Democrats who represent Georgia in the state’s general assembly as well as the U.S. Congress said this week that recent mass shootings, including the one in Atlanta, necessitate either more gun control or hate crimes laws.
State Sen. Michelle Au (D-Johns Creek), for instance, filed SB 309, a bill this week that would, if enacted into law, mandate a five-day waiting period for anyone who wants to purchase or transfer certain firearms.
“Licensed importers, licensed manufacturers, and licensed dealers shall, during normal business hours, make records available for inspection by any law enforcement agency for purposes of any criminal investigation,” according to the language of the bill.
Anyone who “uses fraud or false representation to avoid the requirements” is guilty of a felony and could serve one to five years in prison, the bill said.
In Congress, meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) responded to this week’s mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado in an emailed press release.
“Survivors, families, and communities across the country are tired of Republicans in the Senate playing politics with people’s lives. 90 percent of the country supports universal background checks, and we will no longer accept the inaction of those who wish to deny the American people the safety they yearn for,” McBath said.
McBath is co-sponsoring H.R. 8, also known as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. She is also co-sponsoring H.R. 1446, also known as the Enhanced Background Checks Act. Both bills passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA-07), in a newsletter to her constituents Wednesday, referred to last week’s massage parlor shootings in Atlanta.
“While we don’t yet know the motivations behind these crimes, it is no secret that violence related to misogyny and anti-Asian hate has been on the rise in our country for some time,” Bourdeaux wrote.
Bourdeaux said she has signed on to the following three bills:
• H.R. 1843, COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act: Bourdeaux said this bill would provide greater oversight of COVID-19 hate crimes by requiring U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to require expedited reviews of COVID-19 hate crimes. The bill, she went on to say, would also issue guidance to state and local law enforcement agencies to establish an online reporting system and public education campaigns.
• H.R. 1834, the Hate Crimes Commission Act of 2021: Bourdeaux said this bill would create a bipartisan commission of six Republicans and six Democrats to investigate the national rise in hate crimes, its factors, the impact of underreporting on hate crime statistics, and what policies can mitigate the trend. She said this commission will submit a report to Congress recommending policies that address these crimes.
• H.Res 151: A House resolution that formally condemns and denounces all forms of anti-Asian sentiment. The bill, according to the language, emphasizes that the health and safety of Americans is of top priority, regardless of background. Bourdeaux said the bill also condemns all manifestations and expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, anti-Asian sentiment, scapegoating, and ethnic or religious intolerance.
The political left’s prevailing narrative is that the Atlanta shootings, which left eight victims dead, six of whom were of Asian descent, were a “hate crime” against the Asian community. But the gunman, 21-year-old Robert Alan Long of Woodstock, reportedly confessed that he targeted the massage parlors because they fed into his own sexual addiction, not because of the race of those operating them.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
