SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Texas authorities say the Texas gunman legally bought his first of two AR-style rifles a day after turning 18. Just a few days later, he killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
“The most firmly established facts about firearm violence is that, on balance, ease of access to firearms leads to increasing rates of firearm violence,” said Dr. Garen Wintemute.
Emergency Physician Dr. Garen Wintermute is the director of the Violence Prevention Research Center at UC Davis.
“For almost 40 years now, we have done research on the causes of firearm violence and its prevention,” he explained.
He said in this specific case, there are four California laws that could have prevented the actions from unfolding the way they did.
“One is we have a law on the books that restricts people at age 18 from buying the sorts of weapons that the shooter purchased," he said.
This law was recently deemed unconstitutional but is being appealed.
"Number two, very importantly, the type of weapon he purchased," Wintemute said. "The weapons he purchased are illegal in California. Could not have bought them legally here at whatever age,"
Third: California has a ten-day waiting period.
"So between purchase and actually picking up the weapon, there is a time for an adequate background check to be done and so forth," he continued.
Fourth, he says, is the state’s risk protection order.
"It's actually the model for laws in 17 other states," he explained. "During that 10-day waiting period, because this man (Ramos), as others have broadcast his intentions, there was the opportunity for someone to intervene and block the purchase of the weapons.”
Despite all of this though California has had the most mass shootings of any state.
“But we are also by far the most populous state," he said, "and if you look at our rate of mass shootings, it's actually on the low side. It's less than half of let's say, Florida.”
When it comes to overall gun violence, the CDC says it’s 67% higher in Texas than in California.
That doesn’t stop the fear though.
A PPIC study found that most Californians are afraid of mass shootings.
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