I hope this blog will provoke some thoughtful reflection about the issue of guns and gun violence. I am passionate about the issue and would love to change some misperceptions and the culture of gun violence in America by sharing with readers words, photos, videos and clips from articles to promote common sense about gun issues. Many of you will agree with me- some will not. I am only one person but one among many who think it's time to do something about this national problem. The views expressed by me in this blog do not represent any group with which I am associated but are rather my own personal opinions and thoughts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After watching the coverage of the tornado damage in Oklahoma, it's almost hard to write more about the damage due to guns in our communities. Weather related disasters take the lives of many every year. It's a good idea to pay attention to warnings and do all you can to protect your families from injuries and deaths due to weather disasters. Sometimes they happen with little or no warning. Sometimes there is time to get to a shelter or do something to protect yourself or your property. It's the responsible thing to do. If one can get to a safer place, or not drive during a blizzard, or heed hurricane advisories to get away from the winds if possible, or put sandbags outside of your house, or get to a basement or storm shelter, or get out of an open spot or near a tree during a lightning storm, why not?
Why not do the same for protecting our communities from the devastation due to gun violence? Unless the gun rights folks help to monitor what is going on with gun owners who are irresponsible and admit to the problem, we won't be able to change the gun culture as it is now. Until these folks get involved in pushing for safe storage, safe use of guns, and other safety measures, we will not do enough towards reducing senseless gun deaths and injuries. Until there is a realization that owning and carrying guns are both risky behaviors that may affect the health and safety of others, we will not do enough to stop senseless shootings. Our current gun culture encourages people to own guns for self protection, but even further, for possible insurrection against our duly elected government. This is a dangerous point of view that fosters fear and paranoia and higher gun ownership. As a result, we have the distinction of being the country with the most gun deaths per capita than any other civilized country not at war. And we also have the highest rate of gun ownership. These two things are inextricably related. From the linked article by Adam Gopnik writing for the New Yorker:
Actually, it’s hard to find a more robust correlation in the social sciences than the one between gun laws and gun violence. The cry comes back: “But those are just correlations. They don’t prove causes!” And, indeed, the most recent damning study, published in that cranky, left-wing rag the Journal of the American Medical Association—which shows a clear correlation, state to state, between strong gun laws and less gun violence—ends with the orthodox injunction that the study could not alone determine cause-and-effect relationships, and that further studies are needed.
But when a scientific study ends by stating that there’s uncertainty about whether a correlation proves a cause, it doesn’t mean that correlations are meaningless in every circumstance. Everyone knows that creating false correlations between two unrelated elements is easy. But it can be that a correlation is so powerful and reliable that it may actually point to that rare thing in the social sciences, a demonstrable causal relation. As a wise man once said, “Correlation is not causation, but it sure is a hint.” When you can separate out a truly robust correlation between two elements in our social life, it’s a big deal.
What makes a correlation causal? Well, it should be robust, showing up all over the place, across many states and nations; it should exclude some other correlation that might be causing the same thing; and, ideally, there ought to be some kind of proposed mechanism that would explain why one element affects the other. There’s a strong correlation between vaccines and less childhood disease, for instance, and a simple biological mechanism of induced immunity to explain it. The correlation between gun possession and gun violence—or, alternately, between gun control and stopping gun violence—is one of the most robust that you can find. And the mechanism that connects weak gun laws to gun murders and massacres is self-evident: with guns around, ordinary arguments escalate into ones where someone gets killed, and crazy kids who dream of getting even with the world can easily find a gun—or, like Adam Lanza, many guns—to do it with.
One sign of the robustness of the correlation is that the counterarguments are either easily explodable pseudo-science or stories that people tell each other on Internet forums. “If he’d had a knife, he’d use that!”—well, yes, he would have, and the kids In Newtown would be alive today. In response to real social science, with its cautious but solid correlations, you get obscene, Tarantino-style fantasies—“If the kindergarten teacher had had an assault weapon of her own, loaded, primed, and ready to fire, this wouldn’t have happened!”—and stray tabloid anecdotes—“I heard about this woman, she had a gun, and the marauders just saw it and…” Indeed, that’s the favorite absurdity of the moment: to insist that it doesn’t matter whether or not there’s any evidence that guns are used effectively on any scale in self-defense, because the incidence of gun use doesn’t accurately track the millions of times that the mere sight of a gun in the hands of a housewife scares off the bad guys, causing murderers otherwise determined on mayhem to run away screaming.
“It’s natural to want to do everything you can to keep you family safe, especially if you live in a dangerous neighborhood,” he told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. “In a thunderstorm, it is also natural to take cover under the nearest tree, but that doesn’t make it a good idea.”
Kellermann has published several studies on gun ownership, which found keeping a firearm in the home increased the odds a family member would become a homicide victim. Not surprisingly, gun rights advocates have claimed that his research is flawed.
“The facts are this: While there are occasionally instances where someone uses a gun for self-defense effectively, the number of times a gun in the home is involved in the death of a child, the death of a family member, [or] the death of a visiting relative who is depressed vastly overwhelms the number of cases where a gun is used for self-defense,” he explained.
“That work has been out and available for over 15 years, and multiple studies have shown homes where guns are kept are actually more likely to be the scene of a homicide or a suicide than homes in exactly the same neighborhoods without guns.”
He advised those who wished to keep a gun in the home to store it in a highly secure location that couldn’t be accessed by intruders or distraught family members.
Still, is “More guns, less crime” the question we should really be asking? Most gun control advocates simply want commonsense measures, like getting rid of the gun show loophole, universal background checks and high capacity magazine bans have almost universal public support, especially among responsible gun owners. They have such support for good reason: theyactually work.
We know because tons of other countries have reduced their gun violence by reducing guns; Australia is the most recent example. Having a gun in your home makes you vastly more likely to take your own life. A 2006 study published inPublic Health finds that, “the proportion of firearm suicides decreased simultaneously with the proportion of households owning firearms. This result is in line with the well-established association between availability of firearms at home and risk of firearm suicide.” (...) But, in fact, the aggregate number of guns in society isn’t really what we want to control: we want to keep guns out of the hands of those who are violent, criminal or mentally challenged. I don’t have a problem with responsible citizens using guns that they have obtained with a permit, after undergoing a background check and using a gun with only a small magazine capacity. So the real question is not, do more guns lead to more crime, but, do stricter regulations reduce crime? In fact, they do. Here’s a chart froma recent study by the Center for American Progress. (...) So certainly, violence is down, and often, high levels of gun ownership can exist with low levels of crime (just not often). The real question is: does gun control work. The evidence is in. Now let’s hope the politicians listen.
