Latest news with #guncontrol
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
US attorney general paves way for more convicted criminals to own guns
Washington, DC – United States Attorney General Pam Bondi has begun a process to make it easier for individuals with criminal convictions to own guns. The move on Friday comes amid a wider push by the administration of President Donald Trump to make good on campaign promises to gun rights groups, which criticise restrictions on firearm ownership as violations of the Constitution's Second Amendment. Trump ordered a review of government gun policies in February. Gun control advocates, meanwhile, have voiced concerns over the administration's ability to adequately assess which convicted individuals would not pose a public safety risk. In a statement released on Friday, Bondi said individuals with serious criminal convictions have been 'disenfranchised from exercising the right to keep and bear arms — a right every bit as constitutionally enshrined as the right to vote, the right to free speech, and the right to free exercise of religion — irrespective of whether they actually pose a threat'. 'No longer,' she added. Under the plan, Bondi seeks to return the power to determine which individuals convicted of crimes can own firearms directly to her office. That exemption process has currently been overseen by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. However, Congress has, for decades, used its spending approval powers to stem the processing of exemption requests. The Department of Justice said the proposed change 'will provide citizens whose firearm rights are currently under legal disability with an avenue to restore those rights, while keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals and illegal aliens'. The US attorney general would have 'ultimate discretion to grant relief', according to the department. It added that, 'absent extraordinary circumstances', certain individuals would be 'presumptively ineligible' for the restoration of their gun rights. They include 'violent felons, registered sex offenders, and illegal aliens'. The plan was outlined in a 'proposed rule' submitted to the Federal Register on Friday. It will undergo a final public comment period before it is adopted. In Friday's statement, US Pardon Attorney Edward Martin Jr said that his team was already developing a 'landing page with a sophisticated, user-friendly platform for Americans petitioning for the return of their gun rights, which will make the process easier for them'. When details of Bondi's plan initially emerged in March, the gun control group Brady was among those who voiced opposition. 'If and when gun rights are restored to an individual, it needs to be through a robust and thoughtful system that minimizes the risk to public safety,' the group's president, Kris Brown, said in a statement. She added that Trump's restoration of gun rights to those who were convicted — and later pardoned — for their role in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, raised concerns over how the administration would exercise its discretion. 'This would be a unilateral system to give gun rights back to those who are dangerous and high risk, and we will all be at greater risk of gun violence,' she said.
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
ATF launches anti-gun trafficking campaign in South Florida, cracking down on "straw purchasing"
A renewed effort to stop people from buying guns for those who cannot. "I think that nobody should be buying guns for anybody else," said gun owner Waldo Toyos. "You buy your own gun, and it's your gun." Waldo Toyos is a gun owner, but doesn't think everyone should own a gun, especially those who legally cannot. "Miami and South Florida and all the way up until the Orlando area," said ATF Deputy Director Rob Cedaka. "There is a lot of firearms trafficking, and it ends here and ends up in the Caribbean. It also ends up in Mexico as well." Federal and local officials teamed up on Friday to increase awareness of their "Don't Lie for the Other Guys" campaign. "When these firearms are out there in our community and in the wrong hands, we see the results: we see the shootings, we see the robberies, we see the crimes that are occurring," said Miami-Dade Asst. Sheriff Erick Garcia. According to ATF, more than 40 illegal firearms were confiscated in Margate more than five years ago as part of a long-standing investigation. "We've seen traffickers spread themselves all around the country trying to develop targets, people that they think are easy victims to go out and willing to use their clean, criminal history, or lack of criminal history to be able to buy a firearm," said Cekada. The owner of Top Gun in Southwest Miami-Dade sees the importance of this initiative in keeping the community safe. "It's important to get the information out to customers and to prevent crimes from happening," said Steve Schack, Top Gun's owner. "If you're going out and committing a crime, whether you're purchasing a gun or doing anything that here in [Miami-Dade County], we're gonna go out, we're gonna look for you and we're gonna make an arrest," said Garcia.
