After yet another horrific mass shooting in the U.S., many in Cascadia are wondering if something similar could happen here. And how could we possibly let it happen here.
Today 10 people were killed by a gunman with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in a grocery store in Boulder, Colo. -- the second mass-shooting in the U.S. this week. President Biden is calling for a ban on assault weapons, while shills for the gun lobby are offering thoughts and prayers for the dead and their survivors. This is on top of more than 600 mass shootings (four or more dead or injured) in the U.S. last year.
This is insane.
A few years ago I was having breakfast with my family at a diner in Goldendale, Wash., at the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge, when a man walked in with a gun hanging from his belt. He didn't appear physically fit or capable of controlling the firearm, which didn't look safely secured. When I pushed back on this power play I learned that Washington is an "open carry" state where it's okay to walk around with a lethal weapon, regardless of the need or the potential harm it could cause. If you're worried about your family's safety, there's nothing you can do about it. So we got up and left.
Judging from Twitter today, I'm not the only one with such a reaction:
Carrying a weapon remains totally legal in Washington and Oregon. There are more rules for driving a car than owning a gun. Local authorities aren't even allowed to pass more restrictive laws to protect their residents. In Washington citizens passed an initiative in 2018, I-1639, that requires recording of semiautomatic rifle sales and mandates that the purchaser have some sort of safety training. But even those gentle restrictions are vehemently rejected by law enforcement officials in some parts of the state.
When it comes to personal safety, B.C. wins. Per the Firearms Act, a license is required. Anything besides an ordinary shotgun or rifle used in hunting must be registered. A gun buyer must take a Canadian Firearms Safety Court and pass a test, buy a five-year license, and wait 28 days while the RCMP conducts background checks.
It's way past time for commonsense safety measures in the U.S. Trips to the grocery store shouldn't put us at risk of COVID-19, let alone being shot. A generation of kids shouldn't grow up with the trauma of active-shooter drills. We should be free to move around all of Cascadia without fear.