Blood Money

		The GVP Report - May 29 , 2012
Blogs Josh Horwitz, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Protecting Marissa at the Expense of the Next Trayvon, explains why Stand Your Ground should not be the issue in this case. Baldr Odinson, Ceasefire Oregon, Shocking: How Do War Deaths Compare to U.S. Shooting Deaths? Let us remember, that although we rightly show concern for those who are dying in distant wars, we should also note that far, far more people are dying from gunfire here at home.  Joan Peterson, Common GunSense, Violence Against Women, reminds us that over half of the domestic violence deaths are due to shootings and two-thirds of all women killed by firearms were killed by an intimate partner. Dennis Henigan, Brady Campaign, The VA Tells the Truth About Guns. The NRA Can't Handle It. The gun lobby is objecting to a VA publication "Firearms & Dementia" that warns of the dangers of guns in the home including the increased possibility of completing suicide. Cathie Whittenburg, OhhShoot Blog, 28-year-old Florida man, paralyzed in unintentional shooting three years ago, faces eviction from hospital.  Advocacy The Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus announced that the Faculty Senate at Valdosta State University in Georgia voted to keep guns out of classrooms and off university grounds. According to director Andy Pelosi, the move is important because a bill to force guns onto campuses will be back in the Georgia legislature next year. ► Violence Policy Center released a new analysis that showed in 2009 gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths in ten states.  The states are Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. ► Robert McKelvey, Montanans Against Gun Violence, warns against the national concealed carry bill currently in the U.S. Senate and urges instead fixes be made to the NICS criminal background check system.  ► Mayors Against Illegal Guns reports that the NICS system is still missing millions of state and federal records on seriously mentally ill individuals and drug abusers.  Worst of the Week 33-year-old Tonya Thomas, of Port St. John, Florida shot and killed her four children before turning the gun on herself.  Reports show that Thomas used hollow-point bullets and fired 18 rounds.  She reloaded her Taurus .38-caliber revolver three times during the shooting.  Killed were 17-year-old Pebbles, 15-year-old Jaxs, 13-year-old Jazzlyn, and 12-year-old Joel.  Documents released by the state detailed the family's history and revealed that Thomas was a woman trapped in a cycle of domestic violence and was also abused or neglected as a child.  In April, Jaxs was arrested for battery against his mother.  As a follow-up to the case, the Department of Children and Families interviewed the children, neighbors and school officials.  Everything seemed fine so a supervisor signed off on the case.  Two days later, Thomas shot her children.		In The News Research by New Yorkers Against Gun Violence reveals that taxpayers have been subsidizing two gun manufactures in NY with more than $11.4 million in public funds.  "Giving millions of dollars in taxpayer money to the gun industry in sweetheart deals while innocent New Yorkers die each year by guns cannot be justified," said NYAGV executive director Jackie Hilly. ► Louisiana voters will be asked in November whether to approve a constitutional amendment that would rewrite the state constitution provision on gun ownership.  "This is not about the citizens of Louisiana," said an opponent. "This is about an NRA agenda.  The NRA wants to use Louisiana as a pawn in a larger scheme."  ► Foreign Policy magazine looks at the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty and discusses why controlling the international arms trade can help to build stable societies.  ► "I look at the Trayvon Martin case, and what happened to my son is almost the same thing," says Daniel Adkins, an Arizona father who mourns the death of his only son. Is the state's Shoot First law the reason why the shooter hasn't been arrested? ► The federal trial against two Alaskan militia leaders charged with conspiring to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and weapons charges has begun.  Prosecutors allege that their group, the Alaska Peacemakers Militia, amassed a cache of firearms and unregistered weapons including fully automatic machine guns, grenades and launchers.  ► Reversing the Iowa Resources Commission, Gov. Terry Branstand rescinded a rule against use of lead ammunition in dove hunts. The ban was intended to protect public and animal health.  Despite the availability of alternative types of ammunition, the Iowa Firearms Coalition said their rights were being taken away. Community Support The Onion (satire) NRA Sets 1,000 Killed in School Shooting As Amount It Would Take For Them to Reconsider Much of Anything. "Yeah, that's probably the only way we'd reassess at this point." ► Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Felon Crackdown: A Bill Hits Illegal Gun Carriers With A Stiff Penalty, notes that "this bill is that rarest of things, a gun measure that both the gun lobby and its opponents and support" and urges the PA Senate to pass the bill as is.  ► Eric Sapp, Eleison Group, The Most Important Treaty You've Never Heard of and How the NRA Wants It Dead. Looks at the upcoming United Nation's negotiation on the first ever Arms Trade Treaty.  There is more international oversight of the sale of bananas and iPods than grenade launchers and AK-47s. ► Nasty Jack, Are Militia Fanatics a Real Threat to America? According to a report there are 411 private, armed militas in the U.S., the largest group, the Michigan Militia, with over 10,000 members. ► Mansfield Frazier, Alan Dershowitz is Wrong: Trayvon Martin's Alleged Killer Must Be Tried. There are simply too many unanswered questions to even suggest dropping the charges.  This case cries out for a very public and thorough airing of the facts. ► Police Chief Richard Clark, Honor Fallen Police Heroes by Preventing Gun Violence.  Noting that in 2011, for the first time in 14 years, firearms were the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths, outnumbering traffic fatalities, Clark asks state and federal officials to support policies that better protect the public and the police from preventable gun violence. ► Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks, In Trayvon Martin Shooting, There is Absolutely One Guilty Party: Guns. "I know, progressives aren't supposed to fight back on guns. But at least someone's got to stand up, and it's going to happen right here." ► Trevor Barton, second grade teacher, Gun Violence Claims Too Many Young Victims, writes about his student, killed in an unintentional shooting while playing at a friend's house. "He wanted to be old, strong and daring. But life is fragile. The world lost so much creativity, compassion and commitment in the death of one little boy by a single gunshot." ► Aram Roston, In Florida, It's Often Shoot First, Learn the Law Later.  Roston wanted to see for himself how hard it is to get a concealed weapons permit in Florida.  The answer: Not Very. What the Gun Lobby is Doing Media Matters reports on Jim Pontillo, the owner of FMK Firearms, The Crazy Person Behind The Daily Caller's Free-Gun Giveaway and the e-mail promotion handing out dangerous weapons just to get a little bump in traffic. ► Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation is worried that Congress Not Standing Ground on 2nd Amendment and looks at the gun bills currently before Congress. ► Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a bill that will allow Oklahoma residents with concealed weapons permits to openly carry their firearms. "As a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and a gun owner myself, I'm happy to sign this bill into law," she said. ► A group of gun rights activists who want to do away with the requirement that an individual obtain a permit before carrying a loaded, hidden gun in public held a rally at the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan.