23 Gun Safety Victories Since Newtown

The GVP Report - December 24, 2013
In The News ► Media Matters reports on 23 Gun Safety Victories Since Sandy Hook including the once-in-a-generation bipartisan gun law bill still in Congress and major gun reform enacted at the state level. ► President Obama marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic Newtown shooting. "We have to do more to keep dangerous people from getting their hands on a gun so easily. ... We must choose love. And together, we must make a change." ► Mother Jones special report Newtown: One Year After. Segments include: 194 Children Shot to Death; Half of Americans Now Have Tougher Gun Laws; Gun Lobby's Assault on Small Towns; Producer of Assault Rifles Made a Killing. ► New York Times interactive guide to state gun laws enacted in the year since Newtown. 1,500 gun bills were introduced, 178 passed at least one chamber, 109 have become law. ► American Psychological Association new report Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention and Policy. There is no single profile that can reliably predict who will use a gun in a violent act, but individual prediction is not necessary for violence prevention. ► Exeter, Rhode Island town council recall election over gun permits is rejected. Voters reject the recall by a margin of 63 to 37 percent. All four councilors retain their seats. ► Center for American Progress report The Gun Debate One Year After Newtown:Assessing Six Key Claims About Gun Background Checks. ► The FBI says it has helped to disrupt or prevent nearly 150 shootings and violent attacks this year, in part by steering potential gunmen toward mental health professionals. ► NBC News Investigative Report - Newtown anniversary: US schools keep trying wrong fixes to deter school shootings, experts say. Researchers who study school shootings say the nation has done the wrong things, again and again, to prevent these rare but frightening events. ► East Bay Express, Life, Death, and PTSD in Oakland, California. How violence and poverty are traumatizing the city's youth. There is a growing awareness that PTSD is born and bred in our neighborhoods and there is a movement to relieve the burden these children carry. Community Support ► Rachel Maddow, Legends of the Recall, The conventional wisdom says 'Guns are part of who we are, so get over it.' Or don't get over it.Don't get over it when they say that there can be no changes. We have a choice. And we can make change. ► Jenny Deam, Los Angeles Times, Columbine shooting continues to cast shadow over schools. For students, the idea that they must prepare for gunfire at school has become routine. ► Leonard Steinhorn, History News Network, White Men and Their Guns. The issue, really, is why so many white middle-American men view any effort to regulate firearms as an assault on their very identity - and thus fight sane and rational laws as if their lives and liberties were at stake. ► Mike Littwin, The Colorado Independent, Never mind secession, we got sheriffs. Welcome to Colorado where (some) gun laws are not laws at all. Do we really think sheriffs should be allowed to nullify laws? ► Ted Mandell, Washington Post, Sports offers the arena to raise awareness of gun violence. Imagine if the Boston Red Sox had walked off the field during the final game of the World Series, demanding that the country act to protect its children from school shootings. ► Dan Kois, Slate, A Year of Gun Deaths: What Slate learned from trying, and failing, to record every death by gun in America since Newtown. Slate's gun-deaths count will be taken over by The Gun Violence Archive starting in January 2014. ► Steven Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, A New Approach on Gun Reform. Police departments are huge buyers of guns and ammunitions but have not taken advantage of their power in the marketplace to demand change from gun manufacturers. Jersey City will be asking all bidders six socially responsible questions. ► Tom Harvey, Gun Insurance Blog, Questions and Answers on Mandating Gun Insurance. How to make gun insurance workable and protect everyone. ► Gary Gutting, New York Times, Who Needs A Gun? It's easier to get people to see that they don't want something than that they don't have a right to it. Focusing on the need rather than the right to own a gun, many may well conclude that for them a gun is more a danger than a protection. What the Gun Lobby is Doing ► Eric Stern, Salon, What the NRA's really shooting for: Getting Republicans elected to office. To see how the gun group really does business, go behind the scenes with this candidate as he sought their backing. ► Armed Citizen Project launches We Don't Dial 911 Shotgun Christmas.  Their goal is to collect and distribute nine hundred and eleven shotguns to needy families living in high crime neighborhoods, especially single mothers. ► Matt Valentine, Salon, Gun activists have a new craze - and it's more dangerous than you think. The new front line in the battle over gun rights is "open carry." Here's why it has psychologists deeply concerned. ► Robert Draper, New York Times Magazine, Inside the Power of the NRA. Though the NRA's opponents still question whether the group is really as indomitable as it is perceived, at a certain point, political mythology engineers its own reality.		Blogs Joan Peterson, Common GunSense, Of snow blowers and chickens Joe Nocera, The Gun Report: Dec. 20, 2013 Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Gun lobby challenge to Sunnyvale's new voter-supported gun law fails early test Josh Sugarmann, Violence Policy Center, Remembering Newtown, One Year Later Cathie Whittenburg, OhhShoot Blog, Teen hit by stray bullet paralyzed from waist down Take Action Please, make a tax-deductible donation today to keep The GVP Report moving forward in 2014.Your support will help to keep advocates and activists up to date on issues, emerging news and trends. Advocacy ► CeasefirePA targets Pennsylvania state reps who have not cosponsored gun safety bill with a harsh mailer. ► Americans for Responsible Solutions congratulates VA Attorney General-elect Mark Herring who favored responsible gun ownership policies. ► Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action announce their plans to merge. ► Ladd Everitt, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, challenges a caller on the necessity of AR-15s on "Make It Plain" Sirius radio show. ► Brian Malte, Brady Campaign, talks with Washington Post on what's next for the gun violence prevention movement. Groups all across the country held vigils to remember the one-year anniversary of the Newtown tragedy. Here are just a few: ► Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort worked with churches to organize gatherings in 4 cities. ► Gun Sense Vermont marks Newtown anniversary with 26 vigils across the state. ► Iowans for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action rally in Des Moines. ► Women Against Gun Violence, the Brady Campaign and others unite in Los Angeles to remember Sandy Hook tragedy. ► Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence rally in Indianapolis on eve of anniversary of shootings. ► John Rosenthal, Stop Handgun Violence, tells "Boston Remembers Newtown" rally stop shopping at Shaw's and Osco and tell them why. ► Watch the Newtown Foundation Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence held at Washington National Cathedral. Worst of the Week 100 Stories About Gun Violence Since Newtown. Patch reporters looked at stories from across America to try to illustrate the scale of the problem.