This week, we looked at a new poll on gun control, Gen Z candidates and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Big Picture: Gun politics in the spotlight — again
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
The mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., Uvalde, Texas, and this week in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park at a July 4 parade has thrust gun politics into the spotlight — again.
This week, NPR and Ipsos released a survey of gun owners and found they are largely in support of a host of moderate gun measures, like:
84% favor universal background checks
72% agree with raising the age to buy an AR-15 from 18 to 21
67% think the age to buy any gun should be raised from 18 to 21
and 65% favor red flag laws.
But they will only go so far. For example:
55% oppose a ban on AR-15-style semi automatic weapons
61% say new gun laws won’t stop mass shootings
Only 23% think the government is looking out for them.
Gun owners also, notably, are divided on the controversial National Rifle Association:
53% don’t have very much or no trust at all in the NRA
47% say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the gun lobbying group.
And there’s a huge split by party, which is indicative of why it’s difficult to find consensus on strict gun legislation:
Only 12% of Democrats and 34% of independents have at least a fair amount of trust in the NRA, but 72% of Republicans do.
Gen Z runs for Congress: The 2022 midterms mark the first time in 16 years that Millennials aren’t the youngest generation able to run. Members of Gen Z have come of age during a volatile period in American history — and now, they’re running for Congress.
Looking back on Jan. 6 hearings: The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is set to hold two hearings in the coming days. Ahead of those hearings, here’s a look back at what we’ve learned so far.
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President Joe Biden on Thursday presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award he once received himself when he served as vice president under Obama, reports NPR Politics reporter Barbara Sprunt.
The award is regarded as one of the country’s highest civilian honors. President John F. Kennedy established the award in 1963.
Among the recipients were sports stars Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and U.S. Women’s Soccer team member Megan Rapinoe; former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and former Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords; and Dr. Julieta Garcia, the first Mexican American woman to preside over a university.
Receiving the award posthumously were the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a decorated Vietnam War veteran who died in 2018 of brain cancer, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and former AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
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