I would suggest looking at the graphs in the above article. They are instructive and provide yet another correlation between gun ownership and the danger to the owner or others close by. As long as we have a country where gun ownership is so high and where guns are idolized by so many, we need to be responsible for keeping us all safe from guns obtained illegally and in the wrong hands as well as legal guns that are misused because of irresponsible behaviors. Legislation will help to reduce and prevent some gun deaths and injuries. Common sense and safety measures, along with understanding the risks of guns in the home can also help to prevent senseless loss of life. It's imperative to do both if we are serious about saving lives. Let's get to work and do what has to be done. Lives depend on it.
Have you taken a side yet? Have you decided that the gun issue is a black or white issue and that there can't be any in betweens? Are there compromises? There should always be compromises in life. In fact, lives depend on there being compromises. To go even further, actually, there should be no compromising about the idea that we, in America, have a problem with gun violence. The problem is that there are too many gun deaths and injuries- about 30,000 deaths and about 70,000 injuries. Those numbers are staggering and unacceptable. No other country tolerates such a national public health and safety epidemic. Why do we? That is a question deserving of an answer from lawmakers, from gun owners, from the corporate gun lobby, from the media, from the citizens, and anyone concerned. The fact that there is a debate and 2 sides about whether or not we should enact laws and change habits and minds to prevent loss of life is insane.
" I believe strongly that expanding and improving mandatory background checks will keep a lot of people who aren’t entitled to Second Amendment rights from having easy access to guns. As of today, a convicted felon can find a gun show or a private seller and buy a firearm without a background check. That loophole should be closed. Every gun transaction must include a thorough background check. Why would responsible gun owners want to protect people who threaten not only our safety but our gun rights?
The NRA has it wrong: Irresponsible gun owners are bad for everyone. If you shouldn’t have access to a gun, then there should be no way for you to access a gun! Can anyone argue with that?
Consider the mentally ill, one of the biggest threats to firearm safety. How do we preserve their rights to health privacy while keeping firearms out of their hands? It’s a huge concern, given the role mental illness has played in recent gun-violence tragedies. While some states have made progress, it’s far from universal.
But convicted felons, people with restraining orders against them and those with a history of mental illness can still find ways to purchase weapons. No one should stand for this.
The tragedy in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, and the gun violence that claims on average eight children per day in the United States, require us to think differently about what the Second Amendment really means.
Does anyone have the right to drive a car without first obtaining a license? Better yet, try buying a car without a driver’s license. Car companies know it is good for the auto industry to make cars safer and get dangerous drivers off the road. Why can’t gun manufacturers and the NRA realize this as well? (Driving a car is not a constitutional right, I know, but the safety implications are similar.)" (...)
Enhanced background checks need not threaten the Second Amendment. Why are the NRA and the elected representatives who support it so slow to realize this? Or do they fear a slippery slope toward greater restrictions on gun rights? If they don’t want to burden a flawed system, they should be part of fixing it.
Reducing gun violence and protecting the Second Amendment is not an either-or idea. I challenge the NRA’s leadership to partner with groups such as Evolve, which I recently joined, that seek to protect gun rights while creating a culture of responsibility, safe gun use and prudent access to firearms.
Can we imagine an NRA capable of taking that on? Or are we doomed to the uncompromising philosophy driving everything the organization does? I want to be proud of being a member of a proactive NRA.
Thank you to Jeffrey Nugent for his cogent and articulate comments. The interesting thing is that most gun owners actually agree with him. They have already taken the side of common sense. It is a very small group of people who insist that this is either/or. Meanwhile, people are losing their lives on a daily basis. Readers of this blog know that I have taken the side of common sense and have been advocating for it for many years. To that end, I write to get people to take action to save lives. Saving lives is the goal and it can and must happen. I mean, really folks, think about it. When stories of gun deaths, now being published several times a week by Joe Nocera of the New York Times continue unabated, we know we have a problem that needs to be addressed. He is not alone in addressing the daily gun carnage. I refer to other sources in my posts and on my blog who are writing as well. These are people who care about the responsibilities that come with rights. They get that this is about making policy that works to stem the tide of gun violence all over our country. It is imperative to see it through that lens in order to make the changes that will lead to fewer people being shot to death.
Unfortunately, the lens through which the corporate gun lobby sees the issue is profit and paranoia over prevention. How else can you explain that small cities in some states are passing laws to require gun ownership? Isn't this the reverse of second amendment concerns, expressed by the NRA lobbyists and leaders? Isn't this a violation of the right to not own a gun and not to have the government say you must? Hypocrisy. From Nocera's article above:
It’s a far cry from the town of Nelson, Ga., which recently passed a law requiring gun ownership. The April 1 ordinance requires every head of household in the town of 1,300 to have a gun and ammunition, but there are exceptions: the law exempts anyone who opposes gun ownership or has certain disabilities.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a federal lawsuit against the town, which is 50 miles north of Atlanta, claiming the law is unconstitutional. City leaders have said the law was mostly symbolic and isn’t being enforced. According to the Associated Press, the law’s supporters said they wanted to make a statement about gun rights at a time when the president was seeking restrictions in the wake of the Newtown massacre.
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association has vowed to sue the state of Maryland to get its eminently sensible law declared unconstitutional. Not exactly a surprise. Here is today’s report.
Why pass a law if it is not enforceable? Why pass a law that has loopholes to allow some to opt out? Well, let's see. Why does this sound familiar? There is a gaping loophole in the Brady Law, already in existence, that needs fixing. If we want to enforce the laws already on the books, how about extending the Brady background check system to all gun sales? That would strengthen the law and take away any guessing as to whether some people who can't pass background checks get guns anyway. And when they do, sometimes they are responsible for senseless shootings. We have enough examples of that to know that it's true. We also know that it's true that some felons, domestic abusers, adjudicated mentally ill people, drug abusers, etc. do try to buy guns from licensed dealers and get turned away. Therefore we know that the law works. But it needs fixing to make it work better. What doesn't work is that by not closing that loophole in the law about private sellers, we are complicit in allowing unlawful people to get guns which can be used in gun crimes and murders. Does this make any sense? Of course not. Our laws need to be strengthened. And passing these laws will not prevent all gun crimes and all gun deaths. At the very least we need to be responsible enough as a country to pass laws that we know can save some lives.
Getting to the point of agreement is difficult. It shouldn't be, but it is. If only the corporate gun lobby would stand aside and leave lawmakers to making the public safety policy in America. Our lawmakers know that there is a right side and that is saving lives. But they won't do what's right until they realize that the voices that some are listening to are not telling them the truth. The second amendment allows for gun laws to be passed and enacted. It always has. To say otherwise is cynical and deceptive.
