A close look at Philadelphia s 499 homicides in 2020 reveals that the surge in violence began after the city s COVID-19 lockdowns were put in place and continued throughout the rest of the year. As Cam explains, the data demonstrates that the shootings and homicides weren t driven by the increase in gun sales to law-abiding citizens, but by the pullback on the part of police and the court system, which led to far fewer consequences for violent offenders.
Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative, on which voters will decide on Nov. 7, is already contentious enough. The proposed constitutional amendment would enshrine a right to abortion in Ohio’s state constitution and remove virtually every safeguard, including required parental involvement in a minor’s abortion. But now, a television ad featuring a couple who traveled to another state for a late-second-trimester abortion after receiving an adverse prenatal diagnosis has further fanned the flames and caused immense confusion.