A report from the advocacy group Everytown For Gun Safety analyzed data from local police departments on nearly 350,000 guns used in crimes from 2020 to 2024, including where they came from.
gun control
Posted inPolitical Roundtable, Politics
State Sen. Meghan Kallman on Pawtucket soccer, responding to Trump and top legislative issues
Pawtucket got a recent lift when the city’s newish soccer team, Rhode Island FC, played to a sold-out crowd during the home opener at the new stadium there. There are plans for new housing to be built near the Centerville Bank Stadium and boosters of the stadium hope it will catalyze more growth. But Pawtucket has also wrestled with challenges in recent years, including the loss of the PawSox and the closing of Memorial Hospital. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is causing uncertainty for the state budget outlook as lawmakers approach the end of the legislative session. And the state Senate is working to make up for lost time after a recent change in leadership. Big issues hang in the balance, including a proposed ban on new sales of assault style weapons and a potential tax hike on Rhode Island’s richest one percent. So how’s the outlook amid uncertainty in DC? And does the new soccer stadium signal brighter days for Pawtucket? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in depth with Pawtucket state Senator Meghan Kallman.
Posted inPolitical Roundtable, Politics
Rep. Justine Caldwell on safe gun storage, choice for prescription drug patients, and why East Greenwich went from red to blue
State Representative Justine Caldwell personifies some of the significant changes that have swept over the General Assembly in the last decade. In 2018, Caldwell, a Democrat, ousted the Republican incumbent in an East Greenwich-based district, Anthony Giarrusso. That change reflects how the legislature has moved a bit to the left and how the former GOP stronghold of East Greenwich now generally elects more Democrats. Caldwell is a fierce supporter of new restrictions on guns. Her time in the General Assembly has coincided with a reduction in the number of pro-gun Democrats. As a result, a series of related measures have become law in recent years, including a House bill sponsored by Caldwell requiring the safe storage of firearms. So how does Caldwell respond to people who believe more laws are the wrong approach? What’s her view on what Democrats need to do differently to win over more working class voters? And can a prescription choice bill she sponsored overcome the monopolistic power of pharmacy benefit managers? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with state Representative Justine Caldwell.
Posted inNPR
The surgeon general declared gun violence a public health crisis. What does that do?
The nation’s top doctor issued an advisory on Tuesday declaring gun violence a public health crisis and prescribing policy changes to treat it as such. It’s both unprecedented and unenforceable.
Posted inPolitical Roundtable, Politics
US Attorney Zachary Cunha on his probe of DCYF, safe storage and the rule of law in our polarized moment
Problems related to the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families have persisted for years. But when U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha recently unveiled the findings of a probe into DCYF, state officials stood up and took notice. Cunha is the top federal prosecutor in the state, and his office has enormous power. After being nominated by President Biden in 2021, Cunha has pursued federal prosecutors’ standard approach in zeroing in on crimes involving drugs, fraud, guns, and violence. But these are not normal times. If Donald Trump retakes the White House in November, he is expected to remake the Justice Department, and Trump says he’d consider pardoning people who rioted at the capitol on January sixth. So what’s it like pursuing the rule of law in the time of Trump? And how much difference can federal officials make in improving the lives of vulnerable kids? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary Cunha.
Posted inNPR
Wisconsin’s ‘Mad City’ is a rational choice for Biden’s appeal to youth
It is not much of an exaggeration, if it is one at all, that college towns are to the Democrats today what factory towns were through most of the 20th century.
Posted inNPR
Gun violence killed them. Now, their voices will lobby Congress to do more using AI
On the 6th anniversary of the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., gun control advocates experiment with AI-generated audio messages of recreated voices of victims of gun violence pleading for change.
Posted inArticle, Health
R.I. lawmakers weigh stricter gun storage requirements
Rhode Island is considering legislation to enact one of the country’s strictest firearms storage laws
