Some gun control proposals would not have stopped St. Francis shooter

Many of the gun control measures currently considered by Congress would not have stopped the gunman who killed four people and injured around ten people at the Saint Francis Medical Offices last week.

In the wake of numerous mass shootings in less than a month’s time, multiple proposals are currently being considered in Congress as a way to reduce the continuously growing number of mass shootings in America, but many of the proposals being considered by Congress would have only prevented school shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas and not shootings like what happened last week in Tulsa.

Currently, Congress is considering proposals like raising the age someone can purchase a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21, magazine capacity limits, waiting periods for when someone could purchase a gun to when they could actually pick it up, comprehensive background checks, making all guns traceable, red flag laws, proper storage requirements, and an assault weapons ban.

Based off the events of that day and what witnesses and law enforcement have told FOX23, many of these proposals would not have stopped Michael Louis from opening fire on his victims in the orthopedic offices of the Natalie Building.

Louis was 45 at the time, and he had no criminal history aside from traffic violations. There is currently no indication he had made threats to carry out a mass shooting, and aside from claiming to be intense pain following a surgery, he did not appear to be mentally unstable or made any verbal or written threats to staff that would’ve caused them to alert police or hospital security.

In addition to that information from Tulsa Police, a patient of the doctor who Louis targeted and was in the room when Dr. Preston Phillips was killed told FOX23 Louis killed Phillips with a handgun and not the AR-15 he was also armed with.

“What I saw was a handgun,” said patient Thomas Reed who witnessed Phillips be murdered in front of him. “I didn’t see an AR-15. His back was covered, and so it must’ve been strapped around his back.”

Tulsa Police said Louis purchased the handgun he used May 29th, but he purchased the AR-15 he would also use in the shooting a few hours before he would commit the murders.

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While some are arguing for a waiting period between when a gun can be purchased and when a gun can be picked up, it’s not clear if Louis would’ve committed the shooting with just the handgun, or if he would have cooled down and changed his mind while waiting for his sale to be processed for the AR-15.

An all out assault weapons ban, would’ve prevented Louis from using an AR-15 in the shooting, but it would not have prevented him from using the handgun he would use to kill Dr. Phillips.

It’s not clear how much ammunition Louis had on him, but Tulsa Police believe that if officers did not enter the building immediately upon arrival, Louis would have murdered more people. Whether a magazine capacity limit would’ve hindered Louis’ ability to kill more people thankfully is unknown because of the fast police response.

As for the proposal in Congress to make all guns traceable, that proposal would not have had any impact on the St. Francis shooting. In fact, Tulsa Police and Federal law enforcement were able to trace the serial numbers on Louis’ weapons back to where he purchased them less than 24 hours after the shooting. Louis legally purchased both of his weapons through legal means.

Since Louis legally owned his own guns and used the guns that belonged to him, the issue of proper gun storage does not apply to the incidents surrounding the St. Francis shooting, but instead, those proposals are meant to target teens who have accessed their parent’s guns to carry out shootings on school campuses.

It appears that the proposals being worked on in Congress would mainly stem school shootings, but it would do little to prevent something like the shooting at St. Francis.

Many of the proposals would have done more to hinder the Uvalde, Texas shooter than it would have Louis in Tulsa.

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