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Ashbey Beasley: Highland Park shooting survivor blasts US gun laws after Nashville school massacre

Audrey Hale gunned down six people before being shot dead at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville on Monday, April 27

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: A Highland Park mass shooting survivor, who was on vacation in Nashville during the recent shooting at the Covenant School, has blasted gun control laws in America. Ashbey Beasley, from Illinois, was visiting a family member in town when the shooting took place. The shooter who gunned down six people before being shot dead at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville on Monday, April 27, has been identified as a 28-year-old White transgender woman, Audrey Hale. It is believed Hale was a former student at the school but it is unclear when or for how long. Hale murdered three students, and three staffers before being shot dead by cops.

"I'm a mass shooting survivor. My son and I survived a mass shooting in park where there was a shooting. We ran for our lives, and this is just unacceptable," Beasley said. "Only in America can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation to visit another person and find themselves near another mass shooting. This is an epidemic. Gun violence is an epidemic and it needs to be resolved."

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'How is this still happening?'

Jumping in at a news conference later, she said, according to CNN, "I have met with lobbying in DC. I've met with over a hundred and thirty lawmakers. How is this still happening?" The Highland Park shooting left seven people dead at a July Fourth parade in 2022. Cops later arrested the gunman, Robert 'Bobby' Crimo III in North Lake Forest, Chicago. Crimo, armed with a powerful rifle, opened fire from a rooftop at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

Hale, who was biologically female but preferred the pronouns 'he/him,' was an illustrator and graphic designer, according to his social media profile. Hale's motive remains unclear, but he left behind a manifesto, according to the Daily Mail. He was wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol at the scene of the crime, and was gunned down by responding officers who found him on the second floor of the Covenant School. He had no record of mental health problems, and did not have police records. The victims of the attack have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged 9, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

Gun laws in Tennessee

Tennessee required no permit to carry a firearm, whether openly or concealed, the Sevier County Sheriff's Ofice says. "If you want to carry a gun openly or concealed in public in Tennessee, you don't need a permit. As of July 1, 2021, Tennessee is a permit-less carry state," it states. It adds, "Subject to some exceptions, it is unlawful to sell or transfer a handgun to any person who is intoxicated or who is prohibited from gun ownership under the law."

'Now is the time to limit who can buy and possess firearms'

Social media, too, blasted America's gun laws after the recent shooting, with one user saying, "So far, three children are dead today from a shooter and their gun in Nashville. Either actually fund mental health resources or tighten restrictions on firearms, or better yet do both. Because thoughts and prayers are as useful as a 4th grader's backpack is at stopping bullets." "The #GOP is clamping on the news that the #Nashville shooter may have been transgender, to infer a mental illness link. OK, I’ll play: 99% of all mass shooters are white male. Let’s start by preventing this demographic from purchasing firearms," said another. One said, "So the mass shooter at the Nashville school was apparently a trans woman.... Before you start arguing for a ban on trans folk, perhaps you ought to consider a ban on assault rifles & other firearms...?!?!" "If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down," said one user.

"For all the people now screeching that the shooter in Nashville was “mentally ill,” perhaps now is the time to limit who can buy and possess firearms? Will this finally do it? (Alas, it will not.)," one user said, while another wrote, "I just want to say… regardless of creed, color, pronouns, sexual identification, political affiliations, and college football preference… No one should have unfettered access to assault rifles." "Today, I am reminded of the gun industry lobbyist who once explained Tennessee’s lax gun laws to me by saying: “Tennesseans love their guns.” As I noted, Tennesseans should also love their children!" said one user. "Anyone in Tennessee wasting time fighting to criminalize drag shows instead of enacting stricter gun laws has blood on their hands today," said another.

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