The cycle of gun violence in the United States may sound familiar: a mass shooting occurs, followed by calls for stricter gun laws. Little to nothing changes and inevitably, there is another mass shooting. Rinse, repeat.
But this time, gun reform advocates say, it could be the start of something different.
This time, the US experienced two particularly horrific mass shootings just 10 days apart, the racially motivated attack that killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York on May 14, and the massacre of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas on May 24.
In the wake of those tragedies, five states passed a series of gun reforms and Congress also passed its largest gun safety package in three decades in a bipartisan vote.
“This looks different to me,” said Sean Holinan, state legislative director for the Gifford gun reform group. “Congress wasn’t going to do anything. It took the killing of children in a school.”
The recent movement on gun legislation has been “extraordinary,” said Tanya Schardt, senior adviser and director of state and federal policy for the Brady gun control advocacy group.
“We’ve certainly had devastating mass shootings before,” he said. “The ones that really surprise me are Sandy Hook and Parkland, and there was certainly a bond around doing things. But I’m not sure we’ll have the same momentum that we have this time around.”
Some of those hopes dimmed after the The Supreme Court struck down a New York gun restrictionBut many Schardt advocates and other advocates say they still feel more hopeful than ever.
“I think the outrage finally got to a point where people realize we can’t do anything here and we have to look at the guns,” he said. “This is simply not normal. We cannot and must not force our children to live and die this way, and we have an obligation to do more.”
At the White House late last month, President Biden said that people have been urging the government to do something about guns for far too long.
‘For God’s sake, just do something’
“How many times have you heard that?” Biden said. “Just do something; for God’s sake, just do something. Well, today we did it…At a time when it seems impossible to do anything in Washington, we’re doing something consistent.”
The legislation improves background checks on gun buyers ages 18 to 21. It also adds dating partners to the list of domestic abusers barred from buying guns, closing the “boyfriend loophole.”
The law also encourages states to develop better “red flag” laws that would deny guns to people deemed dangerous.
►Red flags and firearm controls: How the Highland Park suspect slipped through the cracks
Statewide, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware and California have passed gun reforms since the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings, though California and New Jersey legislation had already been in the works.
No doubt more legislation would have been passed in other states had their legislative sessions not ended or been in their final days before summer break, Holinan said, adding that her group will push them to take action when they become to gather
Among the most notable new laws passed at the state level are bills that expose gun manufacturers to lawsuits by those affected by gun violence. Such laws have just been passed in Delaware, New Jersey and California, while New York was the first to pass them last year.
“Essentially, it makes the gun industry like any other industry in the country, which means that when you do something irresponsible, dangerous, negligent and someone gets hurt, you could be held civilly liable,” Schardt said.
The gun industry argues that such laws will put small gun dealers out of business and lead to frivolous lawsuits.
As some gun laws have been strengthened, others have been relaxed.
While gun reform advocates are hopeful, some states have only loosened gun restrictions.
In Ohio, for example, a law that came into force on June 11 allows school districts across the state to authorize teachers, principals and other staff to carry weapons into classrooms this fall after 24 hours of training. Also in Ohio and neighboring Indiana, requirements for carrying without a permit have been relaxed.
Also last month, the Supreme Court expanded gun rights across the country when it struck down a New York law that required people applying to carry a concealed weapon to provide a reason why they needed the weapon.
Since Buffalo and Uvalde, at least 26 people have been killed in at least seven mass shootings in the US Another 52 people were injured in the shootings, which occurred in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana.
Meanwhile, gun sales have strengthened in the US, where there are now more guns than people. After mass shootings or when gun reform seems likely, sales tend to spike.
In Delaware, for example, the same month the state Legislature passed six new gun laws, background checks skyrocketed. When the legislation passed in June, background checks more than doubled to more than 9,800, up from 4,300 the previous month. according to the fbi.
Nationwide, more than 15 million background checks have been completed through the end of June. That figure is lower than the previous two record years, which were fueled by the pandemic, but higher than the years before the coronavirus.
Although the problem seems insurmountable at times, there is still a lot of hope, said Tom Mauser, who lost his 15-year-old son Daniel in the Columbine High School attack in Colorado that killed 12 students and a teacher in 1999.
Mauser has been fighting for gun control ever since and has watched in frustration as the crisis has only intensified.
Last month, Mauser spoke with Biden just after the president signed landmark gun legislation.
“I told him, ‘Mr. President, for 23 years, nothing has been done since Columbine,'” Mauser recalled. “Now we can see that something can be done. Let’s build on that. He said, ‘Yes, we need to do more.’
“Unfortunately, it will take more tragedy, but on the other hand, at least for those of us who are in the field, who are in the trenches, sometimes you need some hope.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Could Gun Reforms in the Wake of Uvalde, Buffalo Mark a Tipping Point?