A New Look at Gun Control
As the nation continues to mourn the loss of the ten people who were killed in the Oregon shooting, officials once again bring gun control into light.
One Gulfport woman who knows first-hand the effects of gun violence tells News 25 that a new look at gun control in the state could be a good idea.
The sting of gun violence is all too real for Gulfport resident Trinity Hall. In July, her brother Mark Fairly was shot and killed in a Biloxi parking lot in broad daylight. Before this tragedy, her stance on gun control was a little different. “Before my stance was ‘guns don’t kill people, people kill people.’ I still believe that because it takes a person to squeeze the trigger but at the same time, nobody should be able to walk into somewhere and be able to purchase a gun.”
In Mississippi in order to own a gun, a person must first possess a clean criminal background with no history of drug abuse and show no signs of mental instability. Trinity Hall things current rules could be slightly stricter by putting a few enhancements in place. “It definitely needs to be more things done, like more questions maybe, more thorough, in depth background checks. Maybe even mental evaluations.”
With the recent Oregon shooting still on the hearts and minds of Americans, mental illness definitely becomes an issue discussed. Senator Sean Tindell said, “I think we need to look at the mental health issues. That’s what I think had led to a lot of these incidents occurring across the county are from people that are suffering from mental issues.”
So, should Mississippi start thinking about stricter gun laws to prevent tragedies related to gun violence? Tindell doesn’t think so. “I don’t think it’s going to change anything at all. Bad people are going to do bad things and whether they’re using a gun, they’re using a knife, or they’re using a baseball bat. Those people are going to have those same capabilities and what we don’t want to do is start infringing on just because a few people are doing a few bad things.”
Although there are no easy answers to prevent gun tragedies from happening, some local representatives are hoping to start a conversation to stop these senseless acts before they happen here. Representative Sonya-Williams Barnes spent the day in contact with other states to see how Mississippi can improve gun laws before a tragedy strikes here.
One Gulfport woman who knows first-hand the effects of gun violence tells News 25 that a new look at gun control in the state could be a good idea.
The sting of gun violence is all too real for Gulfport resident Trinity Hall. In July, her brother Mark Fairly was shot and killed in a Biloxi parking lot in broad daylight. Before this tragedy, her stance on gun control was a little different. “Before my stance was ‘guns don’t kill people, people kill people.’ I still believe that because it takes a person to squeeze the trigger but at the same time, nobody should be able to walk into somewhere and be able to purchase a gun.”
In Mississippi in order to own a gun, a person must first possess a clean criminal background with no history of drug abuse and show no signs of mental instability. Trinity Hall things current rules could be slightly stricter by putting a few enhancements in place. “It definitely needs to be more things done, like more questions maybe, more thorough, in depth background checks. Maybe even mental evaluations.”
With the recent Oregon shooting still on the hearts and minds of Americans, mental illness definitely becomes an issue discussed. Senator Sean Tindell said, “I think we need to look at the mental health issues. That’s what I think had led to a lot of these incidents occurring across the county are from people that are suffering from mental issues.”
So, should Mississippi start thinking about stricter gun laws to prevent tragedies related to gun violence? Tindell doesn’t think so. “I don’t think it’s going to change anything at all. Bad people are going to do bad things and whether they’re using a gun, they’re using a knife, or they’re using a baseball bat. Those people are going to have those same capabilities and what we don’t want to do is start infringing on just because a few people are doing a few bad things.”
Although there are no easy answers to prevent gun tragedies from happening, some local representatives are hoping to start a conversation to stop these senseless acts before they happen here. Representative Sonya-Williams Barnes spent the day in contact with other states to see how Mississippi can improve gun laws before a tragedy strikes here.
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