While we may consider ourselves a pretty “free” country, the United States does have a LOT of laws. Start with articles of the Constitution, Constitutional amendments, federal statutes, state statutes, municipal ordinances, federal regulations, state regulations, local regulations, executive orders, policies, by-laws, rules, and codes. The shelves stocked with books used as a backdrop in TV commercials for attorneys are legit–no one could possibly have all of those laws memorized. We have laws for everything ranging from who is eligible to be President all the way to what color the exterior the new Popeye’s Chicken building can be.
Some of those laws we just took from the English, who set up our first forms of government in the colonies. But the vast majority have been what I would call “reactionary laws”–meaning something bad happened and a bunch of people said “There oughta be a law against that!!” and so they voted to pass a law to keep that from happening again. And when it happened again, they passed another law. And when it happened again, they passed another law.
And yet, there are many among us who believe that all of society’s ills could be addressed if we had just “one more law”.
There would be no poverty if we just passed a “living wage law” (instead of the existing minimum wage law). We could have plenty of low-cost housing if we would just pass one new zoning code increasing density in all areas of cities. Large-scale public transportation projects would be easier to build if we just passed a law creating exemptions to a previous law on environmental study requirements. Colleges would be free for everyone if we just passed a law making them free. The pandemic never would have happened if we had just passed a law requiring social distancing practices–or a law requiring vaccination for everyone. We could pay for all government programs easily if we just added another couple of lines to the corporate tax code. Anyone anywhere at any point in a pregnancy could have an abortion if the Senate could just pass a law. All medical care would be free for everyone if we just passed a law making it free. There would be no cyber-bullying if we just passed a law holding social media platforms responsible for everything everyone posts on them. And people wouldn’t shoot each other if we passed another “common sense gun control law”.
That last one is back following this past weekend with the mass shootings in Buffalo and California, and the usual gun violence in Milwaukee. For our purposes today, let’s focus on Buffalo since that is the highest-profile of the incidents.
By my count, eight different laws or rules came into play concerning the shooter. There is a law against shooting and killing people. There is a law against shooting and injuring people. There is a law against targeting specific people for violence based on their ethnicity. There is a law that you must be at least 18-years old to purchase a rifle. There is a law against modifying a weapon to accept a large capacity magazine. There is a law in New York against the possession of a large capacity magazine. There is a law requiring a background check for all firearms purchases. There is a so-called “Red Flag Law” in New York that bars the purchase or possession of a firearm by someone just charged with–but not yet convicted of–certain crimes. And the store had a “no weapons allowed” policy.
The shooter obviously still shot and killed or injured people. He admitted to targeting Black people during his rampage. He waited until he was 18 to purchase his weapons. He posted in an on-line video how he modified the weapon to accept a 30-cartridge magazine instead of the required 10-cartridge magazine. We do not yet know how he acquired the magazine that is banned in New York. He passed the required background check. While there are reports that the shooter once threatened to carry out a school shooting, he was never criminally charged in that incident. And he brought the weapon into the store itself.
So eight laws or rules already on the books or posted for all to see did not prevent this shooting. Yet there were the comment sections, social media accounts, and the floors of Congress full of people saying if we just had “one more law, this never would have happened”.
