First Edition: August 9, 2019

California Healthline: Dealing With The Lingering Effects Of A Mass Shooting
Veronica Kelley was working at an office building across the street from the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif., in December 2015 when a county employee and his wife entered with semiautomatic rifles and opened fire, killing 14 and wounding 22. Most of the victims were the shooter’s own co-workers. The couple went on to wound two police officers later that day. (Almendrala, 8/8)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Gun Violence And The Politics Of Public Health
Three mass shootings in eight days have refocused the nation’s attention on the problem of gun violence — and restarted the long-running debate over guns as a public health issue. Although Congress is on its summer break, before lawmakers left Washington they passed a two-year budget deal to make it easier to fund health programs — but it also cements funding restrictions like the Hyde Amendment, which bans most federal abortion funding. (8/8)

The New York Times: Trump Weighs New Stance On Guns Amid Changing Politics
In the wake of two mass shootings, the divisive politics of gun control appeared to be in flux on Thursday as President Trump explored whether to back expanded background checks on gun purchasers and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, signaled that he would at least be open to considering the idea. It is not clear that either the president or Mr. McConnell will embrace such legislation, which both of them have opposed in the past and which would have to overcome opposition from the National Rifle Association and other powerful conservative constituencies. (Stolberg, Haberman and Martin, 8/8)

Politico: Donald Trump’s Nixon-To-China Moment On Guns
President Donald Trump sees a rare political opportunity to act on gun control — and if there was ever a time to do it, this is probably it. Nine out of 10 Trump voters support universal background checks, according to a new poll — and a majority favor other gun control measures. The NRA is in shambles. And Trump's reelection hopes would be helped mightily by more support among moderate suburban voters — who back the measures but abandoned Republicans in the midterms. (Kumar, 8/8)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Again Gives Mixed Signals On Gun Background Checks
The president has defined an end goal — keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill — in broad terms, seemingly conflating background checks and so-called red flag laws in a way so that either could be defined as a major accomplishment. But Trump’s optimism does not seem to align with Washington’s static political reality. While opinion polls show expanding background checks is broadly popular, a majority of Republican lawmakers oppose it, complicating the passage of federal legislation by a dysfunctional, deeply divided Congress. (Stokols, 8/8)

Politico: McConnell: Background Checks, Red Flag Laws Will Be ‘Front And Center’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that strengthening background checks and red flag laws will “lead the discussion” on addressing gun violence in the wake of two mass shootings that left at least 31 people dead. McConnell’s remarks on a Kentucky news radio show follow a conversation he had Thursday morning with President Donald Trump, who has called for revisiting stricter background checks for gun buyers as well as red flag laws, which allows authorities to limit a person’s access to guns if they pose an imminent threat to others. (Levine, 8/8)

NPR: Senate Will Discuss Gun Proposals In September, McConnell Says
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will discuss measures aimed at addressing gun violence in September. He said he expects background checks, assault weapons and "red flag" laws to be part of the debate. "What we can't do is fail to pass something," McConnell told WHAS radio in Kentucky, adding, "the urgency of this is not lost on any of us." (Taylor, 8/8)

CNN: McConnell Won't Bring Senate Back Early But Says Background Checks And Red Flag Laws Up For Discussion
But the Republican senator also said he won't call lawmakers back to Washington this month to address gun violence, following two mass shootings that left more than 30 people dead over the weekend. "If we did that we would just have people scoring points and nothing would happen," McConnell said in the brief interview. "If we do it prematurely it will just be another frustrating experience for all of us and the public." (Fox, 8/8)

The Associated Press: McConnell Wants To Consider Gun Background Checks In Fall
Stakes are high for all sides, but particularly for Trump and his party. Republicans have long opposed expanding background checks — a bill passed by the Democratic-led House is stalled in the Senate — but they face enormous pressure to do something after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, that killed 31 people. McConnell, who is facing protests outside his Louisville home, can shift attention back to Democrats by showing a willingness to engage ahead of the 2020 election. (Mascaro and Daly, 8/9)

The Washington Post: Under Pressure, McConnell Raises Possibility Of Senate Action On Gun Legislation
At the same time, McConnell, who faces reelection next year, underscored the difficulty in reaching consensus on a divisive issue. Congress has not passed significant gun-control legislation since the 1990s. (Itkowitz, 8/8)

The Washington Post: After Shootings, Democrats Rethink Reluctance On Assault Weapons Ban
The mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, are prompting Democrats to reevaluate their long-standing hesitation on an assault weapons ban, propelled by an influential grass-roots movement demanding more aggressive action on guns and the party’s growing political strength in the suburbs. Former president Bill Clinton threw fresh momentum behind the effort on Thursday, calling for the reinstatement of the ban in an essay for Time magazine. (Kim, 8/8)

