ATLANTA — Just hours before a man stormed three metro Atlanta massage parlors, killing eight people inside, he made a legal purchase of a 9mm handgun.

The victims of the tragedy were mourned by the entire nation — six of them of Asian descent and seven women.

Authorities have named all eight victims: Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; Yong Yue, 63; Delania Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44.

Just a week after the deadly shootings in Atlanta, the country has been upended again by a mass shooting in Colorado that killed 10 people.

Democratic lawmakers are arguing the tragedies may have been prevented with stricter gun control measures in Georgia and across the country. But changes under the Georgia Gold Dome are unlikely.

Lindsay Nichols, the federal policy director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told CNHI that Georgia ranks among the worst for gun control laws.

“There aren’t many of the gun laws that would protect people and save lives,” Nichols said.

Democratic lawmakers in both Georgia’s statehouse and congressional delegation are calling for stricter gun control after the Atlanta shooting suspect was able to purchase a gun that same day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported.

According to the Associated Press, the suspect in the Colorado shootings purchased an assault weapon just six days before the incident.

“The epidemic of gun violence and gun injury is not new,” state Sen. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, said. “What can be new is how we deal with it in this moment. And I want to implore our community and our fellow legislators to not let this moment go by.”

There is no waiting period to purchase a firearm in Georgia if the customer can pass an on-the-spot background check conducted by the licensed seller. The speedy process is not uncommon, only 10 states have mandatory waiting periods that range from one to 14 days.

Nichols said waiting periods create a “buffer” between an impulsive or emotional decision to purchase a firearm and actually obtaining it.

“It’s a response to the fact that anger and rage, and those kinds of emotions, can be very short lived,” she said. “So these laws, when they are in place, have been found to be remarkably effective.”

One study found that delaying the purchase of firearms by a few days can reduce gun homicides by about 17%.

Democrats in the statehouse are pushing their Republican colleagues to consider changes to the state’s gun control laws such as more wide-sweeping background checks and a five-day waiting period for purchasing a firearm.

Rep. Josh McLaurin, a Sandy Springs Democrat, filed one of two bills that would require a five-day waiting period for any purchase or transfer of a firearm. McLaurin said the shooting exposed a number of policy problems, including the need to address “unbelievably easy access to firearms.”

“We see these tragedies happen again and again,” he said. “And it feels like sometimes we get no movement whatsoever in our statehouse or in Congress on the issue. … Political will is often about pressure. We can’t just sit idly by while these tragedies happen without increasing the pressure, for not just sensible, but really necessary policy to keep tragedies like this from happening.”

Au is also pressing her Republican colleagues in the Senate to hear her legislation that would institute universal background checks for all purchases and transfers of firearms.

But under the Republican-controlled legislature, increased gun control measures are unlikely to see movement. Democrats are calling on lawmakers across the aisle to respond to the shootings with policy changes.

Lawrenceville Democrat Rep. Sam Park introduced a bill with his fellow Asian American and Pacific Island legislators to institute a five-day waiting period but recognized the uphill battle Democrats face to get any gun control legislation passed.

“It’s consistently very frustrating that politics continues to prevent us from passing good policy that will keep all of our community safe,” he said.

Republicans in the statehouse are much more likely to take small steps in expanding gun access this session. One bill that passed out of committee would allow gun owners with licenses in other states to carry their firearms in Georgia. Another bill introduced earlier this session would have blocked the governor from instituting executive orders that limit firearms during a state of emergency.

Georgia’s congressional Democrats are also calling for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to come together on gun control legislation.

On Saturday, hundreds rallied at the Georgia State Capitol to mourn the victims of the shootings and support the AAPI community. Georgia’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock made an appearance. Ossoff drew the stark contrast of Georgia’s restrictive voting laws but lax gun control measures.

“Let us build a state and a nation where you can register to vote the same day as an election but you cannot buy a weapon the same day you intend to kill,” he told the crowd.

President Joe Biden called for stricter gun control measures in remarks following the Colorado shooting. He implored lawmakers to support legislation for universal background checks and a renewal of the nationwide ban on assault rifles.

“This is not and should not be a partisan issue — it is an American issue,” Biden said. “We have to act.”