Latest news with #GiffordsLawCenter
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Strong gun laws in California yield lowest gun deaths rates, Newsom says
( — Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement stating that California leads the nation in strong gun safety laws, correlating with many lives that were saved. Newsom stated that year after year, California has been ranked as the number one state in the country for its strong gun safety laws, along with some of the lowest rates of gun deaths, according to information from Giffords Law Center and Everytown for Gun Safety. In other states, where officials have passed gun safety laws, fewer people have died from gun violence, Newsom said. Texas and Florida, which have been ranked 32nd and 21st, respectively, in gun law strength, had firearm mortality rates more than 50% higher than California. Newsom said that according to the California Department of Justice Office of Gun Violence Prevention, if the gun death rate in the rest of the U.S. matched the state's over the past decade, there would have been almost 140,000 lives saved, and potentially hundreds of thousands of people would sustain gunshot injuries. California gun control bill that could ban popular Glock pistol sales moves forward 'Strong gun laws save lives,' said Newsom. 'California has reduced its gun violence rate because of its leading gun safety laws.' California was the first state in the nation to have a 'Red Flag Law' in 2016, according to Newsom. The law builds on a bedrock of available protection orders – nine in total – that would prohibit firearm possession for people subject to orders ranging from domestic violence and workplace harassment. In the first three years of the law, the protection order was used to prevent 58 cases of threatened mass shooting, according to Newsom. Newsom said, 'There have been significant increases in utilization of GVROs – increasing by 118% – from 2020 to 2023.' Newsom stated that he signed a bipartisan legislative package to further reinforce California's nation-leading gun laws and prevent incidents of mass violence. 'California won't wait until the next school shooting or mass shooting to act. In the absence of congressional action, our state is once again leading the way by strengthening our nation-leading gun laws. Data shows that California's gun safety laws are effective in preventing gun-related deaths, which makes the ongoing inaction and obstruction by politicians in the pocket of the gun lobby even more reprehensible.' Gov. Gavin Newsom Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
18 to be the new minimum handgun age in Iowa
May 14—Beginning July 1, Iowa joins 23 states allowing the purchase and carrying of handguns by individuals 18 and older, rather than the federal age of 21. On April 18, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed HF 924 into law, changing the state's minimum age. While both federal and Iowa law already allowed for the purchase of long guns like shotguns and rifles for 18 year olds, many states don't allow this for pistols and revolvers. Ten states and the District of Columbia have minimum age gun laws stricter than the federal standard. Proponents of lowering the handgun purchase age say it prevents discrimination. "This aligns with recent federal court rulings affirming that young adults, aged 18 to 20 may not, as a class, be denied full access to their Second Amendment rights," reads a statement by the Iowa Firearms Coalition. "By proactively addressing this issue, Iowa lawmakers have helped ensure our state remains a leader in protecting these fundamental rights." A lobbyist with the Iowa Firearms Coalition, Richard Rogers, said this change is long overdue. "Iowa's young adults are being discriminated against unfairly as to their Second Amendment rights," he said. "They are legally and morally responsible for the care and safety of that family, and yet, we deny them the access to the most practical, portable tool for self-defense." The law also allows those 18 years or older who are a parent, guardian or spouse of someone who is younger than 18 to directly supervise the younger individual in possessing a pistol, revolver or ammunition. The adult must "maintain a physical presence near the supervised person conducive to hands-on instruction, who maintains visual and verbal contact at all times with the supervised person and who is not intoxicated." Since 2021, Iowans are allowed to both purchase and carry handguns without a permit to acquire or a permit to carry, subject to certain limitations. The Iowa Department of Public Safety still recommends obtaining a permit as there are benefits, including allowing Iowans to carry in states with permit reciprocity while traveling. Critics of the bill cite the dangers of gun violence in young adults. "Laws imposing minimum age requirements for the possession and purchase of firearms are intended to decrease access to firearms by young people and, correspondingly, to decrease the number of suicides, homicides and unintentional shootings among that