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Break the gun lobby’s stranglehold on the ATF and allow it to protect Americans. It needs money, freedom to do its work, and an experienced director.
The chasm between congressional inaction and the real toll of gun violence was on stark display Wednesday. A gunman was killing nine people at their workplace in San Jose, California, as President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives faced ludicrous questions about firearms from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Over 17,500 people have already died from gun violence this year, while interference by the gun lobby and its bought politicians have stopped the ATF from fulfilling its role as the agency charged with overseeing and regulating the gun industry.
A landmark report published by this newspaper Wednesday now clearly shows the cost of that interference: American lives. Brady, the organization I lead, provided tens of thousands of pages of inspection reports to USA TODAY and The Trace which we had obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and subsequent litigation. Those reports reveal the extent to which this interference has hobbled the ATF and allowed crime guns to flow unchecked into our communities.
Wanton violations of gun laws
The ATF inspected gun dealers on average only once nearly every seven years, the reports show, and would only lightly enforce existing laws or penalize those who broke them. In one particularly galling statistic, analysis of these reports showed that “More than 81% of violators received no penalty or a written warning. The ATF sought revocation of only 580 violators, or 1.6%”
In real terms, these are not paperwork infractions. They are often wanton and blatant violations of federal laws designed to stop guns from flowing into the hands of those who should not have them.
That is not to say that the men and women at the ATF are unconcerned with their charge. The gun lobby has stopped Congress from adequately funding and modernizing ATF while passing riders and provisions to prohibit it from publicizing statistics and findings from its work.
B. Todd Jones, a former U.S. attorney who served as the ATF’s last and only Senate-confirmed leader explained that the gun lobby’s machinations have effectively tied ATF’s hands. “We did our best to plug holes and stop the worst offenders,” he told USA TODAY. “But what’s the alternative? No regulation at all?”
Our answer is no. The alternative is breaking the gun lobby’s stranglehold on the ATF and allowing it to do its job to protect American lives. Brady has already been working with communities impacted by everyday gun violence nationwide with our Enhanced Inspections Initiative to help identify dealers with real risk of violations. But ATF could galvanize that work across the nation and use its resources to shut down illegal trade in guns if simple steps are taken.
Boulder shooting: Senators have no excuse for inaction on guns. Tell them to save lives.
First, Congress must adequately fund the ATF so that it can perform its basic functions. As USA Today and The Trace reported, Congress has opposed increasing funds for ATF. That must end. The mission is too important to be held hostage by gun extremists who represent the views of a vanishingly small minority of Americans and gun owners.
Second, Congress must repeal ridiculous congressional riders and other gifts to the gun industry like the “Tiahrt Amendments.” These riders were pushed by the NRA to prevent the publication of trace data, essentially, hampering ATF inspectors in the course of their duties and pulling a curtain over the most irresponsible practices of the gun industry. There are already solutions to this, some of which the Biden administration can address directly, but Congress needs to reverse once and for all the stranglehold on ATF that these riders created.
Now is the moment to transform ATF
Finally, the Senate must confirm David Chipman as ATF director. Chipman served as an ATF Special Agent for 25 years, helping to lead complex investigations such as the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing and the Oklahoma City Bombing. He understands ATF’s needs and the agency’s critical role in stopping gun trafficking and preventing gun violence, having worked on stopping illegal gun and drug trafficking from the Tidewater Virginia area to New York as well as having served since 2016 as a senior adviser to Giffords, the group named after former Rep. Gabby Giffords, a gun violence survivor.
Gabby Giffords: Listen to Biden. Pass new laws to stop gun violence.
All of this is why his nomination has been endorsed by numerous attorneys general, former ATF agents and law enforcement officials. USA TODAY’s reporting showed the extent of the problems facing ATF. Chipman is ready to take the helm on day one, steward ATF, and ensure that the agency can perform its critical oversight role. The Senate must confirm him at once.
These steps will help put ATF on the path towards a fully functioning, modern and accountable law enforcement agency. It is far past time to do that – and with advocates for gun-violence prevention controlling the House, the Senate and the White House, this is the moment we can finally get it done.
Kris Brown is the president of Brady, one of the oldest gun violence prevention organizations in the country. Follow her on Twitter: @KrisB_Brown
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/05/28/san-jose-shooting-atf-chief-crack-down-gun-industry/7472311002/
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Abbie Chatfield has shared a very telling throwback
image of herself and boyfriend Adam Hyde, six months before they went Instagram Official.