Politico: Pelosi To Trump: Use The Constitution To Force Senate Action On Guns
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on President Donald Trump to use his constitutional powers to bring the Senate back into session, ramping up her efforts to force Republicans to act against gun violence. The unusual request — which would be extraordinary if Trump were to agree — comes as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rejected Democratic demands to cut short the August recess and vote to require universal background checks on gun sales after two deadly mass shootings over the weekend. (Caygle, 8/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Swing-Seat Republican Unswayed By Pressure On Guns
Rep. Don Bacon fielded questions on his stance on gun-control legislation here in an overflowing room in the back of a sports bar, and the loudest cheers for the swing-seat Republican were when he stated his opposition. Mr. Bacon, who represents Omaha and its surrounding areas and won re-election last year by a 2-point margin, laid out why he is against widening background checks for gun purchases. (Andrews, 8/8)

The New York Times: ‘Red Flag’ Gun Laws Aren’t Airtight. But Officials Say They’ve Saved Lives. 
Last year, a man who worked at a car dealership in San Diego told his co-workers that he would shoot up the place if he were fired, and he praised the man who had carried out the Las Vegas massacre. Another man told his fiancée he wanted to shoot her in the head, and also threatened to kill her ex-boyfriend. Still another told co-workers that he wished his supervisors would die, and that he could invite them hunting so it would look like an accident. (Oppel, 8/8)

The Washington Post: Some U.S. Lawmakers Want A ‘Red Flag’ Law. But States Have Had Mixed Results.
Proposals for a federal law encouraging the removal of guns from people at risk of harming themselves or others have gained a rare measure of bipartisan support after back-to-back mass shootings last weekend in Texas and Ohio. But the experiences of states that have adopted similar measures show that the effects of such “red flag” laws have been widely uneven, depending on legislative fine print and the energy with which front-line law enforcement officials choose to implement them. (Jamison and Hermann, 8/8)

The Associated Press: Ohio Officials Team Up For Bipartisan Gun Reform Push
Ohio's Republican governor and Dayton's Democratic mayor pledged Thursday they will work together in a bipartisan push for gun reforms as the city focuses on recovering from the nation's latest mass shooting. Mike DeWine and Nan Whaley announced their legislative plan while visiting the downtown entertainment district where a gunman killed nine people and injured dozens more early Sunday. They also publicly discussed a mental health initiative. (8/8)

The Associated Press: Texas Relaxed Gun Laws After Recent Mass Shootings
After dozens of people, including toddlers and teenagers, were gunned down in separate mass shootings at a church Sutherland Springs and a high school in suburban Houston, Texas Republicans came to the Capitol this year with their eyes on new gun laws. The goal was not to limit access to weapons or ban assault-style rifles, but to expand gun rights. (Vertuno, 8/8)

The New York Times: El Paso Suspect Ordered Gun And Moved Out In Weeks Before Attack
In the weeks before a gunman killed 22 people in a devastating rampage at an El Paso Walmart, the suspect’s mother called the police concerned about whether her 21-year-old son was mature or experienced enough for the powerful AK-style rifle he had ordered. In a short telephone conversation with the police in the Dallas suburb of Allen, the mother did not raise concerns that her son, Patrick Crusius, was a danger to others, a lawyer for the family said. (Healy and Mervosh, 8/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Lost In Life, El Paso Suspect Found A Dark World Online
The family of Patrick Crusius, the alleged gunman in El Paso’s mass shooting, worried he was a little lost, with few friends, but thought he wasn’t any more aimless than many others his age, said family lawyer Christopher Ayres. When Mr. Crusius discussed current events, history and politics with his grandfather, with whom he lived for a while, his ideas didn’t appear to be out of the mainstream, according to Mr. Ayres. Like many young men in Texas, he occasionally went to the gun range with his father. (Ailworth, Wells and Lovett, 8/8)

NPR: The Pistol That Looks Like A Rifle: The Dayton Shooter's Gun
The gun that was used on Sunday to kill nine people and wound more than a dozen others in Dayton, Ohio, inflicted that damage within just 30 seconds. But while the weapon might look like a rifle to many people, it's technically classified as a pistol under federal law. The AR-15-style pistol used in Dayton is capable of pouring a stream of high-velocity bullets, thanks to its huge ammunition magazine. Before it was turned against civilians, the gun was built from easily obtained components — leading to questions about America's gun laws and a gray area that exists between traditional categories such as rifles and pistols. (Chappell, 8/8)

The Associated Press: Families Struggling To Cope After Mass Shootings
Some of the victims were old, some were young. They included teachers, immigrants, a retired iron worker, a business owner, and longtime spouses. Now, their relatives and friends are struggling to go on after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Some funerals already have been held, and more are scheduled in the coming days. (Stengle and Galvan, 8/8)

