What To Know Today
Poll: Domestic violence gun policy should be top priority for the Biden-Harris administration. Passing a federal law to prevent abusers from having a firearm ranked as the most important issue for women (56 percent) and men (40 percent) voters, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s KFF Women’s Health Survey of seven policy issues. However, the survey doesn’t specify what kind of gun policy. Under current federal law, any person convicted of a felony or misdemeanor domestic charge is barred from buying a gun. But the ban does not extend to protective orders, and has been criticized for the so-called boyfriend loophole. Related: My colleague Ann Givens reported last week that 13 states allow judges to decide whether to order the abuser to turn in their guns — often without offering any real guidance on how those decisions should be made. Congressional Democrats have previously introduced measures that would make gun restrictions on temporary restraining orders automatic in every state.
Canada labels the Proud Boys a terrorist group. The government’s Office of Public Safety described the group as “a neo-fascist organization that engages in political violence,” and now lists it alongside the likes of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Several people affiliated with the Proud Boys have been arrested over the U.S. Capitol insurrection, including one man who threatened to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Canada also designated The Base, a neo-nazi group, as a terrorist organization. As we have reported, several Base members have been arrested on gun charges related to violent extremism.
2020 shootings, mapped. We’ve updated our “Atlas of American Gun Violence” with final Gun Violence Archive shooting numbers from 2020. Our interactive guide now maps 240,000 shootings spanning the past seven years. You can enter your address here to see the picture of gun violence near you. Another updated Trace story: In our running list of gun arrests tied to the U.S. Capitol attack, we’ve now identified at least 10 people charged with illegal gun possession. If you spot another case we’ve missed, please email us: [email protected].
House to vote on stripping committee assignments from Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Georgia Republican has been widely criticized for a number of statements and actions she made before being elected to Congress, including endorsing the idea that several mass shooting were hoaxes, harassing school shooting survivors, and indicating support for violence against her now colleagues. House Democrats scheduled a vote for later today on whether to take her off the education and budget committees after Republican leaders declined to sanction her. “A member of this House is calling for assassinations. That’s the new precedent,” said Representative Jim McGovernof Massachusetts, chairman of the Rules Committee. “If that’s the standard that we remove people from committees, I’m fine with that.”
Prosecutors seek arrest warrant, higher bond for Kyle Rittenhouse. The 17-year-old has been out on bail since being charged with homicide for fatally shooting two people during August protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Prosecutors in Kenosha County, where the Illinois teen was charged, said Rittenhouse violated the terms of his bail when he changed addresses without informing the court.
Facebook deplatforms a leading Virginia gun rights group. Phillip Van Cleave, the leader of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, told The Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski that the social media platform gave no reason for the removal of the organization’s Facebook page. The company confirmed that the removal was intentional, but did not elaborate. The VCDL, which has been at the forefront of local pro-gun organizing against Governor Ralph Northam’s historic gun reforms, had its page temporarily removed last month — which Facebook attributed at the time to an error.
Data Point
30 percent — the budget decline over the last 11 years for the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, the primary federal agency measuring crime and criminal justice-related statistics. [The Appeal]
