Latest wave of mass shootings sparks new debate over U.S. gun access

Read the Full Transcript

• Geoff Bennett:

  As Vice President Kamala Harris meets with the families of those killed in the Monterey Park, California, shooting, many are grappling with the toll it's taking on their community.

  Personal memorials in that city and in Half Moon Bay, the site of a second mass shooting this week, are growing. Beyond the mourning and reflection, many say it's a moment yet again to focus on gun access.

  John Yang has that part of the story tonight.

• John Yang:

  Geoff, it's a number that bears repeating. This year is only 25 days old, and, already, there have been at least 40 mass shootings in the United States. In fact, there have been more this January than any other January in nearly a decade.

  For Asian Americans, this past week has been especially painful. All 11 victims in the Monterey Park shooting were of Asian descent.

  Gloria Pan is the senior vice president of MomsRising, a group which works on gun safety. She's also a key member of the AAPI Against Gun Violence Coalition.

  Gloria, I know you had a news conference earlier today. You acknowledged in that — your group acknowledged in that there is no one single solution for these mass shootings. But are there any changes that you think could be done quickly that could make a difference?

• Gloria Pan, AAPI Against Gun Violence Coalition:

  We need comprehensive gun policy reform. But that's not going to happen, because we have a culture problem.

  There's big resistance to any kind of reform. The fact that high-capacity magazines and assault weapons are in civilian circulation is a symptom of that problem. So, I would love to see a ban on that. If we could accomplish that quickly, that would indicate that we're moving in the right direction to get the comprehensive reform that we need.

• John Yang:

  But how do you address the bigger issue of the gun culture?

  You mentioned that we're in a gun culture, that culture is part of the problem.

• Gloria Pan:

  There is a culture that very much believes that everyone should have a gun, everyone should have a gun. And it doesn't matter if you're not trained. It doesn't matter if you don't store it right.

  And that culture is a problem. And that culture actually is part of the opposition to any kind of gun policy reform in Washington, D.C. So, we need to start softening that culture, so that we can get the comprehensive reform that we need, because, until we can change that culture, we're not going to get it.

• John Yang:

  And since the pandemic began, we have seen reports that more Asian Americans are buying guns in response to the threats and the actual incidents against Asian Americans. Does that give you concern?

• Gloria Pan:

  I'm very concerned about that.

  Historically, Asian Americans have had the lowest rates of gun ownership. And because of that, we have actually had the lowest rates of gun violence in our communities. We have had the lowest rates of gun injury and gun deaths.

  And we'd like to keep it that way. The more guns there are within our community, the more likelihood that there will be this kind of harm against our community and within our community.

• John Yang:

  But then how do you address their fears, their concerns of violence against the community?

• Gloria Pan:

  It's a very tough time.

  And, of course, every person experiences this kind of trauma differently. If a gun makes you feel safer, I mean, I don't really push very hard against that, because I understand that. But the actual defensive use of guns is really not very high. And the fact that there is a gun as part of your life increases the risk of harm.

  I think that, to feel safer, we need to be in community and hold each other closer, and just try to do the best we can to be safe and to feel safe.

• John Yang:

  You say that, when the guns are around there, there's a greater chance of harm.

  You — we focus so much on mass shootings, but, as you have pointed out and others have pointed out, that access to guns also leads to higher incidence of suicide. And you pointed out that the rate of suicide — or that suicide is the leading cause of death among Asian Americans aged 15 to 24.

  How do we address that?

• Gloria Pan:

  I do know that, when a gun is involved, the likelihood of successful suicide rises dramatically.

  So, in our low gun-owning community, we should try to make sure that the guns are not accessible. We do not want to see the accessibility to guns actually lead to higher rates of successful suicide.

• John Yang:

  You talked earlier about the need for stricter gun safety laws, but California has some of the most aggressive gun safety laws in the nation, yet, in the last two weeks, we have seen three mass shootings there.

  How do you reconcile the two things?

• Gloria Pan:

  Well, in California, the gun laws actually work.

  California is the largest state in the country, and yet they have the eighth lowest rate of harm from guns. So, it works. The problem is that guns flow from state to state. It's very, very easy to get a gun. We need national reform in order to decrease gun violence everywhere, including in states where there are already gun laws.

  We can — California would have even lower gun violence if we did not have a national problem.

• John Yang:

  Gloria Pan of MomsRising and AAPI Against Gun Violence Coalition, thank you very much.

• Gloria Pan:

  Thank you.

Improved audio player available on our mobile page