President Donald Trump shocked a bipartisan group of lawmakers Wednesday when he called for a series of changes to current gun laws, including comprehensive background checks and age limits for buyers.
And Florida Congressman Darren Soto told Cheddar that, if changes aren’t made, this will be a major issue come midterms.
“This will absolutely be one of those litmus test issues that can really swing a lot of voters,” he said in an interview before the president’s comments. “We’re talking about our young people keeping up their energy until the November elections.”
The latest developments come two weeks after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Survivors have sparked a nationwide #NeverAgain movement and even discussed gun control with high-profile Republican legislators, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and the commander-in-chief.
Soto said this isn’t the first time one group has been able to effect change at the ballot. He pointed to Democrat Margaret Good, who won Florida’s 72nd House district, a usually Republican area, the day before the Parkland, Fla., shooting.
“We saw that in the special election recently in Florida, that Republican women, suburban women who were independent, have come out in favor of Democrats,” he said. “They see that the Republicans aren’t willing to do anything to help protect our kids.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-darren-soto-speaker-ryans-gun-control-comments-a-real-shame).
President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon in the final hours of his White House term as part of a flurry of clemency action that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams spoke to Cheddar about the need to speed up the vaccination process as more mutated variants of the novel coronavirus present themselves.
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street, recovering some of last week’s losses and pulling closer to their record highs.
A once large caravan of Honduran migrants that pushed its way into Guatemala last week has dissipated in the face of Guatemalan security forces.
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has eclipsed 400,000 in the waning hours in office for President Donald Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been judged by public health experts to be a singular failure.
With Democrats taking the White House and Senate while keeping control of the Senate, future stimulus programs may take some burden off of the Federal Reserve.
Cowen managing director and senior analyst Vivien Azer discusses the future of cannabis stocks in the U.S. in light of the recent election changes.
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.
The completed "Field of Flags" display on the National Mall in Washington DC was lit up by powerful beacons on Monday.
David Quinalty of Waymo spoke to Cheddar about the company's hopes that the Biden Administration will continue the bipartisan work with the DOT in promoting autonomous driving technology.
