Tag Archives: gun control

Poor People’s Campaign Plans June 29 Mass Assembly, March in DC

“This is a crisis moment for our democracy,” said one campaigner. “We need for our political leaders to become moral leaders and take seriously the needs and priorities of the millions of people struggling simply to survive.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 4-29-2024 by Common Dreams

Rev. William J. Barber II at the Democracy Awakening rally at U.S. Capitol in 2018. Photo: Becker1999/flickr/CC

Leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on Monday announced plans for the Mass Poor People & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March in Washington, D.C. on June 29, just over four months before the U.S. elections.

The aim of the assembly and march is to “mobilize the one-third of the U.S. electorate who are poor and low-wage infrequent voters” as well as to pressure political leaders to embrace a 17-point agenda during the 2024 election cycle and beyond.

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Tennessee GOP Shuts Down Debate, Passes Bill Allowing Handguns for Teachers

“Instead of protecting kids,” said one Democratic lawmaker, “they’ve protected guns again.”

By Julia Conley. Published 4-24-2024 by Common Dreams

Protesters rally for gun reform at Tennessee state capitol in March 2023 Screenshot: MSNBC

A Democratic leader in the Tennessee House on Tuesday warned that a bill pushed through by Republicans to permit teachers to carry concealed handguns was “nothing but a bad disaster and tragedy waiting to happen,” after the GOP cut off a debate and refused to include amendments that aimed to add safety measures to the legislation.

House Bill 1202 passed in a 68-28 vote, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has never vetoed legislation, is expected to sign it, clearing the way for the state to require school districts to allow teachers to carry firearms without notifying students’ parents.

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Advocates ‘Elated’ as Biden DOJ Closes Gun Show Loophole

“To be clear, that ‘gun show loophole’ has been a death sentence for countless Americans, and that will change with this action,” said one gun violence prevention advocacy leader.

By Julia Conley. Published 4-11-2024 by Common Dreams

Advocates rally in favor of gun control measure. (Photo: Peter Cedric Rock Smith//flickr/cc)

The White House on Thursday honored “the will of the vast majority of the American people,” one Democratic lawmaker said, as President Joe Biden announced a final rule closing a loophole that has left tens of thousands of firearms dealers able to sell guns without running background checks on purchasers.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) will require anyone “engaged in the business” of selling firearms for a profit to register as a federally licensed firearms dealer, which will require them to conduct background criminal and mental health checks on their customers.

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‘Absolutely Absurd’: Tennessee GOP Advances Concealed Guns for Teachers

“We should not be afraid to send our kids to school, but extremist lawmakers are hellbent on expanding the gun lobby’s guns everywhere agenda and putting our kids at risk,” said one state campaigner.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 4-10-2024 by Common Dreams

Moms Demand Action members protest a Tennessee bill to arm teachers on April 9, 2024. (Photo: Moms Demand Action Tennessee/Facebook)

Gun control advocates, including families of mass shooting survivors, condemned Tennessee Senate Republicans for a 26-5 vote along party lines on Tuesday to advance legislation allowing teachers and staff to carry concealed firearms in public schools.

“Since the devastating shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville last year, the [Tennessee] Legislature has had the opportunity to take meaningful action on gun safety,” said Moms Demand Action executive director Angela Ferrell-Zabala. “Instead, they have chosen to ‘debate the safety of their communities’ behind closed doors in a process that has often excluded their constituents and their own colleagues.”

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Oregon Supreme Court Bans From Ballot GOP State Lawmakers Who Staged Walkout

“Oregonians deserve legislators who will show up and do their jobs—and when they don’t, there must be consequences,” said one advocacy group.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 2–1-2024 by Common Dreams

This photo shows the empty floor of the Oregon State Senate. (Photo: Cacophony/Wikimedia Commons)

Oregon’s Supreme Court on Thursday disqualified 10 state senators from reelection for participating in last year’s Republican-led walkout that paralyzed the Legislature for six weeks, delaying key Democratic bills on abortion, healthcare, and gun control.

The ruling upholds last year’s decision by Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a Democrat, barring the 10 lawmakers—nine Republicans and 1 Independent—from the 2024 ballot because they had accumulated more than 10 unexcused absences in violation of Measure 113, a state constitutional amendment approved by 68% of voters in 2022 following a series of Republican walkouts.