Even before the Sandy Hook shooting on 12/14, the majority of gun owners and even NRA members understood that passing gun laws doesn't take away their rights to own guns. Polling data over many years has been consistently in favor of enacting stronger gun laws. After Sandy Hook, the numbers rose and have remained steady. That means that even if people are supporters of second amendment rights, they know we need to do something about the senseless gun violence. There's nothing unconstitutional about wanting to save lives. There really is only one side to the issue of gun violence prevention. And that is that most everyone is in favor of it. Enough is enough of the specious arguments and hyperbole. It's time for gun owners and NRA members to join with the gun violence prevention groups to demand laws that will save lives. Let's get to work.
We have to talk. Would you expect that there would be people at the local bowling alley carrying guns for self protection? I mean, what could possibly go wrong? There's a lot of moving around when you bowl and a lot of families with kids at a bowling alley, depending on the time of day. Also, most often, beer and other alcohol is served at most bowling alleys. So I just don't get what's so scary about going bowling? But this Florida man must have been fearful that someone was going to take a shot at him or that there might be a zombie attack or maybe a jack booted government thug was going to walk in demanding his gun. At any rate, I hope he now thinks twice about carrying a gun around in his pocket in a public place where the public is gathered for a good time. And he's pretty darned lucky that the bullet only injured himself and not someone innocent person. From the article:
"A man accidentally shot himself in the leg while bowling at Jupiter Lanes about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Witnesses said the man had been carrying a gun in the pocket of his shorts.
"The guy just stepped up to bowl," Jim Miller said. "I think he hit his leg on his back swing."
Added fellow witness Mike Martin: "The ball hit him in the leg, which triggered the revolver."
Police have not identified the victim, but witnesses said he limped back to his seat, holding his leg. His injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
"Everybody kind of stopped," witness Debra Dean said. "We were way down on this end. Everybody was looking, and all of a sudden you can tell something wasn't right."
He was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center as a precaution."
Embedded within the article is this: " REMEMBER THIS? NFL star Plaxico Burress shoots himself in leg at nightclub". Yes. I remember that incident. He ended up being charged with several crimes and served time. The reckless gun owner at the Florida bowling alley was a legal permit holder. I thought those folks were supposed to be safe with their guns. Most people assume that the 2-3% of people who choose to carry loaded guns around in public know what they are doing with their guns. They would be wrong. Read Ohh Shoot for how often legal gun owners misuse their guns. It's frightening. The more guns there are in more public places, the more often we will be reading stories about this stupid and dangerous behavior. For only 2.5 hours of training and $65 a Florida resident can carry a loaded gun around in public. Reassuring.
Aurora Police are investigating an accidental shooting at a parking lot at Rangeview High School that left one student with a "significant injury" on Monday.
Close to an hour after school had been dismissed on Monday, a male student was accidentally shot in the leg by an adult who police say "works at the school, but is not a teacher," in a press statement.
The school employee involved in the shooting accident works a second job as an armed security officer and was giving the victim a ride home. When the school employee moved his gun to the glove box of his vehicle, the gun accidentally went off and struck the student. The security officer then drove the student to the hospital.
The victim was rushed into surgery and is expected to survive.
The names of the victim and the school employee are not being released by the police.
What would Wayne LaPierre have to say about these incidents given his hyperbolic and fear mongering rhetoric? Not much. Listen to his ludicrous statement above in the context of these many incidents I have cited on this post and many others. Where is common sense? The gun culture is rife with people like the above and too often we just shrug it off. We can't do that anymore. 49 states have passed laws allowing people to carry guns in public places. That is because the NRA lobbyists and apologists convinced lawmakers that only law abiding people would carry their guns around and they would actually protect the rest of us in public places. Poppycock. It's just not happening. People are being shot accidentally in public places all over this country. A bowling alley should be safe from bullets discharging from a bowler's gun. And while we are talking about bowling and bullets, how can we forget the first film to be made about a mass shooting in America- Bowling for Columbine- about the Columbine school shooting and our nation's loose gun laws. Michael Moore had it right though he took a lot of criticism at the time. We are better than this. Until our lawmakers figure out that they were fooled, we are stuck with these laws and we are also stuck with the potential for people to be shot by "responsible law abiding" gun owners.
Yesterday, the Northland Chapter of Protect Minnesota/Brady Campaign held a March to End Gun Violence along our Lakewalk. Over 100 people came to show support for common sense gun laws. If it wasn't for the more sobering end to the event, when many people came forward to ring our bell at the Memorial Bell Garden in memory of a lost loved one, it was almost festive. There were signs, flags, balloons, kids, babies, dogs, bikes and people of all ages. A glaring contradiction amongst the gun extremists is that they are patriotic and love their country and the Constitution and we don't. Not true. We love America and our flag. We love the people of America enough that we don't want them to get shot to death. But I digress. There were speakers at the rally at the end of the march in support of our legislators passing the gun background check bill sitting before them. So far, they have refused to bring it to the floor of the Minnesota House for a vote.
Minnesotans. Too controversial? If so, why did they get up their courage to vote in favor of a Marriage Amendment bill to legalize marriage for same sex couples? This was a tremendous and very welcome vote. It was passionate and focused and gratifying to see. I applaud our legislators for doing the right thing. The very same legislators who were willing to vote against a popular gun background check bill voted in favor of this bill. Why? Today the bill passed in the Minnesota Senate and will be signed into law. Minnesota will be the 12th state in the nation to pass a marriage equality bill. I am proud to be a Minnesotan and this is a great day for all of us but most especially for my gay/lesbian friends and a few relatives. There was a lot of talk about the courage it took for some to vote for this bill and a lot of chants of "We have your back." Yes, indeed. It does take courage to do the right thing sometimes. And the same would be true for a very simple background check bill. It shouldn't take so much courage but when up against armed citizens who are funded by the ever present NRA, some legislators lose their nerve. I watched as the celebration took place at the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda this afternoon. It brought me to tears. I would be surprised if there wasn't one person in that rotunda who was against the background check bill. We will work to make sure those folks join us in our fight to do the right thing for gun violence victims and stop the contradictions.
People should be able to have marches, walks, runs, parades, rallies and vigils without fear of being shot. Some of the Minnesota gun rights extremists made some noise about showing up at our events armed. They didn't come but we were ready. Not with our guns, but with our passion and a well placed police officer. Sure, openly carrying guns is legal in the public park where our event was held and on the street corner where the Minneapolis group held a vigil on Saturday. But why? What in the world is so dangerous about a walk in a public park where families are gathered? Apparently the most danger comes from those armed folks themselves. At a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans, one or more armed people thought it was OK to shoot at people marching in the parade. 19 were injured, including 2 children. From the article:
Security camera video released today by New Orleans police appears to capture the moment when a gunman opened fire on a crowd at a Mother's Day parade. Nineteen people were wounded, including two children.
Video images show a man in a white T-shirt waiting by a house as the procession goes by, running up to the crowd and opening fire at close range.
