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).
The timeline raised concern among public health experts about an “October surprise" — a vaccine approval driven by political considerations ahead of a presidential election, rather than science.
The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for records about widespread delays to mail delivery.
NBA all-star Jrue Holiday is working to combat systemic racism by donating his remaining salary. The New Orleans Pelicans guard is working with Resilia, a technology platform, to track his donations and ensure change is really happening.
Facebook said Tuesday that it removed a small network of accounts and pages linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency, the “troll factory" that has used social media accounts to sow political discord in the U.S. since the 2016 presidential election.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirmed the U.S. House of Representatives will vote in September on the MORE Act, which seeks to decriminalize cannabis and remove it from the Controlled Substances Act
Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City is delaying sending students back to classrooms in the nation’s largest public school system.
China on Friday introduced export restrictions on artificial intelligence technology, including the type that TikTok uses to choose which videos to spool up to its users.
A Star of David-adorned El Al plane has landed in Abu Dhabi after flying in from Israel, carrying a high-ranking American and Israeli delegation in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight to the United Arab Emirates.
Cannabis industry advocates say a lack of an embrace from Republicans over legalization could mean missing out on voters come November..
Twitter's vice president of policy and philanthropy in the Americas Jessica Herrera-Flanigan talks to Cheddar about how political buzz on the social media platform has to be earned instead of purchased.
