Tag: control

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Politics

The place Will the Gun Management Debate Go Now (if Anyplace)?

Where Will the Gun Control Debate Go Now (if Anywhere)?

New York Times Podcasts

My experience with the interview with Senator Bernie Sanders is that you usually speak to someone who realizes that they are rowing against the tide of American politics. They usually talk about what he thinks the president should do but not, or what the Democratic Party should but not support.

But the American rescue plan was different. It’s President Biden’s bill, of course, but it’s the kind of thing Mr Sanders has been fighting to get passed for years. This also applies to the next package for full employment through investment. And so I wanted to hear what Mr. Sanders thought of that moment when he apparently lost the election but won many of the arguments.

So I asked him on my podcast, and I got a much more upbeat Mr. Sanders than I’ve ever spoken before. “Congress doesn’t pass perfect bills,” he told me. “But for workers, this is the most important law passed since the 1960s.”

We also talked about the filibuster, which went from being a supporter to being rejected even during the 2020 campaign. and the struggles over language and culture, in which he clearly has concerns about where liberals are headed and how difficult it is to speak to voters who might otherwise economically agree with them.

“These cultural problems,” he said, “I don’t know how to fill the gap.” But “somehow, in some cases, the intellectual elite have a disdain for the people who live in rural America,” he said, arguing that the first step in winning those voters back is to prove that you respect them.

It’s an interesting, thoughtful conversation with a politician who is finally rowing with the tide and obviously excited to see how far he can go. I hope You will be listening by following “The Ezra Klein Show” Anywhere you can get your podcasts or read the transcript here.

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Politics

Senate Panel to Debate Gun Management After Two Mass Shootings

Senate Panel to Debate Gun Control After Two Mass Shootings

Senators quickly split by partisan standards on Tuesday as Democrats called for action after two mass shootings last week and Republicans denounced their calls to highlight the political divide that has fueled a decade-long cycle of inaction against gun violence.

At a Senate Justice Committee hearing scheduled ahead of the Atlanta and Boulder shootings that killed at least 18 people, Democrats argued that the recent slaughter left Congress with no choice but to issue stricter guidelines. They lamented the grim pattern of fear and outrage, followed by partisanship and paralysis that had become the norm after mass shootings.

“In addition to a moment of silence, I would like to invite a moment of action,” said Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the committee. “A moment of real care. A moment when we don’t allow others to do what we have to do. Prayer leaders have an important place here, but we are Senate leaders. What do we do?”

Even before the recent shootings, the Democrats had begun to push for stricter arms control measures, which face great opportunities in the 50:50 Senate. House Democrats passed two bills this month aimed at expanding and strengthening background checks on gun buyers by applying them to all gun buyers and extending the time it takes for the FBI to review those flagged by the national emergency inspection system.

But the two laws passed in the House were deemed too expansive by most Republicans – only eight Republicans in the House voted to push universal background scrutiny legislation. The bills would almost certainly not get the 60 votes required to clear a filibuster in the Senate.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the panel, said in his opening address he was confident that Democrats and Republicans could work together to make “bipartisan, sensible” progress on gun control. But he said that the legislation passed by the House did not fit this bill as the measures would be passed almost entirely on a party-political basis.

“That’s not a good sign that all voices and perspectives are being considered,” said Grassley.

Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, went further, slapping Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who said Republicans had offered “fig leaves” rather than actionable, meaningful gun control solutions.

“Every time there is shooting, we play this ridiculous theater where this committee comes together and proposes a number of laws that do nothing against these murders,” said Cruz. “But what they suggest – not only does it not reduce crime, it makes it worse.”

The renewed focus on gun control is expected to return attention to Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, who speaks out against the downsizing of the legislative filibuster but has long – unsuccessfully – endeavored to propose a bipartisan Say goodbye to gun control. Following the 2012 massacre of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Mr. Manchin signed a contract with Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, to fill legal loopholes that would allow people to buy firearms at gun shows or on the Internet , allow background checks to be avoided, but proponents could not muster enough support to pass them.

Mr Manchin told CQ Roll Call earlier this month that he was speaking out against the General Background Review Bill passed by the House, citing its provision citing checks for individual sales, but said he was in favor of a legislative revival from Manchin-Toomey interested.

