Latest news with #massshootings
Washington Post
4 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to Maryland assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a state ban on assault weapons, semiautomatic rifles that are popular among gun owners and have also been used in multiple mass shootings. The justices turned down a case against a Maryland law passed after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults. The shooter was armed with an AR-15 , one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon.
Reuters
4 days ago
- General
- Reuters
US Supreme Court won't review assault weapon, high-capacity magazine bans
June 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to the legality of state restrictions on assault-style rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines, passing up cases that offered the justices a chance to further expand gun rights. The justices turned away two appeals after lower courts upheld a ban in Maryland on powerful semi-automatic rifles such as AR-15s and one in Rhode Island restricting the possession of ammunition feeding devices holding more than 10 rounds. The lower courts rejected arguments that the measures violate the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms." In a nation bitterly divided over how to address firearms violence including numerous mass shootings, the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, often has taken an expansive view of the Second Amendment. The court broadened gun rights in landmark rulings in 2008, 2010 and in a 2022 case that made it harder to defend gun restrictions under the Second Amendment, requiring them to be "consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." The challengers now before the Supreme Court contended that states and courts are flouting precedents that make clear that the Second Amendment protects weapons that are in "common use." Maryland in 2013 enacted its ban on military-style "assault weapons" such as the semiautomatic AR-15 and AK-47 after a shooter used such a firearm in the 2012 mass killing of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A Maryland resident who is seeking to purchase one of the banned guns, as well as three gun rights organizations including the Firearms Policy Coalition, sued in 2020, claiming the ban violates the Second Amendment. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024 rejected the challenge because it said assault weapons "are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense." As such, the "excessively dangerous" firearms are not protected by the Second Amendment, the 4th Circuit decided. The 4th Circuit said it refused "to wield the Constitution to declare that military-style armaments which have become primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks in the United States are beyond the reach of our nation's democratic processes." The plaintiffs told the Supreme Court that the term "assault weapon" is a political term that is designed to exploit public confusion over machine guns and semi-automatic firearms. The banned weapons, they said, are "identical to any other semiautomatic firearm - arms that are exceedingly common and fully protected by the Second Amendment." Rhode Island's law, passed in 2022 as a response to mass shootings, bars most "large-capacity feeding" devices such as a magazine or drum that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The state calls it a "mild restriction on a particularly dangerous weapons accessory" and that in mass shooting situations, "any pause in fire, such as the pause to switch magazines, allows for precious seconds in which to escape or take defensive action." The law applied retroactively, meaning residents had to surrender or alter any banned magazine that they owned, and carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Four gun owners and a registered firearms dealer sued, claiming the ban violated their Second Amendment rights, and that having to forfeit the magazines they owned violated the Constitution's prohibition on the government taking property without compensation. In 2024 the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the claims and refused to block the law, noting that the weapons have been deployed in mass shootings for a reason: "Semiautomatic firearms fitted with (large capacity magazines) are highly effective weapons of mass slaughter." Magazine capacity "directly corresponds to lethality," the 1st Circuit said. The Rhode Island plaintiffs told the Supreme Court that instead of abiding by the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling, the state's law "can only be understood as protest legislation imposing more restrictive bans on long-common arms." The Supreme Court has been buffeted in recent years by challenges to gun restrictions. It is due to rule by the end of June on the legality of a 2022 regulation issued by Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration cracking down on "ghost guns," largely untraceable firearms whose use has proliferated in crimes nationwide. The justices signaled approval of that ban during arguments in the case in October. The court in June 2024 upheld a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns. They also struck down a federal ban on "bump stock" devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns, although that case was not centered on the Second Amendment.
