Once again, the leading news story of the week is a mass shooting. This one occurred on Monday during a Fourth of July celebration in Highland Park, Illinois, a neighborhood dubbed Chicago’s “Mayberry.” The gunman reportedly shot from a rooftop, killing seven people and wounding more than 30 others. Officials recovered 83 bullet casings from the scene. Twenty-one-year-old Robert Crimo III has been arrested in connection with the shootings and has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Keep reading for more news. Red flag laws. News outlets, including the New York Times, have reported that Crimo was able to obtain a firearms license and purchase several guns despite local law enforcement’s documented concerns about his dangerousness and Illinois’ red-flag laws. Red flag laws, sometimes called gun violence restraining orders or extreme risk protection orders, are a key feature of the recently enacted federal gun legislation, which provides funding for states to implement such measures. Illinois officials have pointed out that the effectiveness of such laws depends not just on law enforcement but also on the vigilance of family members and friends closest to the person of concern. WRAL’s Dan Haggerty explores local attitudes about red-flag laws, including those of leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly, in a piece available here. Gun laws, generally. Having trouble keeping up with the constitutional and statutory status of gun laws? Jeff Welty’s pithy explanation of the potential impact in North Carolina of the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & [...]
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