News
June 9, 2022 – 7:30 pm (ET)
June 9, 2022 – 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm (ET)
PBS NewsHour – June 8, 2022 (05:31)
CNN, – June 8, 2022
The House voted Wednesday 223-204 to pass a wide-ranging package of gun control legislation called the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” after lawmakers faced intense pressure to act in the wake of recent mass shootings.
Five Republicans voted for the bill: Reps. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Chris Jacobs of New York. Two Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon — voted against it.
The measure is not expected to pass the Senate, however, amid widespread GOP opposition to stricter gun control. A bipartisan group of senators is engaging in talks in an attempt to find common ground on gun policy, but it is still unclear what, if anything, will come of the effort. Passage of the legislation also took place hours after an emotional hearing on gun violence in which families of victims pleaded for more action.
The legislation that passed in the House includes a series of individual bills aimed at preventing gun violence. The measure would raise the legal age to buy certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles from 18 to 21 years old, establish new federal offenses for gun trafficking and for selling large-capacity magazines, and allow local governments to compensate individuals who surrender such magazines through a buyback program. It would create a tax incentive for retail sales of safe storage devices and criminal penalties for breaking new requirements regulating firearm storage on residential premises. The measure would also take steps to strengthen existing federal regulations on bump stocks and ghost guns.
National media outlets were all talking about Philadelphia after gunmen opened fire this weekend in a bustling area on South Street, leaving two people and a suspect dead and wounding 11 others. Understandably, most of the press coverage framed the tragedy as part of a larger story about mass shootings in the United States.
We mourn and decry this senseless violence. The carnage needs to end.
But here’s another sad truth: Philadelphia sees shocking gun tragedies almost every weekend and most weekdays. According to an Axios analysis of data from the Philadelphia Police Department, 2021 was the worst year on record for homicides, and 2022 is already shaping up to be another bad year.
It’s time for the nation’s media and political leaders to pay close and consistent attention to the daily reality behind those stories, too. We must not limit the conversation about gun violence to mass shootings and AR-15s.
June 8, 2022 – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (ET)