Senators strike gun safety agreement centering on young applicants 

The emerging framework is a major breakthrough in talks following back-to-back mass shootings. Negotiators’ next challenge: writing legislation that can get 60 votes.

Sen. John Cornyn attends a hearing.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, along with Sens. Chris Murphy, Kyrsten Sinema, and Thom Tillis, is the lead negotiators on the proposal. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

By BURGESS EVERETT and MARIANNE LEVINE, Politico
Updated: 06/12/2022 12:24 PM EDT

In a Sunday morning statement, 10 senators in each party announced support for the deal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blessed it, vowing to “put this bill on the floor as soon as possible,” and President Joe Biden said it “would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.” The president urged both chambers of Congress to finish the package quickly.

The emerging package is anchored around extra scrutiny for gun buyers under the age of 21, grants to states to implement so-called red flag laws, and new spending on mental health treatment and school security. While translating the agreement into legislation will take time, the large group of supportive senators shows that the package could gain 60 votes on the Senate floor before heading to the House.

“Our plan saves lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense proposal into law,” the 20 senators said in their statement.

Related news:
Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal on Gun Safety (NY Times)
Gun Deal Is Less Than Democrats Wanted, but More Than They Expected
450 marches nationwide against gun violence (EP Blog)
Tens of thousands march for gun control (BBC News video)
Senators call on YouTube to crack down on ‘ghost gun’ videos (ABC)

Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are the lead negotiators on the proposal. The most significant piece of the proposal would subject gun buyers 21 and younger to the scrutiny of their criminal and mental health records as juveniles. It’s proved tricky to write because each state has different laws governing juvenile records.

A broader bipartisan group has held its own regular meetings on guns over the past three weeks since the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. And with Democrats controlling only 50 Senate seats, the approval of 10 Republicans is critical to moving forward.

Read the full story here

EnviroPolitics reader: What do you think about the approach taken by this proposed legislation? Is it enough to make a significant dent in the problem of gun violence in America? Is it less than acceptable because it dodges the issue of military-style weapons? Is it the best we can hope for and should be embraced? Or is it a placebo that will enable Congress to duck any significant action for years? If gun control is important to you, let us know what you think in the comments.

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450 marches nationwide against gun violence

Thousands of people rallied on the National Mall and across the United States on Saturday in a renewed push for gun control measures after recent deadly mass shootings from Uvalde, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, that activists say should compel Congress to act.

Pittsburghers rally for gun control in Schenley Park

After 17 people died in a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in 2018, then-high school student Erin Simard co-founded a Pittsburgh chapter of March For Our Lives, leading an estimated 30,000 people in a march in Downtown Pittsburgh.

UPDATE: Senators strike bipartisan gun safety agreement

450 marches nationwide against gun violence Read More »

NJ Senate panel approves Pennacchio’s bill clean fusion energy bill

Measure Would Establish Scholarships for Graduate Students and Researchers

To increase New Jersey’s talent pool of top-level graduate students and researchers in the fields of fusion energy and plasma physics, Senator Joe Pennacchio has sponsored legislation that was approved Thursday by the Senate Higher Education Committee.

“To establish New Jersey as a leader in renewable fusion energy, we need to encourage the best and brightest young talent to help lead the transition,” said Pennacchio (R-26). “Fusion is an appealing renewable energy option with limitless potential,” said Pennacchio (R-26).

“This bill will support the development of scientists and researchers to advance the innovations required to realize the promise of fusion as a safe, economical, and sustainable energy source for our long-term power needs.”

Pennacchio’s bill, S-218, would establish a scholarship program for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in New Jersey who are studying or conducting research in plasma physics and fusion energy science. The program would be administered by the state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA).

“To establish New Jersey as a leader in renewable fusion energy, we need to encourage the best and brightest young talent to help lead the transition,” said Pennacchio (R-26). “Fusion is an appealing renewable energy option with limitless potential,” said Pennacchio (R-26).

