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).
Russian lawmakers have given President Vladimir Putin a military force authorization in Ukraine, and President Biden has described Putin's announcement declaring the independence of two provinces within Ukraine and his subsequent deployment of peacekeepers as tantamount to "invasion. David Tafuri, a former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and Bush State Department official, joined Cheddar News to discuss. "The Ukrainian military occupies more than 70 percent of those provinces still," Tafuri said, noting Putin alleged having a responsibility to defend those regions. "This would put Ukrainian forces and Russian forces right at each other engaged. And that might be how the war starts."
The major indexes ended Tuesday's session sharply lower due to escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Bill Stone, Chief Investment Officer at The Glenview Trust Company, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he reminds viewers that Wall Street doesn't like uncertainty, and more of the recent losses are due to geopolitics than inflation.
Karim Hijazi, CEO of Prevailion, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that crypto's decentralized nature will pose obstacles for the FBI's new crypto unit, but it will also make progress with items such as managing fraudulent exchanges.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association released a report alleging the safety risks, economic losses, and potential job losses they link to a surge in shoplifting crimes in the United States. Lisa LaBruno, senior EVP of retail operations at the trade organization, joined Cheddar News to discuss the impact of websites that allow for the resale of unverified goods and passing the INFORM Consumers Act to stamp it out. “We need to hold the online marketplaces accountable for being a favored venue for criminals to resell stolen product," LaBruno said. "And that is exactly what the INFORM Act is designed to do."
The East-West faceoff over Ukraine has escalated dramatically, with Russian lawmakers authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and President Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks.
Stocks closed broadly lower Tuesday after Russia sent forces into Ukraine’s eastern region and the U.S., European Union and U.K. responded with economic sanctions.
President Biden says he’s “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to launch a further invasion of Ukraine, saying Friday he has “reason to believe” it will occur in the "coming days."
