It is way past time that elected officials take immediate action to address the public health epidemic afflicting our nation and leading to the death and wounding of our fellow Americans as a result of gun crime. It is their responsibility to put aside politics and the desires of the gun lobby to stop the needless and frequent mass shootings and daily gun violence. Americans deserve action, and the tears of the families impacted by this scourge scream out for change.
In less than 30 days, there have been five tragic shooting incidents impacting Texas and our nation:
• July 28: Gilroy Garlic Festival, three killed, a dozen wounded;
• Aug. 3: El Paso, 22 killed, two dozen wounded;
• Aug. 4: Dayton, Ohio, nine killed, more than two dozen wounded;
• Aug. 12: Riverside, Calif., one highway patrolman killed, two other CHP officers wounded;
• Aug. 14: Philadelphia, six police officers shot and wounded.
The common denominators among the incidents listed above are assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. But for the grace of God and the courage of law enforcement officers and others, the death toll would have been much higher.
The bravery and sacrifice of our nation’s cops must be met with immediate action to protect them and the communities they serve. We can no longer accept the obligatory news conference during which the president, members of Congress, governors and state legislators offer their thoughts and prayers but nothing else. With each passing mass shooting and daily gun violence, their words are ringing increasingly hollow.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association, the United States Conference of Mayors and others have repeatedly called upon Congress to enact legislation that the vast majority of Americans supports to limit the proliferation of deadly assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. In a letter dated Aug. 12 to President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, I spelled out the problem and the action that the MCCA members are seeking: universal background checks, red flag/extreme risk measures, an assault weapons ban and a ban on high-capacity magazines.
Disturbingly, that same day and two days after our call to action, the body count continued to grow with the tragic death of a California highway patrolman and the wounding of two of his partners, followed two days later with the wounding of six Philadelphia police officers. These attacks on law enforcement are more reminiscent of scenes from a war movie, but sadly they are taking place in the streets and neighborhoods of American cities, big and small, suburban and rural.
It is heartbreaking and frustrating every time police chiefs are notified of another mass shooting.
As president of the MCCA, and on behalf of the chiefs of police of the largest police agencies in America, we urge you, the public, to contact your senators and representatives at the federal and state levels to demand action. Your congressional and state delegations need to hear from you that well-thought-out gun legislation is required to combat the escalating gun violence and mass shootings in our nation. We should not accept that drilling our school children for active shooter situations is becoming as routine and inevitable as attack drills during the height of the Cold War. While our nation could not unilaterally control the actions of the Soviet Union, we do have the ability to address gun violence at home.
The solution is not simple, but we must start with meaningful, measured legislation. Enacting the recommendations of the MCCA will reduce gun violence. The previous federal assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban, which took effect in 1994 and expired in 2004 despite overwhelming support for its renewal, had a positive impact on our collective safety. Despite grandfather loopholes and other limitations in the law, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence cites studies that showed a decline in Virginia in the percentage of crime guns equipped with large-capacity magazines during the ban and an increase in such devices in Los Angeles after the ban. There is no legitimate reason to have weaponry designed for combat on our streets.
Please do not become numb to the disturbingly frequent number of mass shootings and senseless gun violence. Consider the measures that MCCA members are requesting. They are moderate and smart. They will go a long way toward keeping firearms in the hands of law-abiding Americans of sound mind and out of the hands of dangerous individuals.
To all the people we serve, please do not wait until tragedy strikes your family, or someone you know. Please demand action now.
Acevedo is chief of the Houston Police Department.