The veteran presenter, 29, and the Peking Duk frontman went public with their relationship in June.
However another racy photo, taken before they
became a couple, captured Abbie and Adam waiting patiently together in a fast food line, with the presenter looking absolutely smitten over the strapping musician.
Abbie had a huge smile on her face in the adorable picture, as she gazed intensely at Adam as they
chatted while waiting to order.
She captioned the picture: ‘One year and two days since this iconic
photo of me being in love with Adam.
‘Before we ever even slept together LMAO. “Nah, I don’t have a crush on him anymore”.’
Abbie Chatfield has shared a very telling throwback image of
her and her boyfriend Adam Hyde, six months before they went Instagram Official.
Both pictured
The podcast host was braless in the image, and her low-slung skirt
showed plenty of skin.
Shortly after they went public with their relationship,
Abbie opened up about her sex life with her boyfriend in a candid and wide-ranging chat on her
It’s A Lot podcast.
She appeared on the bonus Ask Me Anything episode with Adam, in which they discussed their
budding romance.
As the new couple fielded questions about
their bond, musician Adam cheekily boasted about the couple’s sizzling chemistry.
It comes after Abbie revealed the sexual act
she would never engage in with her boyfriend.
She recently opened up about the launch of her ‘kink kit’
sex toys and admitted when it comes to bedroom fun,
it’s strictly a two-person affair.
The veteran presenter, 29, whose relationship with the Peking Duk frontman went public in June,
posted a loved-up image of them to Instagram from November last year. The photo captured Abbie
and Adam waiting patiently together, with the presenter looking smitten
Read More
Abbie Chatfield’s boyfriend shares photo of them kissing to celebrate her
‘kink kit’ launch
While she does fantasise about having a ménage à trois, Abbie admitted it’s something
she could never actually go through with.
‘I have a fantasy about seeing my partner f*** someone else,’ she told
News Corp.
‘But I think I know in my heart that I don’t actually want to
see it. I just want to talk about it like, that’s something that I
find hot. But in reality, would I want to see that? Probably not.’
‘Whenever we get to a point where we’re like, “let’s have a threesome!”, I’m like, “I don’t actually know if I’m gonna want to see that”,’ she continued.
Abbie and Adam’s relationship is stronger than ever since theyu went public in June
Abbie ChatfieldInstagram
The existence of an exclusive hideaway for the country’s movers and shakers where secret deals were done
in private luxury first exploded into the public eye back in 2007.
Back then, the fact that Qantas spent hundreds of
thousands of dollars wining and dining the nation’s political elite in ultra-exclusive VIP lounges was relatively unknown.
It was a time before Alan Joyce’s tenure as the CEO of Qantas had even started, when he was boss of the comparatively lowly budget airline, Jetstar.
And unlike Anthony Albanese’s current slide in the polls leading up to
an election in next year, the prospects back in 2007 were
rosy for Labor.
The election that was looming was the ‘Kevin 07’ landslide that would see Kevin Rudd become prime minister and John Howard lose his own seat.
The issue which blew open the ‘guilty secret’ of the Chairman’s Lounge then wasn’t about a prime minister’s
privileges, although John Howard and Kevin Rudd were certainly both members during their terms as PM.
But when broadcaster Steve Price – himself a long time Chairman’s Lounge
member – revealed a politically charged remark made
within the club’s hallowed walls, the cat was out of the bag.
The political revelation – a comment by ex-rock star turned senator Peter Garrett that Labor would change
the policies it campaigned on if it won government
– did not deter his party from romping in on election day.
In contrast, the scandal currently engulfing Anthony Albanese about
his Chairman’s Lounge membership and that of his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt, and
their son Nathan could bring down the prime minister.
The exclusive Qantas Chairman’s Lounge (above) has been a well-kept secret for years, but it
exploded into the public conscience in 2007 as the result of a political furore
Broadcaster Steve Price revealed he had been a Chairman’s Lounge member since 2002 during a row before
the 2007 election won by Kevin Rudd which let the cat out of the bag about the
VIP club
The existence of the lounge was so little known back in 2007 that in defending his
disclosure of Garrett’s remark, Steve Price had to explain what
the private enclave actually was.
