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Universal Background Checks Will Not Be Effective Because of Diversion Programs
According to the ATF, if convicted of a felony criminal offense, you are not allowed to legally purchase firearms.
We have the 2nd Amendment, but we also have diversion programs in the criminal justice system.
Sentencing to diversion programs make it impossible for background checks to report actual cases where defendants plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having a felony conviction.
One example is Frank James. In April, 2022, Frank James opened fire in the Brooklyn, New York subway, wounding ten (10) people.
When this story was in the news, a reporter asked if it was known how Frank James legally purchased the gun. The answer was that James had not been convicted of a felony.
In 1995 while living in Irvington, NJ, James was charged with one count of making terroristic threats; a felony. He was allowed to plea down to harassment, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to one year of probation.
What we see is a person who was charged with a felony, who plead down to a misdemeanor, and because that was allowed by prosecutors, he was able to legally purchase a gun that he used to wound 10 human beings. Read the rest of this entry
Parkland Shooting ~ One Year Later
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Sadly, here in the U.S., today is also the first anniversary of the mass shooting at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, that resulted in the deaths of fourteen high school students and three school faculty members.
While an initial sense of hopelessness descended upon our nation, for those of us who believe in common sense gun reform, that’s slowly given way to cautious optimism. The students who survived that horrifying massacre have created a movement for change that for the first time has outlasted the initial news cycle. In 2018, at least 67 new gun laws were enacted in in Florida and 26 other states, as well as the District of Columbia. In Washington, 17 newly elected House members are supporters of stricter gun laws and more than two dozen House members who were backed by the National Rifle Association were defeated…
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Right now a story from Time: These Are the Victims of the Jacksonville Madden Tournament Shooting
Condolences to the families and best wishes for the full recovery of those injured.
Texas High School Shooter Planned His Actions
A day after the deadliest high school shooting since the Valentine’s Day massacre at Parkland High School, details about shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis are starting to trickle out. And in one of the most shocking revelations, the Wall Street Journal reports that Pagourtzis spared students that he liked so they could “tell his story.” According to […]
via Texas High School Shooter Spared Students He Liked, To “Tell His Story” — peoples trust toronto
Guns Have Changed, But Not Gun Laws
I posted the following 30-second video in the comment section on a post, but feel it deserves its own post.
The organization that made the video is States United To Prevent Gun Violence. Its website says:
“States United to Prevent Gun Violence is a grassroots network of 32 state affiliates working to make our communities and families safer.”
The most recent school shooting has resulted in teens becoming activists. Maybe a movement titled “Student Lives Matter” (#SLM) should start, since more families can now relate to how guns are used under government sanction to take innocent lives.
Thinking Out Loud About Discussions
Discussions. Lately, people are talking about the time being right for discussion about gun control, discussion about race relations, discussion about police reform.
People have discussed these things for decades if not longer. In my opinion, there are no resolutions because people do not go to the foundation of the issues.
The second amendment? An argument can be made that when it was written, it was for the protection of this country against other countries because the U.S. did not have organized Armed Forces. In that argument, it can also be said that guns then are not the guns that exist now.
Regarding race relations, there are many foundational problems including ignorance and prejudicial assumptions. The experiences of minorities are generally diminished . Once comparisons start, it is no longer a discussion but a competition of which is the better race. Read the rest of this entry
10 things you need to know today: June 17, 2016
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images
THE WEEK
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The Republican Debate and ISIS
On Tuesday evening, I watched the Republican debate between those wanting to be nominated and elected as the next president of the United States. I could not help but wonder that if the killings had not happened in San Bernardino, would the main topic of the debate had been what the GOP candidates call “radical Islamic terrorists”? The main issue should have been gun control in America.
Before December 2, 2015 in San Bernardino, California where 14 people were killed and 22 injured, on October 1, 2015, Chris Harper Mercer killed 10 people and wounded 7 at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
Before July 16, 2015 when Mohammad Abdulazeez killed 4 Marines and a Navy sailor, on June 17, 2015, Dylan Roof attended a Bible class at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, and killed 9 people.
Before the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent related shootings on April 15, 2013, that killed 3 people and injured an estimated 264 others, on August 12, 2012, Wade Michael Page killed 6 people and wounded 4 others in a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI. Page mistook the worshippers for Muslims.
Before what GOP candidates, including Marco Rubio, call “radical Islamic terrorist” used guns to take innocent lives on American soil, on December 14, 2012, there was Sandy Hook, where Adam Lanza killed his mother, 20 children and 6 adult staff members. Read the rest of this entry
The Schumer’s Seek Expanded Gun Control Legislation
As reported in Time
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and his distant cousin, Amy Schumer, speak during a news conference in New York, Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. The Schumers are teaming up to try and enact gun control regulations. They cited the recent shooting in a Louisiana movie theater that killed two women and injured nine others during a screening of the movie “Trainwreck” starring Amy Schumer. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Comedian Amy Schumer and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer are teaming up to call for stricter gun laws, appearing together on Sunday in New York to push for expanded gun control legislation.
The Schumers, who are cousins, first announced their collaboration earlier this year after a deadly shooting in a Louisiana theater, where Amy’s movie Trainwreck was being screened.
“I don’t know why he picked my movie but … it’s something that I live with every day and I vowed to never forget the two lives that were tragically lost: Jillian Johnson, who was 33, and Mayci Breaux, who was just 21-years-old. These women are forever in my heart,” Schumer said on Sunday, the New York Daily News reports.
Sen. Chuck Schumer is pushing a proposal to prevent violent criminals, abusers and those with severe mental illnesses from purchasing firearms.
