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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Rhode Island lawmakers pass bill to ban sales of assault weapons
Rhode Island's Democratic-controlled state House on Friday approved legislation that would ban the sale and manufacturing of many semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons. The proposal now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Dan McKee, who has said he supports assault weapons bans. If the bill is signed into law, Rhode Island will join 10 states that have some sort of prohibition on high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide and are now largely the weapon of choice among those responsible for most of the country's devastating mass shootings. Gun control advocates have been pushing for an assault weapons ban in Rhode Island for more than a decade. However, despite being a Democratic stronghold, lawmakers throughout the country's smallest state have long quibbled over the necessity and legality of such proposals. The bill only applies to the sale and manufacturing of assault weapons and not possession. Only Washington state has a similar law. Residents looking to purchase an assault weapon from nearby New Hampshire or elsewhere will also be blocked. Federal law prohibits people from traveling to a different state to purchase a gun and returning it to a state where that particular of weapon is banned. Nine states and the District of Columbia have bans on the possession of assault weapons, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Hawaii bans assault pistols. Critics of Rhode Island's proposed law argued Friday during floor debates that assault weapons bans do little to curb mass shootings and only punish people with such rifles. 'This bill doesn't go after criminals, it just puts the burden on law-abiding citizens,' said Republican Sen. Thomas Paolino. It wasn't just Republicans who opposed the legislation. David Hogg — a gun control advocate who survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida — and the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence described the proposed ban as the 'weakest assault weapons ban in the country.' 'I know that Rhode Islanders deserve a strong bill that not only bans the sale, but also the possession of assault weapons. It is this combination that equals public safety,' Hogg said in a statement. Elisabeth Ryan, policy counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety, rejected claims that the proposed law is weak. 'The weakest law is what Rhode Island has now, no ban on assault weapons,' Ryan said. 'This would create a real, enforceable ban on the sale and manufacture of assault weapons, just like the law already working in Washington state, getting them off the shelves of Rhode Island gun stores once and for all.' Nationally, assault weapons bans have been challenged in court by gun rights groups that argue the bans violate the Second Amendment. AR-15-style firearms are among the best-selling rifles in the country. The conservative-majority Supreme Court may soon take up the issue. The justices declined to hear a challenge to Maryland's assault weapons ban in early June, but three conservative justices — Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas — publicly noted their disagreement. A fourth, Brett Kavanaugh, indicated he was skeptical that the bans are constitutional and predicted the court would hear a case 'in the next term or two.' ___ Associated Press writers David Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'MAGA Mark' Zuckerberg leaves Meta staff horrified after Joe Rogan chat
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg 's new machismo and perceived alignment with President Trump has reportedly unsettled employees and execs inside the company. The billionaire tech mogul has been dubbed 'MAGA Mark' by staffers following his January appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he criticized Corporate America as 'culturally neutered' and called for more 'masculine energy' in the workplace. Zuckerberg's remarks - made as an aspiring MMA fighter - sparked discomfort among employees at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, according to the Financial Times. In the days following the interview, several executives raised concerns during a leadership meeting at Meta's California headquarters. 'He basically said, "If you don't like it, tough s**t,"' a source familiar with the conversation told the Financial Times. On the podcast, Zuckerberg, 41, also praised mixed martial arts as a form of male bonding and argued that male aggression can be constructive. 'There's this crazy thing about wrestling,' he told Rogan, a former MMA commentator. 'If you get into a fight with someone at work, you're probably going to get fired. But if you train in MMA, you can roll hard with someone and you're both better friends afterward.' 'In a lot of the corporate world, there's this assumption that aggression or intensity is inherently negative,' he added. 'But it's not. I actually think it's useful - you just need to know how to channel that energy.' Zuckerberg's evolution from a traditional Silicon Valley liberal to someone increasingly aligned with Donald Trump, 79, has become a hallmark of his leadership at Meta. Once known as a low-profile, hoodie-clad Democrat, Zuckerberg has reshaped his public persona - appearing shirtless in MMA training videos, sporting gold chains, and flaunting luxury watches. His appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast - one of several engagements with largely male, anti-woke audiences - fueled growing criticism that he's signaling a broader political shift to the right. His public praise for Trump and reductions in content moderation at Meta have further intensified concerns about the company's ideological direction, the Financial Times reported. But, insiders argue that Zuckerberg isn't changing so much as revealing a version of himself they've always known. 'When he was 19 years old, I think he had an idea in his head of what a CEO was supposed to be like and he was trying to be that, especially in public,' Meta's chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth, told the Financial Times. 'The public is seeing him more how we have, internally, since the beginning,' Bosworth added. Zuckerberg's evolving persona comes as he positions Meta aggressively in the high-stakes race for dominance in artificial intelligence. Last week, the company made headlines with its $14.3 billion acquisition of Scale AI, securing a 49 percent non-voting stake in the startup and access to its infrastructure and talent - including founder Alexandr Wang, who now leads Meta's new 'superintelligence' unit. However, his move has triggered backlash from rivals, with OpenAI and Google severing ties with Scale over conflict-of-interest concerns, the New York Post reported. With plans to spend $65 billion annually on AI by 2025, the technology company is 'betting big.' But, the ambitious approach comes with risks, including mounting costs, regulatory scrutiny, and challenges in retaining top engineering talent. As of Friday, Zuckerberg was the world's second-richest person, with a net worth of $245 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Despite the heavy-hitting criticism, Zuckerberg isn't alone in his apparent shift toward a more MAGA- aligned stance. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, once seen as a liberal-leaning titan of industry, has recently voiced criticisms of the Biden administration and echoed right-leaning talking points. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk famously made a similar pivot earlier, aligning himself with conservative narratives on free speech, 'wokeness,' and government overreach - positions that initially found common ground with figures like Trump before their public falling out.
Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
A federal judge has ordered the release of Mahmoud Khalil
A U.S. judge ordered on Friday that Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil be immediately released from immigration custody, a major victory for rights groups that challenged what they called the Trump administration's unlawful targeting of a pro-Palestinian activist. This report produced by Freddie Joyner.
