CNN reports:

For millions of Americans, mass shootings are hitting as close as one mile to home.

Almost 42 million Americans – over one-eighth of the US population – are estimated to have lived within one mile of a mass shooting since 2014, according to an original CNN analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) and US Census Bureau.

Mass shootings are happening both more frequently and in an increasing number of cities and towns across the country. So far, 2023 has been a record-breaking year for gun violence. As of today, there have been over 470 mass shootings, more this year than at the same point in the last 10 years, according to data from the GVA, a non-profit group formed in 2013 to track gun-related violence. Both the GVA and CNN define a mass shooting as an incident where a minimum of four victims are shot, not including the shooter.

To determine the number of people who have lived near mass shootings, CNN examined data from the GVA and the US Census Bureau. Since January 2014, the GVA has provided a daily count of shootings derived from thousands of sources, such as police reports and media articles, checked by a team of researchers. The included mass shootings incorporate hate crimes, domestic violence, gang violence and other categories

While some readers will associate the term “mass shooting” with the country’s most violent and widely reported incidents of gunfire erupting in crowded places, or similarly what the FBI counts as active shooter incidents, these events make up a small fraction of deadly gun violence.

Examining mass shootings captures the daily reality and increasing toll of violent shootings across the country. For the people living near mass shootings, the effects of gun violence can be powerful and enduring too.

A growing body of research has looked at the community impacts of gun violence, finding widespread health consequences. Community-wide, mass shootings lead to increases in feelings of fear and lack of safety, experts say. Among children, witnessing urban violence is a risk factor for adverse outcomes, such as substance abuse, aggression, anxiety, depression and antisocial behavior, according to a 2017 study.

CNN spoke to people who lived near recent mass shootings to try to understand this increasingly common experience. These are their stories. [Continue reading…]

Democracy Now!:

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated state Legislature is still facing public outcry over the state’s permissive gun laws in the wake of Nashville’s Covenant School shooting, which killed three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members in March. Since then, the state House, under the control of Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton, has censured its own representatives and deployed state troopers to crack down on public participation. Earlier this week, Republicans imposed new penalties on lawmakers believed to be too disruptive and banned visitors from carrying signs — a ban that has since been challenged by the ACLU for violating the First Amendment. Amid the new rules, visitors can still carry guns into the building. For more, we’re joined by Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones, one of three Democratic representatives expelled by the state Legislature earlier this year for joining gun violence protests on the House floor. We speak to him about his return to the Legislature after being reinstated in a special election last month, and his continued struggle in “the people’s house” against what he describes as “authoritarian” rule.

USA Today reports:

The Tennessee House Democratic caucus on Monday walked off the floor of the lower chamber to protest a disciplinary vote against a member of the so-called Tennessee Three, sparking a scene remarkably similar to legislative protests earlier this year in which the freshman Democrat was expelled from the General Assembly.

Lawmakers voted 70-20 to discipline Rep. Justin Jones after House Speaker Cameron Sexton twice ruled Jones out of order during the House floor session Monday afternoon for what Sexton saw as Jones speaking off-topic on the bills at hand. The disciplinary vote meant Jones was silenced for the remainder of the floor session, though he could cast votes.

A second vote during this special session could lead to a three-day silencing.

The Democratic caucus left the floor en masse in what they said was solidarity and frustration with the unfair application of House rules. The tense House floor session came as Tennessee lawmakers returned a second week of a special session that Republican Gov. Bill Lee called in response to the deadly Covenant School shooting in Nashville in March. [Continue reading…]