Introduction
Monday’s school shooting in Nashville revived calls yet again to ban assault weapons.
We’ll look at each side of the argument. Plus…
How these trees became a symbol of our country’s friendship with Japan.
Those stories and more today on… Notice News Daily.
Assault Weapons Ban
Hi everyone, it’s Jonathan here at Notice HQ in Brooklyn. Our top story today:
Monday’s mass shooting at a school in Nashville has brought back an issue to the national spotlight:
Whether or not to ban assault weapons.
Biden: You know, the shooter in this situation reportedly had two assault weapons and a pistol, two AK47. So I call on congress again to pass my assault weapons ban. It’s about time that we make some more progress.
Assault weapons are guns that don’t have to be re-loaded often that were initially designed for battlefields.
They’re commonly used in mass shootings, and the shooter in Nashville left two at the scene of the attack.
Sound: “We’ve determined that Audrey bought seven firearms from five different local guns stores here, legally. They were legally purchased. Three of those weapons were used weapons yesterday during this horrific tragedy that happened.”
Those are weapons that were once banned in our country.
President Clinton signed the assault weapons ban in 1994, but Republicans, who strongly opposed the ban, allowed it to expire 10 years later in 2004.
They say a ban violates the 2nd amendment.
In full, it reads “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
The Supreme Court has ruled that that language protects the right of private citizens to own guns.
Many Democrats, however, disagree. They say restricting gun ownership is key to reducing gun violence in our country.
Since 2020, guns have become the leading cause of death of children in the U.S, outpacing car accidents and cancer.
Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on how to fix that, but polls show the vast majority of Americans agree something needs to be done.
Headlines
Here’s what else is making news right now…
The FDA has approved Narcan, a nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses, to be sold over the counter.
The Food and Drug Administration hopes increased accessibility to this drug will reduce opioid overdose deaths throughout the country.
The Biden administration has decided to auction off more than 73 million acres of water in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil and gas drilling.
Environmental groups have already filed a lawsuit to try to stop the sale. And…
These 13-year-old photos taken on a digital camera were thought to be lost, until they were fished out of a river.
The fisherman was shocked to not only find a digital camera in a Colorado river, but that the SD card still worked.
Cherry Blossoms Bloom in D.C.
Jonathan: It’s a special time of year right now in our nation’s capital. Our Washington correspondent Angie tells us why.
Angie: Now that it’s officially spring and temperatures have started to rise, tourists are all over the place here in Washington, DC.
This time of year is especially popular with tourists because the thousands of cherry blossom trees that line the National Mall are in full bloom.
There’s even a festival in DC to celebrate the blooming of these trees.
What you might not know is these trees don’t naturally grow in this region – they had to cross an ocean to get here.
In 1885, world traveler Eliza Scidmore returned from a trip to Japan and proposed to the government that Sakura, or Japanese cherry blossom trees, be planted in Washington DC.
She continued to make the request year after year, but it wasn’t until 1909 when then First Lady Helen Taft, who had also spent time in Japan, decided to make it happen.
Over the years, the Japanese have sent 5,000 trees to our nation’s capital.
They’re seen as a symbol of friendship between Japan and the U.S.
Conclusion
That’s it for today – but let’s see how closely you were paying attention. Go take the Notice News quiz on our website noticenews.com.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more from us, Notice News.