Members of the House Judiciary Committee plan to return from their summer break early to consider three gun control bills in response to the latest rash of mass shootings.
The committee announced Friday it will mark up a bill to outlaw large capacity magazines and other ammunition feeding devices, along with a bill that would prevent people who have been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime from owning a weapon.
And the committee also will consider a bill that would establish a grant program to encourage states to adopt laws that allow courts to take firearms away from people suspected of being a danger to the public, so-called red flag laws. That bill also would incorporate provisions from a similar bill that would allow federal courts to issue such protective orders.
Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., announced the panel also would hold a hearing on “military-style assault weapons” on September 25.
Even if the gun bills make it out of the House, don't expect Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring any of the measures to the floor of the Senate any time soon without Trump's clear support.
Although the Donald has indicated he might get behind “red flag” laws in the aftermath of recent gun violence.
Fox News pundit Sean Hannity says the answer to gun violence is to have retired police, secret service or military service members surround schools and shopping malls.
“I’d like to see the perimeter of every school in America surrounded, secured by retired police — which you are — retired Secret Service — which you are — military, and I want guys to donate 15 hours," Hannity told guest Dan Bongino last night. "I think we could cover every school, every hour, every day. Add a metal detector, and I think we’re going to have safer schools.
"Have one armed guard on every floor of every school, all over every mall, the perimeter, and inside every hall of every mall," he explained. "Now, that gives us an instant response opportunity that we normally wouldn’t have.”
Presidential adviser Sean Hannity: "I'd like to see the perimeter of every school in America surrounded, secured by retired police ... have one armed guard on every floor of every school, all over every mall, the perimeter and inside every hall of every mall." pic.twitter.com/Renh47IiBY
you head to the mall to buy overpriced garbage at Best Buy, and spend the next 30 to 40 minutes wondering if the jumpy retired cop will hear a balloon pop and start mag dumping into the crowd
President Obama issued a statement today regarding the twin mass shootings that occurred over the weekend.
After sharing condolences from his family for the victims of the attacks, Obama wrote, "No other nation on Earth comes close to experiencing the frequency of mass shootings that we see in the United State. No other developed nation tolerates the levels of gun violence that we do."
He also called out those who say "tougher gun laws won't stop all murders" because "the evidence shows that they can stop some killings."
The former president also wrote of the accused El Paso shooter: "Troubled individuals who embrace racist ideologies and themselves obligated to act violently to preserve white supremacy."
"We should soundly reject language coming of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racists sentiments; leaders who demonize those who don't look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people," said Obama in closing.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg told attendees at a labor union forum in Las Vegas Saturday that the United States is "under attack" by white nationalists carrying out deadly mass shootings across the country, and those white nationalists have become emboldened by Donald Trump.
Buttigieg was speaking at a forum in Las Vegas sponsored by the public-sector labor union AFSCME.
News of the recent mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart broke during the event.
Eschewing his prepared introductory remarks, Buttigieg addressed the tragedy head-on.
“America is under attack from homegrown white nationalist terrorism,” Buttigieg said in his opening remarks. “White nationalism is evil. And it is inspiring people to commit murder, and it is being condoned at the highest levels of the American government, and that has to end.”
When asked his thoughts on Trump's position on white nationalists, Buttigieg said the president “at best condones and encourages white nationalism."
Buttigieg also called for stricter gun control laws across the country.
“We are the only country in the world with more guns than people,” said the 37-year-old White House contender. “It has not made us safer. We can respect the Second Amendment (on gun rights), and not allow it to be a death sentence for thousands of Americans.”
Among several policies he shared that would help stem the tide of gun violence were:
• Implementing universal background checks for firearm purchases
• Banning the sale of high capacity magazines
• Allowing the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence
• Passing “red flag” laws that remove firearms from at-risk people, such as those convicted of domestic violence
Buttigieg also said there should be stricter regulations for military-style firearms often used in mass shootings.
“Weapons of war have no place in American neighborhoods,” said the Afghanistan war veteran.
Buttigieg addressed the lack of leadership on gun violence by the president today.
