CeasefireUSA: The GVP Report - December 9, 2014 | ||||||||||
► ![]() ► Politico Magazine, The Gunfight in Cyberspace. With no help from Congress, gun violence prevention groups are forcing businesses to take a position on guns. ► CNN investigative report "Hired Guns" found that despite the image of safety, armed security guards often themselves pose a threat to the public due to lax laws, minimal oversight and almost no accountability. ► Carolyn McCarthy, who put a human face on the tragedy of gun violence, is leaving Congress after two decades. Back in the day she said "I was the only one who would go on TV" to discuss guns. But now, McCarthy says the gun violence prevention movement is stronger than ever. ► Calling out the NRA for its opposition, public health professionals are making a last-ditch effort this week topressure the Senate to confirm Surgeon General nominee Vivek Murthy. ► NY Upstate Medical University study shows New York's new SAFE Act may be encouraging the mentally ill to seek help. Many mental health providers predicted the reporting requirement of the law would make people reluctant to seek mental help, but the survey's findings suggest just the opposite may be true. ► ![]() ► Toys, deadly weapons difficult to distinguish. Not all toy and recreational guns have an orange tip, and many are manufactured to look and feel exactly like their lethal counterpart. ► The CNN Guns Project. Tries to track every shooting incident in a 24-hour period. These aren't the stories that tend to make national headlines. These are the stories that happen every day in America.
![]() To attend the Thursday, December 11th vigil at the National Cathedral in D.C. click here. To find an event in your state click here.
► ![]() ► Bipartisan group of 200 legislators in all 50 states form nonpartisan gun violence prevention coalition. The group is holding a national policy summit in D.C. to discuss options to prevent gun violence at the state level. ► Hayley Fox, TakePart, Doctors want to talk to parents about this, but more states are making it illegal. In Florida a lot of people have swimming pools, so Dr. Petery regularly speaks with patients about how to keep children safe from drowning. But there's one thing he's not allowed to ask about: guns. ► Matthew Yglesias, Vox, We shouldn't talk about Ferguson without talking about guns. This case is a straightforward consequence of America's approach to firearms. Widespread gun ownership creates a systematic climate of fear on the part of the police. ► Twin Falls, Idaho Times-News, Editorial, Remember Schuldies, Cox by Fixing Gun Laws. George Salinas never should have had a gun when he murdered two people. But thanks to Idaho's legal system, where gun rights trump safety, he did. ► U-T San Diego, A personal look at gun culture. Author Craig Collins' own shooting informs "Thunder in the Mountains." His book, is part memoir, part genealogy, and part exploration of the forces that have made guns such a part of American culture. ► Beth Kassab, Orlando Sentinel, Will more guns make campuses like FSU safer? No. Guns and students are a bad combination. Police worry that guns don't mix with alcohol-fueled student parties. ► ![]()
► Think Progress, The Florida Supreme Court is hearing a case that could make Stand Your Ground/Shoot First even worse. The case hinges on which party has to prove self-defense, defendants or prosecutors. ► New Missouri gun rights amendment put to test by felon. A convicted drug dealer cites the new law as a reason why his former felony shouldn't disqualify him from carrying a gun. ► Guns.com, Editorial, 20 rules for winning gun fights. Rule #2 - Have plan to kill everyone you meet. Rule #17 - Don't be a wuss. ► Kalashnikov's new slogan: Weapons of Peace. The maker of the AK-47 has unveiled a new logo and a new slogan. |
![]() ► New Yorkers Against Gun Violence free community forum Guns and Domestic Violence: A Lethal Combination. ► Moms Demand Action delivers a petition to Fred Meyer asking the chain to ban open carry of guns inside stores. ► Fritz Walker, CeaseFirePA, Accidental child shootings are needless tragedies. Nearly all of these so-called accidental shootings are entirely preventable. ► #TopDocNow Day of Action, Generation Progress, medical professionals and students, and other partners spread the word about why we need Dr. Murthy as Surgeon General. ► Washington Center for Gun Responsibility announced its goals for the next legislative session, including holding adults responsible for keeping guns away from children. ![]() ► Coalition to Stop Gun Violence celebrated its 40th anniversary. Guest speakers included State Senator A. Donald McEachin and author Kitty Kelley. ► Arizonans for Gun Safety is hosting a public meeting to introduce local residents to the National Violent Death Reporting System. ► North Carolinians Against Gun Violence hosts Crucial Conversation: Gun politics after Sandy Hook. Dr. Kristin Goss will join the discussion. ![]()
39-year-old Jody Lee Hunt, of Monongalia County, West Virginia shot and killed four people before turning the gun on himself. The victims included 45-year-old Douglas Brady, a towing operator who was involved in a business feud with Hunt, and 39-year-old Sharon Berkshire, Hunt's ex-girlfriend and two of her friends. Police report that Hunt, a convicted felon, purchased the 9mm gun used in the killings from a private gun sale on Facebook. |
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Court allows church challenge to Wal-Mart
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Nevada could put background checks on ballot soon
CeasefireUSA: The GVP Report - November 25, 2014 |
