The Louisville shooting gave a chance for gun control

The Nashville Shooting, the Second Amendment, and Guns: What Republicans Can We Learn from Their Failures and Where They Won’t

Max Burns is a Democrat and founder of Third Degree Strategies. Follow him on Twitter @themaxburns. His views are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.

The American community is grieving after another mass shooting. Six families in Nashville are still grieving their loved ones in Louisville. As gun violence proliferates to the point that most American families have been affected by a gun-related incident, the political armor that once protected firearms might finally be cracking.

Given the NRA’s reduced bankroll, “right now all the NRA can offer is a stamp of approval” to pro-gun Republican candidates, Susan Del Percio, an adviser to Republican candidates and the founder of Del Percio Strategies, told me. “Meanwhile groups like Everytown for Gun Safety and their partners have had a huge impact on state legislative races across the country. They have spent a large amount of money and have many people on the ground.

In signing legislation that passed by the Democratic majority, she said it would save lives by keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and domestic abusers.

Del Percio warned that the Republicans look unreasonable when they don’t discuss background checks, gun safety measures or red flag laws. “Republicans running in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, all big Second Amendment states, all lost. It is necessary for republicans to learn that they can be for both the Second Amendment and background checks.

Activists looking to get some traction on Capitol Hill should look elsewhere. The bipartisan passage last year of a limited gun safety bill has led John Cornyn to say that Congress won’t be considering any more gun legislation.

Republican governors are warming to gun reforms even though they dug in with federal money. In the wake of the shooting in Nashville, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called on legislators to pass red flag gun laws and toughen gun laws. In two years, Lee personally thanked the National Rifle Association for helping end all gun permitting in the state.

For progressive activists finally tasting victory, there is a growing fear that the Democratic Party will eventually get in its own way. Last month, Democrats close to President Joe Biden made clear that his 2024 campaign would steer away from thorny “culture war” issues, including abortion and guns. But a slate of strong gun safety executive actions publicized by the White House last month hints that Biden’s view may be evolving as Democratic state-level wins roll in.

Proposed Senate Measures That Protect the Public Right to Obtain a License to Carry a Firearm in Michigan from the First Shots of an Elementary School

Michigan has felt the effects of school shootings. A shooting killed three Michigan State University students and injured five others in February. In 2021, a shooting at Oxford High School near Detroit left four students dead and six others injured.

The bills that focus on creating universal background checks would bar people in the state from obtaining a license to carry a firearm if they have not done so in the past.

People who want to obtain a gun license in Michigan will have to meet a number of specific qualifications, including not having been deemed “insane or legally incapacitated” or “under an order of involuntary commitment in an inpatient or outpatient setting due to a mental illness.” The bill also states that individuals seeking a license can’t be subject to a felony or criminal charge when they apply.

In addition, one bill will require people to keep their firearms unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a lockbox in their home if a minor lives at or is likely to visit the property.

The sale of firearm safety devices will be exempted from sales tax and the law specifies that the state’s “use tax” will not apply to the storage or use of firearm safety devices.

The opponents of the legislation werent given the opportunity to speak out when the bills were being considered, instead of the supporters.

We followed the law and gave people the opportunities to speak against the bill. We won’t allow this lawsuit to distract us from yesterday’s historic bill signing,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks told CNN in an email.