>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. kristen: i'm kristen -- you are watching "getting answers." every day we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and get answers for you in real time. we are going to have a conversation about the mass shooting at those two farms that resulted in seven people killed. a 66-year-old forklift and custody, accused of gunning down his coworkers. in the 30th mass shooting so far

this year in a year where we have only had 24 days. governor newsom will be speaking shortly. it was just before coming to half moon bay that he was in monterey park in southern california, where there was another mass shooting there, in just three days in california, where we have some of the strongest gun restriction laws in the country. you will remember in monterey park, 11 people killed in a dance hall on new year's -- on the lunar new year's eve. the impact on asian americans and what can we do. joining us live is a standard law professor and researcher, dr. john donahoe, and th cofounder of stop api hate, cynthia c. thank you so much for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> thank you.

kristen: after each mass shooting, we always ask, why did it happen, and what needs to change? but it seems we keep going around in circles. professor donahue, you've done a lot of research on gun violence and public policy, what do you think is the question we need to be asking? >> well, of course, there is much to be done, california has a strong laws, but the supreme court has been weighing in in ways that are trying to reduce the potency of those laws. many of the gun safety regulations that are currently in place in the u.s. are being challenged in the federal courts right now, after the june u.s. supreme court decision expanding the second amendment. so, in some ways, things are bad, but they could get a lot worse, if these challenges to things like the assault weapons ban in california and the on high-capacity magazines are thrown out, as the gun lobby is

trying to do throughout the country. much to be done. we need to learn more about where the guns came from. i understand the gun use in the southern california incident was in violation of california law, so we will have to figure out how that gun got into police. -- into place. it underscores the need for federal legislation because sometimes these guns come in from arizona and nevada. kristen: before we talk about that federal legislation, because we know senator feinstein is renewing the pressure and assault rifles man, don't know if that -- ban, don't know if that's going to get anywhere in today's politics. mass shootings we know are on the rise in the u.s. but look at these numbers, from 200 something 10 years ago in 2014, to 600 mass shootings in each of the last three years. professor donahue, what can we attribute this to? >> a variety of factors.

one of course is the weaponry is getting more lethal over time. so, if you recall back to the time when they try to assassinate president reagan in 1981, the gun was less powerful. no one died. today, the handgun might likely be a glock pistol, with 17 rounds, that can do a lot more damage. the weapon itself is quite a bit more lethal. so more people die when they are hit by more lethal weapons and more bullets, so just the character of the weapons has gone up, and of course more and more americans are getting guns in the wake of supreme court decisions, giving people constitutional rights who have guns. so the combination of more guns and more stress in society.

quite frankly, some of the polarizing rhetoric that undermines civility in the public space, all of those things i think are combining to make the problem of mass shootings more severe. kristen: you mentioned more americans are getting guns. that includes also asian americans. i'm going to bring it in here, cynthia, and ask you if you notice whether there is a difference or not really a notable difference in terms of gun culture and gun possession in terms of the asian-american community versus the broader community. >> well, first, i start off by just expressing traumatizing these last few incidents have been on our community. and of course, this happening in the wake of almost three years of a spike in our

being profiled, targeted, and in some cases attacked. and certainly, this speaks to the issue that we are also affected by gun violence. and this is an issue that is from the outside, within our communities, and there's been lots of talk about what will actually make us safer. and this is a demonstration that guns, possessing guns answer to addressing community safety. kristen: can i ask you if you think there is a real palpable fear of scapegoating right now when you have two high-profile incidents in a row in which the perpetrator, the accused is asian? >> well, i think that there wondering and the desire to make meaning, to draw parallels.

