A shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, that killed three children and a teacher has reignited the national gun-control debate, with Democrats calling for new restrictions and gun-rights advocates pointing to the way the attack actually ended.
According to reports, the teenage shooter used a shotgun purchased by his mother. The attack was stopped when Kaylub Giamanco, a father of two students at the school, pursued the gunman into the building and fatally shot him.
Gun-rights groups argue that outcome undercuts the case for new federal restrictions. Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, said Democrats are using the tragedy to push a political agenda.
“Democrats are shamefully weaponizing this tragedy in Oregon to advance their political agenda on gun control,” Johnston told Fox News Digital. “But more gun control isn’t the solution. The school was a gun-free zone, and the killer didn’t use a so-called ‘assault weapon.’ What did stop the mass murderer and save lives was an armed bystander with good aim.”
The Bend-LaPine School District bans firearms on campus, including for concealed-carry permit holders, under a 2021 state law that allowed individual districts to adopt such prohibitions. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, said that policy left the school more vulnerable rather than safer.
“These gun-free zones actually serve as a magnet for these attacks rather than stopping them from occurring,” Lott told Fox News Digital.
Lott said his organization’s research on active shootings from 2014 through 2024 found that legally armed civilians stopped more attacks than police did. He estimated that about 25 of Oregon’s 197 school districts have banned concealed-carry permit holders from campuses since the 2021 law took effect, whereas before that change, teachers with permits could generally carry at school, subject to some employment-related limits.
The National Rifle Association made a similar argument, noting that Oregon already has strict gun laws in place.
“Oregon already has nearly every gun-control measure on the anti-gun wish list — including an A- rating from groups that push them — yet that did not prevent this attack,” the NRA said in a statement. “The armed bystander who pursued the shooter inside and ended the threat is the clearest reminder that, when seconds count, a prepared law-abiding citizen can stop a killer.”
The NRA also cited research finding that 94% of mass shootings since 1950 occurred in gun-free zones, and separately argued that neither universal background checks nor red-flag laws would likely have prevented this shooting, since the teenager is reported to have obtained a family member’s firearm rather than acquiring one through a transfer that background checks would cover. The organization said the circumstances surrounding the teen’s access to the weapon remain unclear.
Lott also raised doubts about the deterrent value of gun-free zone penalties for someone already prepared to commit mass murder.
“They may be facing six or seven life sentences. Does taking five years away from their seventh or eighth life sentence going to matter? Is that a penalty for them? And the answer is no,” he said.
He further argued that uniformed school resource officers can be at a tactical disadvantage because attackers can identify and target them first, saying, “Having somebody in uniform is like having a neon sign above them that says, shoot me first.”
Democrats renew calls for new laws
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for new gun legislation in the wake of the shooting.
“The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass commonsense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools,” Wyden said in a statement.
Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., whose district includes Bend, acknowledged Giamanco’s intervention while also urging new measures to keep firearms away from people who shouldn’t have them. At a vigil, she asked, “When are we going to practice that same bravery that that bystander had?”
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., invoked the shooting in criticizing the Supreme Court’s gun-rights rulings, including District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen.
“It is far past time for the Roberts Court to make it clear their decision on guns does not endorse unfettered and unregulated access to weapons,” Reed said. “In the absence of the Supreme Court ceasing its pro-gun rulings, Republicans need to join Democrats in enacting commonsense policies that could prevent these kinds of tragedies.”
Investigators are still examining how the teenage shooter gained access to his mother’s shotgun, a question central to determining whether any currently proposed gun law would have changed the outcome.
