Top Story
A hair salon is an emotionally intimate place, and the client-stylist relationship can often feel akin to therapy. In East Oakland, The Self-i.s.h. Society is taking it a step further: The salon and community space offers on-site therapy and healing circles alongside beauty care. [The Oaklandside]
The Industry
Over the weekend, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law that requires gun companies to impose “reasonable controls” on their marketing and distribution practices. In Illinois, that translates to a ban on firearms advertising that creates a public safety threat, or that’s designed to appeal to minors or people who might use a gun illegally.
“Reasonable control” laws like Illinois’ are creating an opening for governments and private citizens to hold gunmakers accountable for harms committed with their products. Illinois is the eighth state in the country to pass a version of this law, and Maryland could soon follow.
All of these measures took inspiration from one New York bill, dreamed up by a state senator on bedrest in the summer of 2020. The Trace’s Champe Barton has the story.
The Trajectory
School nurses are a sizable public health corps, numbering more than 95,000 nationwide. They serve millions of students every year, and not only treat the occasional boo-boo but also provide support for a broad range of issues, including financial strain, family discord, and bullying. But even though school nurses are engaged with social conditions that are linked to violence or suicide risk, they’ve largely been left out of gun violence prevention efforts.
Two longtime school nurses think it’s time for that to change. For the latest edition of The Trajectory, Robin Cogan and Laurie Combe spoke with The Trace’s Chip Brownlee about how their field can address the issue of gun violence.
What to Know Today
The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Newport News, Virginia, with her handgun earlier this year pleaded guilty to felony child neglect. Prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge of reckless storage of a firearm. [Associated Press]
Last year, Illinois created a program to pay up to $10,000 to cover funeral and burial expenses for murdered children. But lawmakers forgot to fund it. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Jabarr Richards’ death didn’t make the news — like many of the mostly young Black men killed in Philadelphia each year, his killing was not publicly acknowledged, nor has it yet been solved. For his 21st birthday, his family’s wish is that he not be forgotten. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
In 2020, a year with a historic surge in killings nationwide, the homicide rate for Black women rose by one-third — a sharper increase than for every demographic except Black men. The trend was particularly pronounced in Iowa. [The Guardian]
The Justice Department believes that the 5th Circuit “incorrectly decided” that a federal statute banning users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms is unconstitutional. The agency registered its opinion in a brief to the 11th Circuit, which is considering a similar case on the gun ownership rights of state-registered medical marijuana users. [Marijuana Moment] Context: Federal law has long barred people who use cannabis from owning guns. Bruen has the potential to change that — which would be welcome news to the hundreds of people convicted under that provision every year.
Archive
‘United We Thrive, Divided We Die’: A Portrait of Gun Violence in Brooklyn: Photographer Amnon Gutman has been documenting violence prevention efforts throughout Brooklyn for years. The images show firsthand the work of residents who tirelessly fight to build safer communities. (September 2021)