"Will the President of the United States leave his golf resort, go back to Washington, address the nation, condemn—in no uncertain terms—white nationalism, and call for the Senate to convene tomorrow to enact at least the most basic gun safety reforms that most Americans want?"
Will the President of the United States leave his golf resort, go back to Washington, address the nation, condemn—in no uncertain terms—white nationalism, and call for the Senate to convene tomorrow to enact at least the most basic gun safety reforms that most Americans want? pic.twitter.com/GEVLkLuWei
Less than a month after a white supremacist loon shot up two mosques killing 50 people, New Zealand's lawmakers have banned most automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
Additionally, components that modify existing weapons were prohibited as well.
The gun reform bill passed 119-1 after its final reading in Parliament. It must now receive royal assent from the governor general before it officially becomes law.
Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with 50 murder charges after the attack on two mosques on March 15.
Around 250,000 people in New Zealand own a total of about 1.5 million weapons.
BREAKING: New Zealand's parliament voted 119-1 today to ban military-style semi-automatic weapons. The change comes less than one month after the Christchurch mosque shootings that left 50 people dead. pic.twitter.com/UHxFn7Vuez
Forty-nine people were killed in shootings at two mosques in central Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, in a terrorist attack that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”
• Officials said that one man in his late 20s had been charged with murder, and that two explosive devices were found attached to a vehicle that they had stopped.
• A Muslim leader in New Zealand said the attack was especially shocking as it took place around Friday Prayer. The police urged people to stay away from the mosques until further notice.
• A gunman streamed a live video of the attack on Facebook, and he appeared to have posted a manifesto online.
"You may have chosen us -- but we utterly reject and condemn you."
A gunman on Friday shot six people, two fatally, at a hot yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, police said.
The two people killed were identified as Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21, according to Tallahassee Chief of Police Michael DeLeo.
The suspect, Scott Paul Beierle, 40, of Deltona, Florida, died of a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound, DeLeo said.
One other person was pistol-whipped.
DeLeo said police were unable immediately to draw a connection between the suspect and the victims of the shooting.
Around 5:30 p.m. Friday, police responded to a call about a shooting at Hot Yoga Tallahassee.
There were indications people fought the gunman and some tried to save others, the chief said.
Responding officers arrived in about three minutes and found the gunman already dead.
The six gunshot victims were taken to hospitals. Vessem and Binkley died at the hospital and the other four are in critical condition, DeLeo said.
All indications are that the shooting was the act of a single person, the chief said.
Heavy.com reports that Beierle was a member of two Facebook groups - FSU College Republicans and We Are Conservatives.
Also, Leon County records show Beierle had a police record of grabbing and slapping women's butts. USA Today reports he had two arrests, one in 2012 and one in 2016 for such behavior.
Tallehasse Mayor (and current Democratic gubernatorial candidate) Andrew Gillum has suspended his campaign to return to the state capital.
I’m deeply appreciative of law enforcement's quick response to the shooting at the yoga facility in Tallahassee today. No act of gun violence is acceptable. I'm in close communication with law enforcement officials and will be returning to Tallahassee tonight.
Robert Bowers, accused of barging into a Pittsburgh synagogue and killing 11 people last Saturday, appeared in court today to plead not guilty.
How he can be 'not guilty' when he was caught redhanded is hard to imagine, but....
Yesterday, a grand jury indicted Bowers on 44 counts of murder, hate crime, obstruction of religious practice, and more.
Bowers allegedly entered the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and opened fire. Eleven people were killed and six additional victims were injured.
According to prosecutors, the 46-year-old had several firearms, including Glock .357-caliber handguns and a Colt AR-15 rifle.
According to reports, when he was apprehended by police, he told them he "wanted all Jews to die."
This was the deadliest attack on Jewish people in the U.S. in the history of the country.
The shooting took place during a gay couple’s bris for their newly-adopted twins.
Additionally, one of the victims was a well-known HIV physician in Pittsburgh.
In his court appearance today, Bowers requested a trial by jury which legal experts say could take 3-4 weeks.
If Bowers is found guilty, he faces a possible death sentence for 32 of the 44 indictments. Or, he could face life in prison without parole, or a sentence of up to 535 years in prison.
