Gary council passes citywide firearm ordinance
Councilman Dwight Williams, D-6th, was absent from Tuesday's meeting, which was held at the Gary Sanitary District's administrative building.
The council's Public Safety committee first heard the ordinance, which makes it unlawful for anyone to shoot or discharge guns within city limits.
Indiana Code prohibits political subdivisions from placing multiple restraints on firearms, including the ownership, possession, carrying, transportation, registration, transfer and storage of the weapons, according to state code. Political subdivisions include governing bodies in cities, towns and counties.
No provision specifically prohibits local governing bodies from regulating the firing or discharge of firearms and weapons, according to the Gary ordinance.
'Many cities have on the books already that you're prohibited from shooting firearms in the city,' said Carla Morgan, corporation counsel for the city of Gary. 'Because what legitimate reason, if you're not a police officer, do you have for doing such a thing?'
City leadership previously believed there was an ordinance that established firearm rules in Gary, but it couldn't be found, Morgan said.
Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon supports the ordinance.
'This ordinance, in its totality, is in alignment with other municipalities in this area,' Cannon said. 'Even Lake County has adopted an ordinance for unincorporated areas that is similar.'
Councilman Kenneth Whisenton, D-at large, at the public safety committee meeting, asked if pellet guns were included in the ordinance.
'Nowadays, you have pellet guns that use air that can drop a human in a heartbeat,' Whisenton said at the public safety committee meeting.
Whisenton and Councilman Dwayne Halliburton, D-2nd, both asked for language defining weapons to be included in the final version. On Tuesday, Morgan told council members that air guns and rifles, crossbows and firearms were defined in the ordinance's final version.
The ordinance's final version also removed a section allowing hunting in the city's natural areas, of which Cannon previously disapproved. It's 'inherently dangerous' for people to hunt near the city's populated areas, Morgan said.
All changes to the ordinance were included in an amendment, which was unanimously approved Tuesday night.
A first offense will result in a $250 fine, a second will lead to a $500 fine, a third a $750 fine, and a fourth will mean a $1,000 fine. The fifth and any subsequent offenses will result in a $2,500 fine.
All existing Gary code that conflicts with the changes will be null and void, according to the ordinance.
In 2024, the city saw non-fatal shootings decrease about 10%, going from 147 incidents to 132, according to a previous announcement from the Gary Police Department. The city also had 40 total homicides, falling 23% from 2023 and the lowest number recorded since 2018.
'Through more proactive policing, we've taken a strong stance on crime prevention,' Cannon previously said in a statement. 'The improvements we've made are a direct result of our commitment to staying ahead of criminal activity and building relationships with community partners who can help solve more cases.'
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Politico
11-08-2025
- Politico
How Florida's political disruptor spent his summer
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He repeated the message he gave during a recent visit to Tallahassee — that income inequality is the No. 1 issue in the country. This eventually led to a moment where one of the people questioning him asks Morgan what stops him from helping the people in the room who are struggling with their bills. Morgan stopped, took a $100 bill out of his pocket and handed it to him. The Jubilee video came on the heels of a video posted in June by the School of Hard Knocks in which Morgan talks about what it takes to be successful and asserts he made more money last year than NBA superstar LeBron James. He was asked if he was ever — ahem — screwed over in business deals. He said he has been, then added, 'But I f--- back.' Both videos show Morgan talking about being raised poor and finding a path to success. At the end of the Hard Knocks video, Morgan asserted, 'I'm a lucky guy. Successful people pat themselves on the back too much. What they really should do is get on their knees and thank God.' Morgan's wealth — and blunt talk — would have the chance to upend 2026 if he were to take the plunge and run statewide. As Floridians continue to struggle with affordability, he has very sharp views about insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. In the Jubilee video, he said people keep asking him to run for governor. When reached by Playbook last week, Morgan continued to assert that, if he were to run, he would not do it under the banner of either party. But Morgan, who is now 69, also added: 'Once upon a time being governor would have been an ego boost. But now my ego has been satisfied. And my children are my greatest accomplishment and pride and joy.' Morgan went on: 'So now doing this would be an incredible sacrifice … as would the job itself. But the direction of our state and country causes me to feel real despair … both parties. All or nothing. I only have so many summers left ... so I need to be careful and cautious, but not too careful.' 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Bloomberg
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- Bloomberg
Markets React to Tariffs and Labor Concerns
Watch Tom and Paul LIVE every day on YouTube: Bloomberg Surveillance hosted by Tom Keene & Paul Sweeney August 7th, 2025 Featuring: 1) Kelsey Berro, Executive Director: Fixed Income at JP Morgan Investment Management, joins to discuss fixed income markets and portfolio positioning as she asses Fed rate cuts and eco fundamentals. Three Fed policymakers voiced concerns about the US labor market Wednesday with remarks that pointed to a potential interest-rate cut in September. Fed San Francisco President Mary Daly said policymakers will probably need to adjust interest rates in 'coming months' to prevent a further deterioration in hiring. 2) John Stoltzfus, Chief Investment Strategist at Oppenheimer & Co., discusses his bullish S&P stance and whether it could change amid policy uncertainty. Stocks gained in early trading after the Kremlin confirmed Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet for summit talks, raising hopes of a truce in Russia's war with Ukraine. 3) Mark Dowding, CIO at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, talks about how tariff rates could weigh on the global economy, risk appetite, and the US labor market. Market sentiment got a boost earlier after President Trump announced that companies producing goods in the US, such as Apple Inc., would be eligible for exemptions from his proposed 100% tariff on chip imports. Increasing speculation on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut are also supporting optimism in stocks as sweeping new tariffs to reshape global trade officially took hold Thursday. 4) Joe Carson, former Chief Economist at AlllianceBernstein and publisher of The Carson Report, talks about the dismissal of the BLS chief and what it means for broader US economic policy and outlook. 5) Lisa Mateo joins with the latest headlines in newspapers across the US, including a New York Times story on how President Trump is weighing getting involved in NYC Mayors race to try to stop Zohran Mandani and a WSJ report on college kids using Google calendar for all sorts of things.
