Important headlines for February 22nd
Bottom Line: These are stories you don't want to miss and my hot takes on them...
As students watch, lawmakers debate porn but refuse to take up assault weapons ban - Miami Herald
Excerpt: House Republicans on Tuesday decisively blocked a move by Democrats to debate a ban on assault weapons in Florida, six days after a massacre that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The bill (HB 219), which would ban the sale and possession of semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines like the kind used by Nikolas Cruz, has been mired in a House subcommittee for months and has not been heard.
Amid rising tensions at the Capitol, Democrats used a highly unusual procedure to try to move the proposal directly to the House floor for a debate and vote.
Republicans voted it down, 71-36. Several survivors of the high school massacre, watching from the visitors’ gallery, were overcome with emotion, and the action set off a firestorm of controversy on social media.
Hot Take: Once again this is an important headline rather than a hysterical one because it despite the false narrative advanced by it - it demands seriousness in response. Here's what really happened. A politically motivated bill that had been sitting in the state house waiting for a moment like this was used as a political weapon. This was pure disgusting politics at its worst designed to get the kind of response that's predictable when you have a complicit news media ready to promote the political agenda.
Here's the actual language from the bill:
“selective-fire firearm capable of fully automatic, semiautomatic or burst fire,”
What the heck does that exactly mean? First, fully automatic weapons have been illegal since the 80's (to provide an idea of how false the premise of this bill is to begin with). Second, multiple experts have stated that the language is so open-ended it'd ban a myriad of different guns, including those used for hunting (for those who like to bastardize the 2nd Amendment like Bill Nelson). Third, political stunts to win cheap political points right now? Amazing.
Gun Control Is Not Impossible Julian Zelizer, The Atlantic
Hot Take: That's true. As I indicated based on all available research – the desire was there before the Parkland shooting and is certainly there now. It'll happen. The only question is what "it" is. What it isn't regardless is a fix. Guns aren't new. The problems our society faces are – anyone care to have the complete or thoughtful conversation? Or does the political agenda simply matter more than people and actual solutions?
Chicago Shows Good People Far Outnumber the Bad Erin Bauer, Chicago Tribune
Until tomorrow...