Just yesterday, Trump supporter and former senior editor for Breitbart, Milo Yiannopoulos said, “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight."
Today, a shooter guns down journalists in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Baltimore Sun is reporting a shooting has occurred at the Capital Gazette in Anne Arundel County, a paper that is owned by The Baltimore Sun, according to police and Capital Gazette staff.
Anne Arundel County Sheriff says multiple fatalities have occurred, a suspect in custody and the building has been evacuated.
Phil Davis, a reporter for the Capital Gazette, shared the breaking story in a series of tweets:
A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.
Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.
As a result of the shooting in Maryland, New York City Police has sent extra protective forces to major media office buildings.
It's worth noting that, on many occasions, Donald Trump has incited anger over the press to his followers. He's tweeted in the past, "The FAKE NEWS media is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!"
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
We don’t know who is responsible for the #Annapolis mass shooting at a press outlet, but it’s horrifying to see Trump supporters claim the shootings are justified because it’s the media and “they deserve it.”
Republicans have fostered that sentiment. And now Americans are dead.
A 17-year-old boy in East Pittsburgh is dead after being shot three times in the back by an officer who had been sworn into the police department just hours earlier.
Antwon Rose was killed Tuesday night while fleeing from a car that had been pulled over in connection with an earlier shooting in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, according to WTAE TV.
An East Pittsburgh police officer saw a vehicle matching the description on Grandview Avenue which also had ballistics damage to the rear window. The officer stopped the vehicle near Grandview and Howard Street in East Pittsburgh.
The officer took the driver into custody. While he was putting the driver into handcuffs, two other occupants ran from the car.
One individual ― a 17-year-old male ― was shot by police. He was transported to McKeesport Hospital where he was declared deceased.
According to USA Today, no shots were fired at the officer at the scene. You'll notice the report doesn't mention the teen being shot three times in the back.
Allegheny County police Superintendent Coleman McDonough confirmed that Rose was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on leave but not identified.
In a statement to local station WPXI TV, East Pittsburgh Mayor Louis Payne shared that the officer had been sworn into the department only a few hours before the shooting, but clarified the officer was not a rookie having served with other area police departments for seven years.
A petition has been launched calling on Gov. Tom Wolf to require the East Pittsburg Police Deparmtent to wear body cameras at all times.
A rally shuts down Braddock Avenue a day after an East Hills Police Officer shot 17-year-old Antwon Rose, a Woodland Hills High School honors student during a traffic stop. @TribLIVE#AntwonRosepic.twitter.com/XZ0k8RTDQh
The headline of today's New York Daily News reads, "With yesterday's Texas massacre, there have now been more students or teachers killed by guns in U.S. schools than active-duty military deaths in 2018. No headline can do this justice."
The frontlines of American warfare are now in America's classrooms.
More people have been murdered in schools so far this year than have been killed while serving in the U.S. military, according to depressing statistics.
Accounting for the 10 people shot to death at a Houston-area high school Friday, 31 people — an overwhelming majority of whom were students — have been killed at schools since Jan. 1, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. Twenty-nine U.S. service members have been killed in the same timeframe, including both combat and noncombat deaths, according to the Pentagon.
Previous years, the numbers have typically been inverted, with service member casualties outnumbering student deaths by at least double, statistics show.
The new interim memorial for the victims and survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting was unveiled yesterday in Orlando, Florida.
The tribute features panels and murals honoring not only the 49 victims of the deadly shooting which took place on June 12, 2016, but the families, first responders and community members who came together in the aftermath of the tragedy.
According to Pulse nightclub owner and foundation founder Barbara Poma, every aspect of the design came directly from those affected by the shooting.
“Everything you will experience here is intentional,” Poma told the press. “It has purpose.”
Photos, commemorative art and images of LGBTQ pride left behind by visitors for almost two years, are now on display on the wall that surrounds the former nightclub. Visitors can leave messages on a digital board in front of the main mural.
Additionally, the iconic Pulse fountain, which had been badly damaged during the shooting, has been rebuilt.