population," reads a statement by Giffords Law Center. "Given that young people are at elevated risk of engaging in violent behaviors against themselves or others, these laws have the potential to protect a particularly vulnerable group." An FBI Supplementary Homicide Report shows 18-20 year olds comprise just 4% of the U.S. population but account for 17% of known gun homicide offenders. Giffords also cites a 2024 study that found state laws raising the minimum legal age to purchase firearms to 21 were associated with a 12% decline in rates of firearm suicides among 18 to 20 year olds. Other Firearms Bills May 6, Reynolds signed Senate File 106 into law, allowing the carry of a loaded firearm while operating a snowmobile or ATV. While the bill still prohibits discharging a weapon while operating the vehicle, it does allow for carrying if all other conduct is lawful. Non-ambulatory Iowans are allowed to shoot while on the vehicle as long as it is not moving. "The NRA thanks Governor Reynolds, pro-gun lawmakers and all NRA members and Second Amendment advocates for their engagement on this critical legislation," the National Rifle Association said in a statement. House File 791, an act regarding firearm safety instruction in school districts, passed the House committee on public safety last month in anticipation of a start date next year. "By July 1, 2026, develop and distribute to all school districts an age-appropriate model program for firearm safety instruction for students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade," the text states. The program for Iowans sixth grade and younger is to be based on the Eddie Eagle gun safety program developed by the NRA. For those in seventh through 12th grade, the program would be based on the NRA's hunter education course. The bill will require public school districts to offer or make available an approved firearm safety instruction course to all students in seventh through 12th grade. They must also make the program available for students attending private schools in their district. The cost is to be paid by the school district using money from state school foundation aid received into the school's general fund. "No additional state funding shall be necessary for the full implementation of this act," the bill states.
Axios
12-03-2025
- Axios
Study: 1 in 15 US adults has experienced a mass shooting firsthand
About 1 in 15 U.S. adults has been on scene at a mass shooting, a new University of Colorado Boulder study published in JAMA Network Open reveals. Why it matters: The study underscores the pervasiveness of gun violence in the U.S. and the increasing likelihood that everyday Americans could be caught in the crossfire. The big picture:"Our findings lend credence to the idea of a 'mass shooting generation,'" senior author David Pyrooz said in a statement. "People who grew up in the aftermath of Columbine have these unique experiences that are really distinguishable from the older population," he said. By the numbers: About 7% of 10,000 U.S. adults surveyed in January 2024 said they had been present at a mass shooting — defined as an incident where four or more people were shot. 2% reported being injured, whether by gunfire, by shrapnel or in the chaos of people fleeing. Among those uninjured, about 75% said they suffered psychological distress. More than half of those who had witnessed a mass shooting said it happened within the last decade. Between the lines: Gen Z and men were at the highest risk, the study found. And for most survivors, the violence hit close to home. More than three-fourths of mass shootings took place in their own communities. Zoom in: Colorado has experienced at least 61 mass shootings in the last 10 years, killing 82 people and injuring 246, according to data on the state health department's website. In 2023 alone, there were 16 mass shootings in the state — the highest in at least a decade, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Data for 2024 is not readily available. What they're saying: "It's not a question of if one will occur in your community anymore, but when," Pyrooz said. "We need to have stronger systems in place to care for people in the aftermath of this tragic violence." The other side: Despite the grim reality, mass shootings actually declined nationwide last year — dropping nearly 25% from 2023. The U.S. reported 503 mass shootings in 2024, down from 659 the year before, per the Gun Violence Archive. The decrease could be attributable to the waning social and economic upheavals set off by the coronavirus pandemic, Giffords Law Center's research director Kelly Drane told Axios last year. What we're watching: Colorado lawmakers are considering a controversial gun control bill that would restrict the sale of most semiautomatic firearms, like the one used by the Boulder King Soopers shooter in 2021. The legislation — sponsored by Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat whose son was killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting — has been amended more than a dozen times, Colorado Politics reports.