but i think it is really important for us to really be informed by the facts. so many questions that we have are unanswered. we don't know the motivation. regardless of the identityof these shooters , what we do know is that our communities -- these shooters, what we do know is our community's are hurting. there is a sense that nowhere is it safe, and that should be our focus. kristen: i guess i was kind of getting at, in terms of the othering that is always happening in this country and the scapegoating, there is always this fear that, oh no, in this case if the person deemed the bad guy is asian, that there could be additional anger directed at the broader community of asians. is that for your existing right now? >> well, i think that has always

been a fear. we are a community that has experienced scapegoating, including being blamed for covid, for the economy, as a national security threat. so certainly that is on our minds. we know that there could be potential backlash. and this is where we have to continue to focus first and foremost on the victims and the survivors and really, how do we prevent these incidents from happening in the first place? regardless of the identity of the shooter. kristen: in terms of prevention, i want to get back to public policy. professor donahue, you've done a lot of research -- that's what you've done a lot of research on. if you continue to go a state-by-state solution, chipping away at little things you can control, given that the borders are certainly porous, we are one big country, how effective does any local

action/state action mean? >> the good news is, if compare california to texas and new york to texas, when texas started to move away from their gun restrictions, which had actually been quite rigorous between 1870 and 1995, texas had a lower homicide rate than new york and california, and now has a substantially higher homicide rate than both new york and california because new york and california have pursued gun safety measures. we do know that state measures matter. but national measures are much more effective. the federal assault weapons ban was in place for 10 years. that did suppress mass shootings more effectively than any individual state. one thing i would say is, there is a pattern of mimicking mass shootings. that may have played a role -- we don't know, we will learn

more -- of two asian men committing this crime, and there was another mass shooting by an asian man in a church, an elderly asian man back in me. -- back in may, in califor an 18-year-old white sees someone commit a mass murder and commit a mass murder. so there is a contagion effect that we have to worry about. but we also know from some of the recent evidence in the last day or so that some of these individuals had shown signs improper conduct, and guns can be taken away from these people. a greater effort needs to be taken to identify people who are at risk, and if they have guns, take them away. and if they don't, keep them from getting guns. more can be done in this domain. the supreme court has

unfortunately -- is unfortunately an enemy of safety in this matter because they have a very unrealistic notion of the law-abiding citizen, most of these mass murders are committed by law-abiding citizen who start killing recklessly. kristen: professor donahue and cynthia, thank you so much for your insight today, this conversation will of course continue. we will take a short break. when we come back, we expect to bring it to governor newsom's

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to see how covered california can help you. and if you have questions, there's free assistance every step of the way. covered california, this way to health insurance. enrollment ends january 31st. go to coveredca.com. kristen: we want to take you live to half moon bay. governor gavin newsom has met with some of the people impacted by yesterday's devastating mass shooting. seven people killed.

let's go ahead and show you the cody -- show you the podium. you can see a host of officials. let's listen in. >> calfire, ems, th but especially the san mateo county sheriff's deputies, i am proud to be a sheriff. what happened yesterday this community is devastating. the coastal community is a very tightknit community. most importantly, it turned the lives of these families upside down. many of the workers came to this country to work and provide for their families. instead yesterday, many of them lost family members. moments ago, the governor asked me what i needed. much of what we need are things that this governor has advocated for already. better mental health services, that victim services, but

mostly, what we need is for this gun violence to and. -- to end. as the governor offered his support to this community today, i want to support him and our leaders to enhance our safety and end the country's epidemic of gun violence. i have no additional at this time, but i wanted to clarify -- there were five males and two females deceased. the other survivor is that the hospital in stable condition. last night, i had the of being here at the ids hall with the families and the people that were directly impacted. and some of the family members received some really bad news, that they lost their loved ones. but what i can tell you is the

coastal community came together. they supported one another. they were here for one another in a time of need, and i am proud to be part of this community with them. and i want to coastal communities and this organization, we will stand with you as we work to restore the sense of safety that was shattered yesterday afternoon with this act of violence. i want to thank all the law enforcement leaders across the nation, who have offered their support to not only myself, but to this community. at this time, i'd like to introduce agent robert tripp. >> thank you, sheriff. good afternoon, everyone. i am the special agent in charge of the fbi san francisco field office. i'd like to begin by offering my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims.