In a first person piece he wrote: ‘The Chairman’s Lounge is a separate
frequent flyers lounge away from the crowded normal Qantas
Club.
‘As its name implies, the people given access to it are approved by the Qantas chairman, Margaret Jackson.
‘I have been a Chairman’s Lounge member since
2002.’
In his opinion piece, Price also revealed TV entertainment
reporter Richard Wilkins was also a member of lounge.
Wilkins had also been inside at the time and was his only witness to the remark Price said Garrett had made.
Other prominent media figures, such as 60 Minutes reporters,
actors and performers, and well-known writers and sports people are said to be among the lounge’s
exclusive membership of around 6000.
Price went on to defend himself for reporting what
some claimed was a confidential conversation in a private place, but
which exposed him to criticism over his own membership for allegedly promoting Qantas on his radio show.
Back in 2007, Alan Joyce (left) was boss of the comparatively lowly budget airline Jetstar,
and then Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon (right) had the power over who made the cut to the Chairman’s Lounge
One observer has described the relationship bet6ween leading politicians
such as PM Anthony Albanese and the former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (above) as ‘alarmingly cosy’
‘Why on earth is Qantas giving a controversial shock jock membership of its Chairman’s Lounge,
which is supposedly to enable our elite politicians and business leaders some privacy
from the hoi polloi?’ demanded Crikey reporter Stephen Mayne at the time.
‘The Chairman’s Lounge is meant to be all about discretion and confidentiality,’ he said,
accusing Price of breaking ‘a confidence’.
The following year, before he was succeeded as Qantas CEO by Alan Joyce, Geoff
Dixon was the sole gatekeeper of entry into the club’s hushed confines.
Qantas Chairman’s Lounge membership was ‘so exclusive that you have to be personally invited by the airline’s chieftain’, Nine newspapers reported in 2008.
‘A marvellous benefit of lounge membership is that the mega rich and powerful
avoid having to mingle with the riffraff who will be travelling cattle
class.
‘Having said that, members of the ultra-exclusive club have included Pauline Hanson.
‘Another lounge member is Brad Cooper, who is currently enjoying a prolonged exposure to cattle-class
in Kirkconnell Correctional Centre.’ (Cooper was the former
HIH insurance executive jailed for eight years on fraud and bribery offences).
Membership of the elite lounge is confined to about 6000 Australians including politicians from both sides,
senior public servants, TV stars and actors
The ‘scandal’ currently engulfing Anthony Albanese about
his Chairman’s Lounge membership and that of his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt, and their son Nathan could
bring down the prime minister (above the PM with partner
Jodie Haydon and ex-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce)
The report noted that politicians declaring membership of the
lounge ‘which most of their spouses got too’ in their pecuniary interests that year included Liberal MPs of the day,
Philip Ruddock, Bob Baldwin and Andrew Southcott.
Labor MPs with lounge privileges included Tanya Plibersek, Bob McMullan, and
Sharon Grierson, and Martin Ferguson declared a bottle of Grange hermitage as a gift from Qantas, as did Liberal, Christopher Pyne.
Asked if all MPs got the captain’s pick from Geoff Dixon, the airline’s spokesperson told Nine: ‘We like to retain a bit of mystery. Membership is by invitation only and
it is reviewed periodically.’
Fast forward to today, and nearly every single federal politician in the country
has accepted free membership of the controversial, invitation-only lounge with one even describing it as an ‘entitlement’.
Qantas and the Albanese government recently denied the ‘very, very high-end perk’ gives the
airline a disproportionate level of influence over the country’s politicians.
They were commenting ahead of the launch of the new book The Chairman’s Lounge by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston, which has stirred up
the controversy.
A Daily Mail Australia audit of the members’ interest registers – in both
Federal Parliament’s House of Representatives and the
Senate – revealed almost 93 per cent of the nation’s leaders have been ‘gifted’ membership to the lavish, all-inclusive
lounge.
Mr Albanese has defended himself by saying he declared all
his benefits in pecuniary interest statements.
At a press conference this week, he repeated that all of
his upgrades ‘have been declared as appropriate.
What’s appropriate is transparency.’
Apart from the PM, members include every one of his 22-person Cabinet, his seven-person Outer Ministry
and all 12 assistant ministers.
