‘Why does this keep happening?’ Mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta expose loopholes, weaknesses in gun laws – By Christal Hayes (USA Today) / April 1 2021
WASHINGTON – Back-to-back mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado underscore how loopholes and weak restrictions in gun laws enabled both suspects to get quick access to their weapons of choice in attacks that left 18 people dead.
The shootings this month have thrust the issue of gun violence back into the national spotlight – and with it, calls for changes in gun requirements.
While the shootings are unrelated and on different ends of the country, they both exposed issues within current gun laws. Namely, they show that nuances in laws – or no laws at all – allow certain guns to skirt state and federal statutes.
The suspect who police say opened fire and killed eight at three spas in Georgia – an attack that shook the Asian-American community – bought a handgun just hours before the massacre. Georgia has no state law requiring a firearm waiting period, a requirement in 10 states and the District of Columbia that aims to save lives by delaying a potential killer from acting on impulse.
