Next Steps In Movement Against Gun Violence
Thousands of students staged a walkout and marched across the U.S. What's next?. USA Today: "The student-led movement forged in Parkland, Fla., after the high school shooting that took 17 lives is remarkable, organized and fierce — but not rare. Endless lists of groups have protested, marched, rallied, cried and pleaded for changes, whether it has been for gun laws, immigration, women’s reproductive rights or climate change. Now the question is whether these young people who call themselves 'the mass-shooting generation' will fade into the background of the debate over gun control or be the leading charge in changing the country's policies. Many of the Parkland students at the march in Washington on Saturday made it clear one of the next revolutions would be at the polls. 'We are going to make this the voting issue,' said David Hogg, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and an organizer of the march. 'We are going to take this to every election, to every state and every city. We are going to make sure the best people get in our elections to run not as politicians, but as Americans.' Still, it won't be easy to blaze the trail. Experts and leaders of past movements say it’s going to be an uphill battle to translate the #NeverAgain movement into significant changes. A lot will revolve around local efforts, keeping pressure on lawmakers and having a clear message moving forward."
Marchers Issue Call To Vote
Protesters take to the streets — but can they take Congress?. Politico: "The rally’s constant chant was, 'Vote Them Out!' The biggest boo was during a brief video clip of President Donald Trump. The march was explicitly nonpartisan, but no prominent Republicans were visible, and many prominent Republicans were bashed. There were almost as many signs as people: 'Change the Ref,' 'This Congress Does Not Speak For Me,' 'Prayers Aren’t Bulletproof,' 'Grab Them By the Midterms' and 'Beware: We are coming for your seats!' among others. 'Who here is going to vote in the 2018 election?' student leader David Hogg said from the stage in Washington, after hanging a red $1.05 price tag on the microphone that he said represented Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s valuing of human life, based on donations from the National Rifle Association divided by the estimated number of Florida students."
Students And Senators Take Aim At NRA
After March for Our Lives, students and senators take aim at NRA. WaPo: "Proponents of new gun-reform measures largely had the Sunday talk shows to themselves this week, with student activists and Democratic senators dominating the conversation and one Republican senator distancing herself somewhat from the National Rifle Association. The NRA, frequently attacked from the stages of March for Our Lives rallies, came up repeatedly. On “Fox News Sunday,” two students were pushed into a kind of debate, with Parkland shooting survivor Cameron Kasky asked to respond to Kyle Kashuv, a fellow student who argued that march organizers had not been honest about their desire to ban 'assault rifles.' We are not trying to take away everybody’s guns away, and the NRA wants people to think that,' Kasky said. 'They are fearmongers. They want to sell weapons by exploiting people’s fears. So, the second we want to put common-sense resolutions on these assault weapons, the NRA will say they are trying to steal every single one of your guns, and people believe them. Fortunately, the majority of the American people see past this.'"
U.S. Gunmaker Remington Files For Bankruptcy
Remington: Oldest US gunmaker files for bankruptcy. BBC: "The firm, founded more than 200 years ago, filed for bankruptcy protection to cut a deal with its creditors. Remington's chief financial officer said the company's sales dropped significantly in the year before its bankruptcy, court papers show. The filing comes amid fresh demands for greater gun control in the US... As a result of public pressure, some US retailers have attempted to restrict firearm sales, with some requiring background checks and others halting the sale of firearms in their stores. In anticipation of a Hillary Clinton presidency, some weapons manufacturers had increased production, expecting greater sales from Americans fearing increased gun control. Remington, best known for its rifles and shotguns, was founded in 1816. After it emerged a Remington rifle was used in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, victims' family members filed a lawsuit against the gunmaker."
GOP Pushes Repeal Of Payday Lending Protections
Graham unveils Senate measure to repeal CFPB payday rule. American Banker: "Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has introduced legislation to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday lending rule. Congress has until early May to overturn the CFPB’s rule to ban high-cost, short-term, small-dollar loans. The rule was finalized in October under former CFPB Director Richard Cordray and went into effect in January, but companies don’t have to comply with most of the provisions until August."
CFPB Drops Scrutiny Of Payday Lenders
Trump official quietly drops payday loan case, mulls others. Reuters: "The top cop for U.S. consumer finance has decided not to sue a payday loan collector and is weighing whether to drop cases against three payday lenders, said five people with direct knowledge of the matter. The move shows how Mick Mulvaney, named interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by U.S. President Donald Trump, is putting his mark on an agency conceived to stamp out abusive lending. The payday loan cases are among about a dozen that Richard Cordray, the former agency chief, approved for litigation before he resigned in November. Cordray was the first to lead the agency that Congress created in 2010 after the financial crisis. The four previously unreported cases aimed to return more than $60 million to consumers, the people said. Three are part of routine CFPB work to police storefront lenders. The fourth case concerns who has a right to collect payday loans offered from tribal land. Cordray was ready to sue Kansas-based National Credit Adjusters (NCA), which primarily collects debt for online lenders operating on tribal land. Such lenders charge triple-digit interest rates prohibited in many states. The companies have argued such loans are permitted when they are originated on tribal land. The CFPB under Cordray concluded that NCA had no right to collect on such online loans, no matter where they were made. Mulvaney has dropped the matter and the case is “dead,” Sarah Auchterlonie, a lawyer for NCA, told Reuters this week. She noted the agency appeared to be backing off issues involving tribal sovereignty."
More from OurFuture.org:
The March For Our Lives: Teach Your Parents Well. Miles Mogulescu: "The students of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School and their young peers have, in a matter of weeks, galvanized one of the most significant social movements in our country’s recent history. They pulled off massive marches in Washington, D.C., and in more than 800 locations across the country and the world. These courageous young people have invigorated a magical and hopeful movement for justice and change. They have shown us what democracy and citizenship really look like, at just the moment that so many of their elders have begun to despair that the great American experiment in popular rule may be coming to an end. The students are already showing the sophistication to understand that their ultimate success will depend on building from the excitement of the March to doing the hard work of continued political mobilization and building lasting organizations and alliances to carry on the fight."
