ATLANTA — Georgia leaders are starting to mark the third anniversary of the mass shooting deaths of eight people in Atlanta and Cherokee County who were killed on March 16, 2021, by holding a remembrance event at Georgia's State Capitol on Thursday.
During the event, State Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-Duluth) recalled the horror of the killing spree that spanned two counties in one day three years ago and how six of the eight people were women of Asian descent.
"March 16 marked a tragic intersection between what it means to be a woman and a woman who is Asian," Romman stated.
Police said a man named Robert Aaron Long bought a rifle and, on the same day, opened fire on the mostly Asian staff of a spa in Cherokee County – then fled to Atlanta and did the same thing at two spas there. Long has pleaded guilty to the killings in Cherokee County but is still awaiting trial in Atlanta.
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Lawmakers in the Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus said on Thursday that Long was able to acquire the rifle too easily. In addition, State Rep. Michelle Au (D-Johns Creek) said the murders illustrated a flaw in Georgia gun laws.
"He didn’t trigger any (legal) alarms. He was able to buy the gun legally," Au said.
Au also said a waiting period law could have prevented the spa murders three years ago. She thinks it’s doable in Georgia, but only long-term. She had previously proposed a bill to require a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, but it was not enacted.
"Any time you are trying to move the needle on an issue that’s so politically entrenched as gun safety legislation, you have to recognize you're in it for the long game," Au told 11Alive News.
Florida resident Michael Webb, ex-husband to spa murder victim Xiaojie Tan, said he thinks conservatives are more amenable to gun restrictions than politicians think.
"We have them in Florida," said Webb, now a Florida resident. "We have three-day waiting periods. I don’t want anybody to take my gun. I’m a lifelong gun owner. But this is common sense."
Overall, Au said she's heartened that a bill has advanced his legislative session that would create a tax incentive for gun owners to buy lock boxes to store guns safely at home. If that bill is enacted, she said it could be a start toward more gun legislation across the state.