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‘Congress, Do Your Job’: Gun Control Demands Grow After Dozens Shot in Florida, Illinois, and Indiana

“How many more times do we have to wipe the blood off our streets before action is taken?” asked the Florida Democratic Party chair.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-29-2023 by Common Dreams

Around 4000 high school students walked out of school and marched to the Minnesota capitol to demand that legislators make changes to gun control laws on March 7, 2018 Photo: Fibonacci Blue/flickr/CC

On the heels of Maine officials confirming that the shooter who killed 18 people in Lewiston earlier this week was found dead, shootings in Florida, Illinois, and Indianapolis early Sunday fueled further calls for action by U.S. lawmakers to reduce gun violence.

Around midnight, one person was killed and at least nine others were wounded at a Halloween party in Indianapolis, Indiana, local police said. The victims are ages 16-22 and it’s not yet known who or how many people were shooting.

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Ahead of Pivotal Supreme Court Gun Case, Domestic Violence Murders by Firearm Surge

“Intimate partner firearm homicide is increasing as the Supreme Court debates whether people subject to domestic violence restraining orders should be allowed to possess firearms,” said the president of national gun control group Brady.

By Julia Conley. Published 10-20-2023 by Common Dreams

March for Our Lives rally in Washington DC, 2018. Photo: Phil Roeder/flickr/CC

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a case centered on a law that restricts access to firearms for domestic abusers, an analysis out Thursday shows how “the safety of domestic violence survivors, their families, and the American public” will be placed at risk if the court loosens those restrictions.

The group behind the report—Brady: United Against Gun Violence, whose founders fought to require background checks for firearm sales—determined that firearm homicides committed by an intimate partner went up by 22% from 2018-22, with states that have weak gun regulations seeing the most domestic abuse-related murders.

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What young Americans really think about guns

-74% of young people say gun violence is a problem in the US. But they have little faith in the government to tackle it

By Chrissy Stroop, Published 8-9-2023 by openDemocracy

National School Walkout against gun violence in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 20, 2018. Photo: Fibonacci Blue/flickr/CC

Since my openDemocracy column in late April about gun violence in the United States, there have been more than 250 mass shootings in the country, bringing the total for the year so far (as of yesterday) to 430. That’s just shy of two mass shootings a day for 2023 so far.

One recent incident took place in the small city of Muncie, Indiana, home of Ball State University, which happens to be where I did my bachelor’s degree 20 years ago. On 30 July, an assailant began firing into the crowd at a late-night block party, killing a 30-year-old man and sending 19 other people to hospital. I’ve only been back to Muncie a few times since 2003, but when a mass shooting occurs in a place you know, it hits close to home.

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US right exploits Nashville school shooting to marginalize trans people

Right encourages hate towards trans community to avoid focus on gun control – but not everyone is fooled

By Chrissy Stroop  Published 4-5-2023 by openDemocracy

A protest at the Tennessee Capitol for stricter gun laws in the state. Photo: Shannon Watts/Twitter

 So far in 2023, there have been 90 incidents of gunfire at primary and secondary schools in the US. The most recent happened on 27 March at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, a small private Christian school with classes ranging from preschool through to sixth grade (up to 12 years old). The Nashville shooter slaughtered six innocent victims, including three nine-year-olds, before being killed by the police.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, it was the 130th mass shooting of the year, meaning that mass shootings are currently occurring at a rate of about 1.5 per day in the so-called “land of the free”.

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‘Our Blood, Your Hands’: Students Stage National Walkout to Demand Gun Control

“We’re determined to be the last school shooting generation,” asserted protest organizer Students Demand Action.

By Brett Wilkins.  Published 4-5-2023 by Common Dreams

Students from Boulder High School march through Boulder, Colorado Photo: Paige Leonard/Twitter

 Students across the United States walked out of their classrooms Wednesday to take part in a nationwide protest demanding gun control legislation amid relentless shootings that have already claimed more than 10,000 lives in a little over three months this year.

Wednesday’s National School Walkout followed a smaller demonstration Monday in Nashville, Tennessee, where six people including three 9-year-old children were shot dead last week at the Covenant School.

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