Cyclist issued fine for striking four-year-old girl crossing the street
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
“Kids are being massacred in their schools, literally … their heads are being decapitated because of the power of an assault bullet, (which) is unlike anything, no other weapon,” gun violence prevention activist Samuel Schwartz told CTV News on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
“It’s gotten to the point now where it’s infringing on our right to live,” he told CTV News.
Schwartz, 19, is the organizer of a sit-in on Senate’s doorstep that began earlier this week, with plans to stay until June 12 or longer.
The protest comprises survivors of gun violence and grieving families of shooting victims from across the U.S., who are demanding change in the country where the leading cause of death for children and young adults is guns.
“None of us are safe, wherever we go, I don’t understand how more people aren’t joining this fight before it touches their lives,” says Kim Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter Lexi was gunned down in Uvalde, Texas a year ago.
Their demand is for Congress to hold a federal vote to ban assault-style weapons, the kind used in mass shootings at schools in Uvalde, Sandy Hook, and Parkland, Fla.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the first gun control bill in 30 years last June. And after mass shootings such as the ones in Uvalde and Buffalo, the president called on Congress to once again ban assault weapons with high capacity magazines - an earlier federal ban had lapsed in 2004. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not brought legislation to the floor because he can’t get the votes for a ban to pass.
The survivors want a vote anyway, to know who is for and who opposes a ban on this weapon of war.
Schwartz, 19, has been lobbying for change since his cousin Alex was murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. five years ago.
“I had a conversation with someone and they said that they look for an exit sign whenever they go into a new place which is just heartbreaking, because that's not the country that I want to live in,” said Schwartz, of Ban Assault Weapons NOW, who has since moved from Florida to Boston where gun laws are tougher.
While some sympathetic lawmakers stopped at the sit-in, signing their petition and even showing support on social media, it’s a tough sell politically in a divided government.
"They deserve for their own safety to have a vote in Congress. Frankly, we look at our friends to the north, as you know, leading by example on how you protect your own people from gun violence,” said Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, of California.
Watch the full report from CTV News’ Washington Bureau Chief Joy Malbon by clicking on the video at the top of this article.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Police say a woman in her 60s is in life-threatening condition after being struck by a vehicle at a bus shelter in Toronto's Bridle Path neighbourhood on Friday.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
When you're picking something up from the floor or bending over to tie your shoe laces, you're performing "the hinge move," according to movement trainers.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.