Cory Booker proposes national license for all gun owners
Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker is proposing that all gun owners be licensed by the federal government, a process that would include an interview and safety training. National licensing is one of more than a dozen specific proposals in a sweeping gun control agenda the U.S. senator from New Jersey released on Monday. It’s his second policy rollout in three weeks as he tries to break through the crowded Democratic primary field . While current gun owners and first-time buyers would be subject to the federal license requirement, a transition period would allow current owners to come into compliance, the Booker campaign said. No such national gun license program currently exists. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of licensing or permit rules before people can buy guns, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “I am sick and tired of hearing thoughts and prayers for the communities that have been shattered by gun violence — it is time for bold action,” Booker said in a statement. Last month during a high-profile speech in his hometown of Newark, Booker vowed to “bring a fight” to the National Rifle Association, which generally opposes gun restrictions. Booker, a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, said gun violence is an issue close to him, with several people being shot in his neighborhood recently. “We must step up and deal with something that is crushing communities, destroying lives and really just tearing apart families,” Booker said in an interview on CBS’ “CBS This Morning.” Booker’s gun control agenda includes universal background checks for gun buyers; the reinstitution of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity firearm magazines; and the modernization of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The plan would face a steep climb to winning approval from a Democratic House and would face even stiffer resistance in a Republican-controlled Senate, where less-sweeping gun control measures have failed in recent years. President Donald Trump has said the constitutional right to bear arms is “under assault.” Trump, a Republican, spoke at the NRA’s annual convention last month, vowing to fight for gun rights and imploring NRA members to rally behind his reelection bid. Booker, who launched his presidential campaign in February, has struggled to rise from the low single digits in polls of the 21-candidate Democratic primary field, though he recently secured the 65,000 donors necessary to meet both qualifications for participation in next month’s first debate . He released an environmental justice plan late last month. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
‘Accidental shooting’ at Birmingham high school kills teen girl; 2 others hurt
One Birmingham, Ala. student has died following an “accidental” school shooting during dismissal on Wednesday Birmingham City Schools confirmed in a statement. Huffman High School was briefly placed on lockdown as police were called to the scene. Students were later released and police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting. Wednesday evening, Birmingham Police Chief Orlando Wilson confirmed one female student, 17, died on the way to the hospital, and a male student, also 17, is in critical but stable condition. According to AL.com an adult victim was treated and released at the scene. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin held a press conference at the school at 5:45 p.m., less than two hours after the incident. “I just want to remind all of us, that we lost a person today. Not just a person, but a student. But I’m quickly reminded this is not just a student, but someone’s daughter. Someone’s niece, someone’s best friend, someone’s granddaughter we lost,” Woodfin somberly said at the press conference. “This is a 17 year old who 30 days from now would be 18. A graduating senior who had been accepted into college already. Who had aspirations and dreams to be a nurse.” Woodfin continued, “We’re not just talking about some person, we’re talking about losing a part of our future. Our hearts are heavy, but I think it’s really important to find a way to mourn with this family and wrap our arms around the Huffman High School community.” Wednesday evening, Gov. Kay Ivey responded to the tragic news. “I am saddened to learn about the death of the Huffman High School student. I am praying for the family of this young lady who has tragically lost her life way too early,” said Ivey. “Every life is precious and, even though this was an accident, it reaffirms that there is no place for students to have firearms or other weapons on campus.” “My heart is breaking tonight for those hurt and killed in the shooting today at Huffman High School,” Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell posted on Facebook. “As we continue to learn more, please pray with me for the victims and their families.” The Birmingham City Schools statement below:
Jac VerSteeg: Lessons from a blended gun family
I have a blended family. A blended gun family. Some of us own guns – lots of guns. Some of us don’t own any. There are shotguns, hunting rifles, revolvers and semi-automatic pistols among the weapons we own. Nobody in my blended family owns an “assault weapon,” as far as I know. Here’s another thing about my family: Two of us have been shot and killed. It was a murder-suicide nearly 20 years ago. And here’s an ironic thing: The deaths came in the non-gun-owning branch of the family. That fact has not made me less passionate about gun control. I don’t see any reason for those assault weapons. The crime rate might not have declined during America’s assault-weapon ban. But the goal would not be to stop the criminal who robs a grocery store from using an assault weapon – most don’t anyway. The goal would be to make it harder for the criminal who massacres people in an Orlando gay club from getting his hands on an assault weapon just days before his attack. That kind of killer, it seems, adores assault weapons. If you just make him settle for killing fewer people, that’s something. Right? Oh, and I’m for the toughest, most comprehensive and most thorough background checks you can have, too. You won’t catch everybody, but you should catch everybody you can. It’s a crime we’re not doing that. Still, I know from bitter experience that even people who can’t legally buy guns can get guns. The murder-suicide in my family was carried out with a stolen gun (in fact, the gun was stolen from a juvenile court judge who kept it to protect his family). My family’s tragic experience teaches something else. Even if you know that somebody suffers from mental