Tag: sensible gun laws

Seven years after Sandy Hook, the politics of guns has changed

The Hill logoOn a Friday morning in December 2012, a gunman burst through the doors of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., committing one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history that left 20 children and six teachers and staff dead.

The Dec. 14 attack shocked the nation. At the White House, President Obama fought back tears; he said his visit to the school a few days later was the only time he had ever seen Secret Service members cry.

After years of increasingly violent and deadly mass shootings, Sandy Hook had a more profound effect.

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145 CEOs implore Senate leaders to act on gun violence, saying doing nothing is ‘simply unacceptable’

Washington Post logoThe chief executives of Levi Strauss, Twitter, Reddit, Dick’s Sporting Goods and others urged lawmakers to expand background checks to all firearms sales and implement stronger “red flag” laws, marking the latest attempt by corporate America to pressure Congress for meaningful action on gun violence.

“As leaders of some of America’s most respected companies and those with significant business interests in the United States, we are writing to you because we have a responsibility and obligation to stand up for the safety of our employees, customers and all Americans in the communities we serve across the country,” the executives wrote. “Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety.”

View the complete September 12 article by the Washington Post Staff on The Washington Post 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.

Republicans face crunch time on guns as Trump wavers

‘We are very interested in knowing what his plan and proposal is and what he’d be willing to sign,’ says Senate Majority Whip John Thune.

The summerlong debate over new gun safety legislation is coming to a head.

Senate Republican leaders discussed gun legislation in an hourlong party meeting on Monday evening, including expanding background checks, according to an attendee. But no one is making a move without President Donald Trump, who senators expect will be presented options on gun legislation by White House officials later this week.

Trump himself has been nearly impossible to pin down on the issue. Top GOP leaders in the House and Senate — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise — will meet with Trump on Tuesday to discuss the fall agenda, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. That gives Republicans the opportunity to hear the latest from the president himself.

View the complete September 9 article by Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine on the Politico website here.

Corporations step into gun control void

The Hill logoSome of the nation’s largest corporations are stepping into the gun control void, adopting new restrictions on sales in the absence of action by Congress and the White House.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said Tuesday it would no longer sell certain types of ammunition, end all handgun sales and ask customers not to carry guns openly in its stores.

Kroger, another mega-retailer, quickly followed suit, urging its customers to leave their guns at home before shopping.

View the complete September 5 article by Scott Wong and Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

GOP faces new pressure to act on guns

The Hill logoFor Republicans hoping to run out the clock on gun reform, the weekend’s mass shooting in Texas has complicated the math.

The killings of seven people in Odessa by a lone gunman on Saturday has rekindled the push for stricter gun laws, rousing Democrats and outside reform advocates already energized by the summer’s tragedies.

Walmart, one of the world’s largest retailers, announced Tuesday that it would limit its ammunition sales and request customers not openly carry firearms — a move immediately condemned by the National Rifle Association (NRA) as “shameful.”

View the complete September 3 article by Jordain Carney and Mike Lillis on The Hill 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.

Rep. Phillips Signs on a Original Sponsor of Bill to Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban

Phillips joins gun violence prevention experts and a majority of Americans in call for commonsense reform on anniversary of Parkland tragedy

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) today announced that he is an original sponsor of a bill to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban (H.R. 1296). Phillips, a gun owner himself, has been a strong advocate for commonsense measures that would help save lives.

“Thoughts and tweets don’t save lives,” said Phillips. “Courage and action saves lives. The facts are staggering, and the need is clear; thousands of Americans, including children, are being massacred at an alarming rate by weapons that were designed for the battlefield. Data shows that an Assault Weapons Ban saves lives. I believe the science, and that’s why I’m taking action to prevent weapons meant for military combat from appearing on our streets and in our schools.”

This week marks the first anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which claimed seventeen lives, injured seventeen more, and refocused attention on the nation’s gun violence crisis. The shooter legally purchased his military-style assault weapon. Continue reading “Rep. Phillips Signs on a Original Sponsor of Bill to Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban”

No Longer Gun Shy

The following article by Susan Milligan was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website July 27, 2018:

Young voters concerned about gun deaths are registering to vote in record numbers.

Credit: Matt McClain, the Washington Post via Getty Images

CANDIDATES USED TO BE able to rely on two axioms: young people don’t vote, and gun control is not a winning issue for Democrats in competitive races. But a surge of political activism among youth – combined with student demands for more gun safety laws – has thrown both presumptions out the window.

In Colorado – a state which five years ago ousted two state senators in a recall election after they pushed through gun control legislation – GOP congressional incumbent Mike Coffman, who has an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, is under political fire for his pro-gun stance. The district, long considered safely red, is now a toss-up race, according to leading nonpartisan political forecasters. Democrat Jason Crow, who made guns the first issue ad of his campaign, could become the first Democrat ever to represent the district, which was created in 1983.

In Florida, a pro-gun rights GOP House incumbent, also with an “A” NRA rating, is facing a tough re-election campaign against a Democratic primary candidate who appeared at a gun control rally with former Rep. Gabby Giffords, whose congressional career was ended after she was shot in the head while meeting with constituents in 2011. Instead of blasting Democrat David Shapiro for calling for gun control in a state named the 12th most gun owner-friendly in the nation last year by Guns & Ammo magazine, Republican Vern Buchanan is running an ad criticizing Shapiro for making personal financial investments in guns and ammunition companies.

View the complete article here.

The NRA sees a bleak Hobbesian world. So why does it want to arm individuals with guns?

The following article by Christopher R. Hallenbrook and Ryan Reed was posted on the Washington Post website April 19, 2018:

National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre on Feb. 22 echoed calls from President Trump and advocated for more protection and guns at schools. (The Washington Post)

The National Rifle Association has launched a new membership drive aimed at helping the organization oppose gun regulation. It will need the increased support. The Delaware, Massachusetts and New Jersey legislatures are all working on new gun regulations of various kinds — responding to the momentum of last month’s March for Our Lives and the Parkland, Fla., students‘ ongoing campaign against gun violence. It’s just the latest iteration of Americans’ ongoing debate about regulating guns, a debate that often erupts — as it did this time — after another mass shooting.

Many gun-regulation proposals are extremely popular. For instance, 82 percent of Americans support banning bump stocks like the one used in the Las Vegas shooting, and 97 percent approve of universal background checks. Continue reading “The NRA sees a bleak Hobbesian world. So why does it want to arm individuals with guns?”