Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Shooter Had 'Emotional Disorder,' But There's No 'Red Flag' Law In Tennessee
CNN: Killer Was Under Care For Emotional Disorder And Hid Guns At Home, Police Say
The 28-year-old who killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville was under care for an emotional disorder and had legally bought seven firearms that were hidden at home, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Tuesday. The parents of the shooter, Audrey Hale, spoke to police and said they knew Hale had bought and sold one weapon and believed that was the extent of it. “The parents felt (Hale) should not own weapons,” the chief said. On Monday morning, Hale left home with a red bag, and the parents asked what was inside but were dismissed, Drake said. (Levenson, Alonso and Salahieh, 3/29)
Reuters: Nashville School Shooter Had 'Emotional Disorder' And Small Arsenal, Police Say
Under Tennessee law, mental illness is not grounds for police to confiscate weapons, unless a person is deemed mentally incompetent by a court, "judicially committed" to a mental institution," or placed under a conservatorship "by reason of mental defect." (Allen and Ax, 3/29)
AP: Police: Nashville Shooter Fired Indiscriminately At Victims
Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at the news conference. If police had been told that Hale was suicidal or homicidal, “then we would have tried to get those weapons,” Drake said. “But as it stands, we had absolutely no idea who this person was or if (Hale) even existed.” Tennessee does not currently have a “red flag” law, which lets police step in and take firearms away from people who threaten to kill. (Mattise, 3/29)
ABC News: Friend Says She Contacted Authorities After Messaging With Nashville Shooter Audrey Hale On Morning Of Attack
A friend of Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale told ABC News that she contacted local authorities on Monday morning after Hale messaged her online about "planning to die today." ... She spoke to someone at the suicide prevention line who suggested she call local authorities. When she did, they said they would send someone out to her location to review the screenshots. But no one came to see the messages themselves until that afternoon, after the shooting had taken place, said the friend, Paige Patton. (Levine, 3/28)
'I can’t do anything except plead with Congress,' President Biden says —
The Hill: Biden Raises Pressure On GOP To Take Action On Guns
President Biden is focusing his anger over the elementary school shooting in Nashville this week squarely on Republicans, calling for lawmakers to show courage and warning that Congress will have to answer to families that have lost loved ones through gun violence. “The Congress has to act. The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, it’s a crazy idea. They’re against that,” Biden said on Tuesday. “I can’t do anything except plead with Congress to act reasonably.” (Gangitano and Lillis, 3/28)
The Hill: Tennessee Republican Responds To School Shooting: ‘We’re Not Gonna Fix It’
Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett (R) said there’s no way to “fix” gun violence, after a shooter killed three children and three adults at an elementary school in his home state on Monday. “It’s a horrible, horrible situation,” Burchett told reporters. “And we’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals.” (Shapero, 3/28)
CNN: Why Corporate America Has Grown Silent On Gun Violence
America’s biggest companies rushed to strengthen their gun safety policies after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. Dick’s Sporting Goods stopped selling semi-automatic, assault-style rifles at stores. Citigroup put new restrictions on gun sales by business customers. A year later, after mass shootings at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio, Walmart ended handgun ammunition sales. But the groundswell of corporate action on guns has ended. In the aftermath of the latest mass shooting at a school in Nashville, most companies declined to speak out. Much of Corporate America has grown silent on guns. (Meyersohn, 3/28)
Vox: America’s Unique, Enduring Gun Problem, Explained
No other high-income country has suffered such a high death toll from gun violence. Every day, 120 Americans die at the end of a gun, including suicides and homicides, an average of 43,475 per year. Since 2009, there has been an annual average of 19 shootings in which at least four people are killed. The US gun homicide rate is as much as 26 times that of other high-income countries; its gun suicide rate is nearly 12 times higher. Gun control opponents have typically framed the gun violence epidemic in the US as a symptom of a broader mental health crisis. But every country has people with mental health issues and extremists; those problems aren’t unique. What is unique is the US’s expansive view of civilian gun ownership, ingrained in politics, in culture, and in the law since the nation’s founding, and a national political process that has so far proved incapable of changing that norm. (Narea, Zhou and Millhiser, 3/27)
