One Year Later, Vegas Shooting Survivor Sees Progress on Guns
*By Carlo Versano*
Exactly one year after the worst mass shooting in modern American history, one survivor has reason for optimism.
Robert Gaafar, who attended the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas last year, told Cheddar that despite the unresponsive pace of gun legislation on the federal level, he is heartened by progress in statehouses around the country.
Last October, Stephen Paddock opened fire from the window of his Mandalay Bay suite, killing 58 in a 10-minute reign of terror before turning his gun on himself.
Since then, 18 states, with governors who span the political spectrum, have passed gun regulations, while 11 have passed bans on bump stocks ー the lethal devices that turn rifles into ad hoc machine guns. Paddock had 14 bump stocks as part of his arsenal, allowing him to fire more than 1,100 rounds into the crowd below him.
"We can do something about this," Gaafar said. As part of the Everytown Survivor Network, he is helping promote the gun-control group's new $5 million ad campaign ahead of the midterm elections.
The campaign, "Not One More," targets voters in 15 competitive House districts with messaging about gun safety and promotes "gun sense candidates," as Gaafar called them.
Gaafar, an entrepreneur who founded BeerBox, an internet-connected beer vending machine, never planned to become a gun safety activist. Then again, he never planned to be part of a moving target of 20,000 people running for cover "in between reloads," he said.
On the one year anniversary of the Vegas shooting, Gaafar and Everytown have focused on supporting state and local politicians who back "straightforward and common sense" gun laws ー like universal background checks, a policy that has near-universal support. Like many others, Gaafar said he's disheartened when he hears politicians say that nothing can be done to stop the American epidemic of gun violence.
"Laws do something," he said. "The basic role of government is to protect its citizens."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-one-las-vegas-shooting-survivor-is-working-to-change-americas-gun-laws).
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
