St. Louis school gunman armed with AR-15, 600+ rounds

Opponents of gun violence on Tuesday urged Americans to vote for Democratic candidates who support commonsense safety measures after law enforcement officials said that the 19-year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a 15-year-old student at a St. Louis high school carried an AR-15-style rifle and more than 600 rounds of ammunition.

Orlando Harris entered Central Visual and Performing Arts High School on Monday and opened fire, killing sophomore Alexandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka and wounding seven students. Police officers killed Harris, who graduated from the school last year, in an exchange of gunfire.

“This could have been much worse,” St. Louis Police Commissioner Michael Sack said during a Tuesday news conference, noting that Harris carried almost a dozen 30-round high-capacity magazines.

Mom, teacher, and Democratic Minnesota House of Representatives candidate Erin Preese pointed out on social media that metal detectors, locks, and armed guards—the purported solutions routinely offered up by GOP lawmakers—failed to stop “yet another school shooting.”

“We don’t have to live this way,” wrote Preese. “Vote for lawmakers who will stand up to the gun lobby. Our kids lives depend on it.”

Preese also shared a message from Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, which is part of Everytown. Both groups advocate for enacting popular policies to help end the epidemic of gun violence plaguing communities across the United States.

“Republicans will tell you the solution is some more guns,” Watts tweeted. “On November 8, you need to tell them they’re full of shit,” she added, referring to the pivotal midterm elections that will determine control of Congress in two weeks.

While the U.S. is a highly atomized society, people in other countries also struggle with social isolation and depression but rarely carry out mass shootings. What sets the U.S. apart, experts have long argued, is that it is a nation awash in weapons designed to kill people quickly.

There are more guns than people in the U.S., and due to National Rifle Association-bankrolled Republicans’ opposition to meaningful gun safety laws, it remains relatively easy for people to purchase firearms in many states.

As the AP reported, “Monday’s school shooting was the 40th this year resulting in injuries or death, according to a tally by Education Week—the most in any year since it began tracking shootings in 2018.”

According to tracking by Everytown, however, “there have been more than 140 shootings on school grounds so far in 2022—each one preventable.”

Studies have shown that gun regulations with high levels of public support, including bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, help reduce the number and severity of fatal mass shootings.

Guns recently became the leading cause of death among children and teens in the U.S.