Headline: California mass killing raises troubling questions

They say in order to stop the next mass killing we need red flag laws. They say we need waiting periods. They say we need background checks for every firearm transfer. They say we need to ban standard-capacity magazines. They say there needs to be mandatory training before purchasing a firearm. They say we should limit the purchase of handguns to one-per-month. They say we need background checks for the purchase of ammunition. They say adults under the age of 21 shouldn't be allowed to purchase a firearm. These things, they say, will stop the next mass killing.

So what happens when they don't?

When they don't, intellectually honest people should be forced to ask themselves some hard questions. Like the questions being asked in California this month, where a man fatally shot his three daughters and a man at a California church despite EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE LAWS ALREADY BEING IN EFFECT THERE.

From the Associated Press:

The father who fatally shot his three daughters and a man at a California church this week repeatedly threatened to kill his estranged girlfriend and scared their girls so much they cried and one bit off her fingernails, according to a restraining order that was supposed to keep him away from guns and bullets.

But 39-year-old David Mora had both when he showed up Monday for a supervised visit with his daughters, ages 13, 10 and 9. He shot them, the chaperone he and his ex-girlfriend had agreed could oversee the weekly visits, and then himself.

The violence at The Church in Sacramento, a nondenominational Christian place of worship, raised troubling questions: How did Mora get a gun? Should his arrest a week earlier on felony charges have prompted postponement of his visitation? And what pushed him over the edge to commit such a heinous act two days before his middle daughter turned 11?

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has said little publicly about what investigators have learned. “We are not disclosing the type of weapon at this time. How he came to possess a firearm will be part of the investigation,” Sgt. Rodney Grassmann said in a text message Wednesday.

Mora's five-year restraining order barred him from possessing firearms, and on a court document he submitted he denied having any.

...

A five-year restraining order is the most significant of its type and underscores the threat he posed, [Faith Whitmore, chief executive of the Sacramento Regional Family Justice Center] Whitmore said. In her petition for the restraining order, the woman said he repeatedly threatened to kill her.

“Three years is sort of normal, or less. Five years means she (the court commissioner who issued the restraining order) is taking it very, very seriously,” Whitmore said.

All that gun control, and a criminal with violent intentions still gets a firearm. And California authorities can't figure out why:

Mora's restraining order and his arrest last week in Merced County would routinely have been entered into a law enforcement database, said Lee. She said the shooting less than a week later shows the lingering lack of communication despite legislators' efforts to close such gaps with a new law.

The shooting prompted promises from California state lawmakers to look for gaps in what advocates say are already the nation’s strictest gun regulations.

“How did this happen? Is there a loophole in law that we need to correct?” Democratic Assemblyman Mike Gipson asked.

“The legal system failed. We need to do better,” Democratic state Sen. Susan Rubio said.

Gun control laws fail because they are focused on the TOOL instead of on the CRIMINAL. California gives us still more proof that this fact won't change, no how many new gun control laws they pass to try and stop these terrible incidents from occurring.

Chad D. Baus served as Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary from 2013-2019, and continues to serve on the Board of Directors. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.