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► ► Jay Leno cancels appearance at SHOT Show. Leno was scheduled to speak at the National Shooting Sports Foundation gun industry trade show in Las Vegas but cancelled after pressure from gun violence prevention groups. Leno said he was unaware that the NSSF was a pro-gun lobbying group based in Newtown, CT. ► A new report from the CT Office of the Child Advocate concludes that Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza's anti-social and emotional problems began presenting in grade school but teachers failed to notice. It also noted that "access to guns is relevant to an examination of ways to improve the public health." ► Guns may soon have wireless networked chips embedded to log their every action. Some TX and CA police departments have already ordered the guns but fierce aversion from some gun owners has curtailed the making of a consumer version of the smart chips. ► ► In a new study in Journal of Black Studies, The Role of Media in the Disparate Response to Gun Violence in America, Wanda Parham-Payne finds that the media portrayals of gun violence depend on race, leading to often very disparate policy responses. ► A massive, high-volume gun trafficking ring from Florida to New York City has been broken up by police. Eight people were arrested. Police allege that the suspects funneled firearms from Florida, a state with lax gun laws, to New York City, often using Chinatown buses. ► Viraj Pandit, M.D., a researcher at the U. of Arizona presented research to the American College of Surgeons showing that states with tight regulations on the purchase and control of guns have fewer injuries and deaths from firearms. "Strict firearm legislation may help to reduce firearm-related injuries and mortalities, and help to reduce the years of life lost," said Pandit. ► New research from Stanford University confirms that right-to-carry gun laws are linked to an increase in violent crime. This debunks earlier claims that more guns lead to less crime. Professor John Donohue and his colleagues have provided the most convincing evidence to date that right-to-carry laws are associated with an increase in violent crime.
To host an event in your state click here. To attend the Thursday, December 11th vigil at the National Cathedral in D.C. click here. To upload a photo of a loved one lost to gun violence click here. To apply for a special stipend to go to D.C. click here. To make a donation to support the vigil click here.
► ► David Katz, M.D., Public Health as Political Prisoner. If a foreign government took the U.S. Surgeon General hostage, I'm confident we'd be pretty upset. Yet our own political system has managed to hold Dr. Vivek Murthy's nomination hostage. ► Los Angeles Times editorial, A sane gun law is under fire in San Diego. Until an appeal court struck down the law, CA counties had the option of restricting applicants for concealed weapons permits if there was a "good cause." Now, the same court has ruled that the state of CA has no standing to appeal that decision. ► Shawn VanDiver, A Navy Vet's Case for Gun Control. A former Navy weapons instructor lays out the simple steps lawmakers can take to make us all safer. ► Maria Konnikova, The New Yorker, Is there a link between mental health and gun violence? Mental illness is easy to blame, easy to pinpoint, and easy to legislate against in regards to gun ownership. But that doesn't mean that it is the right place to start in an attempt to curtail violence. ► Richard Gibson & Joshua Caruso, Cleveland, OH, The time is now to halt the flow of illegal guns. Operation Samson II, led by ATF and Cleveland police, was successful. It proved that, with the right focus and resources, law enforcement can investigate criminal patterns and identify who in the county is distributing crime guns, and arrest and prosecute those who break the law. ► Delaware County, PA, Daily Times editorial, Brad Fox law a start in curbing gun violence. Staci Dawson just became the first person in the state to be sentenced under a law that mandates harsh penalties for people who make straw gun purchases; that is, they illegally purchase guns for felons who cannot buy them. ► Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, Silencers: Florida's latest sideshow distraction in guns. Each and every year, the NRA pushes some new issue - regardless of significance - designed solely to gin up controversy and swell its membership rolls. ►
► Rob Cox, BreakingViews, Good news for guns is bad for gunmakers. Colt Defense warned of a possible default. Freedom Group saw its debt ratings cut by Moody's. Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson have taken a beating in the stock market. Their problem is that weapon sales are driven by fear. ► 21 states want a court to overturn Maryland's post-Sandy Hook assault weapons ban. The law is among the nation's strictest. It was challenged by opponents shortly after passage and was upheld by a federal judge. That decision is currently being appealed. 21 states have joined in a filing last week. ► Right-wing media falsely claim that museums need to give up their guns. Media outlets are misleadingly promoting the report that a Washington state museum will have to return firearms on display following passage of the background check initiative. |
► Edmund Smith, Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence, lte IndyStar, NRA leader's rhetoric causes concern. ► Everytown for Gun Safety and the Black Caucus of Health Workers co-sponsored a panel at the American Public Health Association conference in New Orleans titled What We Don't Know Can Kill Us. ► Lois Galgay Reckitt, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, op-ed Bangor Daily News, We agree that some shouldn't have guns. Let's act on it for domestic violence victims' sake. ► Brady Campaign and New Jersey Million Mom March urge the New Jersey Superior Court to make the state enforce the law that mandates handguns include technology to limit their use to specific people. ► Jeri Bonavia, Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, comments on the 100th Wisconsin gun homicide this year and points to steps individual gun owners and society can take to increase gun safety. ► Moms Demand Action delivers more than 72,000 petitions to Harris Teeter's headquarter asking the company to ban openly carried guns in its stores. ► Rex Berry, Oklahoma GunSense, talks about why Oklahoma college campuses should remain gun-free. ► Shaina Harrison, director of youth programming for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence is featured in a new documentary, "No Control."
