Crime
233 Mass Shootings in 152 Days of 2022, why Guns are so easy to Get in the USA
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#USA, June 6, 2022 – A mass shooting as described by the Gun Violence Archive a non-profit organization as “has a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.” The US has had 233 of them in the first 152 days of 2022.
But how easy is it really to purchase a gun in America? In order to establish that, we’d have to go back to 1968.
The United States had moved past the assassination of John F Kennedy 5 years prior, Lyndon B Johnson was President and Martin Luther King Jr. was in the prime of his life.
About 6 am on April 4th as he stood on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee a sniper’s bullet took him in the neck. Shock and outrage poured out from people around the world at another towering figure taken down by a gun.
Two months later to the day, Robert F Kennedy was shot in the chest just hours after winning the California and South Dakota primary elections. Prior to 1968 you could order a gun on the mail but outrage from these shootings sparked the creation of the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968 which created the first federal framework to investigate and prosecute firearms crimes.
The GCA required people who dealt firearms to obtain a federal license and prohibited transfers of those firearms to certain persons and regulated the importation of firearms not suitable for sporting purposes.
This law kept guns out of the hands of felons, fugitives “drug addicts”, mental patients, persons dishonorably discharged from the army, illegal aliens, persons convicted of domestic violence and anyone under the age of 18.
The GCA did not include provisions for a firearm registry or licensing requirements for gun owners. At most it prevented licensed firearms dealers from selling to children and the other persons listed above and only licensed firearm dealers could be arrested for breaking those rules. In terms of banning certain types of weapons the GCA says Under the Act, all imported firearms must be “generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes”.
At the time, 53 years ago, Time magazine printed: “It may take another act of horror to push really effective gun
curbs through Congress.”
A very important thing that the GCA did though was control the flow of firearms, by prohibiting the transport and shipment of guns over state lines.
By 1986 that particular aspect of the GCA was repealed by a new law.
The Firearms Owners Protection Act, the purpose of which was to make sure that the GCA “did not place any undue or unnecessary federal restrictions or burdens on law abiding citizens.” It is an ideology that took root in America and continues to shape the discussion about gun laws until today.
While it outlawed machine guns for civilian use and punished everyone who sold firearms to prohibited persons, the FOPA seriously slackened the controls on gun purchase and distribution.
The FOPA not only allowed persons to sell guns away from their state of residence, it prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from centralizing or computerizing firearms purchasing records, it permitted the sale of ammunition without a license, it allowed convicted felons to get firearms and reduced criminal penalties for recordkeeping offenses committed by licensed firearm dealers from a felony to a misdemeanor.
These changes widened the pool of who could get their hands on a firearm and narrowed the options of the ATF on how to track and regulate gun sales. It took the heat off of the gun making industry by removing/lessening the federal laws that could punish gun distributors for certain sales.
Some ground was made up in 1994 with the introduction of laws that required background checks on customers for handguns which helped keep guns out of the hands of felons and required License gun dealers to submit photographs and fingerprints and certified that their businesses complied with all state and local laws.
In the early 1990s schools were designated gun free zones in response to several school shootings and Congress made it illegal to transfer handguns to juveniles or for anyone to have handguns near a school.
The Youth Handgun Safety Act which put this into law does not apply to long guns. No federal law press prohibits the position of long guns or assault rifles by juveniles, it is not unlawful for an unlicensed individual to give a long gun to a child.
It is unlawful to own, manufacture or transfer semi-automatic assault weapons in the US. But what counts as a semi-automatic assault weapon in law? To qualify under law a gun must have three things to be banned: a detachable ammunition magazine, which allows for clips with hundreds of rounds, a flash suppressor and folding stock. But many guns evade this category by having only one or two of these characteristics. Gun makers who make assault rifles that fit all three categories can remove one and rebrand it as a different weapon, which is then totally legal, and available to most people over 18 years old.
For context the guns used in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 were legal by this definition, so was the gun used in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, and the gun used in the Buffalo supermarket shooting and the gun used in the Uvalde shooting.
Stricter gun control laws are proven to work in countries worldwide while US lawmakers argue over the issue, there has been a consistent increase in mass shootings since 2014. In 2014 in total there were 269 and 2022 seems on par to eclipse that number.
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – In response to a deadly surge in gun violence, Police Commissioner Fitz Bailey on
Monday morning formally briefed the Honourable Premier Charles Washington Misick and Her Excellency Acting Governor Anya Williams on two recent murders and the broader security crisis engulfing the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The high-level debrief followed a harrowing week which reports indicate brought the murder count for 2025 to 15 people, including what was described as mass shooting where as many as four men were struck with bullets. The Commissioner provided an update on the nature of the week of homicides, the current status of investigations, and the coordinated response measures being implemented by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF).
Both the Premier and Acting Governor pledged full support to the Commissioner and the RTCIPF, as the country grapples with a level of violence that has deeply shaken residents and visitors alike.
“The Government remains deeply committed to strengthening public safety and enhancing the resources available to law enforcement,” read a statement issued following the briefing.
As part of this commitment, 40 specially trained officers from across the region have recently completed orientation with the RTCIPF and
are now operational. These reinforcements are expected to support ongoing investigations and bolster the national policing strategy.
Among the recent incidents:
- A young man was shot and killed in Five Cays on Saturday (May 24) afternoon. Police reported receiving a call around 2:58 p.m. about gunfire near a local religious institution. Officers arrived to find a male victim lying motionless with apparent gunshot wounds. His death is being treated as a suspected homicide.
- One of four men shot earlier in the week in Kew Town succumbed to his injuries, raising the death toll from that mass shooting.
As investigations continue, the RTCIPF is urgently appealing to the public for any information that might assist. Witnesses or anyone with
relevant knowledge are encouraged to report to the nearest police station, dial 911, contact the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, or anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477.
Commissioner Bailey, who was confirmed as the Turks and Caicos Police Commissioner in a ceremony on Friday April 25, has vowed that the RTCIPF will not relent in its pursuit of justice and community safety. Public concern has been growing as the scale and brazenness of violent incidents increase. Community leaders and residents are demanding a stronger and more visible police presence in hotspots, as well as urgent interventions to address the root causes of gun violence.
The police force has pledged to issue further updates on investigations and arrests in the coming days.
Photo Captions:
1st insert: ROBERTO YACINTHE, age 33 was shot on Saturday (May 25) in the Blue Hills community. He was an employee of the Alexandra Resort.
2nd insert: Crime scene in Five Cays
3rd insert: Flex Baptiste, 32 died on Friday. He was shot on Wednesday.
-
Education1 week agoHJ Robinson’s Daysha Andrews to Represent Turks and Caicos in International Letter-Writing Competition
-
News1 week agoTCI Former Leaders Reject Governor’s Move to Grant Islander Status to 49 Expatriates
-
Caribbean News1 week agoPorts Authority Attends Prestigious Caribbean Port Management Meeting
-
News4 days agoBEACHES TCI EMPOWERS STUDENTS WITH HANDS-ON WASTE MANAGEMENT TOUR
-
Health1 week agoTCI Ministry of Health Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 Variant NB.1.8.1 and Reminds Public of Preventive Measures
-
News7 days agoPremier Misick and Ministers ‘adamantly opposed’ 49 grants – Governor’s approval sparks outrage
-
Bahamas News7 days agoThe Government Signs Power Purchase Agreements to Help Transform Power Generation Across the Family Islands
-
News4 days agoBahamas Offers Condolences After Deadly Air India Crash as Sole Survivor Speaks Out