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New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an update to her administration’s temporary ban on carrying guns on public and state property in Albuquerque, narrowing the restriction to playgrounds and public parks. The update came after pushback from gun rights and gun reform proponents alike. A federal judge blocked the carry ban last week. [CNN] Context: Lujan Grisham’s order was never a long-term solution. Other gun safety measures hold more promise.
From Our Team
Nearly a year-and-a-half after a gunman opened fire on a subway car in Brooklyn, New York City transit workers say they’re still woefully unprepared to deal with a shooting. In interviews with The Trace, a dozen train operators and conductors characterized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s training as inadequate — saying they don’t participate in active-shooter drills and aren’t trained to render CPR or first aid. The only mass shooting protocols they’re aware of, they told The Trace, are to radio headquarters and flee the area.
Transit workers were the first to respond to last year’s subway attack. They told The Trace that the lack of established protocols leave tens of thousands MTA workers and a billion annual subway riders in danger: “If it comes down to someone armed with a gun,” said one longtime worker, “we’re just spotters with radios.”
What to Know Today
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, was indicted in Delaware federal court on three counts tied to the possession of a gun while using narcotics. The case is unusual — Biden’s counts are rarely the basis for standalone prosecution, and few first-time, nonviolent offenders receive serious prison time for these charges — and Biden’s defense could be bolstered by a constitutional challenge to the statute banning drug users from obtaining guns. [NBC/The New York Times/The Wall Street Journal]
Police officers involved in high-profile killings are rarely barred from continuing to work as cops. Out of 54 officers involved in 14 killings that spurred Black Lives Matter Protests since 2014, an analysis reveals, only 10 had their police certifications or licenses revoked. [The Intercept]
The trial over Oregon’s Measure 114, a voter-approved law that imposes stringent gun restrictions, is scheduled to begin today. [Associated Press]
Ryan Busse, a former gun industry executive-turned-gun safety advocate, launched his 2024 bid for Montana governor as a Democrat. His campaign’s first promotional video features Busse firing a shotgun at clay pigeons marked with policies he opposes. [Montana Public Radio/Montana Free Press]
More than 80 percent of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, support gun restrictions for people convicted of domestic violence, according to a new poll of 20,191 adults. [The 19th]
Alex Jones owes nearly $1.5 billion in court-ordered damages to Sandy Hook families for repeatedly promoting the false claim that the 2012 school shooting was a hoax. The right-wing conspiracy theorist and InfoWars host spent over $93,000 on personal expenses in July — but the families have yet to see a dime. [Associated Press]
U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, led a group of lawmakers in introducing the Disarm Hate Act, legislation that would bar people convicted of violent misdemeanor hate crimes from obtaining guns. Escobar, whose district was the site of a deadly racist shooting four years ago, was joined by representatives who have also had hate-motivated mass shootings in their states or districts. [The Texas Tribune]
Data Point
500 percent — the increase in the risk of homicide if a gun is present in a domestic violence situation. [The 19th]
