A Youth Curfew Won’t Stop the Bullets: We Need Smart Gun Policy

Why a 9 p.m. curfew won’t prevent the next mass shooting.

At Wednesday’s Tulsa City Council meeting, leaders voted 7-1 to enact an emergency youth curfew requiring anyone under 18 to be home by 9 p.m. in response to a Juneteenth shooting that left one person dead and several others injured. But let’s be honest: this policy may make some feel safer, but it doesn’t address the real threat of gun violence.

The gunman who opened fire last weekend, 19-year-old Timetrious Moore, was too old for the youth curfew. A 9 p.m. restriction on minors wouldn’t have stopped him. So why wasn’t gun violence the main focus of the meeting?

At that same council session, two very different conversations unfolded. Business owners pushed for a youth curfew, citing rowdy teens disrupting their establishments. Meanwhile, Black and Brown residents voiced deeper fears: that the ordinance would lead to racial profiling, harassment, or unnecessary police contact. Everyone agrees we want our kids to be safe. No one wants to fear getting shot while enjoying a summer festival. But targeting youth behavior without addressing gun access misses the mark.

Oklahoma is an open-carry state. Anyone 21 or older can legally carry a firearm openly or concealed without a permit. Moore broke the law. But had he been just two years older, he could’ve legally carried that same weapon. Then what?

Since Mayor Nichols took office, nearly 900 illegal guns have been removed from Tulsa’s streets. That progress matters, but it’s only part of the picture.

Guns are part of the American culture, regardless of skin color -- from childhood toys to adult realities. My first was a water gun from the dollar store. Then came a Super Soaker. Now, I own real firearms—but I handle them responsibly.

The problem is, not every gun owner does.

We’ve watched mass shootings unfold across the country. We prayed, donated, and then moved on. But this time, it didn’t happen somewhere else. It happened here at home. A father is dead. People, including the elderly and children, were trampled in the chaos. And as one survivor told us, “I never thought I’d be able to say I survived a mass shooting.”

That stopped me cold.

Read the full article here.

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What You Can Do

• Read the full opinion on smarter gun policy from Tulsa’s Council chambers and mayor's response — Read the full article here.

• Raise your voice: Call for policies that prioritize stopping gun access, not children

• Support independent Black journalism—help us hold officials accountable now and later:

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Tulsa’s next mass shooting could happen tomorrow. If all we have is a curfew, we’ve already lost. Let’s demand more. Let’s do more for our kids, our festivals, and our future.

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