Madison school shooting; Biden calls for stronger gun control laws
MILWAUKEE - President Joe Biden is calling for more gun laws in light of the fatal Madison school shooting.
He's calling for universal background checks and a national red flag law.
The suspected Abundant Life Christian School shooter has been identified as Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name "Samantha" – a 15-year-old student at the school. At this time, police are working to determine Rupnow’s motive.
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This is an all too common cycle; school shooting, followed by calls for change and then debates about whether those proposals would have actually helped. Wisconsin law doesn't allow a teen under 18 to buy a pistol.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said a teen in Wisconsin under 18 cannot possess a gun, but there are exceptions when supervised by an adult during target practice or hunting.
Another group, Sandy Hook Promise, finds that 68% of gun cases at schools nationwide were guns taken from home, a friend or a relative.
Madison school shooting; Natalie Rupnow, what we know about her
Who is 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow – and how did she end up at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison?
Questions and answers
Jason Calvi: Would the president's proposals about universal background checks and red flag laws have helped? And what can lawmakers in Wisconsin do?
Wisconsin Firearm Owners Association President Rob Kovach: She didn’t buy a pistol, as we know, because she wouldn’t be able to have access to one. So there would have been no background checks in this case. It wouldn’t have been helpful.
Wisconsin Firearm Owners Association President Rob Kovach
Calvi: What could a red flag law, background check law do to actually stop this girl from getting a gun?
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.): You’re asking the wrong question, which exactly goes to my point. We’re ignoring gun violence, we’re ignoring we’re the number one nation for mass shootings on the planet. And there are things we need to do by first accepting that we have a problem.
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Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison): What can we do from a preventive perspective and I think that is the angle and the strategy to get that partnership across the aisle. What can we do from an educational perspective, right? What can we do with the bills that have already been introduced that may need a little more tweaking on it.
Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison)
Calvi: What do you say needs to happen next to protect our children?
Kovach: JD Vance said in one of his public appearances that we need to get mental health to kids even at an earlier age. We need to do better to protect their mental health.
Stubbs: I think we need to start from a public health perspective. What we agree on is how people are living, what we have to agree on is mental health services. If people need the services, let’s make sure we have enough.