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Yahoo
Trump's Tariff Blitz on India Threatens 3.5 Million bpd in Global Oil Supply
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to slap India with extra tariffs because, "They're fueling the war machine," by buying Russian oil. Well, Trump made good on his threat on Wednesday, signing an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on India. The new tariff stacks on top of the existing 25% on Indian exports to the United States, and will come into effect in 21 days. Last year, India leapfrogged China to become the biggest buyer of Russian oil, purchasing up to 2 million barrels of discounted barrels per day, good for ~2% of global supply. India bought Russian oil worth $50.2 billion in fiscal year 2024/2025, accounting for 35% of its oil imports. It's not just that India is buying 'massive amounts of Russian Oil', said Trump, but 'they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits… Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.' And now, Wall Street is warning that putting the clamps on Russia's top customer is likely to have some dire consequences. According to JP Morgan, Russia could retaliate by closing Kazakhstan's Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which western oil majors, including Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Shell (NYSE:SHEL), TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) and Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) used to export 1 million barrels of crude per day. CPC has a total capacity of 1.7 million b/ are hints that Moscow is getting ready to act: Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that requires all foreign vessels to obtain permission from the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) before entering Russian seaports. The FSB has the authority to grant or deny passage. Novorossiysk, which handles oil flowing through CPC, is one of the ports affected. Russia could find itself in a world of hurt, too, with the loss of 2 mb/d in crude exports likely to force the country to pare back its current production level of 9 million b/d. This would, obviously, hurt the country's coffers pretty badly at a time when Russia is already reeling under falling oil prices. According to data by Russia's finance ministry data, the country's oil and gas revenue fell 33.7%Y/Y in June to a 16-month low. Russia's revenue from oil and gas sales are estimated to have declined 37% Y/Y in July thanks to a strong ruble and weak oil prices. "Cutting off this flow would require a massive realignment of trade flows," BNP Paribas analysts Aldo Spanjer told Reuters, pointing out that global oil supply is already stretched. Russia might have some options. According to the analysts, Russia could divert around 800,000 bpd of oil to Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, Peru, Indonesia, Brunei and South Africa. The analysts estimate that the combined effects of the stoppage Russian flows to India and CPC flows would disrupt 3.5 million bpd, with Sparta Commodities analyst Neil Crosby estimating that this would trigger an oil price spike to above $80 per barrel. According to a Wednesday briefing from Standard Chartered, if Indian refiners 'cannot source a near alternative, any deviation from the optimal crude slate will cause operational inefficiencies and lower refined product outputs, and the elasticity of substitution is lower than the market often estimates'. (Russian Urals is a medium-sour that has high diesel yields in refining). Citing research by Baker & O'Brien, StanChart notes that 'a full-conversion complex refinery could experience a 7% reduction in distillate production if it switches from Russian Urals to WTI as Urals generates more feedstock residue for hydrocracking, catalytic cracking and coker units; in contrast WTI would produce less diesel, fuel oil and jet fuel, but larger volumes of gasoline.' Meanwhile, Kazakhstan finds itself in the crossfire of the unfolding trade war, with the country's economy heavily dependent on oil exports. Unfortunately, Kazakhstan is highly vulnerable to a shut down of CPC due to the lack of viable alternatives. Whereas it could turn to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline as a backup route, the 1,768-kilometer-long pipeline spanning three countries is frequently hindered by shallow waters. Kazakhstan's oil volume via BTC is expected to clock in at 1.7 million tons in the current year, an increase of only 300,000 tons. That said, Kazakhstan might be motivated to support Russia now more than ever. A major dispute has been ongoing between Kazakhstan and international oil companies over the Kashagan oil field development, with Kazakhstan seeking billions of dollars in compensation. The dispute centers around claims that the oil majors have not fulfilled their contractual obligations, leading to significant financial losses for the country. Kazakhstan's claims have escalated to $160 billion, encompassing lost revenue due to delayed and underperforming production. A couple of days ago, Bloomberg reported that Kashagan project shareholders won a lawsuit over a potential $4 billion environmental fine by Kazakhstan. However, the celebrations by the oil majors might be short-lived if Astana plays hard ball and demands they start paying a price that reflects the heightened political risks Alex Kimani for More Top Reads From this article on Sign in to access your portfolio
