Tag: sensible gun control

Justice Department proposes policies to address mass shootings

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Administration focuses on stabilizing braces and red flag laws

The Justice Department proposed a new rule Monday to more closely regulate pistols that have “stabilizing braces” to allow them to be fired from the shoulder, which it said has been used in at least two mass shootings in the past three years.

Companies now sell accessories that make it easy for people to convert pistols into more dangerous weapons known as short-barreled rifles, which have heightened regulations because they are easy to conceal, can cause great damage and are more likely to be used to commit crimes, the DOJ said. 

Those accessories mean the owners can get a short-barreled rifle without going through the National Firearms Act’s background check and registration requirements, the proposed rule states. Congress passed the law in 1934 to regulate certain “gangster” type weapons by taxing them, the DOJ said. Continue reading.

The NRA just had a major legal setback. But its hold on the gun-control debate endures.

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It’s been a rough spring for the National Rifle Association.

Last week, a federal judge in Dallas rejected the gun rights organization’s effort to declare bankruptcy, calling it an attempt to avoid legal scrutiny and citing “lingering issues of secrecy and a lack of transparency” some of which he described as “nothing less than shocking.”

The bankruptcy hearing revealed details of lavish perks enjoyed by NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, who received charter flights for trips to the Bahamas with his family, use of luxury yachts and $275,000 worth of suits from the Ermenegildo Zegna boutique in Beverly Hills. New York Attorney General Letitia James has vowed to renew her efforts to dissolve the NRA altogether, saying the organization is riddled with fraud and self dealing. Continue reading.

“Enough prayers”: Biden issues 6 executive orders to curb gun violence

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Calling America’s longstanding addiction to firearms, and the innumerable bodies left in its wake, an “epidemic,” President Biden on Thursday unveiled his administration’s first steps toward curbing gun violence, describing it as an “international embarrassment.” 

“It has to stop,” he declared in a Rose Garden address, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

During his remarks, the president also took a swipe at the perpetual inaction of Congress in the wake of each successive incident of gun violence. “They’ve offered plenty of thoughts and prayers,” he said. “But they have passed not a single new federal law to reduce gun violence.” Continue reading.

US gun violence ‘an international embarrassment,’ says Biden

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President Biden on Thursday decried the epidemic of gun violence in America as an “international embarrassment” as he rolled out a series of executive actions intended to address the issue.

“Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment,” Biden said in the Rose Garden. “They’re phony arguments suggesting these are Second Amendment rights at stake with what we’re talking about. But no amendment, no amendment to the Constitution is absolute.”

“So the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending are contrary to the Constitution,” he added. “Gun violence in this country is an epidemic. And it’s an international embarrassment.” Continue reading.

‘Ridiculous theater’: Sen. Cruz’s pushback on gun restrictions epitomizes high hurdles

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Virtually every time there is a mass shooting in the United States, the debate quickly turns to whether this might be the one — or, in the case of the last week, the two — that will ultimately force major action on gun restrictions.

In many ways, it seems lawmakers have given up even pretending that might be the case.

The tragedies in Atlanta last week and Boulder, Colo., this week have spurred the expected and logical debate about what more can be done about making sure guns don’t find their ways into the hands of the kinds of people who committed these atrocities. And there is an attempt to have that debate. Continue reading.

New shootings plunge Biden, Congress into gun control debate

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President Biden on Tuesday urged Congress to enact meaningful gun reforms after the second mass shooting in under a week, plunging Washington back into a familiar debate where lawmakers have stalemated in recent years.

Eight people in the Atlanta area and 10 people in Boulder, Colo., were killed in the most recent shootings, but there was little sign it would move the needle in Congress — even as political leaders who back gun reforms noted the United States is the only country in the world that continually suffers from mass shooting events.

There had been no mass shooting in a year as much of the country stayed home from work and school during the pandemic, a fact noted ruefully by former President Obama. Continue reading.

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.

Prospects for Trump gun deal grow dimmer

The Hill logoProspects for a bipartisan deal on gun control legislation have dimmed significantly as President Trump and Democratic leaders appear to be far apart on the key issue of expanding background checks.

Republicans expect Trump to put forward a proposal addressing gun violence later this week, but Democrats predict it is likely to fall far short of what is needed and that they may not vote for it.

Democrats are pressing Trump to agree to a gun control bill already approved by the House, but the president has yet to even signal support for a scaled-down background check bill sponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

View the complete September 16 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

As mass shootings rise, experts say high-capacity magazines should be the focus

Washington Post logoIt took a shooter all of 32 seconds to spray 41 rounds outside a popular bar in Dayton, Ohio, this month, an attack that killed nine people and injured 27. A lightning-fast response from nearby officers prevented a far higher toll: When police shot him dead, the killer still had dozens of bullets to go in his double-drum, 100-round magazine.

The use of such high-capacity magazines was banned in Ohio up until 2015, when a little-noticed change in state law legalized the devices, part of an overall rollback in gun-control measures that has been mirrored in states nationwide.

With the pace of mass shootings accelerating — and their tolls dramatically increasing — criminologists and reform advocates are more intently focused on limiting access to such accessories as one of the most potent ways to curb the epidemic.

View the complete August 18 article by Griff Witte on The Washington Post website here.