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Health

Purdue Pharma Provides Plan to Finish Sackler Management and Mounting Lawsuits

Purdue Pharma Offers Plan to End Sackler Control and Mounting Lawsuits

In a message marking the beginning of the end of the most notorious prescription opioid maker in the country, Purdue Pharma unveiled its bankruptcy restructuring plan just before midnight on Monday. The blueprint requires members of the billionaire Sackler family to give up control of the company and transform it into a new business whose revenues are solely aimed at alleviating the addiction epidemic that caused its signature pain reliever, OxyContin.

The 300-page plan is the company’s formal offer to end thousands of lawsuits and includes the Sacklers pledge to pay $ 4.275 billion out of their personal assets – an additional $ 1.3 billion than their original offer – to reimburse states, communities, tribes and other plaintiffs for the costs associated with the epidemic.

If the plan is approved by a majority of the company’s creditors and Judge Robert D. Drain of Federal Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, NY, payments will flow into three buckets: one to compensate individual plaintiffs, such as families whose relatives have overdosed , or legal guardians of infants with newborn abstinence syndrome as well as hospitals and insurers; another for tribes; and the third – and largest – for state and local governments devastated by the cost of a drug epidemic that only worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“With drug overdose still at record levels, it is time to use Purdue’s fortune to help tackle the crisis,” said Steve Miller, chairman of the Purdue board of directors, in a statement. “We are confident that this plan will achieve this important goal. ”

It remains to be seen whether the plan will be adopted. Since the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019, 24 states and the District of Columbia have denounced it, arguing that the lawsuit would preclude their ability to take legal action directly against individual Sackler family members who they consider to be inadequate contributions.

Although some details of the settlement terms are still being worked out, Purdue officials said the Sacklers would not be exempt from criminal investigations that could be launched by a handful of states for violating consumer protection laws. However, the plan exempts them from further civil litigation.

The new application, filed minutes before a court-set deadline, marks a milestone in Purdue’s long, troubled history as the maker and marketer of OxyContin, the prescription pain reliever that has become addicting hundreds of thousands of people. Federal and state agencies spent years trying to curb Purdue’s marketing tactics. In 2007, the Justice Department reached an agreement with Purdue and top executives on $ 634.5 million to resolve criminal charges related to its marketing practices.

As of 2015, when the opioid epidemic hit the country, the lawsuit engulfed cities, counties, states, tribes, families, hospitals and insurers, drug distributors, pharmacies and manufacturers, including Purdue boss. The cases almost consistently claim that OxyContin helped lay the foundation for the prescription and illicit drug addiction epidemic that killed more than 400,000 people over 20 years.

To halt the growing civil lawsuit that cost Purdue $ 2 million a week in legal costs, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019.

The legal dispute before a federal court against other companies continues.

The biggest difference between Purdue’s earlier proposals and this latest plan is that the Sacklers increased their payments by $ 1.3 billion and extended their payment schedule by an additional two years (from seven to nine).

Another notable change concerns control of the new company. The original 2019 proposal called for it to be monitored by state-appointed officials. The restructuring plan now describes it as a private company run by independent managers selected by the states and local governments that sued Purdue. The largest groups of applicants – tribes and the government – own the company and would ensure that the proceeds are used solely for crisis management programs.

The company’s managers could sell to private owners by 2024, but those owners would also be bound by the same rules of conduct and income directions.

As it worked its way through the bankruptcy process, Purdue pleaded guilty in November of fraud against health officials and violating anti-kickback laws.

Individual members of the Sackler family agreed to pay the federal government civil fines of $ 225 million, but said in a statement that they “acted ethically and lawfully.” Although the Sacklers were not charged, the Justice Department reserves the right to file criminal charges later.

A key goal of the new Purdue plan is to install guard rails to ensure that settlement money is used to alleviate the epidemic, rather than being paid out more generally to cover budget constraints. Such payouts were a major criticism of the 1998 settlement that ended widespread legal disputes against the large tobacco companies that opioid disputes are sometimes compared to.

During the bankruptcy negotiations, pushed forward by the creditors, the company suggested in its plan that the payouts comply with the latest public health principles signed by at least two dozen major medical, drug policy, and academic institutions, and attention to drug prevention, youth education, and race set up justice and transparency.