PM Anthony Albanese and every member of his 22-person Cabinet, his seven-person Outer Ministry and all 12 assistant ministers are members of the exclusive Chairman’s Lounge
Entry to the country’s six opulent VIP clubs are suitably discreet, but once inside, the
designer lounges offer free à la carte fine dining, table service and a discreet army of dedicated lounge attendants
On the Coalition side of parliament, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, deputy leader David Littleproud and
former deputy Barnaby Joyce are also among the swathes of politicians who
have disclosed they have taken up free membership to the contentious club.
Bill Shorten is a member, Tanya Plibersek is still a member and so is Teal MP, Zali Steggall.
Last year it was reported that Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe
Longo and some of their deputies are members of
the Chairman’s Lounge despite regulating the airline.
Senior public servants in the club included Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary
Glyn Davis, deputy secretaries Nadine Williams,
Liz Hefren-Webb, Rachel Bacon and ambassador to Beijing, Scott Dewar.
Other Qantas freebies bestowed on members include numerous business class flight upgrades, model Qantas aircrafts, frequent flyer points, and tickets to sporting and entertainment events.
Touted as ‘the most exclusive club in the country’, membership to the Chairman’s Lounge is still veiled in secrecy.
The new book The Chairman’s Lounge by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston (above) has stirred up the controversy
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe
Longo are members despite regulating the airline
Even the entrances to each of the country’s six opulent VIP clubs
– in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth airports
– are suitably discreet.
Once inside, however, the designer lounges are noticeably luxurious,
with free à la carte fine dining, table service, a decadent
selection of wines and Champagne and a discreet army of dedicated lounge attendants.
Virgin Airlines has its own version of the VIP enclave, the ‘Beyond’ lounge.
Only a handful of federal politicians have relinquished their
membership to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge in the wake
of the furore.
The select few to take a principled stand on the issue include South Australian senator Barbara
Pocock and former Wallabies star turned ACT senator David Pocock, along
with MPs Stephen Bates, Queensland Green Elizabeth Watson-Brown, and Monique Ryan, a Teal from Victoria.
Geoffrey Watson SC, a former counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against
Corruption and a director of the Centre for Public Integrity, has implored all
politicians and policymakers to follow suit.
‘There are certain positions in life where you cannot take Chairman’s Club membership,’ he said.
‘You’re taking public money for the job and
you are supposed to represent the public. Why not sit with them while you’re waiting for a plane?’
QantasAnthony Albanese
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By Dasha Afanasieva and Siddharth Cavale
Dec 2 (Reuters) – Philip Morris will reach its target of 50% sales from smoke-free
products by 2025 through organic revenue growth rather than mergers and acquisitions, its CEO told Reuters.
The maker of Marlboro cigarettes has spent more than $8 billion on reduced risk
products since it began developing them a decade ago,
Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said in an interview during the Reuters Next conference.
About 30% of revenue at Philip Morris now comes from “smoke-free” products such as iQOS tobacco
heating devices, Olczak added on Thursday.
Philip Morris has also set a target of generating $1 billion in sales from
non-nicotine products by 2025 as part of its evolution website into a
broader “healthcare and wellness” company.
“The way we look at these targets, we achieved the current 30% organically and I believe we can get to 50% by continuing this organic growth,” Olczak said, adding:
“Our $1 billion target of achieving sales from non-nicotine products we can also to a very large extent achieve organically.”
Olczak’s comments come nearly two months after Philip Morris
bought British inhaler-maker Vectura, a deal which faced opposition from public health experts who
questioned whether a tobacco group should own a company that cures the
respiratory illnesses which cigarettes cause.
Asked if he was surprised by the backlash, Olczak said there were “a few voices of criticism” and that he expected “negative emotions” to fade as
Vectura launches products over the next few years that will
address unmet patient and consumer needs.
Since it was announced in July, critics have put
concerted pressure on shareholders and the government to block the deal.
In August, a group of more than 35 health charities, experts and doctors across the world wrote website to shareholders over the damaging effect tobacco has on United Nations sustainable
development goals, following up with a letter to
the British government to look at conflict of interest
issues in September.
“Nothing we are doing should come as a surprise, we are putting in action the visions that we shared openly seven or so years ago about leaving cigarettes behind,” Olczak said.
“This is completely moving the company in another direction.”
To watch the Reuters Next conference, please register here: website
(Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva and Siddharth Cavale;
Editing by Alexander Smith)
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