46-year-old Jon Holzwarth, of Lake Stevens, Washington, was at home watching his 3-year-old son and his neighbor's 4-year-old grandson when he heard a loud boom. He ran to the bedroom where the children were playing and found his son had been shot in the mouth. The boy was airlifted to Seattle for treatment. Holzwarth is an online gun retailer. A sign on his front door reads "We don't dial 9-1-1" and has a cutout of a pistol dangling below. In 2010 Holzwarth testified before the city council saying that responsible people with concealed-weapons permits enhance public safety. "When seconds count and police are minutes away, you need people like me who are mentally stable and know how to handle a gun," he said. |
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
It was a great night for gun violence prevention
CeasefireUSA: The GVP Report - November 11, 2014 |
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► Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy said the stronger gun laws passed after the Sandy Hook shooting helped him pick up votes in Newtown against his Republican opponent. "I think there was an appreciation that we stepped forward and we did the right thing, and we weren't afraid to do the right thing when it came to guns," Malloy said.
► Colorado Democrats win back seats lost in last year's gun recall election. Voter turnout in Tuesday's election far exceeded the 20% of voters who cast ballots in the 2013 recall vote. Democrats won both seats with a comfortable margin.
► Former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, who died recently, is celebrated for his leadership. Menino and NYC Mayor Bloomberg worked together to form Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "Tom spoke passionately about the victims of gun violence and felt that a mayor's number one responsibility was protecting the public," said Bloomberg.
► Melted guns recycled into new steel. Guns turned in during a gun buy-back in Cleveland, Ohio will be melted down. The steel company ArcelorMittal, a partner in the buy-back, said they were pleased to be able to recycle the steel "into consumer goods that improve the quality of all our lives."
► The award winning Gun Crisis Reporting Project in Philadelphia, PA, has ceased daily reporting. The project has been viewed as a success, "we made a difference, as communicators and catalysts," Jim MacMillan said, but "funding has been impossible,"
► A new law took effect in Wisconsin which requires individuals accused of violence in a domestic abuse restraining order to turn over all of their firearms to either their local sheriff or to a person not involved in the case.
► A new study, Gun Possession among American Youth, Sonali Rajan and Kelly Ruggles, finds "multiple risk behaviors, beyond more commonly discussed indicators of poor mental health" associated with youth gun possession . The study identified more than 40 different behavioral factors other than mental illness that are strongly associated with gun possession.
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To host an event in your state click here. To attend the Thursday, December 11th vigil at the National Cathedral in D.C. click here. To upload a photo of a loved one lost to gun violence click here. To apply for a special stipend to go to D.C. click here. To make a donation to support the vigil click here.
► Cliff Schecter, One of the Midterms' Little-Noticed Big Losers: The NRA. Ballot measures are a way to go around bought-off legislators and unpopular-yet-powerful, right-wing corporate interests like the NRA. While our system remains broken, this is a roadmap for the near future.
► Westchester United, part of the Do Not Stand Idly By campaign, held an event in New Rochelle, NY. Community groups and public officials are working together to ask gun manufacturers to provide information on their distribution practices and safety technologies.
► The National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence called for background checks on all gun purchases, including private and gun-show sales.
► Chris Peak, The Psychology of Guns. Guns remove the intimacy of killing. The thought of having to approach and kill your vicitm by using physical force is unsettling. So we kill from thirty feet away - away from the blood, away from having to personalize and internalize the act.
