What To Know Today
NEW from THE TRACE: New York banned body armor. But not the kind used by the Buffalo shooter. The policy — part of a package of reforms signed on June 6 — came three weeks after the Buffalo supermarket gunman wore body armor during his attack, which allowed him to withstand a security guard’s bullets and continue his rampage. But the new law doesn’t prohibit the type of body armor worn by the gunman, Hochul’s office confirmed to The Trace. The words “body armor” don’t actually appear in the bill, even though it’s been described as a “body armor” ban by Hochul and state lawmakers in press releases. Read more from Jennifer Mascia about what’s in the new law, the kinds of armor it covers, and additional changes to the law Hochul’s office said the governor supports. The piece was republished by The City.
Armed California man detained near Brett Kavanaugh’s home and charged with attempted murder. The 26-year-old was arrested Wednesday near the Supreme Court justice’s Maryland home, according to a Supreme Court spokesperson and an FBI affidavit. The suspect arrived by taxi with a suitcase and backpack, noticed two deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service stationed outside the justice’s home, and then walked away. The suspect then called an emergency dispatcher and said he was armed and wanted to kill a Supreme Court justice and then himself. Maryland officers and the deputies detained him shortly thereafter. The suspect was said to be angry about a recently leaked Supreme Court draft ruling on abortion and the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and he “believed the justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws,” the affidavit reads. The suspect was found with a pistol, two magazines and ammunition, and other gear.
House passes wide-ranging gun reform package. On a nearly party-line vote, the chamber passed a bill that includes raising the minimum age to buy most semiautomatic rifles to 21; banning high-capacity magazines; mandating safe-storage requirements for gun owners; and codifying executive orders on ghost guns and bump stock devices. Later today, the House is expected to vote on a red flag law measure. The bill passed hours after a House committee heard survivors and families of victims make impassioned calls for congressional action on gun violence. The House bill stands virtually no chance of passing in the Senate, where negotiators are continuing to hold talks over a much more limited package. Senator John Cornyn, the top Republican involved in that effort, said there are still “sticking points everywhere.”
Leading national K-12 organizations call for Congress to pass gun reforms after Uvalde. Seventeen organizations representing educators, administrators, superintendents, school mental health providers and staff, and parents sent the open letter calling for preventing access to weapons by those deemed at risk of hurting themselves or others, universal background checks, and additional investments in gun-violence prevention research. “Schools and educators alone cannot bear the full burden of addressing the public health crisis of gun violence,” they wrote.
Early results from San Francisco’s alternative responder model suggest positive results. In late 2020, the city joined a nationwide push to remove police from responding to some calls of people in crisis that have in the past precipitated fatal shootings by officers. San Francisco’s Street Crisis Response Team allows 911 dispatchers to send three-person teams that include a Fire Department paramedic, a peer support counselor, and a behavioral health specialist to cases involving unarmed adults in crisis. Since it launched, the teams have responded to thousands of incidents, according to the Department of Public Health, and none of those have led to an arrest or death. Advocates told Mother Jones the program is paying big dividends for public safety, but some worry that many Black residents are still reluctant to call 911 for fear of an armed police response.
Data Point
60 percent — the share of women who say they support stricter gun laws, according to a recent poll, compared to 46 percent of men. [CBS News-YouGov poll]