USA Today
03-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
A showdown between Mexico and American gun companies hits the Supreme Court
A showdown between Mexico and American gun companies hits the Supreme Court The Supreme Court let parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims sue gun maker. But they're likely to be tougher on Mexico's case against the gun industry. Show Caption Hide Caption Mexico to extradite nearly 30 drug lords to US in surprise move As President Trump's tariffs on Mexico loom, nearly 30 criminals with ties to the world of drugs are being extradited to the United States. WASHINGTON − A federal law that protects the firearm industry didn't stop the parents of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting from going after the gun maker. But in the first test of the law before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the justices are expected to cast a more skeptical eye on Mexico's attempt to hold American gun companies responsible for the violence caused by drug cartels armed with U.S.-made weapons. This time, gun violence prevention groups worry the Supreme Court could side with gun makers in a way that would go far beyond this dispute between Mexico and American gun companies. ''People in the United States'' are ''suffering, being shot, being killed,' said David Pucino, legal director at Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention group. He worries the Supreme Court will take away a tool for going after clear law breaking by gun companies. These suits seek compensation for injuries and are also aimed at promoting safer firearm designs, keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals and placing part of the blame for gun violence on the industry. Gun rights groups, on the other hand, argue that Mexico is trying to bankrupt the American firearms industry and undermine the Second Amendment. 'Mexico has extinguished its constitutional arms right and now seeks to extinguish America's,' the National Rifle Association told the Supreme Court. Mexico has only one gun store, universal background checks and issues fewer than 50 gun permits a year, according to filings. And more broadly, business groups are worried that if gun makers are considered liable for gun violence in Mexico, it would invite all kinds of lawsuits against all companies − not just gun makers −when their products are used in the wrong way. Diplomatic strains between the US and Mexico: Who's to blame for the drug wars? The case arrives at the Supreme Court against a backdrop of strained diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico. President Donald Trump is imposing tariffs on imports from Mexico to pressure the country to do more to stop illegal drugs flowing into the U.S. Mexico says the flow of American weapons south of the border is hurting its fight against drug cartels. More: Graphics show the avalanche of guns from US to Mexico Accusations of drug cartel alliances and White House slander 'We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Mexican government about alliances with criminal organizations," Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo wrote on social media in February. The administration had accused Mexico of having an 'intolerable alliance' with the cartels. "If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups," Sheinbaum said. The Super 'El Jefe' pistol: Weapons made and marketed to appeal to cartels Hundreds of thousands of weapons − made by the manufacturers Mexico is suing − are trafficked annually over the border. Mexico says gun makers are designing and marketing weapons to appeal to cartels – including Colt's special-edition handguns like the Super 'El Jefe' pistol, a term used to refer to cartel bosses, and a pistol named after the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Drug wars and the cartels: Exclusive: Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada kidnapped, flown to the US, lawyer says Despite being warned by the U.S. government about weapons sold to specific distributors and dealers ending up at crime scenes in Mexico, gun makers continue to do business with them, Mexico charges. 'And they intentionally do all this to boost their bottom lines,' Mexico's attorneys said in a brief. Mexico wants some $10 billion from US companies Mexico wants an unspecified amount of monetary damages, estimated in the range of $10 billion, and a court order requiring gun companies to change their practices. A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed the suit, ruling it was barred by a 2005 law shielding gun makers from liability. But the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the challenge met an exception in the law and could move forward. Mexico, it said, had adequately alleged the gun makers 'aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trafficking of their guns into Mexico.' More: Hacked data reveals which US gun sellers are behind Mexican cartel violence Mexico would still have to prove its allegations if the case goes to trial. The fact that the Supreme Court wanted to weigh in at this stage is an indication that they don't think Mexico should get that chance. 'If I had to predict, I think there's a pretty strong possibility they rule against Mexico,' said Andrew Willinger, executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law. 'It would be a little bit strange to take the case in this posture if they weren't inclined to do so.' A military-style rifle marketed for use in 'assaults against human beings' This is the first time the Supreme Court is delving into the Protection of Legal Commerce in Arms Act, the law Congress passed in 2005 following efforts by local governments to sue gun makers for the harms caused by gun violence. In 2019, the Supreme Court declined to consider Remington Arms Co.'s argument that the law prevented the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims from suing Remington for marketing the military-style rifle used in the mass shooting "for use in assaults against human beings." The law allows suits if a gun maker knowingly violates another law – such as selling firearms to someone prohibited from having one − and that act is the 'proximate cause' of the resulting harm. Gun makers dismiss 'remote theory' The U.S. gun makers argue there are too many steps involved in the transfer of its weapons to cartel members to hold them responsible. Guns made in the U.S. are sold to federally licensed distributors who sell them to federally licensed dealers – some of whom illegally or negligently sell them to criminals who smuggle them into Mexico where they end up in the hands of cartels. 