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► Newsday Editorial, Don't Let NRA Shoot Down Vote on Surgeon General. With Ebola anxiety gripping the nation, the confirmation of a surgeon general is one key piece of unfinished business for the U.S. Senate. The NRA is blocking a vote on nominee Dr. Vivek Murthy. This is no time for special-issue myopia.
► Jennifer Sinor, Chronicle of Higher Education,Guns on Campus Have Already Curtailed Free Speech. Anita Sarkeesian cancelled a talk at Utah State University because of threats of violence. The university could not guarantee a gun-free audience because state law allows concealed weapons on college campuses.
► Mike Weisser, Mike the Gun Guy, Do Guns Make Us More or Less Safe? The NRA Seems To Be Winning the Argument. In the arena of public opinion, the folks who believe that guns are a risk have fallen far behind. Why is there such a clear disconnect between the consensus among health researchers and the general public regarding the safety of guns?
► Launa Hall, Rehearsing for Death: A Pre-K Teacher on the Trouble With Lockdown Drills. Instead of controlling guns and inconveniencing those who would use them, we are rounding up and silencing a generation of schoolchildren, and terrifying those who care for them. We are giving away precious time to teach and learn while we cower in fear.
►Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, The NRA vs. Pennsylvania's Pet-Eating Ban. You can have a dog for dinner in Pennsylvania thanks to the NRA.
► Media Matters, NRA's Election Message: "Vote Your Guns" because ISIS might be outside your house and you may need a gun in case of electromagnetic pulses or cyber attacks.
► Bob Cook, One More Thing Keeping Kids From Hunting: American Gun Culture. For the umpteenth year in a row there are stories about how there aren't as many kids, or people in general, as there used to be out hunting.
► Media Matters, Three Bizarre Ways the Gun Lobby Media is Downplaying a Major Background Check Victory. Conservative media and the NRA offer weak arguments in an attempt to spin the outcome of the Washington background check ballot.
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► CeaseFirePA joins with Pennsylvania towns in suit over state legislation making it easier for gun rights groups to sue over gun restrictions.
► Protect Minnesota was one of the groups that helped Minnesota stay blue in the Midterms, by turning gun safety into a winning issue in urban and suburban areas.
► Join Sandy Hook Promise, Nov. 14, 2014, for Promise Day. Pledge and encourage young people to Say Something if a friend is distressed or threatening.
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► Washington Ceasefire was part of the coalition that worked to pass universal background checks in Washington.
► Leah Gunn Barrett, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence was a panelist on SUNY Oneonta's United University Professions' program "Reducing Gun Violence."
► Fritz Walker, CeaseFirePA and Everytown for Gun Safety, State House rejects common-sense gun background check safeguard. In voting against closing this loophole, our representatives voted against public safety.
? Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Touch of Levity in a Campaign for Gun Safety, part of Asking Saves Kids.
► Josh Horwitz, Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Jeri Bonavia, Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Educational Fund and U.S. Attorney James Santelle host a community education program "From Virginia Tech to the Azana Spa: New Approaches to Keeping Guns from Dangerous People."
► Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence - new book from Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly, Americans for Responsible Solutions.
► Frances Schenkkan, Texas Gun Sense, speaks against open carry for handguns in TX.
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The heart of 5-year-old Laylah Petersen, who was shot in the head while sitting on her grandfather's lap, has been donated to another child. Police still don't know why two gunmen opened fire outside Petersen's house. Laylah was inside when a bullet pierced a wall.
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Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Loaded With Lead
Loaded With Lead
CeasefireUSA: The GVP Report - October 28, 2014 | |||||||||||
► ► Rate of Mass Shootings Has Tripled Since 2011. Scholars from Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University analyze three decades of data and find that in 2011 the U.S. entered a new period in which mass shootings are occurring more frequently. ► Minneapolis, Minnesota police are at the forefront of new gun ID technology. They are using the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network to match bullets to crimes around the city. ► Outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder laments the inability to enact stronger gun laws. "The thought that we could not translate that horror [of the Newtown shooting] into reasonable gun safety measures that were supported by the vast majority of the American people is for me something that I take personally as a failure and something that I think we as a society should take as a failure, a glaring failure, that I hope will ultimately be rectified." ► Want to play cop? This town will sell you a badge and a gun permit. The police chief in the village of Oakley, Michigan has started an auxiliary police program. $1,200 for a uniform, bullet-proof vest and gun, plus some additional donations to the police department will get you a police badge and the right to carry a gun almost anywhere in the state. ► ► Washington, D.C. to begin accepting first applications in decades for concealed-firearm permits. Move comes after federal judge's ruling striking down the District's long-standing concealed-carry ban. ► After the shooting at the National War Memorial and Parliament in Ottawa, Canada, a look at how gun control works in Canada. Canada's laws are meaningfully stronger than those in the U.S.