the fbi responded to the scene last night and provided technical and forensic support to the san mateo sheriff's office. we are now transitioning to providing victim services and are in the process of identifying resources to help victims of this mass casualty event. i would like to thank all of our partners, especially the men and women of the san mateo sheriff's office, and sheriff corpus for her outstanding leadership. i would like to turn things over to the vice mayor, joaquin gimenez. >> thank you. if i have learned anything in the last three years, we were affected by the pandemic, is our coastal community, we support each other, we care for each other, my gondola since -- my condolences to the family on the coastal community that have been

affected as of yesterday, as of three years ago when the pandemic hit the farm work and community, and is affecting now. it is time for us to come together and bring our support. we have great leaders in our community that are stepping forward. taking the chance to be here for you. to be here for the community. we have a strong leadership in the county, our new ly elected sheriff -- newly elected sheriff, who responded to the shooting. usually in this same parking lot, we celebrate the weighing of the biggest public -- of the biggest pumpkin. today we are here for a different reason. to share with you what's

happened in our community. this is something that is going to change how we do things in our community. it is going to affect the farm work and community. the fear that they have about going back to the farms. now living conditions, let's not ignore that. the mental health support they need, let's not ignore it. i want to thank you all for taking a chance and coming to half moon bay and learning about our community. half moon bay, we have a heritage of farming, ranching, fishing. many of you come to our community for the pumpkins and ignore the farmworkers. not today. we are not ignoring anybody. we are here to support each other. we are here for each other. and thank you to all our leaders for being here today.

we know it is going to be difficult, but together, we are going to be able to make it through this. this incident has changed the history of half moon bay. we never thought it would happen in our community. are beautiful community. are coastal community -- our beautiful community, our coastal community. but it happened. thank you. i would like to introduce my good friend, supervisor of san mateo, who has been here for the farm work and community on the coastal community. -- and the coastal community. >> i want to give you a briefing on what the county has done since last evening. following the event, as many of you know, here at the ides sensor, we brought farmworkers, ity in. we bee community in --

we had them here and had mental health counseling available for them. then something beautiful happened. while the mental health counseling was taking place and the reunification was taking place, we saw the strength of half moon bay rise. we saw community members come, bring food, bring clothes, bring love and support and be here as one strong community. the one thing i want to say is, following that, it is in times like this you look at all of us and see a lot of government officials appear. but really what happens in times -- we have seen it happen and the floods, you know what i'm talking about here in half moon bay the last three weeks, the government does the bessette -- does the best it can to help people. that is what we see happening right now, i can't express to you the compassion i've seen in this community, there are people who i call god's mercy on this

planet. one of them is belinda a. and her team at alas. it was hurting team last night who was with us with abundant grace, touching people -- her team last night who was with us with abundant grace, touching people. we will go ahead and be providing income replacements to people who are not going to be at these jobsites for the foreseeable future while they are closed. we also provided hotel rooms and moved them from here so they are going to have a warm- bed -- a warm bed. . . i can't express enough, on behalf of the county of san mateo, how honored we are to have federal law enforcement here, our sheriff's department here, our state legislative delegation, federal delegation, and our governor. i watched firsthand today our governor interact with these families and i have to tell you, it was one of the most

impressive things i've ever seen. we are very fortunate in this community to have the leadership that we have, and we are very fortunate to have the residents we have in half moon bay. i don't come for the pumpkins. i come for the people. in the people here are strong. -- and the people here are strong. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor. let me just first thank our county sheriff, the county, the city for all the incredible work that they've done to make sure the community is first and foremost safe, then also very much to focus on all the families that have been impacted, the families directly impacted and the whole city has been impacted. and all their work to really begin the healing process and the grieving process to this very horrific incident. like many asian americans, i celebrated the chinese new year over those last weekend, the lunar new year.

