Tag: gun safety

There are so many AR-15s in U.S. consumer hands that it makes no sense to produce more, Colt says

Washington Post logoColt, a U.S. firearms company that traces its history to the 1830s, announced Thursday that it would suspend the production of rifles for the civilian market — including the AR-15, a weapon infamous for its popularity among the country’s mass shooters.

There are already so many of the weapons in the country that the market is saturated and executives decided “it is good sense to follow consumer demand,” the manufacturer’s president and chief executive said in a statement.

“Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future,” Dennis Veilleux said, adding that the pivot was not permanent.

View the complete September 19 article by Reis Thebault on The Washington Post website here.

GOP signals unease with Barr’s gun plan

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are treading cautiously on a background checks plan floated by Attorney General William Barr that has been decried as a “non-starter” by the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Barr floated the proposal to GOP offices on Wednesday as the Senate inches toward doing something on gun control amid growing public pressure created by a seemingly endless string of mass shootings.

But Barr was careful to tell Republicans that his memo on background checks, titled “Idea for New Unlicensed-Commercial-Sale Background Checks,” did not have the backing of President Trump. 

View the complete September 18 article by Alexander Bolton and Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

300 Mass Shootings

This year alone, there have been 300 mass shootings in the United States — killing or injuring over 1,500 innocent people.

Today in America, our children are being instructed how to duck and cover if an active shooter enters their classroom. Teachers and staff are in constant fear that their school could be targeted next. Churches, synagogues, and mosques are on high alert, and Americans doing their shopping or attending events are increasingly concerned that they or their loved ones may fall victim to gun violence at the hands of a shooter.

It is difficult to write these words and acknowledge these truths — and yet, this is our reality.

View the complete commentary by Rep. Dean Phillips on the Medium website here.

Suburban anxiety drives GOP on guns

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and members of his caucus are tiptoeing toward legislation addressing gun violence amid deep anxiety over eroding GOP support in suburbs across the country.

Expanded background checks and other modest proposals to address gun violence have strong support among swing voters in the suburbs, whom McConnell sees as crucial to keeping control of Republican-held swing Senate seats.

Republican sources close to McConnell say he sees a political benefit to moving a bipartisan measure in response to a spate of mass shootings this year, and that he acknowledges the politics surrounding expanded background checks have shifted in recent months.

View the complete September 10 article by Alex Bolton on The Hill website here.

Hundreds rally against gun violence; Gov. Tim Walz calls Minnesota Republicans ‘island of resistance’ in debate

The crowd in St. Paul cheered calls to action by the governor as well as U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, others.

Gov. Tim Walz branded Minnesota Republicans on Wednesday as an “island of resistance” to increased gun safety in the state.

Speaking to reporters at the State Capitol, Walz said that GOP leaders in Florida, Ohio and other states have supported versions of expanded background checks and “red flag” laws. But there have been few cracks in the GOP’s longstanding opposition to new gun restrictions in Minnesota.

“There has been one island of resistance, and that is the Minnesota Republican Senate, on having a conversation,” Walz said.

View the complete August 8 article by Liz Sawyer and Jessie Van Berkel on The Star Tribune website here.

How the ‘good guy with a gun’ became a deadly American fantasy

At the end of May, it happened again. A mass shooter killed 12 people, this time at a municipal center in Virginia Beach. Employees had been forbidden to carry guns at work, and some lamented that this policy had prevented “good guys” from taking out the shooter.

This trope – “the good guy with a gun” – has become commonplace among gun rights activists.

Where did it come from?

View the complete June 7 article by Professor Susanna Lee of Georgetown University on the Conversation website here.

Voters all over America finally said no to the NRA

Credit: Mark Humphrey, AP Photo

The NRA has been a powerful force in elections. But on Tuesday, NRA-backed candidates who have refused to support gun safety went down in humiliating defeat.

Voters soundly rejected the NRA and the candidates carrying water for its anti-gun-safety agenda in 2018. The gun extremists refused to change course even after mass shootings claimed the lives of dozens of innocent Americans, and their candidates suffered because of it.

The NRA was already in something of a retreat before Election Day. They significantly reduced spending on the midterm elections, cutting their donations to Republican candidates.

It did not help the NRA that the FBI, the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), and Senate investigators have opened up probes looking at the flow of Russian money to their bank accounts during the 2016 election. In that contest, the NRA gave $54 million to Republicans, with $32 million backing Trump.

View the complete November 9 article by Oliver Willis on the ShareBlue.com website here.

We need a representative who will champion gun safety

I had a few things I wanted to say about my very serious concerns about the current administration and my congressman, Erik Paulsen. Those had to do with Paulsen’s complicit approval of the president’s behavior in attacking and discrediting the media. The president has, in two short years undermined the belief of an estimated 30 percent of our voting public in the validity of our television media except for FOX.

By saying nothing, Paulsen has shown himself to be complicit about how damaging and destructive the “fake news” claims are to the future of our country. That belief will take decades to undo, if an attempt is even started. Continue reading “We need a representative who will champion gun safety”