The crowd instantly scatters and flees from the suspect, who keeps his gun elevated as people run away, some falling to the street. The gunman then runs away. It's not clear if he was targeting a particular person.
No arrests had been announced as of today.
Ten men, seven women, and a girl and a boy both age 10, were hit when gunmen opened fire at the parade. Police said they were looking for three suspects, adding that a motive for the shooting was unknown.
Two victims underwent surgery and the children were grazed but in good condition, police said on Sunday. It was unclear if the victims were marching or watching the parade.
Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas has said a witness reported hearing two different types of gunshots, indicating two weapons were involved.
The FBI attributed the incident to "street violence," not terrorism.
Serpas told reporters that officers saw three suspects running away, with one about age 18 to 22.
"It appears that these two or three people, for reasons unknown to us, started shooting at, towards or in the crowd," Serpas said, adding that the incident was over in "just a couple of seconds."
Mayor Mitch Landrieu called the shooting part of "the relentless drum beat of violence" on the streets of New Orleans.
"It's a culture of violence that has enveloped the city for a long, long period of time," Landrieu told a news conference outside University Hospital, where three victims were being treated for serious injuries.
This could have been so much worse. There is a culture of violence in New Orleans and some other American cities. But what are we doing about it? Street guns or illegal guns start out as legal purchases and end up in the illegal market because they are stolen, because of straw purchasing, because of private purchases with no background checks. Are we passing laws that could stop some of this? No. It's time we do. Why don't we? With all of this violence on our streets and in our communities, why does the gun lobby work so fiercely against laws that could help prevent some of the violence? If they are so scared of all of those folks on the streets with their guns that they have to buy their own to protect themselves, why not do something about the first problem? A contradiction for sure. Unless you connect the dots to the gun industry and making sure it continues to profit from gun sales.
When do we think Starbucks will re-think allowing loaded guns in their stores? Perhaps when a lawsuit happens? Follow the money.
Guns are dangerous. The more of them carried into more public places the more we will see incidents such as this. Again, check out Ohh Shoot ( where 2 recent entries are people accidentally discharging loaded guns at gun shops) for much more about this. The media is beginning to notice that law abiding gun owners can be dangerous with their guns in public places and even at home. Accidental shootings are being recorded by more than one source. For instance, over at Accidental Shootings, a running report is being kept. Also, I have referred previously here to the blog, The Gun Report by Joe Nocera of the New York Times in which he reports on the shootings he knows about over a week-end or several days' time. Here is the most recent from Mother's Day week-end. Shootings of all kinds occurred in many different states. There were homicides, kids shooting other kids, people shooting people marching in parades, domestic shootings, police shootings, drive-by shootings, gang shootings, etc. They took place in New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, California, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Delaware, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Idaho, Maryland, South Carolina, Iowa, Kentucky and Indiana. And yet, some of the gun rights extremists believe that shootings are only amongst gang members or in the inner city of large cities. They just aren't happening where they live- wherever that may be. But they happen everywhere and anytime. The denial of reality is just not working any more now that so many people are reporting on actual shootings.
The 14-year-old Massachusetts boy had recently found his mother's handgun, which she kept hidden under her mattress for protection.
"Promise me you'll never touch it," his mother, a single mom, had asked him.
But the lure of the gun was irresistible. He decided to show it off to his neighbor, 12-year-old Brian Crowell.
"He was going, 'Click, click, click,'" pretending to shoot the gun, says Brian's mother, Ann Marie Crowell, who spoke to the child and his mother after the incident. "But there was one last bullet. It went into Brian's neck."
And just like that, Crowell's son was gone.
Nearly 800 children under 14 were killed in gun accidents from 1999 to 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one in five injury-related deaths in children and adolescents involve firearms.
Enough said. More contradictions. Wouldn't you think that all of this would be embarrassing for the gun lobby and their apologists? In fact, these incidents usually fly under the radar. Most people don't know about the daily shootings unless it's happened to them or someone they know- or in their own community. When informed, they are often surprised. For example, when I told a young couple pushing a baby in a stroller at the march on Sunday, that in Minnesota it's legal for gun permit holders to carry their guns openly, they were not only surprised, but horrified. That is because the NRA has been so clever that they manage to pass things in bills that go unnoticed or fly "under the radar." So when someone carrying a gun in a Starbucks store accidentally shoots a customer, it's an eye opener. Most reasonable people don't need guns in public nor do they want them in public. It's about 2-3% of Americans who carry guns in public and who assume that all shootings are committed by prior criminals, "low lifes" or gangs and so they feel a need for their guns to protect themselves from these same folks.
I say enough is enough. We need the facts. We need common sense. We need our leaders to stop being beholden to the NRA and to start listening to what the majority is telling them. I see the tide changing. The more crazy the gun rights extremists get, as in this video from The Rachel Maddow Show, the more we can see how unreasonable and nuts these folks are.
We are better than this. Such paranoia has no place in America. It is leading to craziness and to people stock piling guns, fear of government, potential tyranny and domestic terrorism and who knows what else? The exposure of this craziness is helping to inform the public about the extreme positions of some on the far right. And the more facts we have, the better we can be at dispelling the myths. But will it be in time? Will this stupid and dangerous talk lead to further problems? Time will tell. The fact that our leaders are not doing anything to prevent senseless shootings and acts of violence is irresponsible. As long as the extreme gun culture is allowed to get away with this kind of behavior and rhetoric, we are the worse for it as a country. It's time to demand that our leaders act in the best interest of public health and safety. Lives depend on it.
UPDATE:
The shooter at the New Orleans Mother's Day parade has been identified. From this article:
New Orleans Police Supt. Ronal Serpas said the department is searching for Akein Scott, 19.
Serpas said an arrest warrant has been issued for Scott, and said he was positively identified by more than one person.
Search warrants were executed at three addresses Monday night, where police hoped to find Scott. Those efforts were unsuccessful.
Serpas urged Scott to turn himself in to authorities.
"We are coming to find him. We will find him," Serpas said.
Scott has two previous arrests, according to Sheriff's Office records. In February 2012, he was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a stolen firearm. In April of that year, the district attorney refused the charges.
In March of this year, he was arrested and charged with resisting an officer, illegally carrying weapons, possession of heroin and illegal possession of stolen firearms and illegally carrying weapons with controlled dangerous substance.
Based on court records, all the charges were refused, except for illegally carrying a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance. His bond was set at $15,000 on that charge.
He was officially indicted on April 22 on that charge, records show. He was set to appear in court on Thursday.
How and why did this young man keep getting guns illegally? Something needs to change to get these guns off the street along with the people who buy, steal and sell them. Gun laws can make a difference. Let's get to work.
