Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Wants More Study On Childhood Trauma From Active-Shooter Drills
USA Today: Biden To Sign Order On Machine Gun Devices, Shooter Drills
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Thursday aimed at restricting new firearm technology that makes existing weapons more dangerous and helping students address the trauma caused by active shooter drills at schools. White House officials said the executive order will target machine gun conversion devices that turn regular firearms into machine guns that fire fully automatic, plus 3D-printed guns that do not have the typical serial numbers. ... White House officials say Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have heard from parents and educators about the potential trauma caused by a new barrage of active-shooter trainings in schools. Biden's executive order directs a bevy of federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Homeland Security and Surgeon General to prepare a report in 110 days about how to implement drills and when. (Penzenstadler, 9/26)
AP: California Governor Signs Bills To Bolster Gun Control
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several gun control measures Tuesday, including one that allows the court to consider stalking and animal cruelty as grounds to restrict access to firearms. The state already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. The new laws signed by Newsom will expand restrictions on who could own firearms, prevent the proliferation of “ghost guns” and increase protections for domestic violence survivors. (9/25)
The Trace: In Chicago, the Odds of Surviving a Shooting Are Getting Worse
A person shot in Chicago is more likely to die from it today than they would have been 13 years ago. Fatal shootings have made up a steadily larger share of the city’s gun violence statistics, according to a Trace analysis of data from the City of Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard and studies from the University of Chicago Crime Lab. In 2010, out of every 100 people who were shot in the city, 13 died; by 2023, 19 succumbed to their wounds. In other words: proportionally fewer Chicagoans are surviving. (Oceguera, 9/26)
Balls and Strikes: Ghost Guns Are Making The Gun Violence Crisis Worse. Will The Supreme Court Care?
Building, buying, or selling your own gun has never been easier. Go to the website for a purveyor of “weapon parts kits,” and you can anonymously order partially-completed weapons that you can fully assemble at home. Take half an hour or so to put the pieces together, and voilà, you have an unlicensed, untraceable gun. Weapon parts kits are like Lego sets that you can use to commit a school shooting. (Dennie, 9/25)
Minnesota Public Radio: The Toll Of Gun Violence On Survivors
We often focus on the people killed by guns. But there were also people wounded at each of these recent shootings, people who will live for the rest of their lives with physical scars and mental trauma. (Davis and Beckstrom, 9/25)
KERA News: State Fair Gun Ban: Ken Paxton Appeals To The Texas Supreme Court
Attorney General Ken Paxton asked Texas’ court of last resort to overturn the state fair’s gun ban Wednesday. Paxton’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas is his third attempt to have the ban overturned after a trial court and a lower appeals court rejected his requests to block it before the fair opens Friday. (Osibamowo, 9/25)
