Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bill To Raise Age For Semi-Automatic Rifle Purchases In Texas Falters
The unexpected elation felt this week by gun control advocates and families of Uvalde shooting victims dissolved to despair Tuesday, when a bill that would raise the age to legally purchase semi-automatic rifles lost its newfound momentum and was left off the Texas House鈥檚 agenda ahead of a key deadline. Barring an unexpected development, the delay likely ends the bill's chances of becoming law. (Serrano, 5/9)
The Allen shooter brought eight weapons with him, all of which were purchased legally, authorities said at a news conference Tuesday. (Rajawani-Dharsi, 5/10)
Deaths from firearms in Texas 鈥 the vast majority of them suicides or homicides 鈥 have continued rising in Texas, reaching levels not seen in almost three decades. At the same time, Texas relaxed its gun laws in a decadeslong push to expand Second Amendment rights in the state, most recently in 2021 when Gov. Greg Abbott signed what Republicans called a 鈥渃onstitutional carry鈥 bill into law, allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training. (Douglas and Ford, 5/10)
More on the gun violence epidemic 鈥
One man is dead after being shot inside of a Richmond, Virginia, hospital early Wednesday morning. Another man, the alleged shooter, is in custody. VCU and Richmond Police responded to a call that came in at about 12:04 a.m. about shots fired inside VCU Medical Center North Hospital. A fight broke out between two men resulting in one shooting the other, police said. (DiMartino and Corujo, 5/10)
A Louisiana man faces aggravated assault and battery charges after firing a gun at children who were playing hide and seek outside his home, wounding a 14-year-old girl, according to the local sheriff鈥檚 office. The girl suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head early Sunday, and was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff鈥檚 Office said in a statement posted on social media Monday. (5/9)
Black and Hispanic people who grew up in Chicago were exposed to gun violence at a 鈥渟ignificantly and persistently higher rate鈥 by age 40 than their White counterparts, a new report shows. The findings were published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open and stem from a survey that followed the lives of thousands of children in Chicago since the mid-1990s. In the new report, researchers examined the exposure that some of the survey鈥檚 participants had to gun violence from 1995 to 2021. (Chavez, 4/9)
In St. Louis, the prevalence of gun violence is driving researchers to better understand the causes behind these incidents. But a new study that evaluated three years of medical data from St. Louis Children's Hospital found that the majority of children injured by guns weren鈥檛 victims of negligent adults or picking up firearms themselves. Instead, the analysis, which analyzed 156 cases of children injured by guns between 2014 and 2017, found that just 13% were caused by intentional assaults. Nearly two-thirds of victims were 鈥渟hot outdoors by an unknown shooter, the motivation of which was unknown.鈥 (Wicentowski, 5/9)
The AR-15, like its military version, is designed to kill people quickly and in large numbers. The National Rifle Association calls it "America's Rifle." Critics say the weapon has no valid recreational use and civilians should not be allowed to own them. (Franklin, 5/10)
Also 鈥
Trevor Mullinax needed help. There was a shotgun in the cab of the pickup truck where he sat, parked in a South Carolina field. He was contemplating suicide. Tammy Beason, his mother, stood next to the truck trying to talk him down. Then, four deputies from the York County Sheriff鈥檚 Office drove up to Mullinax鈥檚 truck. A family member had called for a wellness check, according to a newly filed lawsuit. But the officers rode in 鈥渓ike cowboys from a John Wayne movie,鈥 the lawsuit alleges. In a confrontation captured by dashboard and body-worn cameras, they can be seen quickly drawing their guns and firing at Mullinax, riddling his windshield with bullet holes. Beason, who was inches away, screamed and darted to the side. (Wu, 5/10)
If you are in need of help 鈥