn, The Wild West Down Under: ComparingAmerican and Australian
246.
Expressions of Gun Enthusiasm, 16 J. ON FIREARMS & PUB. POL'Y 179, 184 (2004).

Weapons of Mass (Murder) Destruction James Alan Fox and Monica

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