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WEEK IN REVIEW

April 23-27, 2018

 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT 

Extreme Gun Lobby

There’s always been an assumption that gun owners don’t want stronger gun safety laws. In the past two months  the Parkland Generation  erupted in cities, suburbs and small towns to ask America’s politicians why more can’t be done to protect them. This movement is breaking this consensus among gun owners.  Shifts in polling  show just how little gun owners believe in the messages of the National Rifle Association and the rest of the gun lobby.

We’ve watched these gun owners step out and take a stand to say enough is enough. They want Congress to prevent dangerous individuals from getting firearms and they aren’t falling for NRA propaganda.

A   New York Times  piece this week highlights  some of these individuals.

Tom Galinat, a farmer and hunter covered in the piece:

“I’m an ardent advocate for the Second Amendment, and none of those gun safety measures threaten any of those things that I believe in.”

 LEADING THE NEWS 

Top Hits

 Gabby Giffords is just warming up in her fight against gun violence | Vice News | Billie Brownstein 

 Group says gun violence a $1.2 billion drain on New Jersey | NJ.com| Kevin Shea 

Gun violence not only kills and injures hundreds of people every year in New Jersey, it causes a reverberating sense of fear that affects tourism, the way people shop and forces some businesses owners to reduce their hours or relocate, all of which stifles the state’s economy… Those are the estimates and conclusions of a report by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence titled, The Economic Cost of Gun Violence in New Jersey. The center chose New Jersey, not all states have been studied, because they believe change here is possible.

 James Shaw Jr., the Man Who Disarmed the Waffle House Shooter, Is Hailed as a Hero | Time | Sheila Burke and Jonathan Mattise (AP) 

The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle away from a gunman at a Nashville restaurant told Tennessee lawmakers Tuesday he faced “the true test of a man,” drawing a standing ovation during his brief address. As the House hailed him as a hero, James Shaw Jr. said he acted to save his own life early Sunday at a Waffle House, and saved others in the process. “I never thought I’d be in a room with all the eyes on me, but you know, I’m very grateful to be here,” Shaw told House members. The 29-year-old said he has since gone to see some of the shooting victims in the hospital and they all remembered him. He apologized to the people whose loved ones died in the attack.

 Maryland’s GOP Governor Signs Broad Set Of Gun Bills Into Law | HuffPost | Nick Wing 

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed into law on Tuesday an array of bills ushering in one of the most comprehensive packages of gun-violence legislation passed by any state this year. t can be hard to get official support for this sort of approach, even though the data suggests it can be effective, said Mike McLively, director of the Urban Gun Violence Initiative at the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention group launched by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.)

 Waffle House Shooting Suspect Is in Custody, Nashville Police Say | New York Times | Alan Blinder 

The police on Monday arrested the suspect in a rampage at a Waffle House restaurant that left four people dead in Nashville, after a tip from the public set them on the trail of the man who had evaded them for nearly 34 hours. The authorities announced the arrest of the suspect, Travis Reinking, just after 1 p.m., in a wooded area that was within sight of the apartment complex where he lived. After receiving a tip of a man matching Mr. Reinking’s description in that area, several detectives entered the woods, and when one recognized the suspect, he drew his gun and ordered him to the ground.

Under the Radar

 New gun control bill named after Joe Biden’s son shows momentum is building post-Parkland | The Independent | Clark Mindock 

New gun control measure have been passed in two US states that will allow police to temporarily seize firearms from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. The bills — in Delaware and Maryland — are just the latest in a string of efforts in at least a dozen states to create safer gun policies following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, and gun control activists say the movement to pass these sorts of bills shows that the efforts are continuing to gain momentum.

 Schumer: CDC chief ‘agreed’ agency can study gun violence | The Hill | Nathaniel Weixel 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday said President Trump’s new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes there isn’t a prohibition on his agency researching gun violence. Robert Redfield “agreed there is no longer a prohibition on the CDC conducting research on the gun violence epidemic,” Schumer said after a meeting with Redfield. “That is a good first step but we have a lot of work to do to ensure the CDC initiates this extremely important research in the near future.”