NPR: How The CDC's Reluctance To Use The 'F-Word' — Firearms — Hinders Suicide Prevention
The nation's foremost public health agency shies away from discussing the important link in this country between suicide and access to guns. That's according to documents obtained by NPR that suggest the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instead relies on vague language and messages about suicide that effectively downplay and obscure the risk posed by firearms. Guns in the United States kill more people through suicide than homicide. (Greenfieldboyce, 8/8)

The New York Times: Will Shootings Sway Voters? Look First To Virginia Races
At door after door, house after house, Dan Helmer, a Democrat running for the Virginia House of Delegates, found voters of both parties telling him one thing as he canvassed for support Tuesday night: Do something about the mass shootings. “I have it on the TV right now,” Reza Darvishian, a State Department security engineer, told Mr. Helmer on the porch of his home. “I’m sick of listening to all of this stuff.” (Epstein, 8/8)

The Washington Post: A Club No One Wants To Join: How Pittsburgh Is Reaching Out To Comfort El Paso And Dayton
A vigil would help. Yael Perlman would go to one Thursday evening. First, she needed to do something immediate and personal for the victims of El Paso and Dayton and Gilroy. Write letters to the families of the murdered. That’s what she could do. (Heller, 8/8)

The Associated Press: 2007 Mass Shooting Survivor Copes With 300 Pellets Of Lead
A woman who survived a 2007 mass shooting in Utah said Thursday she has lead poisoning from 300 shotgun pellets still in her body, leaving her with debilitating headaches, nausea and other serious health problems. Carolyn Tuft, whose 15-year-old daughter died in the Trolley Square mall shooting in Salt Lake City, has been unable to work, resulting in the loss of her home and business, she told The Associated Press. (Whitehurst, 8/8)

The Hill: Graham Promises ObamaCare Repeal If Trump, Republicans Win In 2020 
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this week that Republicans would push to repeal ObamaCare if they win back the House and President Trump is reelected in 2020. "If we can get the House back and keep our majority in the Senate, and President Trump wins reelection, I can promise you not only are we going to repeal ObamaCare, we're going to do it in a smart way where South Carolina will be the biggest winner," Graham said in an interview with a South Carolina radio station. (Hellmann, 8/8)

The Associated Press: Appeals Court Panel Hears High-Stakes Kentucky Abortion Case
Federal appeals judges should restore a Kentucky law at the heart of a licensing fight that threatened to close the state's last abortion clinic, an attorney for Gov. Matt Bevin argued Thursday. Pointing to the high stakes involved, however, the clinic's attorney warned that the law's application by the anti-abortion governor's administration would be "tantamount to a ban on abortion" in Kentucky. (Schreiner, 8/8)

Detroit Free Press: 'We Should Be Terrified': What Michigan Women Should Know If Abortion Becomes Illegal
Renee Chelian remembers keeping her head bowed and counting the pairs of shoes of the women sitting around her. Chelian was 15 and too frightened to take in her surroundings or look at the faces of the many women who sat with her, waiting for an abortion at the Detroit warehouse where the floor was covered in grease stains, and folding chairs and card tables served as the only furniture. (8/8)

Reuters: FDA Tells Four Firms To Stop Selling Flavored E-Cigarette, Hookah Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told four companies to remove 44 of their flavored e-liquid and hookah tobacco products that do not have the required approval for sale in the U.S., the agency said on Thursday. The move comes against the backdrop of the FDA's efforts to curb the usage of the addictive substances among young adults. (8/8)

Reuters: Sarepta Says Adverse Event Report For DMD Gene Therapy Erroneously Submitted
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc said on Thursday it was informed that an adverse event report was erroneously submitted to the U.S. health regulator regarding an ongoing study of the company's gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Shares of the company plunged as much as 19% earlier after a notice from the Food and Drug Administration showed a patient in the study was reported to have developed a serious illness. The stock pared losses to close down about 7% after the company's statement. (8/9)

Stat: Sarepta's Stock Price Plummets After An 'Erroneous' Report 
It was not an executive shakeup that pummeled shares of Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) on Thursday. It was not rumors of a takeover Wall Street didn’t like. Instead, it was a mistake. Shares cratered 12.6% after an analyst pointed out that a patient in one of the company’s ongoing clinical trials for Duchenne muscular dystrophy reported a serious side effect. The stock was then halted, and remained halted for three hours. (Sheridan, 8/8)

Stat: Amarin Now Says FDA Plans Outside Panel Review Of Its Vascepa 
Remember when Amarin (AMRN) said, a little more than one week ago, that the Food and Drug Administration was “unlikely” to convene an advisory committee meeting to review data on an expanded use of its heart drug Vascepa? Wrong. On Thursday, Amarin reversed course, announcing that, indeed, the FDA has scheduled a Vascepa advisory committee meeting for Nov. 14. The agency’s deadline for making an approval decision on the heart drug will also likely be extended into late December from Sept. 28, the company said. (Feuerstein, 8/8)

