“We don’t have to live like this,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, presidential candidate, after the horrific school shooting in Georgia that killed four people, two adults and two teens, and wounded nine others.

And in California, we choose not to live with extreme gun violence. We are 25% less likely to die in a mass shooting than elsewhere in the country.

Imagine if Georgia had the gun violence restraining order, also known as a “red flag” law, that we have here. That order temporarily prevents someone at risk of self-harm or harm to others from possessing or purchasing guns and ammunition.

The FBI has said that the alleged Georgia school shooter and his father were questioned last year. Jackson County sheriff’s officials investigated after they received anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting. But nothing was done, possibly because those law enforcement officials did not have the legal tools we have here like the gun violence restraining order.

If they did, then the assault weapon style gun (AR-15) that was just used at Apalachee High School near Winder, Georgia, perhaps would not have been available to the accused 14-year-old shooter; and Mason Schermerhorn, Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie would still be alive.

Gun violence restraining orders have been shown to be an effective tool to prevent mass shootings and firearm suicide in California. According to the California Governor’s Office, this order has been used to prevent 58 threatened mass shootings in the first three years since implementation, and no suicides occurred among those receiving the order over that period.

Those closest to someone in crisis may be the first to see warning signs. By expanding the list of those who can obtain a temporary gun violence restraining order, more Californians are now able to intervene to prevent a potentially harmful or deadly event from occurring.

California has implemented the nation’s strongest gun safety measures and made historic investments to reduce gun violence and firearm suicide. The state has cut its gun death rate in half and Californians are 25% less likely to die in a mass shooting compared to people in other states (California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Feb. 14, 2023).

Common sense tools such as background checks, mental health reporting, age restrictions and a waiting period are all in effect here. As of June of this year, the assault weapons ban in California was still in effect despite efforts to overturn it (Governor’s Office, June 2024).

Why would anyone in their right mind want to make the weapons of war such as assault weapons generally available? These weapons have one purpose and that is killing people. Opponents of such a ban cite the Second Amendment, but it is an absolute fact that two and a half centuries ago there were no assault weapons and bump stocks.

The authors of the Constitution did not want to facilitate mass shootings. Of that I am certain.

Shame on those who do.

Susan Thistlethwaite has been published in the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Huffington Post. She is the retired president of Chicago Theological Seminary as well as a retired tenured professor. These days she writes mystery novels. She and her husband live in Santa Cruz.