SAN DEIGO (KGTV) -- In the wake of yet another mass shooting, this one leaving eight people dead in San Jose, advocates for gun safety and gun rights expressed frustration with the response, particularly by the federal government.
“Right now, there are way too many people slipping through the cracks," said Carol Landale, who leads the San Diego chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "People who shouldn’t have guns are getting them and it’s unacceptable.”
Landale says California's gun laws have been effective at lowering gun crime rates compared to other states. However, she says the inability for Congress to pass national legislation, starting with federal background checks, have made it impossible to curb the violence. "We’ve had more mass shootings in 2021 than we’ve had days in the year. So what, gun owners, is your solution?”
Gunowner rights advocates argue that additional legislation, including federal background checks, will not solve the problem. "Those laws that are currently on the books should be fully enforced and fully implemented before you go out and try to pass more laws to undermine the second amendment right to self defense," said former San Diego City Councilmember and radio talk show host Carl DeMaio.
DeMaio suggests the real problem is with mental health, and believes the best defense is to have more trained, armed people able to respond to shootings. "What we want to do is create an environment where we are able to flag people who have mental health problems, intervene early, but also give people their rights’s of 2nd amendment self defense.”
