SYFROYH
SYFROYH's JournalHouse leaders OK budget with $2K raises
This is good news for state workers, who will get $2,000 raises, and double good news for law enforcement, who will get $4,000 raises.
I work for a state agency and these raises ($5,000 last year and $2,000 this year) are collectively the biggest we've seen in 20 years.
House budget writers on Wednesday passed a spending plan for the upcoming year that places heavy emphasis on police and mental health funding, including $4,000 raises for law enforcement officers.
Other state employees, University System of Georgia workers and teachers would receive $2,000 raises in the budget for fiscal 2024 — which begins July 1 — under the proposal approved by the House Appropriations Committee.
The full House is expected to pass the spending plan for the new fiscal year Thursday, sending it to the Senate as lawmakers work to finalize the measure and get it through both chambers by the time the session ends later this month.
Crossover Day Winners and Loser
https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/the-jolt-these-bills-didnt-make-the-cut-on-crossover-day/B5HK6SGAEVGJ7LKGDQP5OFNEVQ/
Winners:
Stiffer penalties for antisemetic crimes. Good news, IMHO
State oversight of local elected prosecutors. Bad news, IMHO
Losers
Legalization of sports better. Good and bad news, IMHO
Anyone local to Columbus know more about the shooting at the gas station?
No motives have been reported. It's not clear if the kids were shooting each other or someone else was shooting at them, or something else.
Police on Monday continued to search for a motive in a shooting that left nine children injured at a Georgia gas station.
The victims, whose names were not released, ranged in age from 5 to 17, Columbus Police Department Police Chief Freddie Blackmon said. The shooting took place late Friday night in Columbus, about 110 miles southwest of Atlanta and about 85 miles east of Montgomery, Alabama.
Seven males and two females were hurt, the chief told reporters during a news conference on Saturday.
None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries, Blackmon said.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/20/nine-children-shot-georgia-gas-station-columbus/11303328002/
Dead & Company Final Tour in Summer 2023
https://twitter.com/deadandcompany/status/1573386964354895873?s=46&t=seA-6xZ8KIxCoIha10cFlg
I suspect Bob Weir, who is in fabulous physical condition, will continue to tour as Ratdog, with the Wolf Bros, or some other iteration.
I saw DeadCo in 2017 and 2021. It really brought me back to my 80s GD days. DeadCo is different, but it still made me feel free.
How do I stop monthly (Eta: DU) reoccuring charges?
I dont seem to be able to find the stop button. I think i meant to do a one time $25 charges but its been rolling over every month.
Georgia Update: Governor and Senate Polls
The good news: Warnock is up 1.7% but is so close.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2022/georgia/
The bad news: Abrams is down 5.6%.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/governor/2022/georgia/
We're less than three months away. I'm hoping debates and aggressive campaign ads get us the votes.
Donate if you can. Every dollar helps.
An effective AWB by Exec Order?
I posted this idea in another thread, but thought it might be interesting to discuss here.
Trump may have opened a door for restrictions not previously opened before by any other President.
After the Las Vegas massacre, Trump banned bump stocks by exec order. A bump stock is essentially just a non-federally regulated part of a rifle that functions differently than other stocks. I think the strength of this manner of prohibition is that there are still other stock options that make the AR or other rifles useable (collapsible, folder, or fixed stocks).
There are a lot of non-federally regulated parts on AR-type rifles. For example, magazines, collapsible/folding stocks, and pistol grips are nonregulated parts.
If what Trump did by banning bump stocks was legal (and perhaps it wasn't which is why he did it knowing it would be overturned), then Biden could cite him as an example of how to handle AR-type rifles.
He could, in effect, recreate an AWB by exec order. I think the issue will be that he can't make the rifles unuseable. For example, perhaps he could ban collapsible stocks, but not fixed stocks. He could ban 11+ round magazines, but not 10 rounds mags. He could ban pistols grips, but not grips that connect to the stock (e.g., monster grips).
I don't think this will significantly reduce gun violence or even mass shootings, but it would achieve AWB-compliant ARs similar to the ones available during the 1994 AWB which Biden credits as having an effect.
Just a thought.
Joe Biden to Manuel Oliver, Dad to killed Parkland teen - Sit down. You'll hear what I have to say."
Ouch, Joe. I doubt Joe knew what was what initially, but his people should have prepared him for the possibility of angry parents.
excerpts
During the speech, Biden boasted that the legislation "proves, despite the nay-sayers, we can make meaningful progress on dealing with gun violence," when Oliver began to interrupt him, appearing to criticize the legislation for not going far enough to curb gun violence.
President Joe Biden told Manuel Oliver, a father of a teenager killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, to "let me finish" when Oliver interrupted his speech celebrating a bipartisan gun safety law.
"I've been trying to tell you this for years," Oliver said.
Biden responded: "Make no mistake—sit down. You'll hear what I have to say. Let me finish my thought."
Biden also encouraged the crowd to "let [Oliver] talk."
CNN showed a pic of Crimo's 2nd gun in car. Its a Kel-Tec Sub 2000
LEO and media are not identifying his weapons for some reason.
Its a lightweight carbine that shoots pistol calibre ammo like 9mm or .40.
It’s best known for being able to fold in half easily and reassemble by simply unfolding it.
Its sold with 10 round mags but there are after market magazines with higher capacity
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kel-Tec_SUB-2000
Picture of gun as shown on CNN:
?c=16x9&q=h_270,w_480,c_fill
(Changed pic to CNN news poc amd Edited out some personal stuff because of some unhappy people. I intended this OP to be informational)
ETA: An LEO guest on CNN stated that he believes the gun used in the parade massacre was a Smith & Wesson M&P15, a standard AR-15 design.
Congress passes a landmark gun control package
There is some good stuff here that will save lives.
What’s in the bipartisan gun control bill
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/6/23/23180893/senate-gun-control-bipartisan-bill-2022-pass
The bill would allocate $750 million to supporting states in implementing extreme risk laws, or “red flag laws,” that temporarily prevent people who have been found by a court to pose a risk to themselves or others from obtaining a gun. Currently, 19 states and Washington, DC, have red flag laws. Most of these states are controlled by Democrats, with the exception of Florida and Indiana.
...
The bill would also close what’s called the “boyfriend loophole.” Under current federal law, only those who are convicted and are living with their partner, married to their partner, or have a child with their partner are barred from buying a gun.
...
Gun buyers under the age of 21 would face enhanced background checks under the bill. They would be subject to an elongated, three-day initial review process of juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement. If that initial review process turns up anything of concern, the buyer would have to undergo an additional review process spanning up to 10 days. The bill also provides additional funding to federal and local law enforcement to carry out those background checks and keep accurate criminal and mental health records.
...
One other thing the measure would do is clarify and expand the definition of a “federally licensed firearms dealer.” That’s important because current federal law only requires that licensed gun dealers conduct background checks when someone attempts to buy a gun. However, unlicensed sellers, such as people who sell guns online or at gun shows, don’t have to conduct background checks.
...
Finally, the package creates new federal criminal offenses for interstate gun trafficking and making “straw purchases,” or when someone buys a gun on behalf of another person but tells the seller they’ll be the owner. Though straw purchases are currently illegal under federal law, the new offense categories will give prosecutors more tools to target criminals.
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