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 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published a MUST-READ article on June 5th about the appalling lack of effective regulations on gun sellers. This brilliant article was written by the Sentinel’s John Diedrich, one of the country’s most professional and gifted journalists writing about the gun industry and violence in America. (Photo: Rick Wood: A clerk works behind [...]
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 [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Violence Policy Center). For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 27, 2010 Contact: Marty Langley, Violence Policy Center, 202-822-8200 x109, mlangley@vpc.org Washington, DC—Arrests for murder and a murder-suicide are among the new incidents involving concealed handgun permit holders detailed in the May update of Concealed Carry [...]
According to the Chicago Tribune on April 28, 2010: The Illinois Senate on Wednesday sent Gov. Pat Quinn a bill backed by Mayor Richard Daley that would increase penalties for certain crimes involving guns. The proposed change in state law would mandate a sentence of at least one year in prison for a person convicted [...]
(We are pleased to post the following guest commentary from Mark Karlin, editor of BuzzFlash.com on April 21st). BUZZFLASH EDITOR’S BLOG BY MARK KARLIN The politically charged gun movement in America that began when right wing ideologues took over the NRA in the ’70s (in what was called “The Revolt at Cincinnati”) has been pathological [...]
On April 10th, Columbus, Ohio’s NBC Channel 4 covered an ‘open-carry’ gun protest on the steps of the state capitol:
According to Cleveland’s local Fox News Channel 8 on April 14th: CLEVELAND – Matthew Warmus, the man accused of shooting and killing a parking lot attendant over a parking spot Friday night, made his first court appearance Tuesday morning. Cleveland Police say Warmus shot parking lot attendant David Williams,27, three times, after the two got [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Violence Policy Center). For Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Contact: Mandy Wimmer, Communications Associate, 202-822-8200 x110, mwimmer@vpc.org State’s Black Homicide Victimization Rate of 36.36 Per 100,000 is Nearly Seven Times National Overall Homicide Rate of 5.30 per 100,000 Washington, DC–Pennsylvania leads the nation [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Violence Policy Center). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 CONTACT: Mandy Wimmer, Communications Associate, 202-822-8200 x110, mwimmer@vpc.org At Least 51 Innocent People Have Been Killed in Recent Mass Shootings Involving Concealed Handgun Permit Holders Washington, DC–Christopher Bryan Speight, the 39-year-old man who allegedly [...]
(We are pleased to post the following guest commentary from our colleague, John Johnson, outreach coordinator for the Campaign To Keep Guns Off Campus, about the gun lobby’s agenda to force hidden and loaded handguns on Michigan’s college campues. Mr. Johnson’s essay was originally published in the Traverse City Record Eagle on Dec. 3rd). (Over [...]
(Click here to see full Washington Post ad). (We are pleased to post the following press release from the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition). For Immediate Release, November 23, 2009 Contact: Mayor Bloomberg’s Press Office (212) 788-2958, Mayor Menino’s Press Office (617) 635-4461 In a Full-Page Advertisement in Today’s Washington Post, More than 500 Mayors [...]
(We are pleased to post the following alert from the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence). When: Sunday, November 22, 2009 Where: Mayme Moore Park 240 Martin Luther King Blvd. Columbus, OH 43205 Near King Arts Complex Presiding: Bishop Timothy J. Clarke, First Church of God – Columbus In Memory of: October 17 – Nathaniel Johns, [...]
(We are pleased to send you the following press release from our partners at the Violence Policy Center). November 17, 2009 Contact: Mandy Wimmer, Violence Policy Center, 202-822-8200 x110, mwimmer@vpc.org Scott Vogel, Freedom States Alliance, 312-243-8980, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org Washington, DC–Concealed handgun permit holders killed eight law enforcement officers and 77 private citizens (including 10 shooters who [...]
Mother Jones posted a insightful analysis on Nov. 16th about Sen. Burr’s irresponsible amendment to allow mentally incapacitated or incompetent veterans to buy guns, despite a spike in suicides, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and crimes committed by soldiers returning from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 [...]