After a dedication ceremony, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, told the Orlando Sentinel the temporary memorial would give survivors of the shooting, as well as the Orlando community, a more appropriate setting to reflect.
“As a gay, Latino man who lives here in Orlando there’s no way that this tragedy couldn’t have been deeply deeply personal for me,” Smith said. “We can’t forget what happened here on the darkest day of our city’s history. It’s also part of our world and human history.”
This tribute will remain until the permanent memorial and museum designs are selected.
A Palm Springs couple vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, were the victims of a shooting incident in early morning hours early Saturday. The couple say the attack was a hate crime because they were holding hands.
At about 2:30 a.m., at the end of a night of dancing, Carl Blea and Marc Lange were holding hands and walking to the condo where they were staying, Lange said. As they passed through a plaza, a man standing nearby yelled something at them. Blea then noticed the man pull out a gun and tried to get himself and Lange to safety.
Lange, speaking by phone from a Puerto Vallarta hospital Sunday morning, said a bullet struck Blea below his right buttock and exited through his thigh. He said if Blea hadn't seen the gun and reacted so quickly, both of them might be dead.
The men believe the shooting was a targeted hate crime because they're gay. Lange called it "a random act of hatred." He said he's told police what happened multiple times.
According to Lange, the local media is reporting the incident as a botched robbery but he disputes that claim saying they never spoke to the man that shot them.
He believes the media is trying to downplay the shooting in an effort to protect tourism in the Mexican city.
I post this only because there has been no local press or alerts made to the puerto Vallarta area.
Last night we were involved in nothing more than a hate crime.
Last night my husband and I were walking home hand in hand from an evening out in puerto Vallarta. As we cross the street walking into a well lite area, Cardenas Lazaro park, we pass a white car and a person who looked like he had done hard time in prison, wife beater and tattoos both face and body (circle tattoo on right side of face). As we walk pass him he shouts something. I turn to look and then turn away, Carl Blea looks and see this person pull out a gun which is now pointed at us. Carl begins to run and pulls me away from the shooter. A bullet is shot and Carl goes down. Shot. We have no idea what is happening. A concrete building separates us from the shooter. I scream for help..... someone finally helps, police arrive, 45 min later the ambulance arrives.
This person was there for no other reason than to kill innocent people. We happened to be his target. There is nothing in the local newspaper or news warning people of this incident.
As readers of The Randy Report know, hubby Michael and I often vacation in Puerto Vallarta. While I've never seen any violence during my travels there, I'm also aware that as a gay man in a country who's views on LGBT rights and protections are iffy, I don't hold Michael's hand in public.
Two Tony Award winners singing a mashup of two songs from back-to-back Tony Award winning scores and a portion of the proceeds go to help the March for Our Lives initiative.
Nope - can't find a thing wrong with that.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt finally team up for a mash-up of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.
The new single “Found/Tonight,” arranged by Alex Lacamoire, brings together Hamilton's “The Story of Tonight” with Dear Evan Hansen's “You Will Be Found,” adding up to a truly anthemic theme song for the upcoming nationwide protest against gun violence, March for Our Lives.
USA Today sets up the two songs that become musical magic:
"The Story of Tonight," from Hamilton, is sung by a young Alexander Hamilton, Marquis de Lafayette, John Laurens and Hercules Mulligan, who share a round of drinks and camaraderie before joining the American Revolution.
"You Will Be Found," from the 2017 Tony winner for best musical Dear Evan Hansen, is a speech about loneliness and friendship intended to keep alive the memory of a high school pal who committed suicide.
And here's how it comes together: Even when the dark comes crashing through, when you need a friend to carry you, When you're broken on the ground, you will be found So let the sun come streaming in cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again, If you only look around, you will be found And when our children tell their story, they'll tell the story of tonight No matter what they tell you tomorrow there'll be more of us Telling the story of tonight
Bonus points for Platt getting to sing the word "tonight" as he's publicly campaigning to play "Tony" in the upcoming movie remake of West Side Story.
One of the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where last month's devastating gun massacre left 17 dead, clearly got the feels intended as he promoted the song on Twitter:
In an ad that includes footage of Donald Trump needling Republicans for being "afraid of the NRA," Parkland high school student David Hogg wonders aloud "What if our politicians weren't the bitch of the NRA?"