UPDATE #2:
There were rallies all over the country last week-end, drawing hundreds of supporters. But, of course, the gun guys had to show up as if the rallies were theirs. This one in Pennsylvania drew the usual nonsensical NRA promoted signs and protests from armed citizens:
Steve Kesselman of Holland raised his voice above the crowd to briefly talk about the loss of his 20-year-old son from a deadly shotgun blast after an argument last year.
“My son is dead! His mother cannot enjoy him anymore because of gun violence! Universal background checks is all we’re looking for. I have nothing against guns!” Kesselman yelled into the microphone.
“Do you believe in unicorns?!” a pro-gun supporter yelled from the crowd.
When Kesselman was done speaking, many erupted in applause and some personally came up to him and his wife, Sheryl, to thank them.
“I think it’s ridiculous the way they’ve been acting. I’m so numb to the idiots out there,” he said of the gun supporters.
The rally in Morrisville culminated in a Pre-Mother’s Day Gathering, March and Rally against Gun Violence organized by the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action.
The event forced the cancellation of several Little League games that that had been scheduled for the same time at the park.
The group coordinated the rally to raise awareness of the need for new gun safety legislation, despite the recent failure of the U.S. Senate to pass new gun safety laws.
“The message is that we are persisting in our advocacy for common-sense gun safety laws and first and foremost about that is universal background checks,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the Coalition for Peace Action. (...)
Gun owners from groups such as Concerned Gun Owners of Bucks County, the National Rifle Association and a New Jersey group called the NJ2As gathered at Williamson Park before the marchers arrived. Many wore guns and rifles.
Though a borough ordinance forbids firearms in the park, state law allows citizens the right to carry firearms and state law supersedes the borough ordinance, Chief Herron said.
Scott Smith of Narberth attended the rally but left his pistol and shotgun home out of respect for the borough ordinance.
He is against universal background checks. “We could outlaw guns and still have problems,” Smith said. “No background check in America would have stopped Adam Lanza,” he said, referring to the man who killed 26 people, including 20 children, in the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last year.
Dennis Cioffi of Berlin, N.J., said he attended the rally because New Jersey gun owners already have laws that are too stringent and he wanted to support Pennsylvania gun owners.
“Every one of us (New Jersey) gun owners has had multiple background checks. I was checked three times!” Cioffi said.
Steve Scheetz of Tullytown said he was there to support gun owners. He said all Americans should be trained in self defense, including the use of firearms.
“We’re living in a world where people want to kill us,” said Scheetz, who owns two guns.
Jason Gass of Royersford said: “My simple message is the right to keep and bear arms should not be infringed upon.”
The rally ended with Rev. Moore telling the crowd that gun safety is not a partisan issue.
“The vast majority of gun owners are responsible gun owners and I want to thank you right here in public for being responsible,” Moore told the crowd. “The problem is that some gun owners are not responsible. This is about human suffering.”
The man who was checked three times must be suffering terribly for that inconvenience. Come on. People want to kill us? Who is the guy talking about? People are killing us at the rate of 32 gun homicides a day. But most of these are not random shootings by criminals. Most are domestic or people who know each other in some way. The Newtown shooting was horrific but actually more unusual than the every day shootings in America. And the idea that a gun background check would not have prevented the Newtown shooting so let's not prevent the many others we could prevent is specious and ludicrous. We have to make sense or nothing else will matter.
Do you give your mother flowers on Mother's Day? Mothers all over the country will be getting flowers, breakfast in bed, brunches and other gifts on the day set aside to honor mothers in America. Mothers can be fierce when it comes to protecting their children. 13 years ago, I went to Washington D.C. to march in the first Million Mom March from which a movement began. It was an amazing experience for all who were there. It felt empowering to be surrounded by so many other people, many of them mothers, who, like me, had lost a loved one in a senseless shooting. I was honored to be invited to the White House lawn to hear President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton speak passionately about the issue of gun violence prevention just before the start of the March. We were inspired by their words. We were inspired by the huge crowd, the speeches and the music. But not much has changed since that Mother's Day. The shootings have continued. Congress has failed to act. And mothers are still angry about the lack of action to prevent the continued senseless shootings. This week, Million Mom March/Brady Chapters are acting to let our leaders know we want them, at long last, to vote on sensible gun laws.
Erica will not be giving flowers to her mother this Mother's Day. After the Sandy Hook shooting, a new group of mothers emerged. They are Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense. The group will hold vigils and other actions all over the country this week-end to remind our leaders that the passion of mothers can and will make changes. They will be bringing 8 home made or store bought flowers to events to highlight the 8 children a day who lose their lives to gunshot injuries in America. Their founder, Shannon Watts, has written this wonderful piece for Mother's Day this year. From her article:
This Mother's Day, eight American mothers will wake up having lost a child to gun violence the day before. Another eight mothers will go to bed having lost their children to gun violence on Mother's Day.
This American epidemic, which has become a public health crisis, goes unaddressed by vocal minority of elected leaders in Washington who seem unwilling to act, either out of cowardice or self-interest.
After the mass shooting of elementary school children in Newtown, I thought Americans would finally stand up and say, "enough." Twenty children and six adults had been slaughtered in the sanctity of an elementary school by an assault weapon designed for the battlefield. The horror of it was almost too much to believe or comprehend. This has to be the tipping point, I thought. This has to be what moved us as a country to change.
But it wasn't. Twenty dead first-graders weren't enough to advance even the weakest of legislative measures.
We have talked for decades about trying to put an end to senseless gun violence by keeping these weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of people who should not have them, including convicted criminals and the clinically insane. This should be something we can all agree on. Our presidents have talked about it for years too, so much so that their speeches weave together as though they were written by the same person.
The vote that failed in the Senate would have been a small step in the right direction, and simply expanded background checks to cover all gun sales. It was a common sense measure, one that 90 percent of Americans, including a majority of the members of the National Rifle Association, supported.
Yet it failed. It failed because there are still people in our country who think the unlimited right to own guns and ammunition trumps the value of the lives of American children.
This shameful failure to act is a black mark on American politics and the nonsensical adherence to the mythical power of one well funded organization whose primary purpose is to keep the gun industry selling more guns to more people. The lack of empathy and respect for victims is really stunning. This lack of respect was on display at the recent NRA convention in Houston. How can one explain the promotion and sale of a bloodied figure of a scantily dressed "zombie" for target practice called "the ex"? From Joe Nocera's New York Times "Gun Report":
Two of today’s shootings involve men who allegedly gunned down their wives and other family members. In fact, many shootings covered in our daily report are domestic. This sad fact has apparently not gone unnoticed by Zombie Industries, an N.R.A. convention vendor famous for marketing a target that resembles President Obama. The company is under fire this week for marketing a mannequin shooting target in the likeness of a bleeding woman. Dubbed “The Ex,” the blond mannequin is clad in a tight white shirt and violet bra and actually bleeds fakes blood when shot. After an outcry, Amazon just yesterday stopped selling it.