illness, and you get them all kinds of help, they still can get their hands on a gun and start killing. The shooter in our family was sick, and everybody knew it. Treatment just didn’t work. I like to think other families have more success. Another tip: Keeping dangerous people locked up helps. The shooter in our family should have been in jail or a locked mental facility. A late-night judge without access to his whole record let him out, with disastrous results. And one last thing: The folks in my family who own guns – for hunting and for protection – are some of the most careful, stable people I know. Personal responsibility is a huge part of gun safety. (I just hope I’m not jinxing them.) I wouldn’t want to take away their guns or the guns of any folks like them. None of the gun control restrictions I favor would deprive any of them of their guns. The tear-your-hair-out problem is setting up a system that can separate the knowledgeable, careful gun-owners from the ones who are going to leave loaded guns around for kids to play with. Or get a little drunk and pop the annoying neighbor for playing her music too loud again. Or have one-too-many fights with the cheating spouse and decide that the only tolerable love triangle is a dead love triangle. Being able to foresee the future sure would help. With guns, guys, there are a whole lot of things that can go wrong. But what do I say to my family member – a recent widow – who keeps a handgun so she can feel safe in her too-empty home? Yes, an intruder might take the gun and use it on her. Or, she might blow him away before he can hurt her. There are simple things you can say about guns. Most basically, they shouldn’t be used to kill innocent people. And we should do what we can to keep them out of the hands of bad people. Don’t expect to find a simple, practical, foolproof way to make those simple truths become true in reality. But don’t use that as an excuse to quit trying. That’s what I’ve learned from my blended, wounded family. ___ Jac Wilder VerSteeg is a columnist for The South Florida Sun Sentinel and former deputy editorial page editor for The Palm Beach Post.
Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton display the political divide over gun control
Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush and other Republicans declared their opposition to stiffer gun laws Friday in the aftermath of the Oregon college mass shooting, while Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a national movement to counter the power of the National Rifle Association. Bush said more government isn’t always the answer whenever tragedy strikes — “stuff happens, there’s always a crisis.” President Barack Obama called him out on that remark, which Bush said was not about the Oregon shooting. “I think the American people should hear that,” Obama said, and “can decide whether or not they consider that ‘stuff happening.’” Clinton told supporters at a South Florida community college that she would willingly take on the NRA in a bid to achieve “new, effective gun control measures.” “What is wrong with us,” Clinton asked, “that we can’t stand up to the NRA, to the gun lobby and the gun manufacturers they represent?” Bush referred to the shooting that left 10 dead at the Oregon community college, including the gunman, while answering questions from South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. The Republican attorney general, who hosted Bush at Furman University, first asked Bush about his stance on the Second Amendment, without reference to the school killings. Emphasizing that he supports the Supreme Court’s affirmation of bearing arms as an individual right, Bush talked about the many Floridians who have concealed-weapons permits and recalled receiving an award from the NRA. “Charlton Heston gave me a gun on stage in front of 15,000 people,” he said. “That was pretty cool, to be honest with you.” Turning to the Oregon killings, he called them “heartbreaking” but added that “the impulse in Washington is to take people’s civil rights away from us, and it won’t solve the problem.” Wilson followed-up with his own reference to mass shootings, and Bush continued, “We’re at a difficult time in our country, and I don’t think more government is necessarily the answer to this. “It’s very sad to see, but I resist the notion — I had this challenge as governor — we have — stuff happens, there’s always a crisis, and the impulse is to do something, and it’s not necessarily the right thing to do.” Asked later about his comments, he told reporters they were “not related to Oregon — just clarity here.” He appeared sensitive to the possibility of his comments becoming a controversy in themselves. “Let’s make sure here that we don’t allow this to get out of control,” he said. “There are all sorts of things that happen in life.” He cited a child drowning in a pool whose parents then want legislative action. “Sometimes, you’re imposing solutions to problems, and it doesn’t fix the problem and takes away people’s liberty and rights,” Bush said. “That was the point I was trying to make.” To be sure, Bush’s Republican rivals echoed his bottom line. “Before we start calling for more laws, I think we ought to consider why we don’t enforce the laws that we have?” Carly Fiorina said in Aiken, South Carolina. She said Obama’s response was “premature at best and at worst a really unfortunate politicization of this tragedy.” For Clinton, it was an opportunity to draw a clear distinction. She called Thursday’s mass murder “sickening” and said people should not be “afraid to go to college, a movie theater, Bible study.” The NRA, she said, “counts on really having an intense and dedicated group to scare politicians who say ‘we will vote against you.’” She credited her husband, former President Bill Clinton, for taking on the NRA and achieving tougher gun controls, and said, to roaring applause, “We are going to take them on again.” Obama spoke of a mismatch between Americans’ willingness to tighten gun laws and the powerful influence of pro-gun groups. “They know how to scare politicians,” Obama said. “The American people are going to have to match them in their sense of urgency if we’re going to actually stop this.” He said the Republican Party is “just uniformly opposed to all gun safety laws.” He also suggested some of the opposition was personal, driven by critics who think any gun laws “are an assault on freedom or communistic or a plot by me to take over” and stay in power forever. Even so, Democrats, too, have been a hard sell on gun control in Congress, an issue they have rarely pushed for years because it has been regarded as troublesome. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
