A Georgia gun shop owner said he is closing his store in the wake of several mass shootings targeting young children, as the country reels from recent attacks and an escalating rate of killings.
Jon Waldman, a gun shop owner in Duluth, Georgia, said that he had already closed his store and will have the gun inventory cleared out by 15 June, NBC News reported.
Waldman told NBC that recent mass shootings, one at a Christian school in Nashville and another attack at an Atlanta hospital, have weighed on his conscience as he has no control over what a customer could do with a purchased weapon.
\u201cI\u2019m not against the second amendment. But just with my conscience, I can\u2019t sell it, because I don\u2019t know who it\u2019s going to affect and hurt,\u201d Waldman said, referring to the constitutional right to bear arms in the US.
\u201cThat\u2019s what eats at me,\u201d Waldman added to NBC. \u201cIf it can happen, it\u2019s only a matter of time until it does happen.\u201d
On 27 March, a 28-year-old gunman killed three children and three adults at Covenant school, a Christian elementary school in Nashville. The 28-year-old shooter, a former student of the school, was killed by police.
Less than two months later, a 24-year-old man\u2002killed one person and injured four\u2002in an Atlanta hospital.
\u201cThat really affected me,\u201d Waldman told NBC, referring to the Covenant school shooting. \u201cAnd then the shooting at midtown [Atlanta] \u2013 this just has to stop. Dude killed a woman from the CDC who only wanted to help others. So I just can\u2019t. That was the final straw.\u201d
Friday marks national gun violence awareness day, as 2023 is on track\u2002to set a record for annual mass killings. The total is on pace to hit 60 this year, compared to 36 in 2022 and 28 in 2021.
Vice -President Kamala Harris will give remarks on Friday afternoon to mark the anti-gun violence day. Harris, joined by the education secretary, Miguel Cardona, will travel to Springfield, Virginia, to discuss the Biden administration\u2019s actions and aspirations on gun safety.
Joe Biden called afresh for action on gun violence last week, while giving remarks on the first anniversary of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
A total of 21 people \u2013 19 students and two teachers \u2013 were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde. The gunman was killed by police after a long delay when they held back from entering the building and then engaging the perpetrator.
Biden said that too many schools had become \u201ckilling fields\u201d, and urged Congress to pass a ban on assault riffles, military-grade weapons that are frequently used in mass shootings.
Meanwhile, Tennessee\u2019s governor, Bill Lee, attacked the National Riffle Association (NRA) as the state, which generally has very loose gun regulations, grapples with how to move forward.
Lee, a Republican, accused the gun lobby group of wanting to use involuntary commitment laws \u201cto round up mentally ill people and deprive them of other liberties\u201d, according to government documents.
The documents were obtained by the Associated Press\u2002via a public records request. The talking points were drafted by Lee\u2019s office in April, as the governor announced a gun control proposal.
Lee\u2019s office wrote in the memo that the NRA\u2019s plan \u201cdoes not get at the heart of the problem, as it fails to address unstable individuals who suffer from mental health issues but do not qualify for involuntary commitment to a facility\u201d.
Lee\u2019s comments criticizing the NRA are rare coming from a Republican, especially as the NRA helped Lee pass a 2021 law that allows people 21 and older to carry handguns without a permit in Tennessee.
In response to several shootings, Lee has proposed keeping firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others. His proposal has faced opposition from several rightwing groups, including the NRA.
But Lee has defended his proposal as the best way to support second amendment rights versus how proposals for involuntary commitment could threaten such rights and other liberties.
\u201cNot only is the NRA\u2019s proposal impractical \u2013 it would drastically expand the scope of government,\u201d read one of the memos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n