Trump Defends Guns in the Wake of El Paso, Dayton Massacres
Chris Kleponis/ZUMA President Donald Trump on Monday sounded the alarm about video games, the internet, and mental health issues in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio—but he declared that the availability of firearms was not responsible for the massacres. “We must reform our mental health laws to better…
We Need to Ban Semi-Automatic Firearms
Mourners in El Paso hold a vigil to honor the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting.Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal via ZUMA As usual, I don’t have a lot to say about our latest series of mass shootings. I’ll just repeat my standard prescription: the only real answer is to ban semi-automatic firearms. This is obviously not…
Trump Suggests Pairing Legislation to Strengthen Gun Background Checks With Immigration Reform
Liu Jie/Xinhua/ZUMA President Donald Trump on Monday said that he supported a move to strengthen background checks in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and he suggested tying such legislation to immigration reform. The two shootings, which took place nearly 13 hours apart this weekend, killed at least…
Burn. Build. Repeat: Why Our Wildfire Policy Is So Deadly
A multiple-exposure image of developer Jeb Allen at a construction site in Redding’s Salt Creek Heights Justin Maxon Standing on Shingletown Ridge and gazing west toward the setting sun, Bruce Miller eyes a rainbow of colors. He sees pink: the dusky sky blanketing a postcard-perfect valley 3,000 feet below. He sees gray: distant snow-capped mountains. He…
Meet the Extreme Nativists Guiding Our Immigration Policy
President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in El Paso, Texas on February 11, 2019.Joe Raedle/Getty Images It may be difficult to remember now, but there was once a time when nativism was a relatively fringe ideology. Forty years ago, a Michigan ophthalmologist turned political activist named John Tanton pioneered a movement that sought to rebrand…
Should Clergy Be Required to Report Abusers Who Confess?
Chicetin/Getty Kristy Johnson was 6 years old in 1969, when her father, an educator employed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, began sexually abusing her at their home in Utah. Her mother discovered what was happening and sought help from their local Mormon bishop. But according to a civil lawsuit Johnson filed…