According to Main Justice on Aug. 4th: President Barack Obama might soon nominate the chief of the Chicago office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to lead the Justice Department agency, The Washington Post reported. Special Agent in Charge Andrew Traver would be the bureau’s first Senate-confirmed director, if approved. Temporary appointees [...]
The NRA is about to lose yet another fight — this time hoping to stop Elena Kagan’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Ms. Kagan’s confirmation is all but certain. The NRA is simply using the Senate’s vote as yet another shameless opportunity to throw it’s weight around. According to the Los Angels Times [...]
Proponents for “openly carrying” loaded guns in public revealed their true colors in Arizona on May 30th. Neo-Nazi members and racists showed up at a peaceful immigration rally carrying loaded handguns and rifles and said their weapons were not for show and would use them if necessary. Such threatening hate speech is beyond the pale [...]
David Corn of Mother Jones posted a strong critique of President Obama’s complete lack of leadership on supporting a ban on military-style semiautomatic assault rifles. Corn’s piece on May 21, is a must-read. David Corn When Mexican President Felipe Calderon addressed the US Congress on Thursday, he called for the United States to reinstate the [...]
Ed Schultz slammed Fox “News”, right-wing zealots, and gun extremists for peddling conspiracy theories that President Obama is “disarming” Americans of their guns. In fact, as Schultz points out, President Obama received an “F” on a report card from the Brady Campaign on the President’s policies with respect to the gun issue. Watch Video:
(Photo from ‘open carry’ gun protest in Virginia, April 19th 2010) GunGuys.com Editorial It is deeply disturbing that gun proponents chose the solemn 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing to organize anti-government rallies and urge attendees to carry loaded handguns and assault rifles in public to demonstrate their anger at the Obama administration and [...]
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence posted the following video from the “open carry” gun protest at Fort Hunt, Virginia on April 19th, the 15-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing — proof of the sheer extremism of the “open carry” movement.
(On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m., an explosion ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla. At the time, it was the worst terrorist attack ever undertaken on American soil. The blast killed 168 people – 19 of them children – and injured hundreds). (We are pleased to post the [...]
According to the Associated Press on March 14th: CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Gunmen killed a U.S. consulate employee and her husband as they drove in this violent border city with their baby in the back seat, minutes after the husband of another consular employee was shot to death and his two children wounded, officials said [...]
(We are pleased to post the following guest commentary from Josh Sugarmann, Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center. Mr. Sugarmann’s essay was originally posted on the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence’s “Insights” section on its website). March 10, 2010 Since its inception, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) has approached gun violence as a broad-based [...]
(We are pleased to post the following guest commentary from Mark Karlin, editor of BuzzFlash.com). Once our National Parks were a refuge of nature and tranquility, but that part of the American Dream just got shot full of holes by the NRA. Attached to the so-called credit card reform bill that went into effect on [...]
The New York Times wrote an editorial on Jan. 18th chastising America’s political leaders, including President Obama, for failing to stand-up to the gun lobby and pass an effective ban on semi-automatic assault weapons. The result of this “political cowardice” is that criminals are arming themselves with more lethal and powerful weapons, including semi-automatic military-style [...]
On Jan 3rd, Think Progress posted an unsettling video of Tea Party activists in New Mexico who openly carried loaded guns and assault weapons as a threat against “the government” and President Obama. Nearly 350 right-wing protestors crowded a New Mexico town’s busiest intersection yesterday to protest President Obama’s supposed anti-gun agenda and the “government [...]
(FN Herstal Five-seveN armor-piercing semiautomatic pistol). For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 19, 2009 Contacts: Scott Vogel, Freedom States Alliance, 312-243-8980, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org Mandy Wimmer, Violence Policy Center, 202-822-8200 x110, mwimmer@vpc.org; Peter Hamm, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 202-898-0792, phamm@bradymail.org Washington, DC—In a letter sent today to the White House, America’s six national gun violence prevention [...]
(We are pleased to post the following joint press release from Connecticut Against Gun Violence, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, and New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 16, 2009 CONTACT: Cathie Whittenburg, New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, necpgv@gmail.com This week, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold hearings [...]
(We are pleased to post the following op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 8th by Ellen Alberding, President of the Joyce Foundation, who supports the Freedom States Alliance and our efforts to prevent gun violence). (Nadashia Thomas, 6, a cousin of Derrion Albert, holds a sign beside a poster of Derrion Albert at Fenger [...]
