“The political calculus has changed, and I think that’s been recognized,” [Everytown president John] Feinblatt said. “And that really was why [then Senate minority leader Mitch] McConnell had his conference vote for BSCA in 2022. The midterms were around the corner, and [mass shootings in] Uvalde and Buffalo had just happened, and he realized that it would not be politically smart to be the party that had resisted everything.”
Still, with additional federal legislation appearing unlikely for the next four years, gun safety groups plan to devote even more attention to the states, which have already provided ample opportunity for change. Since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, states have passed more than 700 gun safety laws, with 88 being enacted this year alone, according to Giffords. Gun safety advocates may face fewer hurdles at the state level, given that Democrats largely held their ground in state legislatures this year even as they sustained losses in federal races.
“I have every expectation that we will build on that progress in 2025, not lose it,” Brown said. “We see states as the testing ground in a lot of ways for some of our most innovative solutions to this problem.”
Some gun safety advocates are even looking beyond federal and state governments to advance their agenda. The group Guns Down America has launched a “Business Must Act” campaign imploring corporations to ban the open carry of firearms in stores and to use their financial capital in support of policy change. The campaign includes a scorecard where supporters can see how each company ranks in terms of gun safety.
“We think this is Guns Down America’s moment to shine because, with the policymaking process at the federal level, I don’t think anyone has much hope for that in the next two to four years, and … the problem isn’t going to go away by itself,” said the group’s executive director, Hudson Munoz.
— Joan E. Greve in ‘We’ve been at this rodeo before’: gun-safety groups prepare for second Trump term
Is that dirt bag wearing an American flag pin?
I love watching them lose.
Ban the ATF!
Hey Feinblatt, have you ever read a history book? Governments disarm populations so thay can do bad thing to them at their will. Gun control has never been about lessening crime or saving lives it is about gaining more control over the citizenry. Gun control aka gun safety is about making $$ while working for the eradication of our God Given Rights.
anti-gun orgs are upset that their personal rubber-stamp, the falsely and deceptively named “White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention’, is about to be be evicted.