From Our Team
Stand-your-ground and shall issue laws increase gun violence, study finds. A sweeping synthesis of gun policy research found supportive evidence that shall-issue concealed carry and “stand your ground” laws increase levels of violence, and that child access prevention policies reduce firearm injuries and deaths among children. The conclusions come from the latest edition of the RAND Corporation’s Science of Gun Policy report, which reviewed the outcomes of 18 popular gun policies. Read more on the research from The Trace’s Fairriona Magee.
What to Know Today
Seditious conspiracy trial kicks off against Proud Boys. After the rare sedition convictions of two Oath Keepers members last year, opening remarks are set to begin this week in the case against Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the right-wing extremist group for their roles in the Capitol insurrection. One defendant will be missing an attorney: A Connecticut judge last week suspended the law license of Norm Pattis for releasing sensitive information while representing Alex Jones in a defamation case last summer. Though the Proud Boys face no firearms charges, Mother Jones notes that the House January 6 committee’s final report and other court documents reveal that many rioters brought guns to the attack on the Capitol.
Get the Bulletin in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletters here.California lawmakers enter new session ready to battle over gun laws. Legislators have already introduced five firearms bills, Politico reports, including taxes on guns and ammunition, funding for violence prevention, and a ban that would keep people under domestic violence protection orders from possessing guns for three years after their orders end. But after Bruen, which invalidated the state’s concealed carry restrictions, lawmakers face an uphill battle. Gun rights groups are empowered to sue “anything that walks,” as one assemblymember put it, and a firearm-friendly judge in San Diego is already directing state attorneys to defend California’s gun safety laws.
Atlanta-area students worry about safety after unprecedented year for school shootings. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviewed eight students, aged 10 to 17, about their feelings on school safety, following a year in which there was a shooting “pretty much every single school day,” according to the founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database. Schools in the metro Atlanta area say they’re tightening security, but students are still anxious: One only wears black to school because she worries bright colors would make her an easy target, while another fears his school isn’t doing enough to prevent students from bringing weapons on campus.
Homicides in Milwaukee have more than doubled since 2019. Activists are calling for change. In 2022, Wisconsin Public Radio reports, the city broke its homicide record for the third year in a row. Community activists say Milwaukee should invest in local groups engaged in violence prevention and mental health work, as well as approach gun violence as a public health issue. “This cannot and should not be the norm,” said Lynn Lewis, director of a violence interruption team. “Gun violence is not our story.” Funding community programs: Critics say there isn’t enough research to justify investing in community violence interruption. But programs aren’t uniform and neighborhoods aren’t laboratories, complicating ordinary evaluation.
Data Point
95 percent — the increase in Milwaukee’s homicide rate between 2019 and 2020. The nationwide rate rose 30 percent in that time. [Pew Research Center via Wisconsin Public Radio]
