Twenty senators — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — signed a statement announcing the framework deal. The move indicated that the agreement could have enough GOP support to defeat a filibuster, the Senate supermajority rule that has impeded previous gun legislation.
Under the tentative deal, a federal grant program would encourage states to implement red-flag laws that allow authorities to keep guns away from people found by a judge to represent a potential threat to themselves or others, while federal criminal background checks for gun buyers younger than 21 would include a mandatory search of juvenile justice and mental health records for the first time.
Other provisions would prevent gun sales to a broader group of domestic violence offenders, closing what is often called the “boyfriend loophole”; clarify which gun sellers are required to register as federal firearms dealers and, thus, run background checks on customers; and establish new federal offenses related to gun trafficking.
The agreement does not include a provision supported by President Biden, congressional Democrats and a handful of Republicans that would raise the minimum age for the purchase of at least some rifles from 18 to 21. Handguns are already subject to a federal 21-and-older rule.
Chinese military officials in recent months have repeatedly asserted that the Taiwan Strait isn’t international waters during meetings with US counterparts, according to a person familiar with the situation, generating concern within the Biden administration.
The statement disputing the US view of international law has been delivered to the American government by Chinese officials on multiple occasions and at multiple levels, the person said. The US and key allies say much of the strait constitutes international waters, and they routinely send naval vessels through the waterway as part of freedom of navigation exercises.
China has long asserted that the Taiwan Strait is part of its exclusive economic zone, and takes the view there are limits to the activities of foreign military vessels in those waters. While China regularly protests US military moves in the Taiwan Strait, the legal status of the waters previously wasn’t a regular talking point in meetings with American officials.
It’s not clear whether the recent assertions indicate that China will take more steps to confront naval vessels that enter transit the Taiwan Strait. The US also conducts freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea to challenge Chinese territorial claims around disputed land features.
“The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and that includes transiting through the Taiwan Strait,” Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners, a Pentagon spokesperson, said by email.
Police arrested 31 men found inside a U-Haul truck near a pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Saturday. Police said they believe the men were affiliated with a white supremacist group and were intending to riot. [snip]
The men were seen in videos posted to social media all wearing khakis, navy blue shirts, beige hats, and cloth facial coverings. The outfit is similar to what is worn by Patriot Front, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a white supremacist group. White said at least one of the men had an arm patch that said "Patriot Front," and others had hats with logos "consistent" with those used by the group.
Police also found shields inside the U-Haul and at least one smoke grenade, [Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee] White said.All 31 men are being charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, and further charges "might be pending," White said. [snip]
White also said the group wasn't just planning to cause a disruption at a nearby park, where a pride event was being held, but that police had information that indicated they would attempt to riot in other areas as well.
He did not go into detail about the paperwork that police recovered from the group, but said it "appeared to be very similar to an operations plan that a police or military group would put together for an event."
Fascist fanboys foiled.