(We are pleased to post the following entry from the Coalition Against Gun Violence’s blog, Bullet Counter Points). Monday, September 21, 2009 The nation, sadly, has become well acquainted with the phenomenon of individuals bringing loaded guns to town hall meetings, presidential speeches and other political events. Initially, these shows of force were headline news [...]
(We are pleased to post the following essay from Josh Horwitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and was originally published in the Huffington Post). On Monday, it was national news when a man (identified only as “Chris”) appeared at a health care rally in Phoenix, Arizona, openly and legally carrying an [...]
(Pastor Steven Anderson and Chris Broughton.) According to TPM Muckraker on Aug. 28th: Chris Broughton, the man who brought an assault rifle and a handgun to the Obama event in Arizona last week, attended a fiery anti-Obama sermon the day before the event, in which Pastor Steven Anderson said he was going to “pray for [...]
(We are posting the following press release from the Coalition To Stop Gun Violence). CONTACT: Ladd Everitt (202) 408-0061, x. 1003, leveritt@csgv.org “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.â€- Ted Kennedy to the 1980 Democratic National Convention We at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence [...]
Arthur Frommer, founder of Frommer’s Travel Guides, said that he would not travel to Arizona after protesters to President Obama’s town hall meeting in Phoenix last week openly carried military-style assault weapons and loaded handguns. What a refreshing statement from Mr. Frommer who is no doubt being bombarded on his blog from gun extremists because [...]
David Sirota, a progressive populist who advised and helped Brian Schweitzer — one of the most pro-gun lobby politicians in America — get elected as Montana’s Governor, says that it’s time to ban all guns at political events. Especially after several incidents over the last two weeks exposed the risk of permitting well-armed individuals carrying [...]
According to The Hill magazine on Aug. 20th: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called on the Homeland Security Department and the U.S. Secret Service on Wednesday to provide tighter restrictions on citizens carrying weapons, openly or concealed, while in the vicinity of President Barack Obama. Norton, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, made the [...]
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. wrote a brilliant and must-read piece today on Aug. 20th: Try a thought experiment: What would conservatives have said if a group of loud, scruffy leftists had brought guns to the public events of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush? How would our friends on the right have reacted [...]
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart posted a disturbing and yet a hilarious story mocking gun nuts who showed up to President Obama’s town hall meetings carrying assault weapons and loaded guns. We strongly recommend this video. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
(We are pleased to post the following commentary from Bryan Miller, Executive Director of Ceasefire NJ, an affiliate of the Freedom States Alliance. His entry was originally posted on NJ Voices blog on Aug. 19th). I imagine most have seen some news coverage of two incidents in the last week of men carrying guns openly [...]
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Gun zealots, yet again, openly carried guns – including an assault weapon — outside of an event by President Obama this time in Phoenix, Arizona to try and intimidate him and the crowd. “Law-abiding” gun owners, huh? Why won’t the NRA distance themselves from this kind of irresponsible and potentially violent behavior that is clearly [...]
Chris Matthews Interviews Gun Carrying American from Obama Town Hall
Chilling Video From Ohio Militia Calls For Americans To Arm Themselves With Powerful Assault Weapons. The Huffington Post wrote on Aug. 12th that radical and well-armed militias are regrouping in a dangerous sign that right-wing extremists have the potential to launch domestic terrorist attacks in any number of ways, including bombings, assassinations, gun massacres, and [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from Freedom States Alliance affiliate, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence). New York Senators Must Oppose and Filibuster If Necessary The Dangerous National Concealed Weapons Amendment No. 1618, Now Part of The Defense Appropriation Bill (S1390) NEW YORK, July 17 /PRNewswire/ — New Yorkers Against Gun Violence [...]
(We are pleased to post the following piece from Josh Sugarmann, Exec. Director of the Violence Policy Center, that was originally published in the Huffington Post on July 9th). According to Jan Libourel, the editor of Gun World magazine, “Nobody but a madman would oppose some sort of gun control laws.” Libourel is no gun [...]
Dangerous legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate that would force our communities to permit untrained and dangerous individuals from other states to carry loaded, hidden handguns in public. States currently have the power and authority to determine their own carrying concealed weapons (CCW) policies. But Congress is suddenly overreaching its power to dictate that [...]
The New York Times reported on June 22nd that the gun industry continues to play the “fear card” to drive up gun sales, especially using the election of Barack Obama as a cynical target. BELLEVILLE, N.J. — At the Bullet Hole, an Essex County gun store, and at Gun for Hire,across the street, where Anthony [...]
