1. United States
2. Wisc.
3. Letter

I am devastated by the school shooting at the Catholic school in Minneapolis today. It hits close to home as I have four kids attending St Joe’s, the Catholic school here in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. I’d like to have a thoughtful discussion on what would work to prevent these mass shootings, and other causes of gun related violence, in the future. To me, banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines seems like a no brainer. I live in an area where lots of people hunt, but banning assault weapons wouldn’t impact their ability to hunt for sport at all, as far as I can tell. I’m also in support of policy that would introduce minimum age requirements for gun ownership, especially for assault weapons. It feels like there are way too many isolated and angry young men in their teens and 20s who gain access to these weapons far too easily, often with lethal consequences. Sometimes the consequence is a mass shooting. Sometimes it is suicide. Either way, it is a tragedy. Let’s give the prefrontal cortex of these young people more time to develop before we give them something so powerful, I wonder about “red flag” laws- does Wisconsin have one of these? Such a law would allow law enforcement, families, or mental health providers to petition the courts to restrict a persons access to firearms if there is concern for harm. I’d like to hear what approach Wisconsin has toward reducing gun violence, and I’d like to hear what strategies you favor.