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1 Bipartisan Gun Safety Bill Advances In Senate
For the first time in decades, Congress has moved toward gun reform. This as the Senate has voted – 64-to-34 – to advance an 80-page gun safety bill aimed at strengthening gun regulations. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the move means congress is back on the right path, adding, ““While it’s not everything we want, this legislation is urgently needed.” What’s in it: Strengthening background check requirements for buyers. It closes a years-old loophole in domestic violence law that barred individuals who were convicted of domestic violence crimes against a married partners, or partners with whom they shared children or partners with whom they cohabitated from having gun Requires more gun sellers to register as Federally Licensed Firearm Dealers Tougher penalties for straw purchasing and illegal gun traffickers More robust funding for mental health programs and school security Among the 14 Republicans who voted to move forward with the bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He said the common sense package put together will help make major shooting events less likely while "upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens." With this forward motion, it's expected that the legislation could end up on President Biden's desk by the end of the week.
2 January 6th Panel Hears From AZ, GA Election Officials
The House committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riot held another public hearing yesterday. During the proceedings, election officials from Arizona and Georgia, all Republicans, testified before the Democrat-led panel. They all talked about pressure they faced from then-President Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to alter the results of the 2020 election. Highlights include: Testifying before the January 6th House committee, Republican Rusty Bowers called himself a Trump supporter who refused to violate his oath of office. Bowers also said Giuliani failed to prove dubious claims about dead people casting votes in Arizona. Bowers also detailed how he and his family came under fire for refusing to go along with Trump's plan. Bowers recalled "video trucks" driving by his house calling him a pedophile, how his wife received threatening and sexualized text messages and that his widowed daughter had her house broken into. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called the election in his state "remarkably smooth." Testifying before the panel, Raffensperger said President Biden's victory survived rigorous recounts. He recalled how Trump called and asked him to "find" more than 11-thousand votes to reverse the results in Georgia. New evidence shows Senator Ron Johnson tried to deliver "fake" electors for Mr. Trump just minutes before the certification of Biden's victory. While Johnson denied knowing who delivered the alternate slate of electors to his office, the committee showed text messages from Johnson's staff to the staff of former Vice President Mike Pence sent on January 6th of 2021. The messages said the Wisconsin Republican had "alternate slates of electors" for the Vice President, which were rejected by the Pence staff. After the hearing, Johnson said he was not involved in the messages, and that they were "staff to staff." Still, his staff told Pence that he was the one who wanted to hand over the information.
3 Uvalde Police Response Dubbed An "Abject Failure"
The investigation into what went wrong with the police response in the Uvalde massacre last month has revealed that officers could've stopped the gunman who killed students and teachers in a Texas elementary school within three minutes. That's some of what Texas DPS Director Steve McGraw told a state Senate committee meeting. He said there's "compelling evidence" that the response by law enforcement was an "abject failure." McGraw specifically blamed the on-scene commander – one Pete Arredondo – for stopping officers from responding more forcefully to the mass shooting. McGraw said the Arredondo placed officers' lives before kids. He noted those inside a classroom waited more than an hour to be rescued. As you’ll recall, 19 students and two teachers died in the shooting.