Sep 20, 2019

Trudeau’s pivot: Vows to ban military-style assault rifles, including AR-15

Photo: EuropaNewswire/Gado/Getty Images

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the Liberal government would ban military-style semi-automatic weapons and institute a buyback program if re-elected.

Why it matters: The announcement comes around a month before the nation's federal election and outlines a clear contrast with the Conservative Party on the issue. A 2-year amnesty period would be put in place while the buyback program is instituted, according to the CBC.

Flashback: Cabinet official Bill Blair said earlier this year the Liberals would propose the ban, according to the Toronto Star, after shootings injured 4 during a victory celebration for the Raptors' NBA championship Toronto.

  • In June, parliament approved a bill to increase background checks on gun owners.

Context: The announcement comes after Trudeau has spent days explaining photos and a video of him that appeared to show him in brownface or blackface. A photo appeared first in TIME Magazine on Wednesday at a party in 2001. On Thursday, two more photos of Trudeau wearing blackface at other events surfaced. The Prime Minister said he could not confirm whether he had darkened his skin in any more instances.

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Fadel Allassan
47 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Bill Clinton slams McConnell and Trump: "Their first value is power"

Former President Bill Clinton on Sunday called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) vow to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's vacant Supreme Court seat before the next presidential inauguration "superficially hypocritical."

The big picture: Clinton, who nominated Ginsburg to the court in 1993, declined to say whether he thinks Democrats should respond by adding more justices if they take back the Senate and the White House in November. Instead, he called on Republicans to "remember the example Abraham Lincoln set" by not confirming a justice in an election year.

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Axios
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Pelosi: Trump wants to "crush" ACA with Ginsburg replacement

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that President Trump is rushing to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because he "wants to crush the Affordable Care Act."

Why it matters: Pelosi wants to steer the conversation around the potential Ginsburg replacement to health care, which polls show is a top issue for voters, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration has urged the courts to strike down the law, and with it, protections for millions with pre-existing conditions.

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Mike Allen, author of AM
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Democrats' Armageddon option

A makeshift memorial outside the Supreme Court yesterday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Furious Democrats are considering total war — profound changes to two branches of government, and even adding stars to the flag — if Republicans jam through a Supreme Court nominee then lose control of the Senate.

On the table: Adding Supreme Court justices ... eliminating the Senate's 60-vote threshold to end filibusters ... and statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico. "If he holds a vote in 2020, we pack the court in 2021," Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) tweeted.

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