According to breaking news on CNN on Nov. 5th: (CNN) — Eleven people plus a gunman were killed and 31 were wounded after the gunman opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, a Fort Hood spokesman said. The gunman was a soldier, and two other soldiers have been detained as suspects, said the [...]
Peggy Schulz wrote a brilliant column in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Nov. 2nd that is worth reading. The overall safety of the general public as we move through our lives on a daily basis is – or at least should be – the top priority for lawmakers, both local and national. We live in a [...]
According to AP on Oct. 28th: SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia police said a misdialed number led two strangers to trade hostile calls and text messages before arranging a meeting where one shot the other. Savannah-Chatham police spokeswoman Veda Lamar Nichols told the Savannah Morning News in a Wednesday story that man, 22, faces an aggravated [...]
(We are pleased to post the following alert from Freedom States Alliance affiliate, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence). ICHV Insights Column by Daniel Webster Daniel W. Webster, ScD, MPH is Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research and Associate Director of the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence at [...]
(We are pleased to post the following guest commentary from Freedom States Alliance affiliate, the New England Coalition To Prevent Gun Violence. This month’s cover of the National Rifle Association’s magazine America’s 1st Freedom shows a young, petite, blue-eyed, blond woman staring coldly ahead, a handgun held tightly in her outstretched arms. The cover story [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, a Freedom States Alliance affiliate). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 16, 2009 Area Clergy Lead Interfaith Prayer Vigil For Homicide Victims Central Ohio’s first Interfaith Prayer Vigil for homicide victims and survivors will occur Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 5 [...]
(We are pleased to post the following commentary from Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence in response to the Indy Star’s investigative report about Indiana’s broken and flawed CCW permit system). The Indy Star’s exceptional investigative report, “Should these men have been allowed to carry a gun?†on Oct. 11, should force state lawmakers to reform [...]
(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 press release from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine). PHILADELPHIA – In a first-of its-kind study, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. The study estimated that [...]
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Oct. 4th: The handgun used to shoot a Milwaukee police officer last week has been traced to Badger Guns, making that store the sole supplier of all the guns used to wound six officers in two years, police said. Detectives traced the 9mm Hi-Point used in Wednesday’s shooting to [...]
(CNN photo, September 16, 2009). Freedom States Alliance Press Release Contact: Scott Vogel (312) 243-8980, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org September 25, 2009 Advocates Urge Appropriations Conference Committee To Strip Senator Wicker’s (MS) Gun Amendment To Transportation Bill (H.R. 3288) That Forces Guns In Amtrak Train Luggage; Presents Serious Public Safety Risks, and Possible Cessation Of All Amtrak Service [...]
(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 posting the following action alert from the Illinois Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence). The Illinois Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence (ICPGV) is extremely disappointed to announce that Governor Quinn signed HB 182 – a bill which would allow individuals to carry concealed weapons into other people’s homes – into law yesterday. Gun violence [...]
(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 [...]
A tragic shooting was reported by AP on Aug. 16th: TAMPA, Fla. (Associated Press) – A dispute over line-cutting at a roadside food stand led to the shooting death of a bystander and the serious injury of another man, Tampa police said. Police arrested two men in the case Friday, Juan Martinez-Morales, 20, and Leeching-Hong [...]
When President Obama came to Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Aug. 11th to talk about his health care plan, one protester, William Kostric of Mancester, arrived openly carrying a loaded 9mm handgun in a holster strapped to the outside of his pant leg — and holding a sign that read “It is Time to Water the [...]
Freedom States Alliance Editorial Aug. 10th, 2009 Like thousands of other women across the country, on the evening of August 11th, Elizabeth Gannon, Heidi Overmier, Jody Billingsley went to their local gym to participate in an aerobics class. That same evening, 48-year-old George Sodini entered the LA Fitness Center with four guns, 150 rounds of [...]
AP STORY UPDATE: Pa. man who attacked gym had 4 guns BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — Police in Pennsylvania say a gunman who sprayed bullets at women exercising at his suburban Pittsburgh health club, killing three of them, did not have a relationship with any of the victims. Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt also says that [...]