Associated Press
10-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Gun makers lose appeal of New York law that could make them liable for shootings
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York state law holding gun manufacturers potentially liable when their weapons are used in deadly shootings was upheld Thursday by a federal appeals court. The ruling Thursday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan affirmed a decision by an Albany judge. A three-judge appeals panel said the 2021 New York state law was not unconstitutional or vague. The opinion written by Circuit Judge Eunice C. Lee said a lawsuit seeking to stop the law's implementation did not show that the law was 'unenforceable in all its applications.' The law requires the gun industry to create reasonable controls to prevent unlawful possession, use, marketing or sale of their products in New York and allows them to be sued for unlawful acts that create or contribute to threats to public health or safety. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association of firearms manufacturers that ships firearms into New York, had sued over the law, saying it was pre-empted by the federal 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which blocks litigation that could destroy the firearms industry. In May 2022, Judge Mae A. D'Agostino threw out the lawsuit, rejecting arguments that the law's language did not adequately explain what was prohibited. She said the law closely tracked the language of New York's general public nuisance law, which has been 'good law since 1965.' Lawyers for the gun manufacturers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Eric Tirschwell, executive director of the nonprofit Everytown Law, praised the ruling. He said the law creates 'a new pathway for victims and their families to hold bad actors in the gun industry accountable for their role in fueling the epidemic of gun violence that is ravaging communities across the Empire State.' Everytown Law and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence were among gun violence protection groups that filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that the new law 'simply does not create the free-for-all' that gun makers predicted. Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs concurred in the ruling, despite some reservations. He wrote that New York had 'contrived a broad public nuisance statute that applies solely to 'gun industry members' and is enforceable by a mob of public and private actors.' And he added: 'The intent of Congress when it closes a door is not for States to thus jimmy a window.' Jacobs, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling, said he agrees with the other two judges on the panel that the law could be applied consistent with the federal law and the U.S. Constitution. But he also wrote that the New York gun law is 'nothing short of an attempt to end-run' the federal law, noting that then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo said when he signed it that it would 'right the wrong' done by the federal law. 'There is some legitimate reach to the law, which suffices for us to affirm the dismissal of this facial challenge. Just how limited that reach is must await future cases,' Jacobs said.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'A powerful step': McKee signs ban of 'assault weapons' sales in RI into law. What to know.
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island's squabbling political leaders put aside their political differences over the budget – among other issues – long enough to celebrate a ban on the sale of "assault weapons" in Rhode Island being signed into law. Before he signed the legislation on Thursday, June 26, Gov. Dan McKee hailed "this historic day" in the 13-year battle for an "assault weapons" ban that began after the 2012 mass shooting by a lone gunman of 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in neighboring Newtown, Connecticut. The battle ended, for now, with a compromise that prohibits the manufacture, sale and transfer, but not the possession, of certain high-powered firearms after July 1, 2026. The official signing of the legislation into law was hailed by the lead Senate sponsor, Sen. Louis DiPalma, as a "transformative" step in the fight to limit the proliferation of deadly weapons. And it gave McKee a moment in the spotlight to thank the lawmakers who played a key role in forging the compromise that won over the doubters in the House and Senate who wanted a full ban, including Senate President Valarie Lawson. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi went unmentioned, but Shekarchi in his own turn got in a dig at McKee for putting an "assault weapons" ban in his proposed budget, where the speaker said he and Rep. Jason Knight, the House sponsor of the legislation, agreed it did not belong. In her own turn, Lawson hailed the bill as "the most significant gun legislation to ever come before the General Assembly." "We're taking a powerful step to take weapons of war off the streets and make our communities safer. And as a former educator and as a Rhode Islander, it means a great deal to me," she said. As the author of a wider-reaching "assault weapons" ban that won House approval before hitting a wall in the Senate, Knight said there were many lessons to be learned from what happened along the way, among them that "this is what successful popular action looks like." Knight voiced gratitude to "everyone in this room who knocked doors, gave money, showed up [at the] committee hearings, lobbied [on] those hot [days] in May and June, went up to legislators and said, 'Can I talk to you about this?'" "One word got us here. Leadership got us here," said DiPalma, thanking in particular Lawson, who has only been Senate president since April 29. "She said: 'We're going to get this done.' The speaker said: 'We're going to get this done.' "Guess what? When the folks at the top speak, people rally around and say, let's figure out how to