California has some of the most stringent gun laws in the US, including a ban on the type of rifle that a shooter used to kill three and wound 15 at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday.
The gunman had legally purchased the “assault-type rifle,” in the style of an AK-47, from Nevada on July 9 before carrying it illegally over state lines into California, highlighting what some gun control advocates say is a loophole in the way laws operate, state by state.
The suspect, 19, opened fire in the last hours of the three-day garlic festival, an annual tradition that draws thousands of attendees.
He injured 15 people and killed three — a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s — before being shot dead by police, who rushed him within a minute of bullets being heard.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranks California first in the nation for having the strongest gun laws.
Last week, a federal judge upheld California’s ban on owning, manufacturing or selling semiautomatic rifles and so-called “bullet buttons,” rifle attachments that allow shooters to reload more quickly.
The state has banned semiautomatic weapons for 20 years. The bullet button was banned in 2016.
Nevada, on the other hand, is ranked 25th in the Giffords Center’s ranking.
Big Mikes Gun and Ammo, the Nevada store where the gunman bought his weapon, said on Facebook that the shooter had bought the rifle off of the store’s Internet page.
“The reach of the California law ends at our border,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We cannot control what other states do, and that’s what makes it so tough. We may have progressive gun laws, but if other states don’t match us, we have to rely on the ability to catch [the person].”
Several lawmakers have pointed at Sunday’s shooting to once again call for a federal law that would close this cross-state loophole.
“The gun used by the Gilroy shooter was an AK-47-type assault rifle. This weapon is illegal to buy or possess in California, which appears to be why the shooter crossed into Nevada to buy the gun,” US Senator Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. “The assault weapons ban legislation I introduced earlier this year would have prevented that sale from happening. It’s time for Congress to debate this bill and vote on it.”
“This loss cannot be in vain,” US Representative Jackie Speier said on Twitter.
Speier is looking to close the gap as one of 190 members of the US House of Representatives who cosponsored a bill that would ban the import, sale, manufacturing or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices on the federal level.
US Representative Eric Swalwell, who campaigned for next year’s Democratic presidential nomination and was the only one of two dozen candidates to focus his platform primarily on stronger gun control, was another one of the bill’s cosponsors.
US Senator Kamala Harris, who represents California, has also called for a renewal of a federal assault weapons ban. She has said that should she be elected president, she would give Congress 100 days to take legislative action on gun violence, and if lawmakers cannot reach a consensus, she would take executive action.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was