BuzzFlash.com wrote an exceptional piece on June 16th about the gun lobby’s stranglehold over our government — it is a must read. A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSISby Christine Bowman Back during the primary election season, Democrats vilified “lobbyists” as the enemies of the people. No self-respecting Democratic candidate was going to let the unscrupulous K-Street lobbyists [...]
With the Senate’s vote earlier this week to regulate tobacco, a giant step has been made towards better regulating tobacco for health and safety standards. If as anticipated the House approves the updated version and President Obama signs it, we will all have much to celebrate as countless lives and healthcare dollars will be saved. [...]
According to the Tulsa World on May 20th: WASHINGTON — A coalition of House Democrats, retired park rangers and supporters of national parks called on House leaders Tuesday to kill a Senate-passed amendment by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to allow loaded guns in national parks. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Subcommittee [...]
Freedom States Alliance Press Release Contact: Scott Vogel (312) 243-8980, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org Gun Violence Prevention Groups Blast President Obama for Broken Campaign Promise to Open Government, Failing to Remove Tiahrt Restrictions to Stop Illegal Gun Trafficking, and Withholding Vital Crime Data From Public (May 12, 2009, Chicago) – President Obama broke his campaign pledge to the [...]
Dorothy Samuels wrote an exceptional and must-read editorial in the New York Times on May 9th, “The Deadly Myth of Gun Control in Electoral Politics.” In politics, conventional wisdom can be slow to die, even when the so-called wisdom is neither true nor wise. So I was reminded on a recent visit to Capitol Hill, [...]
A commentary by Lois Stark was published in The Northwestern on May 5th and sources our Freedom States Alliance affiliate, Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort. Why don’t we have better gun control in this country? We had a federal ban on certain semi-automatic assault guns passed in 1994. When the 10-year ban was set to expire 1,100 [...]
We strongly encourage you to watch this video by Max Blumenthal, posted on The Daily Beast, that was filmed at two gun shows. It’s about the intense fear and distortion gripping the far right-wing over President Obama’s election and their sheer paranoia over “gun control.” Of course, that paranoia is fueled by extremist talk show [...]
(Photo by George Kochaniec Jr., Rocky Mountain News: Grief overcomes Columbine High School students Jessica Holliday, left, and Diwana Perez moments after they fled the school during a violent rampage by two fellow students April 20, 1999). Press Release Contact: Scott Vogel, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org On 10-Year Anniversary of Columbine School Massacre, Advocates Call for Renewed National [...]
UPDATE to our original post below. Well it appears that the right-wing Washington Times needs to hire some competent fact checkers after the paper erroneously said that the Obama administration was ending the program to arm airline pilots. We think — as noted below this post — that the Obama administration and the Transportation Safety [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from Congressman Eliot Engel (NY-17th district). For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 12, 2009 Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Leads Letter with 53 Members of Congress Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, wrote a letter signed by [...]
Politico reported on Feb. 10th: The man, identified as Alfred Brock, 64, of Winnfield, La., did not make an explicit threat against Obama, said Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider. Brock was charged possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of unregistered ammunition. About 4 p.m. Tuesday, the man drove his truck to the north barricade [...]
The Republican Party needs to revisit, and certainly revise, it’s political playbook if the GOP wants to rebuild the party after the devastating losses in the 2006 midterm elections, and the stunning victory of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. If the Republicans wanted to step — indeed leap into the [...]
The New York Times ran an editorial on Dec. 10th calling on Barack Obama, after he becomes President, to reverse the perverse ruling by Bush’s Interior Department to permit carrying loaded and hidden guns into our nation’s pristine national parks. We Don’t Feel Safer Anticipating what Barack Obama has called “common-sense gun safety laws,†the [...]
The New York Times wrote a scathing editorial against the gun lobby on Dec. 2nd: The gun lobby has long intimidated politicians with its war chest and its trumpeted ability to deliver single-issue voters, especially in tight races. After this year’s election, those politicians should be far less afraid and far more willing to vote [...]
(Air America host Lee Rayburn, filling in for Thom Hartman, interview GunGuys.com / Freedom States Alliance communications director, Scott Vogel on Monday, Nov. 17th, about the election of Barack Obama as President, and how it impacts the gun issue. See an edited transcript below). Lee Rayburn: My name’s Lee Rayburn, sitting in for Thom Hartmann [...]
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