Demand Action to End Gun Violence, a campaign of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, recently released an infographic revealing the intersection of guns and domestic violence. It included some startling statistics: women are more likely to be murdered by guns in America than they are in any other developed nation; the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide by 500 percent; a majority of mass shootings involve incidents of domestic violence; in states that require a background check for a handgun sale, 38 percent fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners.
It seems this would be a perfect time for women’s groups and anti-domestic violence campaigns to join forces with the Brady Campaign and Mayors Against Illegal Guns and tie gun regulation to the protection of women and children—especially since the N.R.A. is increasingly linking the right to bear arms and women’s self-defense. Here is today’s report.
Luckily, the NRA is being more carefully watched after 12/14, and for good reason. They have been getting away with this stuff for many years now. But they are no longer being allowed free rein with their fear, paranoia, meanness and hyperbolic rhetoric. It is not acceptable that there are "zombies" for target practice resembling one's ex-wife or girlfriend. It is not acceptable that there are "zombies" with the likeness of President Obama to use as target practice. What kind of a world would think this is O.K.? The world of Wayne LaPierre and the NRA's newly elected president, James Porter, that's who. As long as this is the M.O of this group, people will continue to be shot daily with no support for common sense gun regulations to prevent even just some of it. This outright, not so subtle encouragement of shooting at someone you don't like translates to actual shootings of people you don't like. The message is clear here. The gun culture needs to change.
On Mother's Day, let us honor mothers and other women by supporting measures to keep them safe in their homes and their communities. And that doesn't mean urging them to buy guns. They will be less safe with a gun in their home. But the gun lobby stops at nothing to ramp up gun sales. Until the sale of guns is less important than protecting families and communities from the devastation caused by gun violence, mothers and others will stay involved. Until we do something about the daily carnage caused by shootings, mothers and others will hold vigils and demand action. I have signed a Mother's Day card to the Sandy Hook mothers in support of the efforts to strengthen our gun laws so that other mothers will not have to be without their children on Mother's Day.
Until we get our heads and hearts together to do the right thing in this country, too many mothers will be shot in senseless shootings. Until we decide that the NRA lobbyists and their leaders should not get to determine public safety in this country, more children will be gunned down senselessly, leaving their mothers without their children on a day to honor mothers. We are better than this. Mothers demand action and will continue to do so until our leaders act. Mothers are all about common sense. There will be events all over the country and actions taken this week and on Mother's Day week-end to hold our leaders accountable for their failure to act. It's time for them to listen to the collective voices of the mothers of America.
Happy Mother's Day.
UPDATE:
I just ran across this story, titled "Guns and My Mother" by Arkadi Gerney writing for the New Yorker, about a gun incident that changed his mother's life. His former job, working for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has informed him about the need for change in our gun laws and he also tells his personal story. His story is compelling and the details about gun deaths are more than enough for us to do something on this Mother's Day. From the end of the article:
But LaPierre is wrong to suggest that there is something unseemly about people on our side telling our stories. It can be hard to dredge up a private agony for a public purpose—that, I suppose, is why I didn’t talk about my own history for so long, and why many other people are so reluctant. But gun violence touches people all over this country: from Boston to Akron to Seattle to Manchester, Illinois. And it’s the stories of the people whose lives are changed that can help to permanently change the debate, and thus make our country safer.
Every day, an average of thirty-three Americans are murdered with guns. Another fifty or so die in gun suicides and accidents. And another two hundred or so are shot and injured. That’s a lot of stories.
Gerney is right. There are too many victims. This is why he was involved. This is why mothers will not go away until our leaders act to strengthen our gun laws.
I have been away from my blog for a few days to do some child care with grandchildren. While I was away, the NRA held it's annual convention. There is a lot to write about. But first, on Saturday, we took our grandchildren to a Bloomington nature reserve for the Raptor release. Though it was very cold and we didn't stay long enough for the release, we saw some magnificent raptors and other birds close up. The kids loved seeing these birds and hearing the volunteers explain their habits, their ability to fly at over 200 miles per hour ( Peregrine Falcon) and their amazing wing span. They particularly liked the Great Horned Owl. So it got me thinking about a plaque that I got from someone years ago that reads like this: "Don't let the turkeys get you down. Soar with the Eagles."
The turkeys are the jerks who try to take you down and make your life miserable. There are plenty of those soaring these days. Take the NRA annual convention just held in Houston, for example. There were the usual displays of weapons and interesting paraphernalia and other items of interest. And there were the people who believe in the NRA messaging. This video from the Guardian brings out the usual specious claims that guns are inanimate objects, or that the second amendment means everyone should be able to have any gun anywhere they want with no restrictions, and more. Check it out.
A 15 year old said that his favorite gun is an AK 47? Where did he learn that? Do I have to remind my readers that this is a knock-off of a gun used for war purposes? Note the woman who thinks that guns make people safer which is not true. It's a fact that America has more guns than almost any other country in the world owned by citizens and also has the highest gun death rate of any other civilized country not at war. Also note the man who claims that an AR-15 is a "modern sporting rifle". If people want to target shoot with this type of gun for the fun of it, that's one thing. But it is not necessary to be used for most sporting purposes, like hunting or self defense. The fact that the NRA lobbyists and leaders have gotten away with these false talking points is reprehensible and stupid. Also listen as the man who owns 30-40 guns thinks he can sell his car to whomever he wants to just like he should be able to sell a gun to whomever he wants in a private sale without a background check. Apparently he conveniently forgot that you have to fill out paper work to transfer a car to another person. It's called a title and registration of the vehicle. It's the law. I guess he doesn't object to that one. And worse, the fact that some of our elected leaders listen to these lies has made our streets more dangerous.
The NRA also trotted out their new President, James Porter. We need to talk about him. If anyone thinks the NRA is going to compromise on any gun safety bill whatsoever, think again. With Porter at the helm, things are going to get worse than ever. Here is a little bit more about him from an article:
The election of James Porter — ensured after the endorsement of outgoing President David Keene last week — is one of many defiant signals to come out of the NRA's annual meeting in Houston over the weekend. The organization vowed to continue to fight any compromise on gun-control legislation in Congress.
"Revenge is what's motivating the president's unrelenting attacks on gun owners today," Porter told the group's meeting Saturday amid news that the NRA's membership had grown to a record 5 million.
"Millions of Americans are becoming first-time gun owners," Porter said. "The media calls it fear. That's not it. It's a sense of natural outrage that's been building for quite some time."
Porter, 64, a lawyer from Birmingham, Ala., who defends gun manufacturers, has been building that outrage his whole life. His father, Irvine C. Porter, was president of the NRA in 1959 — when the son says the NRA was "a glorified shooting society." At a breakfast Friday, Porter told grass-roots organizers that they are on the front line of a "culture war."