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Trouble down on the farm (despite record yields)


By Michael Moline | Deputy Editor, Florida Phoenix

The good news for American farmers is that crop prices are really high: up 50 percent for wheat, 30 percent for corn, and 20 percent for soybeans, largely due to the war in Ukraine.

The bad news: So are prices for farming inputs like fertilizer and fuel, also because of the Ukraine war — benchmark prices on crude oil and U.S. fertilizer prices approximately tripled between January 2021 and March 2022.

Congress is trying to account for all of this in drafting the new farm bill. “The bottom line is that agriculture is a business and, at the end of the day, it is not what you bring in but the margin you are left with,” U.S. Rep. Glen Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, said. “I have tremendous concerns with where we are headed right now.”

Please read: U.S. House Ag panel mulls safety net changes in farm bill amid soaring costs

Related farming news:
Why we decided to move to a farm (video)

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Pa lawmaker proposes assault weapon ban

Pa State Senator Steve Santarsiero announces assault weapon ban legislation at a news conference in Lower Makefield Township, Pa. News conference video

By Chris Ullery, Bucks Courier-Times

In the wake of mass shootings in New York, Texas, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, state Sen. Steve Santarsiero on Thursday announced legislation that would ban military-style assault weapons in Pennsylvania.

Santarsiero, D-10, of Lower Makefield, said the measure is modeled after a 2013 Connecticut law targeting more than 150 gun models, banning high-capacity magazines, and providing a voluntary buy-back program for gun owners.

The Connecticut bill Santarsiero used in crafting his legislation passed that state’s legislature a few months after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, where Adam Lanza used an assault-style weapon to kill 20 children and six adults.

“I’m here to tell you today, we’ve had enough … after these most recent incidents in Buffalo and Uvalde, it’s time we stand up with a single voice and say, ‘Enough. Enough. No one needs to have a military-style assault weapon,’” Santarsiero said during a press conference at the Lower Makefield Township Municipal Building.

Read the full story here

Gun control legislation doesn’t get far in the GOP-dominated Pennsylvania General Assembly

May 25, 2022 –Harrisburg An effort by Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania to ban owning, selling or making high-capacity, semi-automatic firearms went nowhere Wednesday as state House Republicans again displayed their firm opposition to gun restriction proposals.

The state House of Representatives voted 111-87 against the effort by Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten of Chester County to take up the bill after Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff argued it should have to go through a committee first.

The bill has spent more than a year in the Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin, has bottled up most proposals to regulate or restrict firearms.

Other gun-control news
Frustration mounts over the Pennsylvania law that keeps Philly from passing its own gun control

House passes tough new gun measures hours after wrenching testimony

Pa lawmaker proposes assault weapon ban Read More »

Workers’ fall into tank of M&M chocolate

By Jenna Wise, Patriot-News

Two people fell into a tank of chocolate while completing maintenance work at the Mars/M&M factory in Lancaster County, Pa., and now federal workplace safety officials are investigating.

The fall into a partially filled chocolate vat happened around 1:51 p.m. at the Mars facility on the 200 block of Brown Street in Elizabethtown, authorities said.

Federal labor officials confirmed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident. OSHA has six months to investigate and submit its findings, according to a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson.

The workers who fell into the tank are employed by the Manheim-based I.K. Stolzfus Services, the Labor spokesperson said.

According to its website, I.K. Stolzfus Services specializes in “professional industrial cleaning, water tank repair, cleaning & painting, abrasive and sandblasting services.”

Firefighters rushed to the Mars factory Thursday afternoon and rescued the workers by drilling a hole in the bottom of the tank and pulling them out, according to the Elizabethtown Fire Department.

I.K. Stolzfus declined to comment and directed any questions to a Mars Wrigley spokesperson. Mars did not provide an update on the workers’ conditions. Elizabethtown police also directed questions to Mars.

If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

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