Washington Post
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Mass shootings are down, but there's so much work left to do
Regarding James Alan Fox's May 13 op-ed, 'The illusion of the mass shooting 'epidemic'': While it's true that mass shootings are declining, Fox's recent opinion piece ought to be a reminder that signs of progress are not the same thing as a finished job. Yes, mass shootings with four or more deaths account for just 1 percent of annual gun violence in the United States, and, yes, it's encouraging that there have only been four such tragedies this year as of May 10 compared with 11 by this time last year. This decline is not a happy accident: It's the direct result of over a decade of tireless advocacy leading to historic progress, such as the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, and improvements to state laws across the nation. These reforms have contributed to what was likely the sharpest single-year homicide decrease in our recorded history. Hard-won — and fragile — progress doesn't mean there is nothing to see here or that urgency is overblown. The choice is not, as Fox suggested, between 'calm deliberation' and 'ill-conceived quick fixes in the immediate aftermath of bloodshed.' We can pursue sensible solutions with urgency, and we must. The United States continues to far outpace the world in mass shootings, and 'rare' is cold comfort to the thousands of families and communities torn apart by these tragedies — to say nothing of the daily gun violence epidemic that claims 125 lives every day. And to dismiss mass shootings that are related to domestic or community violence as somehow less relevant to the fear Americans feel and the solutions they deserve is to miss altogether the complexity of gun violence in America and the ways we can address it. While there is no question that progress should be celebrated, it also must be understood. Fox is right that policies like permit to purchase and magazine restrictions are critical to saving lives, but those are not the whole of gun policy. They are just one piece of a bigger — and very much ongoing — fight to end our nation's gun violence epidemic. And some of the most important advances that have contributed to the decline in shootings are in the crosshairs of the Trump administration: In its first 100 days, it has disbanded the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, cut funding for community violence intervention groups and mental health resources, disbanded a key gun violence data center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and threatened to reverse several lifesaving firearms rules. This is no time to rest on laurels or engage in academic deflection like, 'what goes up eventually comes down.' Instead, it's a moment to keep going. Nick Suplina, New York The writer is senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. With great interest, I read the piece by James Alan Fox, professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University. I hope politicians and school officials will also read the piece and move to end lockdown drills in schools. This is what we had to do during drills intended to prepare us to stay safe if an active shooter was on campus at the school where I taught: Doors to classrooms were locked, all occupants were moved away from doors and windows, all lights and screens were turned off, blinds covered vision panels and windows, and everyone sat quietly on the floor and waited until a school official unlocked the doors from the outside. To my thinking, these practices actually put all those in the room in real danger, rather than keeping them safe. A motivated shooter would break the vision panel in a door, reach in, unlock the door, enter the classroom and open fire. I suppose school officials may not instruct someone to stand by the door with a baseball bat in case there is a door breach. But it's not better for school officials to instruct staff and students to take on the posture of sitting ducks. Steve Brown, Springfield The writer is a retired Fairfax County teacher. Regarding the May 14 news article 'For more teens, financial literacy starts in high school': Please allow me to point out yet another resource for such lessons: Girl Scout curriculums and badges. Girl Scouts of all ages are able to earn financial literacy badges, starting with the simple practice of counting money to developing ideas for their own businesses. Every year, the Girl Scout product and cookie sales provide opportunities for girls to set goals, seek customers, handle money and plan how to use their profits for troop activities. Some girls finance individual or troop travel, while others spend their earnings on supplies or outings. All troops are encouraged to set aside some of their products or earnings for donating to organizations that help others, which is an important part of budgeting that deserves a greater place in financial literacy education. However such financial literacy is delivered, it is an important part of 'adulting' — and one that needs to be included in the education of our youth. The next item to tackle could be the cost of being well-cared for in retirement, which was highlighted by a remark from a teenager in the article. Perhaps an emphasis on how our country cares for its elderly can be introduced into high school civics courses next. Theresa Early, Colorado Springs Reported comments from a top aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling Scouting America (previously known as the Boy Scouts) 'too woke' and suggesting that the military should end its long-standing and wide-ranging relationship with the program are not just misguided — they denigrate a valuable program at risk when young people badly need it. Though rates have declined since the early 1990s, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, juvenile crime rose across the United States in 2022. The most recent federal reports show increases in youth arrests for violent offenses, including robbery and aggravated assault. We are watching an entire generation struggle with accountability, leadership and purpose. Scouting America addresses all of that head on. I've seen it myself, as both a parent and a volunteer leader. Scouting teaches responsibility, service, teamwork and respect. It gives young people a reason to look beyond themselves, to lead, to serve and to grow into the kind of citizens this country needs. Those aren't political values. They're American ones. And if we let shortsighted political agendas dismantle programs like this, we are robbing the next generation of an excellent path to real character development. Scouting America isn't 'woke.' It's working. And we should be expanding it, not attacking it. Margaret Steele, Taylorsville, Georgia Regarding the May 15 letters, '6 readers on librarians, libraries and protests inside them': One of the great privileges and experiences of my life was doing research at the Library of Congress for 'Revisiting the White City: Art at the 1893 World's Fair.' I was also able to use the fruits of my research for my master's thesis. I spent many hours in the magnificent Reading Room of the library and many more hours in the dusty, dark and solemnly quiet stacks searching for information going back 100 years. It was an amazing experience that led me to correspond with the 12th duke of Argyll and many other interesting people. I think it is hard to grasp the enormity of the treasure trove that is the Library of Congress without having seen it firsthand. I only saw a small bit of what its three buildings, belowground stacks, and tunnels connecting it to the Capitol complex contain. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to complete my work before the stacks and other access were restricted to the public because of vandalism and theft. What the Trump administration is doing to American history and the American experience feels like another kind of vandalism and theft. Claire Tieder, Charlottesville