CNN: Their First Day Of School Turned Into A Nightmare After Record Immigration Raids
When the unprecedented immigration raids were over, only the children remained. Some sobbed inconsolably. “Let my parents be free,” one girl cried. “I need my dad. He’s not a criminal.” Others clutched backpacks on a first day of school they would probably never forget. The latest salvo in the Trump administration’s hardline stance against immigration came Wednesday at seven Mississippi food-processing plants. Immigration officials described it as the largest single-state workplace enforcement action in US history. (Sanchez, 8/8)

The Associated Press: Immigrants Lock Doors, Rally Around Children Of Detained
Mississippi residents rallied around terrified children left with no parents and migrants locked themselves in their homes for fear of being arrested Thursday, a day after the United States’ largest immigration raid in a decade. A total of 680 people were arrested in Wednesday’s raids, but more than 300 had been released by Thursday morning with notices to appear before immigration judges, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox. (Amy and Sollis, 8/8)

The Washington Post: U.S. Defends Secretive Mississippi ICE Raids As Local, State Officials Decry Effect On Children 
The operation was so closely guarded that ICE officials did not even inform the White House before it began, according to Matthew Albence, the agency’s acting director, and other administration officials. Because previous plans for high-profile ICE raids had been disrupted by public disclosure — including tweets from President Trump telegraphing them — the agency this time stealthily streamed 600 agents to Mississippi, many flown from other parts of the country. (Craig, Wilson and Miroff, 8/8)

NPR: Some 300 Arrested In Mississippi Immigration Raids Have Been Released, Officials Say
A day after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested nearly 700 people in sweeping raids at several food-processing plants in Mississippi, officials said Thursday that nearly half of those detained had already been released. (Neuman, 8/9)

The New York Times: He’s A Veteran Of Upheaval, Molded By Ferguson’s Traumas. He’s 7.
David Morrison carries the scars of Ferguson’s upheaval. A veteran protester, he has fled gunshots and tear gas, marched, waved signs and played dead on the asphalt in years of activism that unspooled after a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. “I’m so angry!” he shouts. He is 7 years old. (Healy and Besman, 8/8)

Reuters: Study Shows Apple Devices In Combo With Apps Could Identify Dementia
Drugmaker Eli Lilly said on Thursday early results from a study suggest that Apple Inc devices, including the iPhone, in combination with digital apps could differentiate people with mild Alzheimer's disease dementia and those without symptoms. The study, tested in 113 participants over the age of 60, was conducted by Apple along with Eli Lilly and Evidation Health. (8/8)

The New York Times: In The Ethiopian Mountains, Ancient Humans Were Living The High Life
Scientists have discovered what is by far the oldest evidence of human occupation at extreme altitudes: a rock shelter strewn with bones, tools and hearths 11,000 feet above sea level. People lived at the site, in the mountains of Ethiopia, as long as 47,000 years ago. The research, reported on Thursday in the journal Science, contradicts the long-held view that high elevations were the last places on Earth settled by humans. (Zimmer, 8/8)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Comptroller Says Better Oversight Needed For Lead Prevention
The New York state comptroller is calling for improved oversight of a state program that works to prevent lead poisoning and help children with elevated blood lead levels, a major health risk to children. In a report released Thursday from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, auditors found that the state Department of Health regional offices didn’t consistently conduct on-site reviews of the local health departments that carry out the state’s lead-prevention program to ensure that children receive proper treatments. (West, 8/8)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County May Scrap Jail Project To Focus On Mental Health
The Board of Supervisors might cancel a $1.7-billion contract to replace the dungeon-like Men’s Central Jail downtown amid growing unease about whether Los Angeles County’s incarceration policy focuses enough attention on mental health treatment. County supervisors are expected to vote next week on whether to end the contract with McCarthy Building Cos. and start fresh on a plan for replacing the antiquated jail — a major policy change after months of grappling with the project’s direction. (Stiles, 8/8)

ProPublica: Rising Profits, Rising Injuries: The Safety Crisis At Koch Industries’ Georgia-Pacific 
In March of 2014, Jim Hannan joined a group of executives at Georgia-Pacific to discuss a burgeoning crisis. Hannan was CEO of Georgia-Pacific, reporting to Charles Koch, the CEO of Koch Industries, which had bought the paper and pulp company in 2005. Hannan, a longtime Koch employee, had been doing a stellar job by some standards — the maker of Brawny paper towels and Quilted Northern toilet paper was paying down debt and delivering higher profits. But there was a hitch: The workplace was becoming more dangerous. (Leonard, 8/8)