gun violence
‘We all ran for our lives’: MSU students describe mass shooting as a never-ending nightmare
‘It’s Valentine’s Day, and we’ve gone zero days without a shooting. That’s just unacceptable.’ Michigan State University students are angry. Yes, they are traumatized; yes, they are overwhelmed with grief and sadness. They know they will need mental health support in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. But, right now, in the wake of […]
Biden renews a call for action on gun control following Michigan State mass shooting
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden at an annual meeting with county leaders on Tuesday said there is much more work to be done on gun control legislation — such as banning assault-style weapons, which are typically used in most mass shootings. The call again for gun control came after a school shooting at Michigan State […]
U.S. Senate Democrats unveil legislation to ban high-capacity gun magazines
WASHINGTON — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, along with 27 of his U.S. Senate colleagues, introduced legislation Tuesday to ban high-capacity magazines, which can be used on the type of semi-automatic firearm that is typically used in most mass shootings. “High-capacity magazines were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — high-capacity killing […]
A moment of hope and light in a dark and violent winter
January has been yet another warm month in North Carolina and across much of the rest of the nation. After a brief and sharp holiday week plunge, temperatures have consistently felt more like mid-March – or, at least, what mid-March used to feel like. And while a globally warm winter certainly has some temporary advantages – especially for people living on the street and those trying to cope with temporarily inflated home heating costs – it’s hard not to be struck with a profound sense of unease at the rapid change afflicting the Earth's biosphere.
No, guns do kill people. And the solution is glaringly obvious
The United States has averaged more than one mass shooting per day since January 2022, but elected officials refuse to act. My Nhan, 65, immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in the 1980s, and made her home in California’s San Gabriel Valley, in a community called Rosemead. Her niece, Fonda Quan, said she was ready “to start the year fresh,” and celebrate with her friends, according to the CBC. She never got the chance.
Wave of mass shootings prompts Biden to call yet again for assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON — Following a mass shooting on the eve of Lunar New Year in which 11 people in a predominantly Asian neighborhood in California were killed, President Joe Biden again urged Congress to pass legislation banning assault weapons. Communities across America “have been struck by tragedy after tragedy, including mass shootings from Colorado Springs to […]
Job #1 for the 2023 General Assembly: ending easily preventable deaths
State government has scores of vitally important roles to play in modern North Carolina. The list of agencies and missions is a long one. At a basic level, however, government’s most important task is – or at least ought to be – protecting the lives and health of the state’s residents. And so, while state lawmakers obviously have numerous priorities to weigh and debates to have during the 2023 legislative session that convenes tomorrow, one extremely efficient path for prioritizing their work, fulfilling their most basic duty, and making the state a measurably better place would be this: ending easily preventable deaths.
Year in review: Our top editorial cartoons of 2022
For going on two decades now, NC Policy Watch has been fortunate enough to be able to feature the expertly crafted, frequently hilarious, sometimes disturbing, and always thought-provoking commentaries of one of the nation’s top editorial cartoonists, John Cole. While it would be worth your time to look through all of John’s contributions to Policy Watch from the past here are some his best entries from 2022.
Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
Survivors of a deadly attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other advocates told a U.S. House panel Wednesday that political rhetoric and policy fights dehumanize LGBTQ people and contribute to such violence. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee largely sympathized with the survivors, but drew different conclusions […]
Another mind-numbing mass murder brings reflection
Shocked? No. Resigned? Maybe. Numb? I hope not. The slaughter continues. On the heels of two multiple murders on or near college campuses in Virginia and Idaho the week of Nov. 12 comes news of a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs nightclub catering to the LGBTQ+ community on Nov. 19. A gunman entered Club […]
NC Democrats want consideration for new gun laws and mental health funding after Raleigh mass shooting
With the pain of last week’s mass shooting in Raleigh still new, North Carolina Democratic legislators pushed the Republican majority to consider gun safety laws and increase funding for mental health care. Senate Democratic leader Dan Blue lives in the northeast Raleigh neighborhood where a shooter killed five people and injured two others outside their […]