it is our biggest holiday for the asian american community. it is a holiday that brings people together. it is day we clean up our h focus on families and loved ones, and get ready to start the new year anew. it is a time of rebirth, restarting everything. and to have two horrific shootings in our state, one in monterey park and this one in half moon bay, come on the heels of the lunar new year, it's just unimaginable. and it makes me think about everything that we've done. we traditionally say in california we are very proud of the fact that we don't have as many mass shootings as there are another states, because of all the work we have around common sense than legislation -- gun legislation. but unfortunately, it is

still way too easy for any individual to obtain a legal or illegal firearm in this state. that's just the fact. we are doing everything we can to keep our communities safe. but it shows that when two individuals who really absolutely have no right to have any kind of firearms obtained illegally or legally, there is little that we can do. i know that my colleagues and i at the state level are going to be going back to work to really think about what else we can do to further protect the community here in half moon bay, and every single one of our communities up and down the state. was the lunar new year, on sunday, that there's going to be many celebrations. we have our big parade in san francisco coming up in a couple of weeks. i know all the officials up and down the state are also working very hard to make sure that all

the celebrations can continue. that we can continue to work hard to make sure all our communities can really celebrate the holiday. with that, i'm honored to call up my colleague. one of our brand-new colleagues, diane p. >> first of all, thank you for being here today. i want to thank our governor, who has put in a long day, a long two days. i appreciate you being here, our delegation being here. up until yesterday, we of those unfortunate communities that was not a part of that exclusive club that had a mass shooting. now we are part of that club. and what worries me is that club is not so exclusive anymore. this community, our hearts are broken. but i will tell you one thing -- we are resilient. our hearts will mend. and we will continue to fight the fight in california against gun violence, and indeed in the

nation. i thank you all for being here. we are going to be on the mend. but it is not a club say i am glad we are and by any stretch of the imagination. with that. i'm going to turn it over to the assembly member. >> thank you so much. my name is mark b., i represent the 23rd is humbly district in the california state assembly. i want to welcome everybody to my favorite part of my district, half moon bay. for those who have not been here before, half moon bay is as close to small-town america as we got in the bay area. it is 30 miles south of san francisco. it's 30 minutes west of silicon valley. but when you get here, you feel like you are a 1,000,000 miles away from all those problems. and yesterday those problems came crashing down, that sense of peace and tranquility here in half moon bay on the coast side was destroyed by senseless death. by a senseless mass shooting

that should not have happened. we have workplace disagreements all over the world. the monterey park shooting, we have relationship disagreements all over the world, but it's only in the u.s. we are far too often, those disagreements end in mass shootings. we've done a lot in california to reduce gun violence. but there's clearly more we need to do. the state is going to do everything that we can. the coast side is strong. half moon bay is a strong. it is such a tightknit community where everybody looks out for each other, and we are going to look out for them and i'm grateful to the sheriff -- san mateo county is one of the best run counties in the state. we have immediately deployed resources to those who need it and to all the community members impacted. i want to thank the governor for being here today. i know he doesn't want to be here today. and he's tired of these types of press conferences. we are going to continue to do more to make sure he

doesn't have to go to more of them in the future. we need to do more to support the farm work and community and we will do more herein half moon bay and across california. with that i want to turn it over to the state senator. i wao first thank some of the folks who have spoken here, our council member, and the rest of the council, our wonderful new sheriff and our nonprofits like alas who have risen to the occasion and been here for the residents of this area. for the farmworkers. this is a significant farmworker community with over 100 farms. we have thousands of farmworkers here. it is often overlooked, but as

the councilmember said, not today. we have to do two things -- be here for the families, listen to them, get them whatever they need, and ask them what they need and be here for them, then second is go back to the drawing board, as was mentioned. we do have some of the strongest laws in the country. one third the deaths per capita than other states, but on a deal like this when there's seven people dead, innocent people in our community, it doesn't seem to amount to much. there isn't a right to do that. we need republicans in to act and look at the drawing board in california and look at every