get there." The June 26 signing ceremony at the State House followed the exchange of public jabs over the budget the day before between McKee and Shekarchi, a potential primary challenger in the 2026 race for governor. McKee announced that he would not sign the $14.3 billion budget, but allow it to become law without his signature to show his objection to the many new and higher taxes within it. Shekarchi, in turn, blamed fellow Democrat McKee for handing lawmakers a proposed budget riddled with holes that failed to address major issues, including a critical Rhode Island Public Transit Authority funding gap and the relatively low reimbursement rates contributing to Rhode Island's primary care shortage. That did not come up Thursday. When asked after the gun-bill signing if he intended to renew the push for a full "assault weapons" ban in 2026, McKee said: "Well, let's see what happens with this. I think this is really good progress, and I'm going to celebrate that today and let's see what the impact is of this in terms of the objectives that were set." In the year before the new law takes effect, he said, Rhode Island can look, for example, at how a similar law has worked in Washington state. "We'll be reaching out to the governor there and talking to them about the impact that that legislation has on them," he said. As it stands, he said, the gun control measures passed year after year have made Rhode Island "leaders in the country." This story has been updated to correct a photo caption. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI 'assault weapons' sale ban signed into law by Gov. McKee
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Face With Tears of Joy: A natural History of Emoji by Keith Houston review
In 2016, Apple announced that its gun emoji, previously a realistic grey-and-black revolver, would henceforth be a green water pistol. Gradually the other big tech companies followed suit, and now what is technically defined as the 'pistol' emoji, supposed to represent a 'handgun or revolver', does not show either: instead you'll get a water pistol or sci-fi raygun and be happy with it. No doubt this change contributed significantly to a suppression of gun crime around the world, and it remains only to ban the bomb, knife and sword emoji to wipe out violence altogether. As Keith Houston's fascinatingly geeky and witty history shows, emoji have always been political. Over the years, people have successfully lobbied the Unicode Consortium – the cabal of corporations that controls the character set, including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple – to include different skin colours and same-sex couples. It was easy to agree to add the face with one eyebrow raised, the guide dog and the egg. But not every request is granted. One demand for a 'frowning poo emoji' elicited this splendid rant from an eminent Unicode contributor, Michael Everson: 'Will we have a crying pile of poo next? Pile of poo with tongue sticking out? Pile of poo with question marks for eyes? Pile of poo with karaoke mic? Will we have to encode a neutral faceless pile of poo?' Contrary to popular belief, the word 'emoji' has nothing to do with emotions, but instead combines the Japanese terms for 'picture' and 'written character'. The origin of such sets of symbols has been determined by dogged tech researchers to stretch back much further than the first iPhone, or even the regular mobile phones and electronic PDAs that preceded them. A basic set of emoji could be found in the operating systems of some 1980s electronic typewriters and word processors from manufacturers such as Sharp and Toshiba. Long before that, Houston notes, humans used pictographic characters such as hieroglyphs. Later, movable type saw an efflorescence of publishers' symbols such as the pilcrow (for a new paragraph) and the lamentably under-used manicule (a tiny pointing hand in the margin). And before emoji proper there was a craze for smileys, or emoticons, made out of regular alphanumeric characters, such as the excellent shrug, still sometimes encountered in the wild: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Indeed, Houston makes the intriguing argument that the age of the mechanical typewriter represented an unusual historical interlude of expressive poverty. Once humans were freed from the unnatural restrictions it imposed, there was bound to be a new flourishing of symbolic play. Such considerations often lead the unwary to suppose that emoji might constitute a 'language', which they definitely don't. To demonstrate why, Houston recalls the Emoji Dick stunt of 2009, whereby developer Fred Benenson had thousands of people contribute to a crowd-sourced 'translation' of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick into emoji. If this were a bona fide language, it should be possible to translate Emoji Dick back into something close to the original with no knowledge of the source text. It isn't. As Houston argues, then, emoji are possibly a 'script' (a method of writing), and a set of emoji might be a lexicon (a vocabulary), but you can't communicate anything complex in emoji. It is better, perhaps, to think of emoji as an expanded palette of expressive punctuation. Where next, then, for these little yellow blobs of joy? Unicode has no intention of adding any more flags, the least used category of emoji. The second least popular kind, oddly, is mammals, a fact that has me determined to use more cat faces in future. At some point they will surely have to retire the floppy disk emoji, a picture of an obsolete storage format that millions of younger people have never even seen. Should we even be able, Houston wonders, to create our own custom emoji? As someone who is grateful he doesn't have to reinvent the full stop every time he reaches the end of a sentence, I doubt most people could be bothered. Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji by Keith Houston is published by Norton (£14.99). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
