| CeasefireUSA: The GVP Report - November 11, 2014 |
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 On election night, if you back stronger gun laws things went even better than you could have reasonably expected. The big news was in Washington State where a ballot initiative for universal background checks passed with 60 percent of the vote.
► 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.
 As we near the 2nd anniversary of the Newtown shooting, please join us this December for National Vigils and Events in Washington, D.C. and around the country.
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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 British artist Anthony Burrill's, Innocent Targets, is a series of shooting range posters depicting archetypal examples of the innocent victims killed by gun-related crimes in the U.S. each year. The quotes included on each poster reminds viewers of the sheer absurdity of America's gun crime situation.
► 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.
► 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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 ► Women Against Gun Violence is working with the Los Angeles City Council on an ordinance requiring firearms be stored in locked containers.
► 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.
 ► Read the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence's 2013 Annual Report.
► 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.
 ► Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah takes part in annual daffodil bulb planting as part of Week Without Violence.
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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Tuesday, November 11, 2014
It was a great night for gun violence prevention
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