Some thoughts on the Colorado Springs Club Q shooting. THREAD:
(1) What do we actually know?
The 22-year-old suspect had an hours-long standoff with a crisis response team in June 2021 after threatening to harm his mother with a bomb and “other weapons.”
No bombs were found. He was arrested and charged with several felonies. The local prosecutor’s office did not pursue those charges, the case wasn’t adjudicated, and the records were sealed. It’s thoroughly unclear why this outcome occurred, or with what potential conditions.
It appears there are records for him buying at least two firearms – one rifle and one handgun – but it’s not clear when those purchases occurred. Notably, reports are that police recovered two guns from the suspect: one rifle and one unspecified.
The suspect showed up at the club as an obvious would-be gunman, wearing a “flak jacket” with what witnesses have described as at least six magazines and openly wielding the rifle. He opened fire immediately.
Two unarmed patrons very heroically ran toward the suspect and subdued him, likely saving many lives at great risk to their own.
We also know that Colorado:
– prohibits the sale, transfer, & possession of 15+ round magazines
– requires universal background checks
– has red flag laws
– allows substantial gun regulation at a local level
and a number of other gun control wishlist items
In fact, Colorado is universally ranked above-average by gun control groups and was #13 the last time I checked for “gun law strength.”
(2) What don’t we know?
We don’t know why the local prosecutor declined to pursue charges or why records were sealed. We don’t know whether he was referred to mental health treatment.
We don’t know a whole lot else about the suspect’s past, period.
It’s pretty safe to assume that someone who spends hours in a standoff with a crisis response team and forces the evacuation of his neighborhood is not, in that moment, a stable human in a healthy mental or emotional place. There’s a good argument that he shouldn’t have guns.
It doesn’t appear that any red flag petitions were sought, though this isn’t particularly surprising given that Colorado has one of the lowest usage rates out of all states with red flag laws and the local sheriff one said his department wouldn’t file any.
Colorado Springs police have filed 2 petitions since 2019. So if a family member didn’t file one, no one else was likely to do so, either.
Regardless, any such petition would have needed to be renewed at least twice since summer 2021 to be active today.
So it’s not at all clear that, without additional concerning actions on the suspect’s part, he wouldn’t have had his guns returned under the law by now, anyway. In other words, we’re still in a waiting game, and need a lot more information.
(3) What still doesn’t matter?
It’s utterly irrelevant whether his rifle had a pistol grip, collapsing stock, or barrel shroud [i.e., whether he used an “assault weapon” rifle or “non-assault weapon” rifle]. Don’t fall for this trap.
Any person shot with an “assault weapon” rifle will sustain the exact same injuries as a person shot with a “featureless, non-assault weapon” rifle. Why? Because it will be the same caliber round, leaving the rifle with the exact same muzzle velocity, impacting with same energy.
AW bans do NOT mean a ban on civilians possessing semi-automatic rifles chambered in .223/5.56. They merely mean that your semi-automatic rifle chambered in .223/5.56 may not also have features like a pistol grip or collapsing stock, none of which affect victim injuries. Period.