CTV News
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Device that makes semi-automatic rifles fire quicker allowed by Trump administration
Semi-automatic rifles on display at R Guns on April 29, 2023, in Carpentersville, Illinois. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images via CNN Newsource) U.S. President Donald Trump's administration agreed on Friday to permit the sale of a device that allows for semi-automatic rifles to be fired quicker, a decision that gun control activists say paves the way for more mass shootings. The Department of Justice announced the agreement as part of a settlement between the federal government and gun manufacturer Rare Breed Triggers, in litigation brought by the Biden administration. 'This Department of Justice believes that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,' Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the statement. 'And we are glad to end a needless cycle of litigation with a settlement that will enhance public safety.' Forced-reset triggers (FRT) allow a semi-automatic rifle to be fired at an increased rate by automatically resetting the trigger after each shot. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) classified them as illegal machine guns in 2022 under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. Machine guns have been heavily regulated by Congress since the NFA was passed, and the manufacture for civilian use was banned completely under the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, a bill endorsed by the National Rifle Association. The Justice Department brought a lawsuit in New York in 2023 against Rare Breed Triggers, which made and distributed such devices, leading to a court ruling blocking it from selling them. While the case was pending, the National Association of Gun Rights (NAGR) filed a separate lawsuit in Texas challenging the ban and a judge there ruled the ban was unlawful. The latest settlement resolves those disputes and falls in line with Trump's February executive order on protecting the Second Amendment's 'right to bear arms,' the Justice Department said in its statement. 'This decision marks a new era of holding the DOJ and ATF accountable when they trample the rights of law-abiding gun owners,' NAGR President Dudley Brown said in a release. 'We made them give back what they took, and that's a precedent they'll never forget.' The DOJ also said the settlement includes 'agreed-upon conditions' concerning public safety with respect to FRTs, including that Rare Breed will not develop or design FRTs for use in any pistol and will enforce its patents. Rare Breed also agreed to promote the safe and responsible use of its products, the DOJ said. CNN has reached out to Rare Breed Triggers for comment on the settlement. Democratic lawmakers and gun control groups have widely condemned the decision. Vanessa Gonzalez, a Vice President with GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, said in a statement the Trump administration 'effectively legalized machine guns.' 'This is an incredibly dangerous move that will enable shooters to inflict horrific damage,' Gonzalez said. 'The only people who benefit from these being on the market are the people who will make money from selling them, everyone else will suffer the consequences.' The national gun control advocacy group, Brady United, said the settlement means 'highly dangerous weapons of war can now be purchased anonymously' and without a background check. 'The Trump's Administration's secret settlement with the gun lobby to permit the sale of Forced Reset Triggers will turn already deadly firearms into weapons of mass destruction,' President of Brady, Kris Brown, said in the statement. '(It) is not only an astonishing abuse of power, but undermines decades of sensible government gun safety policy and puts whole communities at immediate serious risk.' Article by Max Rego.
CNN
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Device that makes semi-automatic rifles fire quicker allowed by Trump administration
President Donald Trump's administration agreed on Friday to permit the sale of a device that allows for semi-automatic rifles to be fired quicker, a decision that gun control activists say paves the way for more mass shootings. The Department of Justice announced the agreement as part of a settlement between the federal government and gun manufacturer Rare Breed Triggers, in litigation brought by the Biden administration. 'This Department of Justice believes that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,' Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the statement. 'And we are glad to end a needless cycle of litigation with a settlement that will enhance public safety.' Forced-reset triggers (FRT) allow a semi-automatic rifle to be fired at an increased rate by automatically resetting the trigger after each shot. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) classified them as illegal machine guns in 2022 under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. Machine guns have been heavily regulated by Congress since the NFA was passed, and the manufacture for civilian use was banned completely under the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, a bill endorsed by the National Rifle Association. The Justice Department brought a lawsuit in New York in 2023 against Rare Breed Triggers, which made and distributed such devices, leading to a court ruling blocking it from selling them. While the case was pending, the National Association of Gun Rights (NAGR) filed a separate lawsuit in Texas challenging the ban and a judge there ruled the ban was unlawful. The latest settlement resolves those disputes and falls in line with Trump's February executive order on protecting the Second Amendment's 'right to bear arms,' the Justice Department said in its statement. 'This decision marks a new era of holding the DOJ and ATF accountable when they trample the rights of law-abiding gun owners,' NAGR President Dudley Brown said in a release. 'We made them give back what they took, and that's a precedent they'll never forget.' The DOJ also said the settlement includes 'agreed-upon conditions' concerning public safety with respect to FRTs, including that Rare Breed will not develop or design FRTs for use in any pistol and will enforce its patents. Rare Breed also agreed to promote the safe and responsible use of its products, the DOJ said. CNN has reached out to Rare Breed Triggers for comment on the settlement. Democratic lawmakers and gun control groups have widely condemned the decision. Vanessa Gonzalez, a Vice President with GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, said in a statement the Trump administration 'effectively legalized machine guns.' 'This is an incredibly dangerous move that will enable shooters to inflict horrific damage,' Gonzalez said. 'The only people who benefit from these being on the market are the people who will make money from selling them, everyone else will suffer the consequences.' The national gun control advocacy group, Brady United, said the settlement means 'highly dangerous weapons of war can now be purchased anonymously' and without a background check. 'The Trump's Administration's secret settlement with the gun lobby to permit the sale of Forced Reset Triggers will turn already deadly firearms into weapons of mass destruction,' President of Brady, Kris Brown, said in the statement. '(It) is not only an astonishing abuse of power, but undermines decades of sensible government gun safety policy and puts whole communities at immediate serious risk.'
