An overwhelming majority of American voters favor a wide variety of gun control measures and over half worry that they could be victims of gun violence, according to a Fox News poll out this week.
Why it matters: The first months of 2023 have already been marred by a spate of high-profile mass shootings — including in Monterey Park, California, Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee — and many Americans say they believe such shootings can be stopped if any effort was made to do so.
Artificial intelligence is already affecting the 2024 election in ways that could reshape how campaigns are run and how voters are informed — or misled.
Why it matters: There are no rules for using AI in politics. Operatives in both parties are tapping the technology to identify donors and voters more efficiently — and to create photos and videos that reveal the potential risks of "deepfake" messages that could fool voters.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Friday signed into law four major gun measures designed to make it harder to obtain firearms.
Why it matters: The new laws follow multiple high-profile shootings in Colorado in recent months, and represent the latest in a series of recent actions by states to restrict firearm access as gun violence grows.
North Carolina's Republican-controlled Supreme Court on Friday changed course on three of its own recent major voting rights decisions — notably ruling in one of the cases that it has no authority to strike down political districts drawn by the legislature, even in cases of political gerrymandering.
Why it matters: Friday's decision will bolster the GOP-controlled General Assembly's ability to craft state and congressional districts that favor Republicans in the 2024 election, and, in the long term, grants the legislature sole authority in drawing future political maps.
The Federal Reserve is considering stricter regulations for banks after an internal review found that looser rules were one key culprit behind Silicon Valley Bank's collapse — the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
Why it matters: The review, released Friday, lays blame on the bank itself, as well as Fed supervisors charged with overseeing it and a regulation rollback, for the failure. The episode forced the government to take extraordinary action to backstop the banking system.
The Biden administration's cyber team arrived at the RSA Conference with — for the first time — a clear message about how each agency approaches the government's vast cyber mission.
Tennessee lawmakers probably won't return to Nashville to consider gun reforms until after July 4.
Driving the news: Gov. Bill Lee said last week he would call a special session on the issue after lawmakers failed to vote on his proposal to keep firearms away from "dangerous people" during their normal 2023 session.
Former President Trump indicated he would consider signing into law legislation banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if he is elected president again in 2024.
Why it matters: The new comments came as a departure from his campaign's previous support for individual states deciding restrictions — as abortion again looms over the upcoming major election cycle.
Ten states in the U.S. now have assault-style weapons bans after Washington became the latest to enact restrictions this week.
The big picture: Government officials have faced increasing calls to crack down on assault weapons — semi-automatic, military-style firearms primarily designed for rapid fire and combat use, which have been linked to some of the deadliest mass shootings in the U.S in the past decade.
Polls show that most voters of most ages wonder the same thing: Can President Biden really win the White House again at nearly 82 — and run it competently into age 86?
Why it matters: It's a line of questioning the White House hates, and tries to brush off. But there are so many unknowns to rolling into your mid-80s with more power than anyone on Earth.
Two bills severely restricting abortion in South Carolina and Nebraska's Republican-dominated legislatures both failed to pass on Thursday.
Driving the news: A near-total abortion ban failed to pass in South Carolina's Senate by 22 votes to 21 — marking the third time such a measure hasn't passed in a GOP-led chamber since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, AP notes.
