HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT
Global pattern. While the police haven’t announced what they believe motivated Legan, the shooting is the latest in a growing stream of attacks carried out by White individuals who have publicly demonstrated hate based on race or ethnicity. Legan had ranted against “mestizos and Silicon Valley white twats” in one of his final posts on Instagram. In April, a man with links to White supremacist groups shot dead 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. That same month, three African American churches in Louisiana were set on fire, and a suspect has been charged with hate crimes.
California conundrum. In 2016, California became the first state to require point-of-sale background checks on ammunition purchases. Last year, it raised the minimum age for purchasing long guns from 18 to 21 years. But while California has the seventh-lowest rate of overall gun deaths, the impact of its laws on mass shootings is less clear. The state has been home to 16 percent of the nation’s mass shootings in the past five years — while it hosts 11 percent of the population. More than 97 percent of mass shootings nationally have occurred in so-called “gun-free zones” such as schools, markets, clubs and festivals, where shooters know they’ll be met with little resistance from people who also have guns. Allowing more people — not fewer — to own firearms is the answer, argue pro-gun groups like the Firearms Policy Coalition.
Tighter control? Gun-regulation advocates don't agree that California's laws are the problem. In fact, the Gilroy shooting, they say, points to weaknesses in regulations elsewhere — with interstate gun purchases. It’s easier to buy a long gun of the kind Legan used across state lines than it is to purchase a handgun. “We need to enact effective state law protections in more states and to do so more comprehensively at the national level,” says Ari Freilich, staff attorney at the Giffords Law Center. The center also advocates for more violence intervention programs, restricted bulk firearm purchases and regulation of "ghost gun" component sales.
Untraceable. So-called “ghost guns” — which don’t have serial numbers — are a growing problem in California. Often they’ve been 3-D printed or assembled from parts, a popular way of getting around background check laws. These guns constitute 30 percent of all firearms recovered in California, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They’re seen as a way for those who couldn’t pass a background check to get around the state’s relatively restrictive gun laws. They’re often bought and sold through online chat rooms.
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