'Mexico's criminal theory thus rests upon a medley of independent criminal acts, spanning an international border,' lawyers for the industry told the Supreme Court. 'No court has ever found proximate cause on such a remote theory.' The gun makers offer similar reasons for why they did not 'aid and abet' illegally gun trafficking into Mexico. Mexico says use of guns by cartels was 'starkly forseeable' Mexico counters that by supplying weapons – some of which have been specifically designed to appeal to the cartels – to 'red-flag' dealers, the use of the weapons to commit crimes was 'starkly foreseeable.' The National Rifle Association told the Supreme Court that accepting Mexico's argument would lead to a proliferation of equally bogus lawsuits that 'could destroy the firearms industry solely through litigation costs.' 'This case exemplifies why (the 2005 law) was enacted,' the NRA wrote in a filing. A challenger less sympathetic than the parents of Sandy Hook victims Pucino, of the Giffords Law Center, said gun makers are hoping that when handed a test of the law by a challenger less sympathetic than the parents of the Sandy Hook victims, the conservative court will effectively neuter the law's exceptions so gun makers can never be held liable. 'They're trying to get the court to rule that the statute is even broader than it is on its face,' he said. 'They want even illegal conduct by the gun companies to be immunized.' Willinger, of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, said the court could rule more narrowly in a way would still allow domestic lawsuits in which the chain of events between the manufacture of a gun and the harm it causes is more direct than in Mexico's challenge. 'And that's where I see the real potential for there to be a more unanimous decision,' he said, 'because the court has issued those types of decisions going back some decades, where it's just said that … the chain is just too convoluted and we're not going to allow liability to arise.' A decision is expected by the end of June. Contributing: Lauren Villagran
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A rare bipartisan coalition in Alabama pushes ban on machine gun conversion devices
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A bipartisan coalition of mayors, lawmakers and law enforcement in Alabama endorsed a public safety package on Thursday that would ban the devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns — a rare consensus on gun restrictions and a departure from years of conflict about how to stem gun violence. Conversion devices that speed the firing of semi-automatic weapons are already banned under federal law, but there's currently no state law prohibiting possession. One of the bills in the package would enable state prosecutors to charge people for possessing the conversion devices. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia already have such laws, according to the Giffords Law Center. Birmingham's Mayor Randall Woodfin had implored state lawmakers to address these devices in the immediate aftermath of the city's third quadruple homicide last year. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'Even if there are some things we may not agree with, today is a major deal,' the mayor said Wednesday after local law enforcement and leaders in both legislative chambers endorsed Republican Gov. Kay Ivey's public safety package. On the same day, the Alabama Senate's judicial committee advanced two bills introduced by both Democrats and Republicans that would make it a felony to possess a machine gun conversion device. Police believe the devices — commonly referred to as Glock switches — dramatically increase gun violence casualties. They can be made on a 3D printer in under an hour or ordered from overseas online for less than $30. A conversion device was used in a September shooting that killed four people outside a Birmingham lounge, police believe. At least one man in possession of a machine gun conversion device was arrested in November after a shooting on Tuskegee University's campus that left one person dead and 16 others wounded. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Hal Taylor said the moment of political unity reflected the urgency of the problem — both in stemming gun violence and in protecting police officers. 'I think it's because they've realized that a bullet doesn't know if you're a Democrat or Republican,' Taylor said. Not all aspects of the governor's public safety package have such widespread support. It includes bills that would increase penalties for illegal possession of firearms, enhance sentencing for firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle or home, expand the list of crimes where bail denial is allowed, and increase legal protections for police officers accused of excessive force. Democratic representatives celebrated the conversion device ban and a bill that would provide scholarships for the children of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. But some expressed 'deep concern' for other aspects of the governor's package. Representative Thomas Jackson said that he respected the challenges faced by law enforcement but said police officers already benefit from enhanced legal protections that make convictions relatively rare. 'Being a law enforcement officer doesn't mean that you're above the law. In fact, due to the power that comes along with the duties of our police, officers should be held in even higher standard of ethics and behavior with accountability,' Jackson said. ___ Riddle is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
