Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Arrests In Response To Mass Killing Threats Surge To Staggering Heights In Wake Of El Paso, Dayton Shootings
The three arrests reported Thursday for threats of mass killings聽bring the total to at least 30 people detained on similar charges since the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month. Even in a country where such attacks have become a fact of life 鈥 there have been 263 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines them as four or more people wounded or killed 鈥 those numbers are staggering. What鈥檚 behind them? (Ortiz, 8/22)
In other news on gun violence 鈥
Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, has confronted threats from all sides this year. He faced a revolt from the N.R.A.鈥檚 top lobbyist, its president, its longtime advertising firm and several board members and donors that quickly became public. New documents reviewed by The New York Times show that the effort against him was even wider in scope, drawing in three outside law firms working for the N.R.A. and at least one in-house attorney. A wave of embarrassing leaks showed that Mr. LaPierre billed a contractor hundreds of thousands of dollars for bespoke suits and foreign travel, as well as some of his wife鈥檚 makeup costs. (Hakim, 8/22)
Northwell Health's leadership is trying to spur the hospital industry to take action on gun violence. Michael Dowling, president and CEO of New York-based Northwell Health system, said the need for the healthcare industry to break its collective silence on gun violence was the impetus behind a new national marketing campaign the system launched Thursday in the New York Times to call on providers to become more vocal in advocating for gun legislation. (Johnson, 8/22)
Virginia Beach will be opening a community center in October to provide free mental health counseling and other services to people impacted by a mass shooting earlier this year. The Virginian-Pilot reports the 鈥淰B Strong Center鈥 is being funded through a federal grant. (8/23)
Concerns over whether expanding background checks on gun sales will diminish gun owners' constitutional rights are "frankly BS," Gov. Tony Evers said Thursday. Evers said Republicans are using "worn-out excuses" to avoid taking up legislation that would require background checks on most gun sales in Wisconsin and create a process through which family and police could ask a judge to confiscate firearms from anyone deemed a threat to others. (Beck, 8/22)