My Editorial Opinion
Lawsuit Cites Report That 20 Percent of Guns Recovered At Crime Scenes in Chicago Are Purchased Outside of Chicago
With Illinois conceal carry going into effect, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was faced with federal lawsuits from gun activists because Chicago had banned businesses from selling guns and ammunition within its borders. In 2014, a federal court decided that the city failed to prove that banning the sale of guns by licensed dealers was necessary to reduce gun violence. Still, some gun dealers say that Chicago has ordinances that require them jump through hoops.
Illinois doesn’t license and regulate gun dealers. The state leaves it up to municipalities to regulate gun stores doing business in their towns. For example, Chicago can have different regulations for gun shops located in Chicago than Cicero, Peoria, Lyons, etc. One town requires that gun dealers be licensed by the federal government.
When straw purchasers are identified and denied sales in Chicago, they can drive the Illinois highways to other towns until they find a gun shop that will sell to them.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, left, and the Rev. Michael Pfleger attend the Stop Bad Apple Gun Dealers protest at Chuck’s Gun Shop on June 6, 2015, in Riverdale. (Jeff Schear, Getty Images)
Reverend Michael Pfleger and Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, announced that many of the guns recovered from Chicago crime scenes came from stores located in Lincolnwood, Lyons, and Riverdale, Illinois. Today, a lawsuit was filed by Lawyers for the Coalition for Safe Chicago Communities against the aforementioned Chicago suburban villages for their failure to regulate gun shops. Read the rest of this entry
13-Year Old Shot Dead By Convicted Felon
Nathan Andrew Clark
Nathan Andrew Clark was staying in the Comfort Suites hotel while participating in the Capital Area Soccer League tournament in Lewisville, North Carolina. He was lying down in his hotel room when a woman called 911, saying that she “had no idea” what happened but that he was bleeding profusely from a bump on the back of his head. She thought that he might have hit his head.
In a nearby room was Randall Louis Vater, who as recently as October 25th, was in police custody. Vater is a convicted felon, but was in possession of a firearm that he said was accidentally discharged and traveled through the wall, killing Nathan. Vater’s time in prison included violating a restraining order, making threats, and a hit-and-run. He is currently held at the Wake County Detention Center, charged with involuntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Read the rest of this entry
Archie Andrews One of 2014 Gun Statistics
Excellent information.
Archie Andrews, 73, died from a gun shot today because he protected his friend Sen. Kevin Keller from an assassination attempt. Anyone who has read comic books for the past seven decades knows Archie, from DC Comics Life with Archie. In this way, Archie Comics and co-CEO Jon Goldwater brings the issue of senseless gun deaths to entertainment media.
The first gay character in the Archie Comics series, Keller is a married military veteran and newly elected senator. He pushed for more gun control after his husband, Clay, was involved in a shooting while trying to prevent a robbery. Today’s #36 shows the killing; #37 will show Archie’s friends paying tribute to his legacy one year later.
Goldwater said that the comic’s plotline was not a publicity stunt but a way to educate readers about gun violence.
Superheroes such as Marvel’s Spiderman and Captain America have died, but Archie has…
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Moms Demand Action Disappointed In Federal Judge’s Overturning Chicago’s Citywide Ban On Gun Dealerships
I understand that there is legal action in the federal courts because the Illinois Governor challenged conceal carry law. Citizens are against it, but State legislatures passed it against the desires of their constituents.
The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is the nation’s largest citizens’ lobby to prevent gun violence. They work to pass, enforce, and protect sensible laws and public policy that address gun violence at the federal and state level. Their advocacy campaigns include the Million Mom March and Brady Chapters, working locally to educate people about the risks of gun ownership, honor victims of gun violence, and pass sensible gun laws.
The Brady Center provides “Take Action” that includes 5 steps that individuals can take to make our voices heard and have meaningful legislation passed at the federal level. Among the actions, the Brady Center provides a forum where Americans of all ages can share how gun violence has affected them personally.
Through their Legal Action Center, the Brady Center seeks justice in the courts for victims of gun violence, bringing civil liability cases against irresponsible gun sellers and owners. Their attorneys have won millions of dollars in damages for gun violence victims, as well as forcing changes in how gun companies do business.
Dan Gross President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence called the verdict in the George Zimmerman case, “part of a tragic event that could have easily been prevented.”
Gross said, “There is sharp disagreement over the verdict, but there can be no disagreement over the reason why Trayvon Martin is dead. George Zimmerman had a gun that night, and the state of Florida allowed him to carry it virtually anywhere despite a violent history. Virtually anybody roaming our neighborhoods with hidden handguns is the gun lobby’s vision, but it is not the vision of the rest of the American public truly committed to safer communities. We will work as long, and as hard as it takes to prevent more tragedies like Trayvon Martin’s.”
The Brady Center, the legal arm of the Brady Campaign, recently filed an amicus brief on behalf of the parents of Trayvon Martin, and Jordan Davis, asking the entire United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to review and reverse a 2-1 decision that held Illinois law restricting the public carrying of firearms unconstitutional.
Trayvon Martin
1995 – 2012
“The American people should be allowed to decide whether they want people like George Zimmerman carrying loaded guns in public places where their children walk home,” said Brady Center Legal Action Project Director Jonathan Lowy. “Most courts have properly recognized that reasonable public safety laws do not infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. Courts should listen to the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, who lost their sons to people whose states entitled them to carry guns in public.”
Jordan Davis
1995 – 2012
Its website includes scorecard ranking all 50 states on the basis of laws that can prevent gun violence, such as background checks on all gun sales, permit-to-purchase requirements, limiting handgun purchases to one a month, and retention of sales records.
This is an organization worth supporting. Please subscribe to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to stay up-to-date with their activities and what we can do to have our voices heard.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 