gun violence

COMMENTARY
Who is making these guns, and where? (Photo by Sergio Flores/Bloomberg, Getty Images)

We need to broaden the conversation about guns to include manufacturers

BY: and - April 27, 2023

There is a familiar pattern after the mass shootings that have become a well-known feature of American life. The initial shock and grief gives way to demands for greater regulation of gun ownership by Democrats, while Republicans dismiss such measures and blame mental illness instead. But if we actually want to do something about it, […]

‘Tennessee three’ praised by Biden in White House meeting

BY: - April 24, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday met with three Tennessee state Democratic lawmakers, two of whom were expelled by the Republican-controlled state House after they protested for gun safety measures following a mass school shooting. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin Pearson of Memphis […]

A group of people gather outside the Mahogany’s Masterpiece Dance Studio in Dadeville, Alabama on April 16, 2023. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says at least four people were killed in the building on Saturday evening. (Jemma Stephenson/Alabama Reflector)

At least four dead, 15 injured in shooting at birthday party in small Alabama town

BY: and - April 16, 2023

At least four people were killed and 15 injured in a shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville on Saturday night. The shootings took place on Broadnax Street around 10:30 p.m., said Sgt. Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for ALEA, at a press conference Sunday morning. The Alexander City Outlook reported the shootings took place at […]

Kentucky police release names of five dead in Louisville shooting, nine injured

BY: - April 10, 2023

LOUISVILLE — Louisville Metro Police Department Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel was joined Monday afternoon by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg to name the victims of a mass shooting earlier that day in the city, one of them a close friend of the governor. According to LMPD, the victims: – 40-year-old Joshua Barrick […]

COMMENTARY
Rep. Justin Jones, left, and Justin Pearson, right, were expelled from the Tennessee House. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

The GOP won on Thursday in Tennessee. They’ll lose the fight on gun safety | John L. Micek

BY: - April 7, 2023

In the annals of brazenly destructive attacks on democracy, Thursday’s vote by Tennessee’s Republican-controlled state House to expel two Democratic lawmakers who led a decorum-busting protest over the cold-blooded murders of children is right up there. The hard reality that both of the expelled lawmakers were young Black men, while another lawmaker who avoided expulsion […]

A digital illustration, in pencil and watercolor, about the mental health effects on youth who experience gun violence. A repeating pattern made out of handguns close in on a young boy, who is at the center of the drawing. He covers his face with his hand s, an anguished expression visible on his face. A line of thin red circles are layered across the horizontal center, symbolizing cycles of trauma.

Pandemic stress, gangs, and utter fear fueled a rise in teen shootings

BY: - March 12, 2023

Diego never imagined he’d carry a gun. Not as a child, when shots were fired outside his Chicago-area home. Not at age 12, when one of his friends was gunned down. Diego’s mind changed at 14, when he and his friends were getting ready to walk to midnight Mass for the feast of Our Lady […]

President Joe Biden speaks

Biden renews a call for action on gun control following Michigan State mass shooting

BY: - February 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden at an annual meeting with county leaders on Tuesday said there is much more work to be done on gun control legislation —  such as banning assault-style weapons, which are typically used in most mass shootings.  The call again for gun control came after a school shooting at Michigan State […]

Wave of mass shootings prompts Biden to call yet again for assault weapons ban

BY: - January 24, 2023

WASHINGTON — Following a mass shooting on the eve of Lunar New Year in which 11 people in a predominantly Asian neighborhood in California were killed, President Joe Biden again urged Congress to pass legislation banning assault weapons. Communities across America “have been struck by tragedy after tragedy, including mass shootings from Colorado Springs to […]

People visit a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on Nov. 21, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On Saturday evening, a 22-year-old gunman entered the LGBTQ nightclub and opened fire, killing five people and injuring 25 others before being stopped by club patrons. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

BY: - December 14, 2022

Survivors of a deadly attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other advocates told a U.S. House panel Wednesday that political rhetoric and policy fights dehumanize LGBTQ people and contribute to such violence. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee largely sympathized with the survivors, but drew different conclusions […]

COMMENTARY

Safety and justice should get equal attention from policymakers

BY: and - November 2, 2022

Earlier this year, at Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s  urging, the Little Rock Board of Directors passed a resolution declaring community violence a public health emergency. Rightly so.  Little Rock has been gripped by a gun violence epidemic. Accordingly, we should demand a policy response from our elected officials commensurate with the problem that increases safety […]