It’s the guns

The shooting at the Bite of Seattle on Sunday night has drawn attention to the continued youth violence epidemic as it killed at least three, including one of the suspected shooters (19), while a 15 year old suspect that was detained on Tuesday; and there’s a potential third suspect on the loose. While prosecutors are moving forward with illegal gun possession charges for the child, the fact that they were so easily able to obtain a gun is what made this shooting possible.

Seven people were shot in the cross fire, including a two year old, according to Seattle mayor Katie Wilson. The shooting occurred near the International Fountain in the Seattle Center on Sunday night. Three guns were recovered from the crime scene, including an illegal ghost gun – two of the three guns appeared to be the ones that were fired. There were seven causalties with one still in critical condition in hospital as of Tuesday morning.

Seattle Police arrested the 15 year old at the scene after the shooting had stopped. Currently, it is believed that the violence may have been gang-related as the police try to identify the groups that were involved.

Youth gang violence is a serious issue that results from the massive economic disadvantage young people are at in this country compared to previous generations. But the unique nature of this epidemic in the United States is the proliferation of gang shootouts that result in mass casualties among the innocent bystanders. This type of shooting is relatively rare in Washington State, thanks to our gun laws, but inconsistent regulations between states have combined with federal regulations that have lagged have created an environment where we have to fear this potential every time we go into a public space.

A map of the United States showing mortality rates by firearm per 100,000 total population for the year 2024. The states are color-coded: light yellow indicates 2.1 to less than 8.46 deaths, yellow for 8.46 to less than 14.82, orange for 14.82 to less than 21.18, dark orange for 21.18 to less than 27.54, and red for 27.54 to 33.9 deaths. — Screenshot

U.S. map displaying different states shaded in varying tones of blue, categorized by labels A, B, C, D, and F. — Screenshot

While there are some glaring outliers – Texas has weak gun laws and a low fire arm mortality rate, while Colorado have strong gun laws with high mortality rates – there is an overwhelming pattern of states that have weak gun laws also have higher mortality rates due to guns. This trend is also true for violent crime, armed robbery, and sexual assault. As a result, it makes the border areas between states between strong gun laws and weak gun laws more dangerous than the rest of the state because of guns legally being purchased and then brought across state lines.

Yes, guns are a tool; but they’re a tool that makes murder and violent crime more accessible for the average person.

To reduce these mass shootings, and crime in general, we need to get guns out of circulation and better fund the agencies that track these sales. The usage of an untraceable ghost guns shows how weak the response has been from the Republican Party to the continual threats that unchecked fire arm sales pose to the American way of life. Instead of working with the Obama Administration when the sale of AR15 kits started swell in the aftermath of the Sandyhook Elementary shooting, they obstructed and blocked all efforts until Democrats were able to regain control of the House, Senate, and Oval Office in January, 2021; for nearly 10 years, ghost guns were allowed to legally be sold without serial numbers or back ground checks in this country…which also made it so that these kits could easily be 3D printed.

There is one thing that will drastically cut into the violent crime rates in this country, and it’s federal restrictions on access to firearms. Until that happens, these mass shootings and gang shootouts will continue to occur while the city, county, and state governments struggle against budget deficits to address the other underlying issues that contribute to these problems.