Shooting in Richmond leaves three victims and another debate about gun laws

Police in Richmond are continuing their search for a shooting suspect who apparently began firing at a party full of college-aged kids in Jackson Ward[1]. So far, no deaths have been reported but three individuals were taken to the hospital. The three, ages 20, 19, and 17 received bullet wounds in the back, leg, and arm.

According to the host of the party, the shooting suspect began firing from across the street less than an hour after he had been kicked out of the gathering for attempting to steal a stereo.

Following this shooting in Richmond and the recent shooting at the new Batman premier in Colorado which has claimed the lives of 12 people so far[2], questions are again being raised about gun laws across the country[3].

According to the Brady Campaign[4], gun-related killings have increased annually since 2002, making the gun murder rate in the U.S. 10 to 20 times greater than in other industrialized countries.

While this statistic is grim, I admit that I am conflicted about the issue of gun rights. On the one hand, I believe whole-heartedly in the right to bear arms, but which kind of arms is the real question that policymakers have considered. On the other hand, gun-related deaths are rising, as noted above, and this trend may not recede anytime soon if these recent shooting events in different parts of the country are any indication of how the future will play out.

Either way the policy pendulum swings, no side of the argument will come away completely satisfied. But what is clear is that policymakers need to find some healthier median between gun rights and human safety, between individual freedom and state intervention, between reasoned policy and reactive legislation.

The task won’t be easy, but most Americans will not continue to tolerate repeated senseless killings by angry and/or mentally unstable individuals whose access to firearms is almost as open as their local Walmart.

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[1] http://www.nbc12.com/story/19085499/shooter-fires-repeatedly-into-jackson-ward-party

[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/21/usa-shooting-denver-idUSL6E8IK4FG20120721

[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-bodine/denver-shootings-highligh_b_1692203.html

[4] http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/