"He seems to come out of a mold that's much closer to the base than David Keene," said Josh Horwitz of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Whereas Keene was a "steady hand" for the NRA amid controversy, Porter is "a complete wild card," Horwitz said. "The world's changing around them, and they're hunkering down."
Really? Revenge? Nonsense. 20 small children were massacred on 12/14. That's why it's important for our country to deal with our weak gun laws. Further, it's no coincidence that Porter is a lawyer who represents gun manufacturers. That is what this fight is all about in the end. Follow the money to the relationship between the NRA and the gun makers and you will see why there is so much fierce resistance to change.
The question of child access to guns made national headlines this week after a five-year-old boy shot and killed his two-year-old sister in Kentucky. Just days later, a home defense seminar at the National Rifle Association's (NRA) Annual Meeting is raising eyebrows because of its suggestion that guns be stored in kids' bedrooms.
Home defense was a focus of this year's NRA members meeting, according to the Houston Chronicle. One of the offerings was a well-attended seminar on "Home Defense Concepts" taught by gun safety advocate and firearms instructor Rob Pincus.
In a video clip of the seminar obtained by ThinkProgress, Pincus asks the members assembled where they thought gun safes should be located, in the interest of home defense.
"How about putting a quick-access safe in your kids’ room?" Pincus asks. "We have an emotional push back to that. Here’s my position on this. If you’re worried that your kid is going to try to break into the safe that is in their bedroom, with a gun in it, you have bigger problems than home defense."
As the group laughs, Pincus explains that in a home invasion situation, it makes sense to have a gun stored in a bedroom you're instinctively moving to defend.
"If that alarm goes off and the glass breaks and the dog starts barking, what’s the instinct that most people are going to have, in regards to, 'Am I going to run across the house to get the gun, or am I going to run over here to help the screaming kid?'" Pincus said. "And if I’m going to go to the kid anyway, and I have an extra gun and an extra safe, why not put it in their closet?"
In the past, Pincus has mixed gun safety training with the attitude that when provoked, gun owners must be prepared to use lethal force. Speaking with NPR's "Talk of the Nation" program in February, Pincus told the hosts that his classes focus on scenarios when the homeowner is surprised and required to make split-second decisions.
Nine out of 10 criminals convicted of home invasion say that they would avoid homes with a security system like an adt alarm. The typical perpetrator is not looking for a challenge, and will bypass a secure home for a less secure one up the street. You want to have the secure home that doesn't end up as just another.
Selling targets intended to look like the president, presumably because he dares to take an ideological stance that 90% of the country agrees with, at a convention of self-proclaimed reasonable, rational, and utterly peaceful folks. The irony is rich.
Even the NRA thought this was too much and asked the company that makes Zombies to remove it from the display. I wonder what would have happened if anyone had shown up anywhere with a bloody Zombie resembling say, George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan? You know the answer to that one. It's all about hyped up fear and hatred of President Obama.
The speakers were the same old, same old. Except for Senator Cruz who already has a reputation for being less than subtle at Senate hearings. He got everyone hyped up about the Constitution and how every word matters. He made one mistake though. The NRA apologists always forget about the first phrase in the second amendment. You know, the one about the well regulated part. " A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." That must be inconvenient for the messaging.
Neil Heslin’s first-grade son, Jesse, was shot to death at Sandy Hook. The 51-year-old construction worker broke down when he testified in February at a Senate military-style weapons ban hearing in Washington.
Yesterday, his eyes were sad and his voice steady and quiet as he talked about why he came to the NRA convention.
“I’m not looking to see anyone lose their rights, but my 6-year-old boy lost his right to live,” he said in an interview.
Patricia Maisch, 64, has been to three NRA conventions now, and she made headlines when she shouted, “Shame on you,” from the Senate galley after the lawmakers rejected the proposal to expand background checks.
She was at Representative Giffords’ public appearance in January 2011 in Tucson when a gunman opened fire, killing six and injuring the congresswoman. She grabbed a clip of ammunition from the shooter.
A few months later, she was in Pittsburgh, extending her hand to the NRA to create an unlikely partnership.
“My motto that year was, ‘We don’t want your guns, we want your help,’” she said in an interview. “Same with the next year in St. Louis.” She said both times she tried to meet with NRA officials, and no one responded.
Kennedy cited Giffords' strength to carry on a difficult fight.
"Our family is still suffering from the heartbreak caused by gun violence," Kennedy said, referring to the assassinations of her father, President John Kennedy, and uncle, Senator and former U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy. "No one should have to lose a husband, a wife, a father, a child, to senseless murder.
"But as our nominee has shown, out of that pain and tragedy, we must find the strength to carry on, to give meaning to our lives, and to build a more just and peaceful world."
Families and communities suffer the effects from shootings forever. It never goes away. Gabby Giffords' life has been forever altered by the fateful shooting at a Tucson shopping mall. She is not going away and more than deserves the award she received. There is no deception with this award.
A certain number of people do believe the NRA lies and deception. More's the pity. Not all are fooled, however. This NRA member has seen through the deception and has called out Wayne LaPierre for his false rhetoric at the NRA convention. From the article:
It's easy to cloak yourself in a holier-than-thou mantle of God-given rights to avoid looking at the facts. And the facts are that private-citizen vigilantism doesn't protect anyone from gun violence; it actually results in more violence and deaths. It's easy to disparage the 90 percent of Americans who are in favor of expanding background checks by telling your audience that some unnamed Congressman from some unnamed state hasn't gotten any calls. But maybe the time has finally come when most Americans are more worried about ending the 100,000+ firearm deaths and injuries than whether you and your NRA cult of followers can Stand and Fight.
For all your talk about defending liberty Wayne, I'll give you something more important to defend: the young children whose lives always seem to take a back seat to how many guns you can get Americans to buy. I'm talking about children at Sandy Hook, a 4-year-old in New York, a 2-year-old in Kentucky. There's something immoral about denying any connection between the deaths of children and the explosion in gun sales that you claim show how much we love our freedom. I'd rather have those kids alive, even if it costs me more than a few bucks in gun sales. I joined Evolve so I could be part of an organization that wants gun owners and non-gun owners to lead with solutions that can talk about saving human lives and preserving our Second Amendment rights. That's patriotic and that is a future worth fighting for.