Tens of thousands of parties vote on the plan. Confirmation hearings will follow and completion is expected in a few months. Since bankruptcy proceedings began 18 months ago, leaders of a large community bloc have signaled their support, as have 24 states.

Lloyd B. Miller, who represents numerous tribes including the Navajo Nation, said his customers were on board.

“It is critical that more funds go to the treatment of opioids in tribal communities, all the more given the extraordinary devastation tribes have suffered during the Covid pandemic,” he said.

But since 2019, when Purdue filed for bankruptcy, 24 other states – some controlled by Democrats, others by Republicans – and the District of Columbia have declined to take the move, finding that Purdue has continued to benefit from its OxyContin sales.

Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general who was the first to sued individual members of the Sackler family, alleged that Sackler payments under this scheme would come from their investment returns rather than capital.

“The Sacklers became billionaires by causing national tragedy,” Ms. Healey said in a statement. “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with paying a fraction of their investment returns over the next nine years and walking away richer than they are today.”

Opposing state attorneys general said the plan, while an improvement on previous proposals, still found it disappointing for several reasons. Among them, the plan should be amended to “achieve a speedy and orderly liquidation of the company that does not involve unduly states and other creditors”.

Two branches of the Sackler family – heirs to two brothers who founded the company – said: “Today is an important step in helping addicts and we hope that this proposed resolution signals the beginning of a far-reaching development. Make an effort to provide help where it is needed. “

The oldest brother, Dr. Arthur Sackler, sold his shares before OxyContin was launched, and his relatives are not part of the litigation.

A forensic review of the Sacklers’ finances commissioned by Purdue as part of bankruptcy investigations found that the family made more than $ 10 billion from the company from 2008 to 2017. Family lawyers said the full amount was illiquid: more than half went into taxes and investments in companies sold under the bankruptcy agreement.

Although states and other creditor blocs have protested vigorously against elements of the plan for the last 18 months, many factors seem to favor the likelihood of approval: the length of the litigation, the exorbitant costs for all parties, the urgency of the worsening opioid crisis, and the general depletion of public health resources due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The new company would continue to sell OxyContin, a pain reliever that is still approved by the Food and Drug Administration in limited circumstances. But it would diversify its products to include generics and a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as new drugs to reverse overdose and treat addiction to be marketed as a public health initiative on a nonprofit basis.

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Entertainment

Management of Britney Spears’s Property Debated at Court docket Listening to

Control of Britney Spears’s Estate Debated at Court Hearing

After a week of swirling social media chatter, fan speculation, and critical re-evaluations of Britney Spears’ life and music career, the legal battle over her personal well-being and finances resumed Thursday in a brief, ongoing trial that focused on the Subject focused the details of estate administration, legal representation and scheduling.

Despite the fanfare surrounding the case, it was normal business in a Los Angeles courthouse as Judge Brenda Penny did not order material changes to the conservatory that has overseen much of Spears’ existence since 2008.

The 39-year-old singer was the subject of a new New York Times documentary, Framing Britney Spears, which premiered last week and sparked renewed talks about the case. In addition to tracing the singer’s career as a child star and teenage pop sensation, the film also focused on Spears’ recent attempts by a court-appointed attorney to remove her father from the conservatory – a complex legal arrangement that usually used for most of the sick, old, or frail – that it has been helping drive for more than a decade.

Some fans have tried, under the #FreeBritney banner, to portray the conservatory as an unfair means of taking control of the singer who has struggled with her mental health over the years. Her father’s representatives, Jamie Spears, have said that his oversight was to protect his daughter’s life and money. The singer has not objected to the setup for many years.

That all changed last year when Spears attorney Samuel D. Ingham III said on file that the singer “strongly disapproved” of her father as a conservator and would not perform again if Jamie Spears stayed at the top of her career . (Jamie Spears had previously resigned as his daughter’s personal conservator, citing health issues while still in control of her finances. A temporary personal conservator was appointed until September 3rd.)

Late last year, Judge Penny declined to immediately remove Jamie Spears as curator of his daughter’s estate, but agreed to the singer’s request to add a trustee, Bessemer Trust, as co-curator.

Thursday’s hearing concerned the separation of powers between Jamie Spears and the Bessemer Trust. Judge Penny alleged that despite the earlier appointment of Jamie Spears as sole custodian of the estate, her later appointment to the Bessemer Trust gave power to both companies, as she had previously ruled.