 Pence to address NRA annual meeting | Politico | Matthew Nussbaum 

Vice President Mike Pence will address the National Rifle Association at the group’s annual meeting in early May, his office announced on Tuesday. The announcement comes as gun control continues to loom large as a political issue in the wake of the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that led to nationwide protests and marches calling for stricter gun laws. That shooting, which left 17 people dead, came just over four months after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, when a gunman in Las Vegas killed 58 people at a concert. The NRA has been adamant in its opposition to tighter gun laws.

Data and Reports

Annals of Internal Medicine: Comparison of Rates of Firearm and Nonfirearm Homicide and Suicide in Black and White Non-Hispanic Men, by U.S. State 

  • Black men experienced 27 more firearm homicides per 100,000 people annually nationwide compared to white men (29.12 for black men vs. 2.1 for white men).
  • White men had none more firearm suicides than black men per 100,000 (5.41 for black men and 14.34 for white men).
  • Six of the 10 states with the largest disparities in firearm suicide rates were in the southern part of the country: Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, South Carolina and Louisiana, the researchers found.

 STATE UPDATES 

Oklahoma:  Oklahoma House passes ‘Constitutional Carry’ gun bill | Fox News | Madeline Farber 

The Oklahoma House of Representatives on Wednesday passed what has been dubbed as the ‘Constitutional Carry’ gun bill in a 59-28 vote. The bill would allow all law-abiding Oklahomans to carry a loaded, concealed handgun without a permit, permitting handgun owners in the state to carry their weapon in most public places. However, some areas where firearms are already prohibited by law — such as the ones listed here — are still exempt. Additionally, the bill’s author, Rep. Jeff Coody, R-Okla., filed an amendment that would permit handgun owners to also carry in a wildlife refuge or management area.

Illinois:  Illinois Senate OKs Stand-Alone Bump-Stock Ban | US News & World Report| AP 

The Senate has approved another bump-stock ban. The Senate voted 38-10 Thursday on Sen. Kwame Raoul’s (KWAH’-may rah-OOLZ’) plan. It would outlaw the manufacture or possession of bump stocks or trigger cranks which turn rifles into assault-style weapons. It’s the device the gunman used in the Las Vegas mass shooting last October. The Senate in March OK’d a bump-stock ban which started in the House. But Raoul, a Chicago Democrat, removed a restriction on municipalities enacting local restrictions on assault-style guns. Gun-rights advocates support uniform rules statewide. Raoul’s new measure deals only with bump stocks and moves to the House.

Rhode Island:  Gun control proposals before House Judiciary Committee | ABC 10 News 

There was a line leading into the Rhode Island State House in Providence for a couple of hours Tuesday, as hearings were set to start on several gun control proposals. Once again, gun rights advocates have showed up in force. Wearing yellow shirts, as they have in the past, gun rights supports appeared to significantly outnumber gun control advocates, many of whom were wearing orange.

Tennessee:  Nashville mayor demands stricter gun control after Waffle House shooting | CNN | Alessia Grunberger 

As police search for the gunman who killed four people at a Tennessee Waffle House, the mayor of Nashville is saying “enough is enough” and calling for stricter gun-control laws. “I know that we all want to live in a safe environment that allows everyone to go to work or school and feel and be safe,” Democratic Mayor David Briley said during a news conference on Sunday. “We all want to live up to our greatest potential, and it’s my responsibility as the mayor of Nashville to try and make that happen. Clearly the victims of this shooting deserve our prayers and our thoughts, but they also deserve leaders who will step up and take action and do something to get these weapons off our streets.

Hawaii:  Hawaii lawmakers pass bump stock ban | KTUU | Associated Press 

Hawaii lawmakers have passed legislation banning bump stocks. Bump stocks allow guns to be fired like assault weapons. The gunman who killed 58 people and injured hundreds in Las Vegas last October used the device. The state Senate voted 24-0 to pass the measure on Wednesday. The House passed the bill earlier this month. Spokeswoman for Gov. David Ige, Jodi Leong, says he supports the bill.

 TOP SOCIAL MEDIA 

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