What to Know Today
911 calls from Robb Elementary illustrate law enforcement’s failures in response to the massacre. The Texas Tribune and ProPublica obtained audio of more than 20 emergency calls and hours of conversation between dispatchers and police from the Uvalde school shooting. The recordings are damning, and show the depth of law enforcement’s botched response to the mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers in May. Warning: The audio revealed in this story is disturbing.
“This court is not a trained historian”: Federal judge excoriates Bruen decision. Carlton Reeves, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, ordered the Justice Department to brief him on whether he should appoint a historian to help him interpret the landmark Second Amendment opinion, which states that gun laws are constitutional only if they abide by “historical tradition.” Reeves is considering a case challenging the federal ban on people with felony convictions possessing firearms, CNN reports. His order lambasted the Bruen ruling: “We are not experts in what white, wealthy and male property owners thought about firearms regulation in 1791,” Reeves wrote. Tracking the fallout: The Bruen decision is reshaping gun laws across the U.S. We’re tracking developments here.
After investigation into D.C. crime squad, prosecutors will drop dozens of felony gun and drug cases. In September, the chief of the Metro Police Department announced that seven officers had been taken off the streets and placed on administrative leave or desk duty. The officers are under internal investigation for seizing guns without making arrests and potentially lying on police reports. Now, after learning about the investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says it expects to dismiss dozens of pending felony gun and drug cases, The Washington Post reports. Defense attorneys told the Post that many of the cases could be refiled. Some said they’ve been concerned about the 7th District’s stop-and-seizure practices for years.
At RAWtools Philly, grieving families turn guns into garden tools. Shane Claiborne and Katie Jo have lived in Kensington for 25 years. The Philadelphia neighborhood is often known for its gun violence and drug market, and Claiborne and Jo are no strangers to their community’s issues. Shortly after settling in, a 19-year-old was shot nearby, an event they call their first memory of the neighborhood. Claiborne has spent much of his life as an advocate for gun violence prevention. With RAWtools Philly, his latest venture with his wife, the focus is on healing: In a workshop close to one of Kensington’s most infamous intersections, loved ones of gun violence victims repurpose weapons and bullets into rings and tools. “We want it to be both hopeful and beautiful,” Claiborne told Al Día about the effort, which is part of a larger network, “but also to honor people’s grief and pain and their experiences with gun violence.”
Data Point
66 percent — the increase in gun-related deaths among Hispanic people from 2014 to 2020. That’s nearly double the rate that gun deaths increased nationally. [Center for American Progress]
