According to the American Public Health Association (APHA), more than 38,000 people are killed and nearly 85,000 injured each year from gun violence, making this a leading cause of premature death in the US. The APHA is a longtime advocate for a comprehensive public health approach to this crisis, including more federally funded research into gun crime data and the causes of gun violence.
Critics of gun reform invoke the Second Amendment, defend the personal ownership of military-strength weapons, dismiss provisions for background checks, make false claims that stronger measures would take guns away from responsible owners and attribute mass shootings solely to mental illness while opposing expanded government funding of health care. This has obstructed constructive action and endangered the safety of the community.
MADISON – Today, the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) voted, on party lines, to remove almost 400 items from Governor Evers’ proposed budget. Key proposals that JFC removed from the budget include BadgerCare expansion, Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), eliminating copayments for prescription drugs, PFAS related provisions, repealing the right to work law, family and medical leave, among others. Additionally, many of the provisions removed would have increased equity in Wisconsin, including the equity grant program, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice, underserved community grants, health equity grants, and funding for equity officer positions in key state departments, among other provisions on this topic. State Representative
ABC Columbia
May 4, 2021 4:22 PM EDT
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– On Tuesday, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that he won a lawsuit filed against the City of Columbia over gun laws. According to officials, Wilson sued the city in April 2020, saying it could not make gun laws that were stricter than those of the state.
“We’ve said for three decades now that state law doesn’t allow cities, towns or counties to regulate firearms, so we appreciate the judge’s ruling,” Attorney General Wilson said. “These Columbia ordinances clearly violate the state law that prohibits local governments from passing any gun laws or ordinances that regulate the transfer, ownership, or possession of firearms.”
Legislature can and must take action, with measures like uniform background checks. //end headline wrapper ?>Hanging sculpture of guns from another angle. Photo by Craig Mastantuono.
Gun violence is a public health crisis. Nearly 20,000 Americans were killed by gun violence in 2020 more than any other year in decades. This dangerous trend continues in 2021. We have seen these tragedies at Mayfair Mall, the grocery store, places of worship, salons, nightclubs and bars, workplaces, and in our schools. Our children are growing up in this hyper-violent and traumatic society, where they face grief layered upon grief, and over the past few years, our children have been crying out to us through bullhorns for help. But as my colleague Senator