Lawyers from both sides, including Ingham and Vivian L. Thoreen, an attorney for Jamie Spears, appeared remotely due to Covid-19 restrictions and the hearing was briefly marred by the remote audio issues that are familiar to many today.

The lawyers agreed to discuss budgets and fees at a later date, with Ingham casually referring to “the bigger direction this Conservatory is going”. Further hearings are planned for March 17th and April 27th.

Outside the Stanley Mosk courthouse, the attendance of a #FreeBritney rally – a staple of those hearings lately – was less than usual. In recent months, the protests have also shifted to Zoom and Twitter. But the handful of pink-clad Britney Spears supporters flanking the doors of the courtroom ahead of Thursday’s hearing offered a new justification for the increased public awareness of their cause.

“It’s like a sigh of relief,” said Dustin Strand, who wore an End Conservatorship t-shirt.

He estimated that in the past two years he had protested around a dozen such hearings in the courthouse. Now it felt like the end was getting closer. “I always felt this would work for Britney,” said the 29-year-old Strand. “But it definitely feels good when the world turns on and Britney says we’re here for you and we’re sorry.”

The 26-year-old Alandria Brown showed up for the rally in an outfit inspired by her idol: a matching velvet tube top, a mini skirt and fuzzy ponytail holders, all in pink. She hoped the judge would finish the conservatory during today’s hearing, she said.

Brown added that she hoped the brighter spotlight on the Fall could hasten the end of the conservatory, but her own social circle still didn’t take her advocacy seriously.

“Most people just laugh,” she said. “Today I came alone and people just said, ‘You’re only going to the courthouse?'”

Brown said she was undeterred. “It’s just a lot bigger than that,” she said.

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Politics

Georgia early vote turnout surpasses three million as U.S. Senate management hangs within the stability

Asian American Christians could be key to victory

Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock (R) and Jon Ossoff (L) clash their elbows during a “It’s Time to Vote” drive-in rally on December 28, 2020 in Stonecrest, Georgia.

Jessica McGowan | Getty Images

More than 3 million residents of Georgia have already cast their votes in the two runoff elections on January 5th. This is a historic turnout in a competition to determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control the US Senate this year.

Tuesday’s races will be between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff, and Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock.

If Perdue and Loeffler won their races, Republicans would have a Senate majority of 52 seats, which would allow them to block part of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda.

The Democratic caucus would have 50 seats if Ossoff and Warnock won. And a groundbreaking vote by Vice President-Elect Harris would give Democrats control of the Senate after six years of GOP majority.

Democrats currently control the House of Representatives and will continue to control the Chamber through 2021. Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate.

President Donald Trump, who has unfounded claims that Georgia’s two Senate races are invalid, will hold a rally for Perdue and Loeffler on Monday.

Biden is expected to travel to Atlanta on Monday while Harris is due to visit Savannah on Sunday to support Ossoff and Warnock. The Democratic candidates have broken records for fundraising during their campaigns, raising more than $ 100 million each in recent months, largely due to small donations.

Ivanka Trump and Senators Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) wave to the crowd at a campaign rally on December 21, 2020 in Milton, Georgia.

Elijah Nouvelage | Getty Images

Strong allies of the president, Perdue and Loeffler, backed $ 600 stimulus payments as part of the broader bailout package, and attacked Democratic opponents for arguing that those payments were insufficient. However, they reversed course and broke with many Senate Republicans in support of Trump’s calls for $ 2,000 stimulus checks after Congress passed the bill.

Ossoff and Warnock have been working closely with Biden’s plan to give Americans more coronavirus relief and direct controls. They have condemned their opponents for dealing with the pandemic, insisting that GOP senators haven’t done enough to push for a vote on higher stimulus controls in the Senate.

The 3,002,100 early vote accounts for 38.8% of all registered voters in Georgia. This is based on data collected by the University of Florida US election project. The early vote surpasses the previous voter turnout record for a runoff of around 2.1 million ballots cast in the 2008 Senate runoff between Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.

Data shows Democrats have an advantage when it comes to voter turnout in Georgia. The early voting ended on Thursday. Republicans generally see a higher turnout on election day. Voter turnout has lagged in rural, Conservative Congressional districts in Georgia, particularly in the northwestern part of the state where Trump will campaign on Monday, according to local reports.

