Tag Archives: gun control

Birmingham’s ABC affiliate reports: A father has died after last weekend’s accidental shooting in the parking lot of Chuck E. Cheese’s in Vestavia Hills. The Jefferson County Coroner has identified the victim Timothy Roshun Smith Jr. He was 22. Lt. Michael Keller with Vestavia Hills PD confirms Smith and his daughter were shot in the restaurant’s parking lot while Smith …

The Associated Press reports: New Zealand’s Parliament on Wednesday passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons, less than a month after mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch left 50 people dead and dozens wounded. A bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons and banning components that modify existing weapons was passed by a vote …

ABC News reports: A Texas gun company that destroyed more than 73,000 bump stocks when a federal ban on the rapid-fire devices took effect has sued the U.S. government claiming millions of dollars in losses. RW Arms of Fort Worth on Monday announced the lawsuit and said the government took its property “without just compensation.” Co-founder Mark Maxwell said Tuesday …

The Daily Beast reports: The letter came in early March and the message was dire. The National Rifle Association could shut down “very soon,” according the four-page fundraising letter, signed by the group’s executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. He blamed the dire straits on steps Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken to pressure banks and insurance companies that …

Newsweek reports: Top Democratic presidential candidates have slammed the National Rifle Association over its reported bid to block a measure seeking to renew and expand the Violence Against Women Act. The gun lobby announced plans to lower grades for politicians who vote in favor of the legislation, which includes a measure to keep firearms out of the hands of abusers, …

Two Parkland survivors also took their lives last week. The Hartford Courant reports: The father of Avielle Richman, one of 20 first-grade students and six educators killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting, was found dead of an apparent suicide at Edmond Town Hall early Monday, police said. Jeremy Richman, 49, was found by an electrician working in the …

ABC News reports: A second survivor of the Parkland shooting has died by suicide, the Coral Springs Police Department in Florida confirmed to the Miami Herald on Sunday. Police told the newspaper that a current Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student died in “an apparent suicide” on Saturday night. The death of this student follows that of 19-year-old Sydney Aiello, …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: The murder of 50 Muslim worshipers in New Zealand, allegedly by a 28-year-old Australian white supremacist, will be long scrutinized for the way violent hatreds are spawned and staged on social media and the internet. But now the world should learn from the way Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, has …

NBC News reports: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on sales of “military-style” semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines in the wake of a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers. Ardern said the sales ban was effective immediately to prevent stockpiling and would be followed by a complete ban on the …

NPR reports: New Zealand’s cabinet has agreed “in principle” to tighten gun control laws, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday, promising the changes will make the country safer. “We’ve unified, there are simply details to work through,” she said. The attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, which left 50 people dead, “has exposed a range of weaknesses in New Zealand’s …

Vox reports: New Zealand Attorney General David Baker, who announced Friday that the country would ban semiautomatic weapons, said Saturday the government has not yet reached that conclusion, Radio New Zealand reported. “Those decisions have yet to be taken but the prime minister signalled that we are going to look at that issue,” Baker told the RNZ, adding that he …

NPR reports: The House passed what advocates call the most significant gun control measure in more than two decades on Wednesday when it approved the first of two bills aimed at strengthening the federal background check system for firearms purchases. The bill will likely stop in the House, though, as the Senate is unlikely to take up the measure and, …

Chicago’s ABC affiliate reports: An active shooting situation has been reported at the Henry Pratt Company in southwest suburban Aurora in Kane County. The Henry Pratt company is located in the 400 block of South Highland Avenue. The shooting was confirmed by Kane County Sheriff. At approximately 2:20 p.m., several SWAT officers were visible outside the Henry Pratt building and …

The New York Times reports: State legislatures, both Republican- and Democratic-controlled, passed 76 gun control laws in the past year — from bans on bump stocks and caps on magazine sizes to new minimum-age requirements and expanded background checks. Among the victories for gun control advocates was an omnibus bill in Florida that raised the minimum age to purchase a …

The Hill reports: Activist David Hogg on Wednesday urged former first lady Michelle Obama to run for president in 2020. “I wish @MichelleObama would run for president and end this madness already,” Hogg, who survived last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Fla., said on Twitter. Hogg helped organize the March for Our Lives rally …

The New York Times reports: New York lawmakers on Tuesday approved the most comprehensive set of gun bills in the state in six years, including measures that would ban bump stocks, prohibit teachers from carrying guns in schools and extend the waiting period for gun buyers who do not pass an instant background check. In total, six gun bills passed …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Justice Department is effectively banning rapid-fire bump stock devices, like the ones used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre, making them illegal to own or sell and likely setting the stage for long legal battles with gun owners and manufacturers. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker signed and submitted a regulation prohibiting the firearm accessory …

Media Matters reports: The National Rifle Association is encouraging people to buy its membership by playing on the fact that service members will be away from their families during the holidays. In the two-minute spot released on December 12, NRA President Oliver North points out, “As we gather with loved ones this holiday season, tens of thousands of American soldiers, …

Mother Jones reports: House Democrats plan to prioritize a bill that will require a background check for every gun sale, according to multiple sources close to the matter. The legislation represents an aggressive shift in strategy by Democrats and their gun reform allies, who in previous years had tended to pursue more modest background check bills that would have exempted …

Media Matters reports: A veteran producer for the National Rifle Association’s media operation, Cameron Gray, announced today that he and several of his colleagues had been laid off from NRATV. The layoffs follow reporting on the NRA’s most recent tax filings, which show a $55 million drop in revenue between 2016 and 2017. The launch of NRATV in 2016 presaged …