Good morning, Bulletin readers. Senators grilled Trump’s ATF pick on Wednesday, and his answers on gun regulation managed to frustrate Democrats and Republicans alike. That recap leads your Thursday roundup.
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WHAT TO KNOW TODAY
ATF nominee comes out against universal background checks. As president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, Chuck Canterbury had urged the Senate to expand vetting of gun buyers in the wake of Sandy Hook. But testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, President Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said he does not support extending federal oversight to private gun transfers, “I do believe in the Second Amendment, and I believe that those individual sales are guaranteed under current law.” Canterbury largely evaded other questions about his positions on gun policy. He said repeatedly that he would consult ATF and Justice Department career officials on how to deploy the ATF’s enforcement and regulatory powers. His answers did not satisfy several of the Republicans on the panel.
Another Democratic primary debate, but no new questions on gun violence. CNN’s moderators did not broach the subject in Detroit last night.
Three survivors of the Gilroy rampage also survived the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Alicia Olive says she was just starting to feel safe in public places again when shots rang out at the annual Garlic Festival, which she attended with two of her fellow Las Vegas survivors. “It makes you angry,” Olive said.
Investigators said to find extremist reading materials at the home of the Gilroy shooter. In addition to literature about white supremacy and radical Islam, authorities found a gas mask, a bulletproof vest, and empty boxes of ammunition, federal law enforcement sources told The San Francisco Chronicle.
Massachusetts ramps up funding for a program that aims to prevent youth violence. The state’s 2020 budget, signed into law by GOP Governor Charlie Baker on Wednesday, allots $10.2 million for the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative, which provides education and employment to young gang members. That’s a $2 million increase from the current budget.
A man walked from D.C. to Philadelphia to draw attention to kids killed by guns. Mike D’Angelo, whose 10-year-old niece was killed by gang gunfire in Washington a year ago, completed the 124-mile trek in sweltering temperatures. “The pain I feel right now can’t compare to the pain of a stray bullet entering a child,” he said as he limped to the finish.
President Trump said school shootings have been the hardest part of his presidency. When asked about the most difficult day of his presidency so far, the president told CSPAN: “When you have a school shooting … It really angers me. You say, ‘How could a thing like this happen?’”
Office Depot is selling bulletproof backpacks. Guard Dog Security says its bags, which market for $150 to $200 in stores and online, will stop a .44-caliber bullet, but not high-velocity rifle rounds.
Two Walmart employees in Mississippi were shot to death by a coworker. The suspect, who had been recently fired, also wounded an officer during his rampage in a Memphis suburb on Tuesday evening.
CORRECTION: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law on Tuesday that prohibits the possession, sale, and transport of undetectable firearms made of materials that do not set off metal detectors, including 3D-printed guns. Yesterday’s Bulletin incorrectly described the law as a broader ban on ghost guns, untraceable firearms that lack serial numbers.
ONE LAST THING
Mass shootings you may have missed. All week we’ve been using this space to highlight recent incidents of gun violence in public spaces that have not drawn national media coverage. On June 23, 11 people were shot, one fatally, outside a bar in South Bend, Indiana. The victim, 27-year-old Brandon Williams, was an artist who designed tattoos and T-shirts for his local barbershop. As of last week, there had been no arrests. Williams’s family urged anyone with information to come forward, and said they plan to commemorate him with scholarships.
