The gun safety compromise contains a clause that could have prevented a family trauma

While I had hoped Congressional action on gun safety would have banned the sale of weapons of war to those under 21 years of age, if passed, it still addresses the issue in a broader way. The compromise on gun safety legislation that appears to have been made over the weekend has an element that would possibly have prevented a tragedy in our own family and in a friend's family as well.  .  The element: concerned requiring an enhanced background check on those under 21 years of age buying a gun of any kind. and a pause in the purchase until the check is completed.  The element includes reporting any juvenile records as well. While mass shootings are usually committed by AR15s and weapons of war, there are still shootings that involve 18-year-olds legally buying shotguns.  While the use of weapons of war makes it possible for a shooter to wipe out a whole classroom, there are school shootings that involve shotguns, as well.  In Colorado, only those over 21 years can purchase handguns, thanks to a law dating to prior years.  

 A granddaughter was in the next classroom in a Denver suburb, Centennial, when a school shooter at Arapahoe High took his own life.  It was then I became acutely aware the survivors of gun violence have wounds, too. Some never heal. She has been seeking professional mental health services ever since and was diagnosed with PTSD.  So has her mother, a teacher in the Columbine school district, who witnessed her daughter in another suburban district led by police officers out of the school building. Both had  part of the mental health professional services paid by the county sheriff's office because they were considered victims of a crime.  The wounds of survivors and their families can last a lifetime.   The Arapahoe High School shooting did result in a law passed in Colorado to hold the school responsible for taking action when they knew or suspected a student was a potential danger, as it was in this case, but the law had flaws.  School Administrators Unsure How To Protect Students Under New Law | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org) 

 Report: Arapahoe High School staff ignored warning signs before 2013 shooting - CBS News

     Kendrick Castillo's parents sue STEM School Highlands Ranch over 2019 shooting in possible first test of Claire Davis Act (denverpost.com) (The Castillo case also had a personal connection. A friend of mine's daughter's boyfriend was the person the shooter intended to kill, but Castillo's actions that took his own life prevented the shooter from reaching his goal.)  

More thoughts on weapons of war

Arapahoe High shooting reports detail 3 major failures in procedures – The Denver Post