OUR PICKSA Smarter Way to Reduce Gun Deaths | States Trying to Generate a Whole New Water Supply | Expanding Paroles at the Border, and more

The U.S. Has Had at Least 39 Mass Shootings in Just 24 Days So Far This Year, Data Shows  (Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News)
In the deadliest shooting of 2023, 11 people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a dance studio as people celebrated the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California.

Typical Mass Shooters Are in Their 20s and 30s – Suspects in California’s Latest Killings Are Far from That Average  (Jillian Peterson and James Densley, The Conversation)
The two men who shot dead 18 people in separate incidents just days apart in California are the latest perpetrators in America’s long history of mass gun violence. But something about these public shootings, and the men held responsible, stands out.
The median age of mass shooters in the United States is 32. Yet the man who is alleged to have shot dead 11 people in Monterey Park on Jan. 21, 2023, before turning the gun on himself was 72 years old – the oldest mass shooter in modern American history, our records show. Meanwhile, the gunman who took the lives of seven more in Half Moon Bay two days later was also older than most — 66, the third-oldest in history.

A Smarter Way to Reduce Gun Deaths  (Nicholas Kristof, New York Times)
Let’s try to bypass the culture wars and try a harm-reduction model familiar from public health efforts to reduce deaths from other dangerous products such as cars and cigarettes.
Harm reduction for guns would start by acknowledging the blunt reality that we’re not going to eliminate guns any more than we have eliminated vehicles or tobacco, not in a country that already has more guns than people. We are destined to live in a sea of guns. And just as some kids will always sneak cigarettes or people will inevitably drive drunk, some criminals will get firearms — but one lesson learned is that if we can’t eliminate a dangerous product, we can reduce the toll by regulating who gets access to it.

How Arizona, California and Other States Are Trying to Generate a Whole New Water Supply  (Gianna Melillo, The Hill)
Underground storage may be a key for Western states navigating water shortages and extreme weather.
Aquifers under the ground have served as a reliable source of water for years. During rainy years, the aquifers would fill up naturally, helping areas get by in the dry years. 
But growing demand for water coupled with climate change has resulted in shortages as states pump out water from aquifers faster than they can be replenished. 
The fallout can also lead to damaged vegetation and wildlife as streams run dry and damage to aqueducts and flood control structures from sinking land. 
Municipalities and researchers across the country are working on ways to more efficiently replenish emptied-out aquifers.  

Former Senior FBI Official Accused of Working for Russian He Investigated  (Shayna Jacobs, Spencer S. Hsu, Devlin Barrett and Shane Harris, Washington Post)
Charles McGonigal, a former counterintelligence chief, is also accused of taking $225,000 from a former Albanian intelligence worker while still at the FBI.

Southwest Border Migration Rises as DHS Hopes Expanded Parole Measures Will Turn Tide  (Bridget Johnson, HSToday)
Venezuelans have dropped from roughly 1,100 encountered per day before that process was announced to about 100 a day in December.

Earth’s Inner Core May Be Reversing Its Rotation, Study Finds  (Eric Niiler, Wall Street Journal)
 team of researchers from China believe the Earth’s inner core has reversed its rotation after they analyzed earthquake-driven seismic waves as they pass through the Earth.
In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers said the reversal of the inner core rotation would shorten the length of the day by a fraction of a millisecond over the course of a year, and might have a small effect on Earth’s magnetic field, but wouldn’t affect life on the surface. The Earth’s inner core is made of iron and nickel and is separated from the rest of the solid Earth by the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently than the rest of the planet.