In 2014, Hidalgo County issued 2,738 firearm licenses. In the same year there were 3,492 trauma hospitalizations due to firearms in the state of Texas.
During the summer of 2015, 11 police officers were shot and five were killed in Dallas. This has been the deadliest incident for law enforcement since 9/11. Gun control has been an issue debated for many years. Awareness for gun control gained popularity in 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Local resident’s fear and push for gun control
This past weekend at the HEB in Palmview, Raul Lopez, 25, fatally shot one man. Three other employees were hospitalized. According to police, Lopez claimed he only wanted to scare his co-workers and did not target anyone specific; he was paranoid and thought that everyone was out to get him. Lopez was mentally unstable the night of the shooting, with no previous criminal record.
Nearby residents were worried and shocked that this incident happened so close to their homes. HEB is located right next to two neighborhoods off Expressway 83. Berenice Gonzalez, 21-year-old resident of Palmview, was in her home only a few blocks away from HEB when the incident occurred.
“It seems to be that anyone can get a hold of a firearm even if they are not mentally stable. The man was saying how he was paranoid and all, and if that’s true he should not be near a gun at all,” said Gonzalez, during an interview with me at a local coffee shop. “This really is making me think about how gun control is an issue we need to concentrate on and make a real change, especially here in the Valley, where it seems like every week there is a new gun-related crime on the breaking news. We need to make sure guns stay out of the hands of wrong people.”
Loopholes in gun regulation
For those who are protecting their right to bear arms, mass shootings are only fortifying their argument, “If someone would have had a firearm then the incident could have been stopped.”
Sean Garza, 28, has been in the United States Air Force for 12 years. When he enlisted he began to understand the importance of the second amendment, but he also began to understand what it meant to own a firearm and how it can easily get into the wrong hands.
“I feel safer when I am able to carry my gun, for a lot of people this is a false feeling of security, but to those of us that have been trained, it could be the difference between life or death, whether for ourselves, families or innocent bystanders,” said Garza who has become an advocate for gun rights since joining the military. I interviewed Garza over the phone. “I feel our current requirements to legally purchase a firearm are adequate, the only real issue existing is the loophole which exists when it comes to gun shows and conventions where as long as you can get in, you can buy a gun, as well as private selling which there really is no true way to relegate, only thing that needs to improve is the individual dealer, they must be more vigilant when selling a weapon even if the background checks are approved.”
Gun regulations and recent mass shootings
As of recently gun control has been a growing debate because of mass shootings that have occurred in schools and universities, such as in Newtown, Connecticut where 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between the ages of six and seven, and six adult staff members of Sandy Hook Elementary in 2014.
Many gun owners feel that gun regulation should be left as is, but with more and more gun violence occurring, they are changing their minds on regulations. Gregory Yacobain, 22-year-old music major at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and gun rights activist is one who believes the system is flawed and that more steps should be taken in order to legally purchase a gun.
“As a gun owner I may be on the minority here, but I believe we need more stringent steps added to the gun purchasing process. When my father and I purchased our guns, we both underwent a background check,” said Yacobain who is of Hispanic and Middle Eastern descent, in an interview I conducted with Yacobain over email “A system should be established by all the states that forbids anyone with past felonies, or domestic abuse, to own a firearm. At the purchase of their first firearm, individuals should go through a free government course on gun safety, public vs. private use and police interaction when in possession of a firearm. The reason so many are against such a system is for fear of government abuse. The government now gets to decide for us, and we don’t like it.”
Both Garza and Yacobain are pro-gun rights, but agree that regulations on who can and cannot own firearms should be stricter. Many of the crimes that happen in Hidalgo County involve a firearm, most of which are bought illegally. With only 2,738-licensed gun owners in the county, the HEB incident shook the community.
“Getting rid of guns would essentially increase a sort of black market for arms, creating a bigger problem for law enforcement. You still need guns, but have additional age requirements, background checks, and mental evaluations,” said Sanders, 24-year-old barista who has been pro gun control since the rise of gun violence in the past four years. “There is no reason a regular citizen should be walking around with an assault weapon while shopping with family.”
Many gun rights activists feel that they need their firearms for protection from the government, the bigger power in play, and many gun control activists also feel that firearms should not be banned, simply more regulated.
“Getting rid of guns will not solve the issue, criminals will find a way, and for all the stories that exist about gun related crimes, there are a lot of crime prevention because there were guns in the right hands that the main stream media does not show,” Garza said. “To take guns out of the hands of civilians is never the answer, a country where just those in charge are armed is not somewhere I would feel safe.”