To host an event in your state click here. To attend the Thursday, December 11th vigil at the National Cathedral in D.C. click here. To upload a photo of a loved one lost to gun violence click here. To apply for a special stipend to go to D.C. click here. To make a donation to support the vigil click here.
► Eric Liu, Citizen University, Gun Violence Isn't Somebody Else's Problem. It is not normal, in a civilized nation, to have over 30,000 gun deaths a year. Somebody's child was killed Friday because that child went to school. Somebody has to do something about it. In ways full of both risk and responsibility, you are that somebody. ► Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, a coalition of prosecutors from across the country, gathered for the first time in Atlanta to discuss ways to fight gun violence. ► ► Ellen Painter Dollar, Patheos, It's Still a No Brainer for Christians to Support Gun Law Reform. Jesus had a lot to say (and show) about vulnerability, fear, self-protection and violence - and it wasn't "arm yourself." ► Cliff Schecter, Daily Beast, The Fear About Things That Won't Kill Us Is Killing Us. Scare-mongering by opportunistic politicians and media are hiding the real killer in our midst: the pervasiveness of guns, which kills up to 30,000 Americans every year. ► Scott Van Pelt, One Big Thing, ESPN Radio. Van Pelt reacts to the recent tragic events in Canada and wonders what would happen if here in the U.S. we reacted the same way every time someone was shot and killed. ► Danny Westneat, The Seattle Times, When selling guns to felons is no problem, that's a problem. Even the experience of mistakenly selling assault rifles to an eight-time felon isn't enough to convince some gun enthusiasts of the need for background checks. ► ► Gary Legum, Wonkette.com, Liberal lawmaker owns a gun and favors gun control. Impossible! We feel we must once again point out that owning a gun is not incompatible with advocating for laws that would hold gun owners legally responsible for any mayhem someone might commit with that gun. ► Mike Weisser, Mike the Gun Guy, Missouri is the latest state to prohibit doctors from talking about guns. The real reason the gunnies want to push physicians out of the discussion about gun violence is that they want to disconnect gun ownership from violence to make guns more acceptable, more enjoyable, more normal.
► Cerberus said it would stay out of the gun debate. Why are executives it appointed fighting gun safety laws? The company said it would sell a gun manufacturing conglomerate called Freedom Group, but now executives are helping to finance anti-gun-control ads in Connecticut. ► Media Matters reports Dana Loesch's new book, Hands Off My Gun: Defeating the Plot to Disarm America, botches quotes from the Founding Fathers. ►Open Carry gun extremists march through downtown St. Louis, Missouri with handguns and assault rifles to put a new Missouri gun law to the test. A counter protest was held by members of Amnesty International. |
#ProtectAllWomen Tell Congress: Violent partners and stalkers should not have guns
► Julia Wyman, Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, joined Moral Voices' panel discussion on gun violence awareness. ► Violence Policy Center, New data for 2012 confirms States with Weak Gun Laws and Higher Gun Ownership Lead Nation in Gun Deaths, ► Bob Williamson, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, to join Rutland, VT Grace Church forum on ways to reduce gun violence. ► Center for American Progress new report, 9 Things to Know About Gun Violence in Washington State. ► Leah Gunn Barrett, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, New York Times LTE, Keeping Guns Away From the Mentally Ill. ► Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Gun Violence Prevention Advocates Tell Maryland Police Training Commission: Don't Validate Insurrectionism. ► Moms Demand Action plan gun safety protest at Kroger shareholders annual meeting in Cincinnati. ► Shira Goodman, CeasefirePA, is considering a lawsuit to undo a bill passed by PA legislators that would allow any gun owner to sue to block local gun ordinances without having to explain how the rules harm them.
15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg, a freshman at Washington High School in Marysville, WA, opened fire in the school cafeteria, killing two students and seriously injuring three more before fatally shooting himself. 14-year-old Zoe Galasso died at the scene and 14-year-old Gia Soriano died two days later in the hospital. Two of the victims were Fryberg's cousins. A first-year social studies teacher, Megan Silberberger, confronted Fryberg. "I believe she's actually the real hero," said a witness. "She just grabbed his arm. She's the one that intercepted him with the gun." The Beretta .40-caliber handgun used in the shooting is believed to belong to Fryberg's father. |