What To Know Today
Several high-casualty shootings mark another tragic weekend. There were at least 12 mass shootings on Saturday and Sunday, according to Gun Violence Archive. Three of those incidents saw 10 or more people shot:
- In Minneapolis, two people were killed and eight others injured after two men started shooting at each other in a crowded area downtown. One of the victims, identified as Charlie Johnson, a mechanical engineering student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, was scheduled to graduate later that day.
- In North Charleston, South Carolina, a 14-year-old was killed and 14 others were hit when multiple people opened fire during a concert and cookout.
- In Bridgeton, New Jersey, two people were killed and 12 others injured during a house party.
All told, the mass shootings in nine states left 10 people dead and 70 others injured. “What we don’t want is another parent crying,” lamented a pastor in North Charleston after the shooting there.
The link between housing insecurity and violence. A new investigation from The Kansas City Star examines how housing issues — including evictions, blight, and homelessness — fuel gun violence in cities across Missouri. Reporters found that in Kansas City’s Jackson County, nine of the 10 census tracts with the highest rates of shootings also have above average eviction rates. With a federal moratorium on evictions set to expire on June 30, experts warn that violence could become worse. In the meantime, the Star followed the advocates and city leaders working to direct more resources to confront housing insecurity. “It’ll lessen crime — that’s the type of value, the type of impact it will have,” said one advocate, fighting to refurbish and expand the city’s housing stock.
Video investigation casts doubt on threat posed to officers who shot Andrew Brown Jr. Last week, a North Carolina district attorney announced he wouldn’t charge the police who fatally shot the 42-year old as he fled arrest in his car, saying the officers were justified because they faced imminent danger. But a New York Times video investigation of bodycam footage of the incident raises questions about that defense: The Times reports that 13 of 14 gunshots fired at Brown, including the fatal shot, were fired as he drove away from the officers, not at them.
ICYMI: A historic proposal for funding community-led violence prevention. Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom submitted a budget that included $200 million for community-based violence reduction programs over the next three years. If approved by the Legislature, it would be the single largest outlay of funds by a state government for anti-violence work. In our most recent weekly newsletter, The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia spoke with advocates and politicians who are part of the growing nationwide push to bolster community-led violence interventions. “We pay for gun violence no matter what,” said one organizer in Oakland. “It’s just, do we want to pay for prevention, or do we want to pay for the aftermath?” (Sign up for The Weekly here.)
Permitless carry on the verge of becoming law in Texas. Negotiators in the GOP-controlled House and Senate reached a deal to reconcile bills passed in each chamber that would allow people to carry handguns in public without a state permit. Though the policy remains unpopular, the two bodies just need to vote on the final version before sending the bill to Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he will sign it. Texas would be the fifth state to enact a permitless carry measure this year.
Data Point
~479,000 — the number of Texans who sought a permit to carry a handgun in 2020, the highest number in at least five years.[Texas Department of Public Safety]
