34 UnitedStates TheEconomistMay28th 2022
duceduniversalbackgroundchecksonall
gunsalesfailedintheSenate.Therehas
beenlittlefederalactiononguncontrol,
because of Congress’s unwillingness to
staredownthebarrelofthenra, whichre
mainsinfluentialinWashingtondespite
thegroup’sownfinancialandreputational
problems.Inordertogetthingsdone,Mr
Bidenhastriedtochangepolicybyexecu
tive order, including regulating “ghost
guns”thatcanbeassembledfromparts
boughtonlineandwhichhadpreviously
evadedregulation.
Moreactionhasoccurredatthestate
level.Forexample,aftertheshootingat
MarjoryStonemanDouglasHighSchoolin
Parkland, Florida, in 2018, many states
passednew guncontrollaws, including
the Republicanled Sunshine State. But
therehasalsobeenalooseningofrules.
Texas has embraced “permitless carry”
laws,which allow people to carry guns
aroundinpublicwithnopermitortrain
ing.Intheabsenceofstrongerfederalleg
islation,placeswithstifferrestrictionssee
theresultsoftheireffortsdilutedbyanti
guncontrolstates.Thisiswhythereisan
“iron pipeline” of guns trafficked from
statesintheSouthwithfewerrestrictions
to those in the northeast which have
stricterpolicies,saysMrSakran.
AlthoughtheshootinginUvaldebreaks
hearts,willit changeminds?Aspoliticians
prevaricate,moregunscirculate. During
2020 and 2021, an estimated 43m guns
were sold in America. Universal back
groundcheckswouldbethemostmean
ingfulreform—thoughanelusiveoneina
dividedCongress.SomeDemocratswant
tolengthenthewaitingperiodforgunpur
chases.Currentlythefbihasthreedaysto
conducta backgroundcheckfora gunsold
bya federallylicensedgundealer,andifit
doesnotobjectinthatquickwindow,the
buyerreceiveshisfirearm.Thishappened
withtheassailantinagrimshootingin
Charlestonin2015.
ThemostlikelychangeoutofWashing
toncouldcomesoonfromtheSupreme
Court,whichisgoingtoruleona casere
gardingtheconstitutionalityofNewYork’s
restrictions on people’s ability to carry
gunsinpublic.Manyexpectthecourtto
ruleagainstNewYork,makingiteasierfor
individualsto carryfirearmsandpoten
tiallyleadingtomorestates’gunrestric
tionsbeingstruckdown.
MessingwithTexas
InTexas,voterswillsoonbeabletoindi
catewhethertheyarecontenttotolerate
thestatusquo.Inthewakeoftwomass
shootingsin2019,MrAbbottpromisedto
lookintosolutionsforavoidingfutureat
tacksbutfailedtoact,insteadsigningper
mitlesscarry into law.Beto O’Rourke,a
Democratwhoisrunningforgovernor,has
madeguncontrolcentraltohispolitical
career(heconfrontedMrAbbottata news
conferenceinUvaldeonMay25th).Buthis
chancesofvictoryagainstMrAbbottare
low,andthereislittlehecoulddotoregu
lategunsina Republicancontrolledstate
legislatureanyway.
OnMay27ththenraiskickingoffits
annualconference,withspeakersinclud
ingMrAbbott,TedCruz,a Republicansen
atorfromTexas,andformerPresidentDo
naldTrump.ThattheUvaldeatrocityand
thenra’sgatheringwilloccurinthesame
state,inthesame week,is asymbolof
America’sdivisionsanddysfunction.n
Too many tragedies
Sources:MotherJones;pressreports
*Shootingswiththreeormorefatalitiesexcludingperpetrator(s).BeforeJanuary 2013,
withfourormorefatalities.Notcomprehensive †At4amEST,May 25th
United States, number of fatalities from mass shootings*
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1982 85 90 95 2000 05 10 15 20 22 †
21 McDonald’srestaurant,
SanYsidro,CA
13 Columbine
HighSchool
Littleton,CO
32 VirginiaTech
Blacksburg ,VA
12 Movietheatre,Aurora,CO
27 SandyHookElementarySchool,
Newtown,CT
26 First Baptist Church
Sutherland Springs, TX
23 Walmart
ElPaso,TX
17 MarjoryStoneman
DouglasHigh School
Parkland,FL
21 Robb
Elementary
School
Uvalde, TX
10 Tops
Friendly
Markets
Bualo, NY
14 InlandRegionalCentre,
SanBernardino,CA
49 Pulse nightclub
Orlando, FL
5 Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas, NV
Individual incident
Incident with more than ten fatalities
9 African Methodist Episcopal
church, Charleston, SC
23 Luby ’s cafeteria
Killeen, TX
Georgiaprimaries
A slap for Trump
F
or thebetter part of a decade, the con
tingent of Americans hopeful that Do
nald Trump’s spell over the Republican
Party would soon break have been dealt
setback after setback. The night of May
24th proved to be a respite. In two closely
watched Republican primary elections
held in the state of Georgia, two incum
bents—Brian Kemp, the governor, and Brad
Raffensperger, the secretary of state—
managed to keep their seats despite vigor
ous challengers stirred up by the former
president. Is the Trump wizardry waning?
Before 2020, both Mr Kemp and Mr Raf
fensperger were seen as rockribbed Re
publicans. But when Mr Trump could not
face the fact that he had narrowly lost
Georgia to Joe Biden, he and his surrogates
resorted to a campaign of extraordinary
pressure on the state’s top election officials
to reverse the result. When they refused,
they earned the president’s permanent ire.
In the end, it was not particularly close.
Mr Kemp won 73.7% of his vote, smashing
David Perdue—an ultrawealthy former
business executive and senator. Mr Perdue,
who unconvincingly reinvented himself as
a conspiratorial nationalist with no dis
cernible character traits save Trumpism,
has probably authored his permanent and
ignominious exit from politics. By a small
er margin of 19 percentage points, Mr Raf
fensperger fended off a challenge from Jo
dy Hice, a pastor and congressman whose
higher calling appears to be chanting about
fraud in the 2020 election and returning
Mr Trump to power.
However real, the repudiation is not
wholesale. Early data show that registered
Democrats, who are allowed to participate
in Georgia’s open primary, came out in re
cord numbers—not enough to seriously
dilute the heavily Republican electorate,
but perhaps enough for Mr Raffensperger
to avoid a runoff. (There is no doubt that
even among true Republicans, Mr Kemp
delivered a walloping to Mr Perdue.)
More importantly, the race was not a
referendum on Trumpism. Both men were
careful never to betray any animosity to
wards the former president. “I’m not mad
at him. I think he’s just mad at me,” Mr
Kemp said before the vote. He received an
endorsement visit from Mike Pence, the
former vicepresident whom Mr Trump
now despises because he, too, would not
overturn a democratic election. “In all the
TrumpPence administration, there was no
ATLANTA
The triumph of two Republicans the
former president tried to oust