"A vote for Trump is a vote for more gun violence. It got lost in the coverage, but Trump promised the NRA that he would repeal all of Biden's gun safety actions. …
Trump promised, 'In my second term, we will roll back every Biden attack on the Second Amendment.'
#Trump pledges to 'roll back' Democratic President Joe #Biden’s #gun#regulations put in place by Democratic President Joe #Biden & to fire the #ATF chief during a lengthy rally speech to the #NRA on Sat, during which he accepted the influential group's #endorsement.
The address to thousands of #NRA members at the group's annual Leadership Forum in Dallas was light on new #policy, but he used the platform to urge #gun supporters to go to the polls in the Nov #election.
"We've got to get gun owners to vote," #Trump said in his wide-rangingspeech, which covered everything from his #criminal trials to #trade & #immigration over >90 mins.
During the speech, #Trump repeated a pledge to fire the director of the Bureau of #Alcohol, #Tobacco, #Firearms & #Explosives, known as the #ATF, on Day One of a potential administration. He accused that agency, which enforces #UnitedStates#GunLaws, of being heavy-handed w/ #FirearmOwners & revoking licenses on frivolous grounds.
As Philip Bump notes, a majority of Americans support stricter gun laws and the right of women to access abortion. Despite this, a minority of Americans are allowed to block both gun control and the right to abortion through “manifested minority power.” Republican policies are all about enshrining minority control of the majority and locking this control in for as long as possible in the future.
Thurs, the #Biden admin announced they are closing what is known as the #"GunShowLoophole," by tightening up the definition of what it means to be "engaged in the business" of selling #firearms.
The #ATF has just implemented a change in the federal register language, which was previously more specific to who was selling guns, & the agency did it in accordance w/the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed in 2022.
The rule now explicitly lists the types of commercial activities that indicate whether a person should become a federally #licensed dealer & thus be required to run a background check; prevents people from evading the licensing & #BackgroundChecks requirements by claiming that they are just selling a few #guns, acc/to the WH; & prevents people from falsely claiming that guns are part of a personal collection & exempt a seller from running a background check on a buyer.
By being more specific & precise in the definition, #Biden admin ofcls on a call w/reporters said it would require more people to register for a federal selling #license & run a background check on the person they are selling to.
#POTUS said in a statement he has spent time w/people who lost loved ones to #GunViolence, & that he is taking action to make sure fewer guns are sold w/o #BackgroundChecks.
“It will also close the #GunShowLoophole & it closes the fire sale loophole as well by clarifying how #firearms dealers who go out of business or lose their #license must go about liquidating their inventory,” #MerrickGarland told reporters. “Under this #regulation, it will not matter if #guns are sold on the internet, at a gun show or in a brick & mortar store, if you sell guns [you] must conduct #BackgroundChecks.”
#JosephLieberman, the doggedly independent 4-term #US#senator from #Connecticut who was the Democratic nominee for VP in 2000, becoming the first Jewish candidate on the national ticket of a major party, died March 27 in NYC. He was 82.
The cause was complications from a fall, his family said in a statement.
A Trump Whitehouse (or just about any Republican now, really) is a danger to children's, women's, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC's rights and lives.
There's a very real danger of trans people being literally legislated out of existence in the US. It's already happening in some states. Denying access to gender affirming care and HRT is violence against trans people and it comes with a body count.
There's a very real danger of women losing their bodily autonomy. Roe v. Wade was already overturned, and they've repeatedly tried to go after birth control. Forcing women to give birth is violence and comes with a body count. Hell, Alabama is one step short of forcing women to carry Easter eggs to term.
There's a very real danger of more children losing their lives to gun violence. Many Republicans seem to value their freedom to openly carry implements of murder over the lives of our sisters, brothers, and kids. I don't think I even need to say it, but shitty gun control enables violence and comes with a body count.
Update: Fuck Katie Britt and her stupid fear-mongering 😬 face.
I haven't wanted to reach through my phone and punch someone this much in a long time.
A laboratory found a pattern of cell damage that has been seen in #veterans exposed to #weapons blasts, & said it probably played a role in the gunman’s spiral into #violence.
A specialized laboratory examining the #brain of the gunman who committed #Maine’s deadliest #MassShooting found profound #BrainDamage of the kind that has been seen in #veterans exposed to repeated blasts from #weapons use.
The lab’s findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief ME’s office & released by the #gunman’s family.
The #gunman, #RobertCard, was a #grenade instructor in the #ArmyReserve. In 2023, after 8 yrs of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing #voices & was stalked by #paranoid#delusions. He grew increasingly erratic & #violent in the months before the Oct rampage in #Lewiston, in which he killed 18 people & then himself.
His brain was sent to a #Veterans Affairs laboratory in Boston that is known for its pioneering work documenting chronic #traumatic#encephalopathy, or #CTE, in athletes.
Acc/to the lab’s report, prepared on Feb 26 & updated on Wednesday, the white matter that forms the wiring deep in the #brain had “moderately severe” damage, & in some areas was missing entirely.
The delicate tissue sheaths that insulate each biological circuit lay in “disorganized clumps,” & throughout #RobertCard’s #brain there was scarring & inflammation suggesting repeated #trauma.
This was not #CTE, the report said. It was a characteristic pattern of damage that has been found before in #military#veterans who were repeatedly exposed to #weapons#blasts during their service.
@GottaLaff
The perpetual gun slaughter of Americans is a policy choice.
#Republicans will continue to choose gun industry profits over American lives as long as the #NRA keeps delivering those fat envelopes stuffed with cash.
"The question is not if there will be another shooting like this, but where it will be. I’m not one of those folks who were asking 'how could this happen here?' yesterday. My question is simply 'Who is next?'”