NRA Absent from Obama Gun Control Meeting

A town hall meeting was held with President Obama on January 7 regarding gun control and gun violence in America. This followed the President’s emotional appeal to end gun violence on Tuesday and addressed his plans moving forward while answering questions from a selection of the 100 attendees at the event. The meeting was held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in conjunction with CNN News. It was moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

In an article on January 7, CNN states the group of attendees at the meeting were evenly divided between supporters of the Second Amendment and those who want more gun control regulations. Absent from the group, however, was the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The NRA reportedly declined their invitation to the event under the premise that they saw little reason to engage with such an event so closely linked with the White House.

President Obama, too, took note of the NRA’s absence, saying, “Our position is consistently mischaracterized… there’s a reason that the NRA isn’t here. They’re right down the street. You think they’d be prepared to have a debate with the President.” According to an article covering the event on January 7 in The New York Daily News, George Mason University is of close proximity to the NRA headquarters.

Despite acknowledging that it is unrealistic to expect a drastic change in gun control before the end of his term as President, he hopes his most recent plans to curb gun violence- focusing on background checks, licenses, and safety enforcement- will help begin the process of doing so. At the town hall meeting Obama reminded the audience that “ if we take that number [of gun-related deaths each year in the U.S.] from 30,000 down to, let’s say, 28,000, that’s 2,000 families who don’t have to go through what the families at Newtown [Connecticut] or San Bernardino [California] or Charleston [South Carolina] went through.”

Easthampton City Council Discusses Confederate Flag

The Easthampton City Council voted on Monday, January 4, to adopt a resolution against discrimination in the town following a complaint filed by a concerned neighbor in November who noticed a Confederate Flag flying outside of a home on Gross Lane. While flying the flag is protected by the First Amendment’s guaranteed right to freedom of speech, the city council hopes this resolution will be upheld and respected as a moral responsibility of the city.

In response to the original email, Counselor Tamara Smith penned an email signed by the rest of the counsel ensuring that Easthampton does not condone this form of discrimination and benefits by the ethnic and racial diversity residing in the city.

On January 7, Easthampton student Andrew Morey, 19, admitted to and defended his flying of the Confederate Flag- not connected to previous flag on Gross lane- in front of his Easthampton home.  Hours later, however, Morey decided to take it down. In an article on January 7, Morey told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that, “I figured that it was going to offend people, but I guess I never looked at it from that (racial) standpoint as much as I could have.”

Looking forward, Smith writes, “We would like to look further into how to document what we have done as a municipality to address issues of race, and the specific ways in which the City Council has promoted a community of tolerance and inclusion that recognizes the strengths of a diverse population.”

Planned Parenthood Endorses Hillary Clinton

Planned Parenthood publically endorsed presidential candidate and democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on Thursday, January 7. This is Planned Parenthood’s first ever presidential primary endorsement.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, told The New York Times in an article on January 7, “Everything Planned Parenthood has believe in and fought for over the past 100 years is on the ballot.”

This endorsement comes at a complicated time for the non-profit, as they have been the subject of many political debates and questions looking forward to the 2016 election. Clinton will formally accept the endorsement on Sunday, January 8 at a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Clinton has stated she will, as president, “defend against attacks on reproductive health care, and protect access to affordable contraception and safe and legal abortion across the country.”

The endorsement, expected to be accompanied by at least $20 million to use in the electoral races, will likely benefit Clinton’s campaign. According to an article in The New York Times on January 7, “polls show that access to legal abortion is one of the most motivating issues for female voters.”

Richards told The New York Times that Clinton’s past record with support of health care and women’s issues made her the most admirable of the candidates for Planned Parenthood to endorse.