Beyond the Bricks 10/22

Beyond the Bricks

New York State Law Denies Guns to People with Mental Illness

On October 19, the New York Times reported on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s defense of the law denying guns to people with mental illness. It was revealed that 34,500 people in New York are considered mentally ill, and are therefore restricted from gun use. Many New Yorkers felt that this number was too high and includes those who are not actually a danger to themselves or others. This opinion was brought up by passionate protesters in the middle of Cuomo’s speech, who then had to be physically removed by the police. Cuomo defended the New York state law by comparing the 34,500 people with mental illness to the 140,000 people a year that are hospitalized for mental illness in New York state, pointing out that the number of people restricted from gun use is actually conservative.. Cuomo has pushed this law, known as the Safe Act, ever since the mass shooting in Newton, Connecticut in 2012.

Remains of UVA Student Hannah Graham Found

On October 19, ABC News reported an update on Hannah Graham, 18, a student from the University of Virginia that went missing a month ago. Graham went missing on September 13; she was last seen at a bar near UVA with a man named Jesse Leroy Matthew, 32. Matthew was arrested last month under charges of abduction. Recently, on October 19, human remains were found in a wooded area. The remains were suspected to be Graham's, and  the police officers assigned to her case searched the area the day after. They found a skull, bones and a pair of pants that were similar to the pair Graham was wearing the night she went missing. ABC News noted that the vertebrate found was one that belonged to a tall person, and Graham was 5 feet 11 inches tall.

Statistics Presented for 2016 Presidential Race

According to ABC News, Hillary Clinton currently holds the lead in the democratic field for the 2016 presidential election. Meanwhile, the GOP frontrunner is Mitt Romney, who is supported by 21 percent of the Republican Party, as well as Republican-leaning independents. Romney has twice the support of his closest rival, Jeb Bush. However, there is still a remaining “79 percent who prefer one of 13 other possible candidates tested, or none of them,” states ABC News. However, when Romney is taken out of the race, the supporting audience disperses, adding confusion to the GOP presidential race. If this were to happen, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul would be at the front of the race with 12 or 13 percent of the support from registered Republicans; all other candidates have less than 10 percent support. It is predicted that if Romney were to run for presidency again, he would re-encounter the issues he struggled with in 2012. The statistics for the 2016 presidential race are available very early, with the election over two years away, and could fluctuate.