Freedom States Alliance Press Release For Immediate Release, July 22, 2009 Contact: Scott Vogel (312) 243-8980, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org Major Victory Declared as Democrats Defeat NRA Sponsored Bill That Would Have Jeopardized America’s Public Safety and Threatened Law Enforcement Officials (Washington, DC) – Thirty Nine United States Senators demonstrated their “conscience and sense of duty†today by [...]
Former Virginia Congressman Tom Davis wrote the following opinion piece in Politico on July 22nd, 2009: Today Congress is slated to vote on a bill that would effectively nationalize permits for those who wish to carry concealed guns. However, those of us who support conceal and carry laws must be concerned that Congress would force [...]
July 21, 2009 The gun lobby is attempting to force our communities to permit untrained and dangerous individuals from other states to carry loaded, hidden handguns in public. CALL YOUR SENATORS RIGHT NOW AND TELL THEM TO VOTE “NO!” ON SEN. THUNE’S AMENDMENT NO. 1618 TO THE DEFFENSE AUTHORIZATION Bill S. 1390. A VOTE IS [...]
The New York Times posted an EXCEPTIONAL must-read editorial on July 21, 2009: On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to vote on the latest assault on public safety in the name of gun ownership. Introduced as an amendment to the military’s budget bill by Senator John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, this radical measure [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from Freedom States Alliance affiliate, the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence). For Immediate Release Toby Hoover, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, ocagv@yahoo.com www.ohioceasefire.org As U.S. Senate Debates National Hidden Handgun Law, New Study Finds That Concealed Handgun Permit Holders Killed 7 Police Officers Over Two-Year Period [...]
(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 20th). For more than two decades a top priority of the gun lobby has been establishing and expanding state laws that allow the carrying of concealed handguns [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Violence Policy Center). 31 Incidents Result in Criminal Charges or Suicide of Concealed Handgun Permit Holder Washington, DC–Concealed handgun permit holders killed at least seven police officers and 44 private citizens in 31 incidents during the period May 2007 through April 2009 according to [...]
(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 essay from Paul Moore, a teacher at Miami Carol City High School, whose essay was published on Counter Punch on July 13th). Anthony Smith has died nearly a week after being shot. Anthony was a young man of 17-years and a student at Miami’s Booker T. Washington High [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release on behalf of national gun violence prevention organizations, including the Freedom States Alliance). For Immediate Release: Monday, July 13, 2009 Contacts: Scott Vogel, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org Peter Hamm, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 202-898-0792, phamm@bradymail.org or Ladd Everitt, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, 202-701-7171, leveritt@csgv.org Washington, DC–America’s [...]
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 [...]
(We are pleased to post the following blog entry from NJ.com, written by Bryan Miller, the Executive Director of Ceasefire NJ and an affiliate of Freedom States Alliance). Last December I speculated on this site that then-NY Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was more likely to gain induction into the ‘Stupid Gun Owners Hall of Shame’ [...]
(We are pleased to post the following alert from Freedom States Alliance affiliate, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence). ICHV Insights by Father Michael Pfleger July 1, 2009 Gun violence has always been an issue, but in the last ten years, I’ve watched it become more of an epidemic. It has grown to a new [...]
It is absolutely ridiculous that in the U.S. there are more restrictions on switchblades than on firearms, even though guns kill an estimated 30,000 people every year. Now the gun lobby is pushing its agenda to stop the Homeland Security Department from regulating knives. According to Congressional Quarterly on June 29th: The National Rifle Association [...]
(We are pleased to post the following press release from our Freedom States Alliance affiliate, Ceasefire NJ). For Immediate Release June 26, 2009 Contact: Bryan Miller (856) 371-3038, cfnj@aol.com Ceasefire NJ Applauds Action, Thanks Leadership, Sponsor, Governor, Mayors and City Councils Trenton: The NJ Senate passed Senate bill S-1774, colloquially known as the One Handgun [...]
(We are pleased to post the following joint press release from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and the Freedom States Alliance). For Immediate Release Contact: Thom Mannard (312) 341-0939 Scott Vogel (312) 243-8980, scott@freedomstatesalliance.org On One-Year Anniversary of Supreme Court Heller Ruling that Stripped D.C. Of Its Handgun Ban, Pro-Gun Groups Want To Flood [...]
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