Closer to home the gun rights extremists were all bothered by a press conference held by the Minnesota Gun Violence Prevention Coalition. The purpose of the press conference was to call out the legislative leaders for their failure to bring the simple, and weakened background check bill to the House floor. One of gun rights folks even went so far as to start his own Facebook page with the coalition name just to mock our efforts and cause trouble. What is the purpose of such immature and provocative actions? In addition, some of the "gun guys" have signed up to come to events sponsored by Protect Minnesota and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, even asking if openly carrying their guns is O.K. NO. It is not O.K. We don't want you around with your guns. What is this all about? They revel in being jerks and bullies. Bullies are actually pretty insecure people. And we know that these folks are insecure enough that they have to carry their loaded guns everywhere they go and then openly carry them just to be provocative. I sat next to someone with his openly carried gun in a holster at a local restaurant with my grandchildren the other night. It was disgusting and totally unnecessary. People were making sideways glances and trying not to stare too openly. Why did this man need to carry his gun while eating at a family restaurant where lots of kids were there to enjoy a fun night out with their families? I guess he needs some attention and wants everyone to know that he is a macho man. He was with a young child himself. What an example to set for children.
But back to the lies and deception, why do the gun rights extremists continue to lie about the idea that requiring background checks on private sales would affect them personally? If they are law abiding as they claim, requiring private sale background checks will serve to stop people from getting guns at the point of sale who shouldn't be able to buy them. This case, for instance, is an example of how requiring universal background checks could stop some gun sales from happening. Yes, felons, drug dealers and others may find another way to get guns but if one of the ways is too difficult, they will have to look harder. Crimes and gun deaths could be stopped. Why are the NRA lobbyists and leaders against this? Well, look how many guns would not have been sold in the case above:
According to documents filed in connection with the case, Dinkins purchased 31 firearms – all handguns – on three consecutive weekends from Nov. 17 through Dec. 1, 2012. She purchased these firearms at three separate gun shows in Chantilly, Richmond, and Hampton, Va. Dinkins, who was not a federally licensed dealer of firearms, purchased the handguns with the intention of selling them for profit.
Filings associated with the case state that the firearms bought and sold by Dinkins were eventually recovered from juveniles and felons who utilized the firearms during drug trafficking schemes. Specifically, on Nov. 30, 2012, local law enforcement in Prince George’s County, Md., recovered one of the firearms bought and sold by Dinkins from a 20 year old Maryland man during the course of a narcotics investigation. On Dec. 12, 2012, local law enforcement in Prince George’s County recovered a second firearm bought and sold by Dinkins from a 19 year old Maryland man, again during the course of a narcotics investigation. Both Maryland men have pleaded guilty to possession of firearms-related charges in Maryland state court.
We are better than this as a country. It's time for action and to demand that action from our lawmakers. Enough is enough. It should not be lost on my readers that the Eagle is part of the NRA logo. Their motto for the annual convention was "Stand and Fight". Don't be fooled. I believe in soaring with those who want to stand and fight for what's right- saving lives. Passing common sense gun laws should not be something to fight about and fight against. It should be something we do as a country to keep our communities safe from the gun violence that devastates too many families. Don't let the turkeys get you down.
"The Cleveland Plain Dealer released photographs of the different books and pamphlets. And here’s where it gets even more interesting and, yes, more disturbing. TPM Reader JL notes that the 7th slide in the slideshow shows what appears to be a course manual for the Fighting Rifle course taught by a Tennessee outfit called Tactical Response. (...) Well, remember back not long after the Newtown massacre, a crazy gun guy down in Tennessee who was the CEO of a ‘tactical’ firearms training operation said he was “gonna start killing people” if President Obama issued an executive order on guns. Well, that was James Yeager, CEO of, yep, Tactical Response. (...) A short time later, Yeager clarified thathe wouldn’t murder anybody“unless it’s necessary.” But that apparently wasn’t enough for the State of Tennessee whichsuspendedYeager’s carry permit because his comments suggested a “material likelihood of risk of harm to the public,” which sounds like a reasonable enough position.
Not to worry though, Yeager got his permit back last month. (...) Needless to say, one can’t lay any direct responsibility on Tactical Response for what Gilkerson did. But when you make it a habit of giving urban combat training on automatic weapons to civilians in a climate of gonzo threats to start civil wars or start blowing away government officials, it’s hard to say something like this is entirely unexpected."
Buford “Bucky” Rogers, 24, of Montevideo, was arrested and charged Friday with being a felon in possession of a firearm after federal authorities found Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and guns during a search of his mobile home, according to a federal criminal complaint and affidavit.
“The FBI believes that a terror attack was disrupted by law enforcement personnel and that the lives of several local residents were potentially saved,” the agency said in a statement issued Monday.
The plot was discovered and subsequently thwarted through the “timely analysis of intelligence and through the cooperation and coordination” among several federal, state local agencies, the FBI statement continued.
J. Christopher Warrener, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Minneapolis, said the action prevented “a potential tragedy in Montevideo.”
FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said Monday that “there is not indication of any overseas involvement” with the alleged plot. Otherwise, Loven would not address the timing of any potential attack or what was at risk of being attacked. He also would not say whether authorities were looking at other suspects.
Where does this end? How did this felon get his guns? Why would we not pass stricter gun laws to stop potential terror attacks, shootings, etc.
Just when you thought the NRA's annual convention in Houston this weekend couldn't draw any more negative attention, it goes out and casually promotes a company selling a product that can help you practice shooting your ex-girlfriend. You know, just in case you need that to defend yourself one day. We all know them ex-honeys be crazzzzy.
The target, which is delightfully called "the ex," is sold by a vendor who was present at the convention. The company goes by the name of Zombie Industries and market themselves as the maker of "life-sized tactical mannequin targets." It bleeds heavily when you shoot it and eventually looks like this.
This is followed by a photo of the "zombie" figure of a woman who is supposed to be the "ex". More from the article:
I'm not even sure how to begin unpacking this, so let me start with some stats. Men's violence against women is not a small pickle, it's a huge problem. Not just all over the world and in every society, but particularly here in the United States where "domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women — more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined." One third of female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner.
Gun violence is a gendered issue since it impacts women and men in very different ways. Because women are more vulnerable to violence within the home than men (and men are most often the perpetrators of violence against women), the presence of a gun makes females less safe, not more. How do we know? A woman's likelyhood of a violent death within the home actually increases by 270% when a gun is kept inside the house. Homicide figures don't lie. Having a gun within their possession didn't protect women from murder. In fact, it accurately predicted their higher likelyhood of death.
"Women who were murdered were more likely, not less likely, to have purchased a handgun in the three years prior to their deaths, again invalidating the idea that a handgun has a protective effect against homicide."
Giving women guns will not solve domestic violence. Normalizing men's violence against women with an ex-girlfriend mannequin will not solve domestic violence. It can only make the problem worse.
Every day, at least three women are killed by an intimate partner in the US alone. Let's make sure those numbers go down, not up. Let's make sure companies like Zombies Industries know that we're not buying it.
Let them know what you think on Twitter by pinging them at @ZombieInd and don't forget to use the hashtag #NotBuyingIt. Here's a sample tweet, but feel free to make up your own.