Republicans have accelerated their voting efforts. Days before the runoff election, Perdue began quarantine after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Perdue told Fox News on Saturday that he would not be attending the president’s rally on Monday because of his quarantine.

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Business

Alden World Bids for Management of Tribune

Alden Global Bids for Control of Tribune

In August, when most newspaper workers had been working remotely for months, Tribune announced that The Daily News’ physical newsroom will be permanently closed. That announcement was quickly followed by the closure of The Morning Call newsrooms in Allentown, Pennsylvania; The Orlando Sentinel; The Carroll County Times in Westminster, Md .; and The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md. In December, the newsroom of another Tribune daily newspaper, The Hartford Courant, which has been operating since 1764, went dark.

In the proposal letter to the Tribune Board, Mr. Smith von Alden said his company had held discussions with Stewart Bainum Jr., a Maryland chief executive and former politician, to gauge his “interest in certain Tribune assets”.

Mason Slaine, a former CEO of Thomson Financial, who owns around 7 percent of the Tribune’s shares, has publicly proposed to Tribune that they sell individual newspapers. Mr. Slaine, who has a home in Boca Raton, Florida, has expressed an interest in purchasing a grandstand newspaper, The Sun Sentinel of South Florida.

Revenue for the local news industry has declined over the past 15 years as readers increasingly preferred to get the news on screens rather than in print newspapers. Alden and other hedge funds have nonetheless managed to generate profits from newspaper chains through strict management practices, and the financial sector has sparked a wave of consolidation in the news media business.

In 2019, Gannett, the editor of USA Today, was acquired by New Media Investment Group, the parent company of GateHouse Media, to create a giant (named Gannett) that publishes roughly one in five daily newspapers in the country. The supersize version of Gannett was created thanks to nearly $ 2 billion in funding from Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm.

In 2020, the last of the big family-owned chains, McClatchy, emerged from bankruptcy as the property of Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey hedge fund. Chatham also has a controlling interest in Postmedia, one of Canada’s largest newspaper publishers. Since taking over the Canadian media company, 1,600 employees have been laid off and more than 30 publications have been discontinued.

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Politics

Professional-gun teams far outspend gun management activists

Pro-gun groups far outspend gun control activists

Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler watch in front of U.S. President Donald Trump hosting a campaign event with Perdue and Loeffler at the Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia, United States, on December 5, 2020.

Dustin Chambers | Reuters

Gun rights groups, under the control of the Senate, are investing millions of dollars in external spending on Georgia’s January 5 runoff to support two Republican candidates.

Meanwhile, gun control groups have lagged far behind in funding the two Democratic candidates, which could affect their chances of winning as well as President-elect Joe Biden’s hopes of passing gun legislation in 2021.

Pro gun groups like the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America support reigning GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, and Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Republicans will hold a 50-48 majority in the Senate in January. If the Republicans only keep one seat in Georgia, the GOP will keep control of the Senate. If the Democrats win both races, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the casting vote giving the party unified control over the White House and Congress.

As of November 15, the NRA’s political arm has spent more than $ 2.2 million on independent spending such as billboards, advertisements, postcards, text messages, and advertisements that support Perdue and Loeffler or oppose Ossoff, according to the Federal Election Commission and Warnock.

“The NRA has spent millions and there will be more,” said Amy Hunter, spokeswoman for the NRA, in an email.

Other gun rights groups have also invested in external spending on the Senate runoff races, FEC data shows. Gun Owners of America has spent more than $ 126,000 on ads, email, and text messages supporting Loeffler and Perdue. Gun Rights America, the Super-PAC of the National Association for Gun Rights, has spent more than $ 22,000 on digital advertising and contacting voters via phone, mail, and text, opposing Warnock and Ossoff. A PAC called God, Guns & Life has spent more than $ 36,000 on ads supporting the Republican senators.

“It is in the best interests of the United States and our rights to make the Second Amendment when [Ossoff and Warnock] They both lose on Jan. 5, “Dudley Brown, executive director of Gun Rights America, said in a statement.” In any case, I hope that their ambitious political careers will be forgotten and that Georgia voters will save the US Senate. “

“As a wife and mother, I appreciate the second change that allows me to protect myself and my family with firearms,” ​​said Terry Beatley, president of God, Guns & Life PAC. “That’s why God, Guns & Life PAC supports Loeffler and Perdue – they will protect gun rights.”

