gun violence

California invites court fight with gun law that mimics Texas on abortion

The governor has maintained the measure is about protecting Californians from gun violence. But it also sends a message to a Supreme Court whose rulings Newsom and fellow California Democrats have derided, essentially daring it to either uphold the gun law or reconsider its logic in backing Texas’s approach.

“The question is whether they are complete and abject hypocrites and frauds if they reject our bill that’s modeled after that abortion bill as it relates to private right of action to go after assault weapons,” Newsom said this month.

Yet the law could stand on precarious legal ground. Even Democratic legislators who favor gun restrictions said as much in passing the bill, conceding that it employed a dubious legal strategy in the service of a larger goal.

“It is my hope and desire that ultimately this bill actually not proceed because the Texas law is found to be wrong, unconstitutional and crazy,” state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) said before voting for the measure in April.

It also drew fierce opposition from ideological allies of Newsom who warned he was empowering the very type of reasoning he had condemned. “There is no way to ‘take advantage of the flawed logic’

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July 26, 2022 by LAW

Attorney from Philippines killed in ‘random’ shooting in Philadelphia

June 20 (UPI) — A government attorney for the Philippines was shot and killed while traveling in an Uber to the Philadelphia airport, authorities and officials said.

Elmer Cato, the consulate general for the Philippines in New York, confirmed via Twitter on Sunday that attorney John Albert Laylo was a victim of a “random shooting incident” in Philadelphia a day prior.

Police laylo-shot-killed-filipino-lawyer-philippines-university-city-philadelphia/”said Laylo and his mother, Leah Bustamante Laylo, were traveling early Saturday in an Uber from University City to Philadelphia International Airport when shots were fired into the vehicle.

A preliminary investigation has revealed that the pair, who were returning home following a trip to the United States, were stopped at a red light when a black car, possibly a Nissan Maxima, drove up behind the Uber and a shooter opened fire. The car then pulled up alongside the Uber and more shots were fired, police said.

Laylo was shot in the back of the head and responding officers transported him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center,uber/3275607/”NBC Philadelphia reported.

Cato said Laylo was put on life support, but authorities later said he was pronounced dead at 10:33 a.m. Sunday.

The cause of

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June 21, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Ohio ‘Permitless Carry’ law goes into effect Monday

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Ohio’s “Permitless Carry” gun law goes into effect on June 13 after Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law in March.

Ohioans 21 years old and older no longer need a permit or to complete the 8-hour handgun training course to carry and conceal a firearm. The law also eliminates requiring gun carriers to inform police officers that they have a concealed weapon on them.

“Public safety isn’t a partisan issue – we all want our communities to be safe from gun violence. Permitless concealed carry makes it exponentially harder for law enforcement to prevent gun crimes which, in turn, makes all of us less safe. And handing someone a gun without adequate training is a recipe for disaster,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said during a press conference Monday.

Ohio Senator Terry Johnson (R-Batavia) sponsored Senate Bill 215 and urged legislatures to vote in favor of it.

“The open carry of firearms is already legal in Ohio, however, once an individual was to put on a sweatshirt or jacket without a concealed carry permit, they would be in violation of the law,” Johnson said to his colleagues prior to SB 215 passing. “Responsible gun owners

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June 18, 2022 by LAW

Senators reach a bipartisan deal on gun safety legislation : NPR
Senators have reached a deal on gun control legislation.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senators have reached a deal on gun control legislation.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators say they have reached a deal on a package of safety and gun-related measures narrowly focused on preventing future shootings similar to the one in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in their school.

The proposal, which has not been written into legislative text, includes money to encourage states to pass and implement so-called “red flag” laws to remove guns from potentially dangerous people, money for school safety and mental health resources, expanded background checks for gun purchases for people between the ages of 18 and 21 and penalties for illegal straw purchases by convicted criminals.

The agreement has the support of at least 20 senators who worked closely over the past several weeks to find the areas of common ground that could pass the closely divided Senate. The group includes 10 Republicans, meaning a final bill could potentially garner the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.

The negotiators called it a “commonsense” proposal that would reduce the threat of violence across the country.

“Our plan increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals

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June 17, 2022 by LEGAL

Pennsylvania’s highest court could give cities the go-ahead to craft their own gun laws · Spotlight PA

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters.

HARRISBURG — While Pennsylvania voters might look to the General Assembly to take action on new gun laws after the massacre of nearly 20 children in Texas, the judiciary will likely determine the direction of the commonwealth’s firearms policies in the coming months.

Three distinct suits are being appealed to the state’s highest court, all arguing that cities and municipalities in Pennsylvania should be allowed to pass their own gun laws.

The suits — which involve the state’s two largest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — seek to either loosen or overturn a nearly three-decade-old precedent that gives the legislature the sole authority to regulate gun ownership throughout the state.

Advocates for and against stricter gun policies in Pennsylvania say court action could have broad consequences. In one of the cases involving Philadelphia, the state Supreme Court is being asked to strike down as unconstitutional a 1995 law that preempts local jurisdictions from enacting stricter gun regulations — which could in turn force the legislature to rewrite it.

“Ours is a

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June 4, 2022 by LEGAL
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