Vox notes there have been 2,189 mass shootings since the massacre of children at Sandy Hook elementary school.
In total, there have been at least 2,475 killed and 9,137 wounded in those shootings.
Vox notes there have been 2,189 mass shootings since the massacre of children at Sandy Hook elementary school.
In total, there have been at least 2,475 killed and 9,137 wounded in those shootings.
Will Bunch: “When things fall apart, they shatter into a million pieces. I can’t tell you yet exactly how the bloodshed in El Paso is related to a mass murder in Dayton, or to the social dysfunction right here in Philadelphia that caused someone to spray bullets into a crowd of people shooting a hip-hop video, or into a crowded block party in Brooklyn the night before that. I can’t explain why people tweeting about El Paso couldn’t use the hashtag #WalmartShooting because it was already in use for a man who’d just murdered two employees at an outlet in Mississippi.”
“All I know is that it’s all starting to feel like the same event — a Great Unraveling of America. The feeling only grew worse when I read that the authorities in El Paso believe some of the wounded may not go to local hospitals … because they’re so afraid of our immigration cops. It seemed like one more sign that conditions in this country — the violence, the fear, the embrace of racism and xenophobia from the highest levels, and the long slide into neo-fascism — have become intolerable. And yet — with the blood of El Paso and Dayton not yet dry — far too many are still tolerating this.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told Fox News that video games are to blame, following the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton this weekend.
Said McCarthy: “To have a game of shooting individuals and others, I’ve always felt that is a problem for future generations and others.”
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“A growing number of Democrats are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel the chamber’s August recess so that they can take up gun control legislation in the wake of two mass shootings this weekend,” NBC News reports.
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the Republican leader to end the chamber’s break to vote on a universal background check bill after the two shootings – one in Dayton, Ohio and another in El Paso, Texas – left at least 29 dead and 53 injured in a matter of just 13 hours. The Senate is currently in recess until September.”
“My question for is… we’re city number 250, how many cities have to go through mass shootings before somebody does something to change the law?”
— Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, quoted by NBC News, on a mass shooting in Dayton last night.
“This is a sickness. This is beyond anything that we should be tolerating. We can beat the NRA. We can beat the gun manufacturers.”
— Joe Biden, quoted by the Associated Press, after two more mass shootings yesterday.
“America is under attack by lethal, violent, white nationalist terrorism. The President of the United States is condoning white nationalism. White nationalism is one of the evils that is motivating and inspiring at least some to go kill Americans.”
— Mayor Pete Buttigieg, quoted by the Daily Beast, in the wake of today’s deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas.
Washington Post: “Across the country, lawmakers took to cable television and Twitter to react to the mass shooting, with Republicans offering prayers and condemnations of the violence without mentioning guns and Democrats going a step further to decry yet another missed opportunity to address the nation’s gun laws. It was similar to what these lawmakers said less than a week ago, when a 19-year-old opened fire with an assault-style rifle at a food festival in Gilroy, Calif., killing three people and wounding 12 others.”
“Less than two hours after beginning a special session called in response to a mass shooting, Virginia lawmakers abruptly adjourned Tuesday without taking any action and postponed any movement on gun control until after the November election,” the AP reports.
“Gov. Ralph Northam (D) called the Republican-led Legislature to the Capitol to address gun violence in the wake of the May 31 attack that killed a dozen people in Virginia Beach. The meeting got off to a chaotic start, with the Republican Senate majority leader averting a mutiny in the GOP caucus by publicly disavowing a gun-control bill he proposed only a day earlier.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who made last month’s Democratic debate stage but has not registered over 1 percent in polling, says he is suspending his presidential bid, the Washington Post reports.
Swalwell will face a primary challenge in his bid for reelection to the House.
San Francisco Chronicle: Swalwell’s gun control Twitter poll blows up in his face.
The National Rifle Association has shut down production at NRATV, the New York Times reports.
“The N.R.A. on Tuesday also severed all business with its estranged advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, which operates NRATV, the N.R.A.’s live broadcasting media arm.”
Washington Post: “The NRA, which has been rocked by allegations of exorbitant spending by top executives, also directed money in recent years to members of its board — the very people tasked with overseeing the organization’s finances.”
“In all, 18 members of the NRA’s 76-member board, who are not paid as directors, collected money from the group during the past three years, according to tax filings, state charitable reports and NRA correspondence reviewed by The Washington Post.”
“The payments received by about one-quarter of board members, the extent of which has not previously been reported, deepen questions about the rigor of the board’s oversight as it steered the country’s largest and most powerful gun rights group, according to tax experts and some longtime members.”
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) will recall lawmakers to the state Capitol in coming weeks to take up a package of gun-control legislation, the AP reports.
“The Democratic governor has long been an advocate for stricter gun control. But staunchly pro-gun Republicans who controlled the Virginia General Assembly have rejected previous efforts at limiting gun access.”
The National Rifle Association slammed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who has yet to meet DNC’s new qualifications for later debates, suggesting she will “say anything” to get on the debate stage.
From the NRA tweet: “Gillibrand called us the worst org in the country, but when she represented NY20, she wrote us: ‘I appreciate the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights, and I look forward to working with you for many years.’ Now that she’s looking to crack 1%, she’ll say anything.”
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney cautioned against focusing too heavily on politics “too soon” after a gunman on Friday killed 12 people at a city government building in Virginia Beach, Politico reports.
Said Mulvaney: “We have too many of these shootings, and every time the first thing we talk about is politics.”
He added: “The mourning period hasn’t even stopped yet, let alone the healing process. So, let’s not get too deep into politics too soon. Let’s think about the families.”
A new Quinnipiac poll finds that American voters support requiring background checks for all gun buyers, 94% to 4%.
Voters also support stricter gun laws in the U.S. by 61% to 34%. Republicans, gun owners and voters in households where there is a gun are the only listed groups opposed.
“National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre billed the group’s ad agency $39,000 for one day of shopping at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique, $18,300 for a car and driver in Europe, and had the agency cover $13,800 in rent for a summer intern, according to newly revealed NRA internal documents,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The documents, posted anonymously on the internet, provide new details of the clothing, travel and other expenses totaling more than $542,000 that Ackerman McQueen Inc. alleges Mr. LaPierre billed to it.”
National Rifle Association president Carolyn Meadows told the Marietta Daily Journal that Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) only won her seat in 2018 because she’s black.
Said Meadows: “It is wrong to say like McBath said, that the reason she won was because of her anti-gun stance. That didn’t have anything to do with it — it had to do with being a minority female.”
McBath unseated Rep. Karen Handel (R-GA) on an anti-gun violence platform based on her backstory: Her son was shot and killed in 2012 after a loudness complaint.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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