Gun Owners of America did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Gun control groups focus on voter turnout

While Georgia voters made history by electing Joe Biden as president in November, his gun control platform is unlikely to go anywhere in law without Democratic Senate scrutiny.

“Without a commanding democratic majority, we shouldn’t be holding our breath to make major policy changes anytime soon,” said Kristin Goss, a professor at Duke University who studies weapons policy and politics.

The only external spending in the Georgian drains of a large arms control group so far has come from Brady PAC, according to FEC data. The group spent $ 100,000 on a digital advertising campaign against Loeffler aimed at suburban female voters. Brian Lemek, Brady PAC’s executive director, said the group will monitor the ad and “see if we need to invest more.”

Brady PAC and other gun control groups, Giffords, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action will host a virtual rally on December 18th. The organizations want to collectively raise $ 100,000 for the Georgia Senate Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of Warnock and Ossoff, according to a Giffords spokesman.

“We are very excited and proud to be working with our colleagues in the movement to ensure that Georgia voters understand the importance of their voice in preventing gun violence,” said Robin Lloyd, executive director of Giffords.

While gun security groups have not yet announced additional financial investments in the runoff election, the organizations have coordinated voluntary efforts to identify voters for the Democratic candidates.

“After a year of saturated air waves, the Georgians know what the candidates are in this race. So the elections will depend on the turnout. We have one of the largest, most active and effective grassroots networks in the country – that’s it.” Why we focus on engaging with voters and wearing our shoes, keyboards and dials, “said Andrew Zucker, a spokesman for Everytown.

On December 16, Everytown and Moms Demand Action reported that their Georgia volunteer network had established at least 115,000 voter contacts for the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns through telephone banking, text banking, acquisition, postcard mailing, and literature distribution.

“Our best resources are people and the communities we build,” said Adrienne Penake, state election director for the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action.

The Georgia Chapter of March For Our Lives, the youth-led gun violence prevention group founded after the deadly mass shootings in Parkland, Florida, aims to reach out to 500,000 voters and young people through traditional outreach methods and address social media.

“If we are to end gun violence, we have to vote for candidates who believe it’s a real problem, who actually work in Washington, not just for the gun lobby,” said Mina Turabi, state director of March For Our Lives Georgia.

The Community Justice Action Fund, a gun safety organization focused on color communities, has referred volunteers on its network to the New Georgia Project and other Georgia-based nonprofits.

“Whichever way you look at this crisis, gun-related deaths mostly affect black and brown people,” said Gregory Jackson, advocacy director at CJAF. “Those who are from Georgia will play an important role in addressing the public health crisis.”

Gun problems in Georgia

Historically, even Democratic political candidates in Georgia have teamed up with pro gun groups like the NRA, but that has changed in recent years.

In the 2018 midterm elections, Democratic MP Lucy McBath deposed an incumbent Republican in Georgia’s 6th Congress District and made gun safety a central part of her platform. Millions of dollars in external spending from gun control groups contributed to victory in 2018 and 2020.

McBath became an advocate for gun violence prevention after her son Jordan Davis was shot dead in 2012. She was a spokesperson for Everytown and Moms Demand Action before running for Congress.

“Arms regulation groups have more money and mobilized energy than ever before in history – and they are seriously involved in elections, which they did not a decade ago,” said Goss, the duke professor.

Among Republican primary voters in Georgia, polled in a poll conducted by the University of Georgia in April 2018, 45% said they wanted stricter laws on the sale of firearms. Among democratic primary voters, who were interviewed in a separate university poll, 90% were in favor of stricter laws.

In 2018, Georgia had the fourth highest firearm death rate in any state, with 1,680 people dying from gun violence, the Centers for Disease Control reported. Guns are the second leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17 in Georgia, according to a Giffords analysis of CDC and FBI data.

Gun violence also disproportionately affects urban color communities in Georgia, according to Giffords. Black men make up about 15% of Georgia’s total population, but make up more than two-thirds of the state’s gun murder victims, data shows.

Gun violence has increased in Georgia and across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. Atlanta recorded the highest number of murders this year since 2003, the Atlanta Journal’s Constitution reported.