High school students across the entire country are sending a clear and powerful message to the nation's lawmakers and the National Rifle Association that we need more than "thoughts and prayers" to solve our gun violence problem in the U.S.
These kids are woke.
From The New York Times:
Thousands of students, emboldened by a growing protest movement over gun violence, stood up in their classrooms on Wednesday and walked out of their schools in a nationwide demonstration, one month after a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Florida.
The 17-minute protests unfolding at hundreds of schools are intended to pressure Congress to approve gun control legislation after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and come 10 days before major protests in Washington and elsewhere.
Remember why we are walking out. We are walking out for my friends that passed, all children that have been taken because of gun violence. We are walking out for the empty desks in my classes, and the unsaid goodbyes. This epidemic of School shootings must stop. #Enoughwalkout
In support of the national student walkout over gun violence, Viacom cable networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon, BET and Comedy Central will all be suspending programming for #17minutes to honor the victims of the shooting at MSD High School in Parkland, Fla.#NationalWalkoutDaypic.twitter.com/0rdbwOoowN
Student speaks in front of the U.S. Capitol on #NationalWalkoutDay: “Their right to own an assault rifle does not outweigh our right to live. The adults have failed us. This is in our hands now, and if any elected official gets in our way, we will vote them out.” pic.twitter.com/VEdAcLnuOI
After spending several days in Tallahassee, Florida, lobbying state lawmakers to take steps that could stop violent gun massacres in the future, students who survived the gun massacre at a Parkland high school two weeks ago made a stop in Orlando to meet with survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016.
Standing together, the survivors read the names of the 49 Pulse shooting victims and place a rose in a wire fence in tribute. They then added the names of the 17 killed in the Parkland shooting.
Neema Bahrami, who was an event manager at Pulse at the time of the attack, told the press, “We’re all family.”
Watch the local news report below.
Joined Pulse survivors to welcome students and families from Stoneman Douglas to the Pulse site. We share their grief and support their efforts to ensure no other community has to experience what Orlando and Parkland have. pic.twitter.com/JsoouUup4A
Dick’s Sporting Goods is not only ending the sale of all assault-style firearms in its stores, they will no longer sell guns to anyone under 21 years old.
Assault-style weapon sales ended at Dick's-branded stores after the Newtown, Conn. school shooting in 2012. But the company was still selling them at its 35 Field & Stream locations, which specialize in hunting and outdoors products.
More: Here's what Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack wrote about his company's actions
"As we looked at what happened down in Parkland, we were so disturbed and saddened by what happened, we felt we really needed to do something," Stack told GMA's George Stephanopoulos.
Stack acknowledged that the Parkland school shooter had purchased a shotgun at one of the company's stores in November. Though the killer did not use the gun in the shooting, the realization served as a catalyst for action.
"We did everything by the book, we did everything that the law required and still he was able to buy a gun," Stack said. "When we looked at that, we said, ‘The systems that are in place across the board just aren’t effective enough to keep us from selling someone a gun like that.’"
To be honest, this comes as no surprise. I've loved Dicks my whole life ;)
And yes, you can bet I'm heading to the nearest store and buying something today.
Today's hero is @DICKS' CEO Edward W. Stack for doing what is right. Listen to this short interview excerpt and you'll see a shining example of what it means to be a compassionate American, a true Patriot. https://t.co/CqEd9RwpnV
PEOPLE @Dicks Sporting Goods has stepped up in a big way. They have actually put money on the line, company profits are now less important that human lives. Support @Dicks Sporting Goods. They care, so we should.
Proud to see Pittsburgh-based @DICKS taking real action to keep kids and communities safe. It's time for our country to come together to stop this senseless violence. https://t.co/q3wB4TUMMO
Talked to several people outside of the local @DICKS about the company’s ban on selling assault rifles. Everyone so far in full support. One man even told me he came just to buy some socks to show support. #fox10phoenixpic.twitter.com/FSPGXtPA2Y
Let's thank DICK'S Sporting Goods for making commonsense policy changes in response to calls from survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
