skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, April 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Louisiana teachers' union concerned about educators' future; Supreme Court hears arguments in Trump immunity case; court issues restraining order against fracking waste-storage facility; landmark NE agreement takes a proactive approach to CO2 pipeline risks.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Speaker Johnson accuses demonstrating students of getting support from Hamas. TikTok says it'll challenge the ban. And the Supreme Court dives into the gray area between abortion and pregnancy healthcare, and into former President Trump's broad immunity claims.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken, and a new federal rule aims to put the "public" back in public lands.

A Gun Violence Victim in Illinois Every 8 Hours

play audio
Play

Wednesday, October 19, 2016   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Despite Chicago's reputation, Illinois comes in 40th overall in national rankings for gun violence, according to a new report.

The Center for American Progress found that in Illinois, someone is fatally shot every eight hours. Researchers looked at 10 different types of gun violence from 2005 to 2014, including suicides, homicides and mass shootings. Report co-author Chelsea Parsons, the center's vice president for guns and crime policy, said states with the strictest gun laws had the lowest levels of violence.

"What we found," she said, "is that the 10 states that have the weakest gun laws collectively have rates of gun violence that are more than three times higher than the 10 states with the strongest gun laws."

Gun-violence victims in Illinois are predominantly young African-Americans. From 2005 to 2014, more than 1,900 people younger than age 21 were killed. While African-Americans make up close to 15 percent of the state's total population, they account for about three quarters of gun-related homicide victims in the state.

The researchers found that laws requiring background checks, trigger-lock rules and training requirements coincided with lower rates of gun violence. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation late this summer targeting people who purchase guns in other states with the intent of bringing them into Illinois to resell. Parsons said that, and tougher identification laws for gun purchases, are needed.

"Making sure that all gun sales in the state are required to undergo a background check will help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, who are not supposed to be able to buy them," she said.

From 2005 to 2014, the report said, twice as many people in Illinois were killed with guns than the total number of combat fatalities in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. Illinois is one of the 21 states where more people are killed with guns than in car accidents.

The report is online at americanprogress.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The United Nations experts also expressed concern over a Chemours application to expand PFAS production in North Carolina. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

United Nations experts are raising concerns about chemical giants DuPont and Chemours, saying they've violated human rights in North Carolina…


Social Issues

play sound

The long-delayed Farm Bill could benefit Virginia farmers by renewing funding for climate-smart investments, but it's been held up for months in …

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups say the Hawaiian Islands are on the leading edge of the fight to preserve endangered birds, since climate change and habitat loss …


Jane Kleeb is director and founder of Bold Alliance, an umbrella organization of Bold Nebraska, which was instrumental in stopping the Keystone Pipeline. Kleeb is also one of two 2023 Climate Breakthrough Awardees. (Bold Alliance)

Environment

play sound

CO2 pipelines are on the increase in the United States, and like all pipelines, they come with risks. Preparing for those risks is a major focus of …

Environment

play sound

April has been "Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month," but the pests don't know that. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it's the …

Legislation to curtail the union membership rights of about 50,000 public school educators in Lousiana has the backing of some business and national conservative groups. (wavebreak3/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Leaders of a teachers' union in Louisiana are voicing concerns about a package of bills they say would have the effect of dissolving labor unions in t…

Health and Wellness

play sound

The 2024 Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium Public Conference kicks off Saturday, where industry experts and researchers will share the latest scientific …

Environment

play sound

Environmental groups say more should be done to protect people's health from what they call toxic, radioactive sludge. A court granted a temporary …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021