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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
President Trump1 seems to be backing off statements supporting gun control, including laws that would make it easier to take firearms away from people who might hurt themselves or others. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have laws that make it possible to petition a judge to get what's called an Extreme Risk Protection Order. These are also known as red flag laws. And a newly published survey from the American Public Media Research Lab finds strong majorities of Americans from across the political spectrum2 support these laws.
Joining us now is Leigh Paterson from the Guns & America reporting project. She is based at member station KUNC in Northern Colorado. Hi, Leigh.
LEIGH PATERSON, BYLINE3: Good morning.
GREENE: So I want to be careful here to clarify something. This polling was done before the mass shootings in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio, right?
PATERSON: Yes, exactly.
GREENE: Well, tell us what you found here. What stands out?
PATERSON: Well, so before I just give you a bunch of numbers, the survey basically says that there's a lot of support for these laws. Seventy-seven percent of Americans support family-initiated4 Extreme Risk Protection Orders - sorry 77%. And 70% support these orders when they're initiated by law enforcement.
Polling shows support is strong among Democrats5, Republicans, independents, though it's highest among Democrats, and it's fairly high among gun owners, too. Sixty-seven percent support orders initiated by family, and 60% support them when they are initiated by police.
GREENE: Well, I know we have some tape that you collected from people you spoke6 to trying to understand the meaning of these numbers, and I want our listeners to hear it. This is Cassandra Crifasi of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.
CASSANDRA CRIFASI: It's not focused on all gun owners; it's focused on gun owners who are exhibiting risky7 behaviors. That - I think we can reasonably agree, someone who's posting online about committing a mass shooting or someone who is sharing with a family member or friend that they're thinking about harming themselves, that's someone that we would want to separate from firearms.
GREENE: What does that tell us about the polling that you're seeing here?
PATERSON: Well, Crifasi - and just to add to what she just said - she pointed8 to the temporary component9 of these laws. And that's important because it means that once that temporary order expires, the subject of the order, the one who had to give up their guns, is able to go and ask for them back.
I also talked with Amy Swearer from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. She talks about these orders as kind of like an intermediate measure, meaning they can provide a way to intervene before someone has committed a crime or before they've gotten on the radar10 of mental health care professionals but who maybe are already showing signs of dangerousness, as she puts it.
GREENE: Well, I know we have some tape of Amy Swearer from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation...
PATERSON: Yeah.
GREENE: ...Also talking about why there is still, you know, notable opposition11 to ideas like this. Here's what she said.
AMY SWEARER: There are legitimate12, I think, underlying13 fears. If these laws are not properly narrowed, that if they're not using specific enough language, that if they're not being couched in appropriate measures of due process, that it can open the door for a lot of abuse.
GREENE: And is that where the opposition comes from, the idea that a law like this could open the door for more?
PATERSON: Yeah, yeah. It's - some of it. So some people believe these laws violate the Second Amendment14 because they limit access to guns. Others have concerns about due process. Here in Colorado, there's this whole movement of sheriffs who say they won't enforce the Colorado law once it takes effect because of the issues I've just outlined, because of that malicious15 intent idea and also because the law just simply doesn't have the mental health care component.
GREENE: Leigh Paterson comes to us from Guns & America, a public media reporting project focused on the role of guns in American life. Leigh, thanks so much. We appreciate it.
PATERSON: You're welcome.
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1 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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2 spectrum | |
n.谱,光谱,频谱;范围,幅度,系列 | |
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3 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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4 initiated | |
n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始,创始,启蒙,介绍加入 | |
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5 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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6 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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7 risky | |
adj.有风险的,冒险的 | |
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8 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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9 component | |
n.组成部分,成分,元件;adj.组成的,合成的 | |
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10 radar | |
n.雷达,无线电探测器 | |
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11 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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12 legitimate | |
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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13 underlying | |
adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的 | |
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14 amendment | |
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案 | |
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15 malicious | |
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
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