Our streets are already bloody with gun violence. And still the gun industry wants to sell more and more firearms. Their profits aren’t worth trading in our safety. MA: Teenager shot in the head aboard public transit bus WA: Young man killed during home invasion is identified as high school student ME: Woman is found [...]
We’re not quite sure what to make of this one. Whenever the NRA works to pass a concealed carry law, most reasonable onlookers point out that if you have more guns on the streets, no matter whose hands they are in, more people are going to get shot. But the NRA maintains that concealed carry [...]
The New York Times has spoken up about the guns at work bill being pushed forward (foolishly) by the NRA in Florida, and they pretty much say what we do: allowing firearms at work puts workers in danger. The National Rifle Association is back at work harder than ever in a dozen states. But so [...]
Indiana, flooded with firearms because their gun laws are so loose, is trying to recruit its citizens to help them do what can be done to stop gun violence there. They’re trying to catch felons with firearms, and they’ve set up a fund and a program to collect and reward tips that lead them to [...]
Our loose gun laws create room in this country for gun violence. And criminals gladly fill it to the brim. SC: Student carrying a gun in pocket shoots himself in leg OH: Double homicide in Bowling Green, police seek shooter TX: Traveling preacher shot to death in home by two men TX: Police shoot and [...]
Finally, the fight to ban the .50 caliber sniper rifle in Illinois has hit a rolling boil with a press conference yesterday. Illinois Senator Dan Kotowski appeared with one of the firearms (it’s a daunting piece of equipment, almost five feet long) to show his support for the proposed bill, and to remind the public [...]
For all the talking we do about assault weapons and the valiant efforts in this country to remove them from our streets for good, it’s helpful at times to remember why we’re working so hard on it. Because assault weapons are legal in this country, guys like Thomas McKiernan can stockpile weapons no citizen should [...]
Just when the NRA needed some kind of ally in the fight down in Florida, they got a really, really unexpected one. Apparently the AFL-CIO has decided to throw in with the NRA on Guns at Work. The issue was whether employees have the right to keep guns in their cars at work, and the [...]
It’s not enough to only hold the shooters accountable for all of this violence– we need to go after the people responsible for continuing to deliver firearms to them. CA: Police arrest 22-year-old woman and 14-year-old boy in shooting of young female bystander TX: Man shot in front of his family in apparent road-rage incident [...]
We first covered this case in a small mention last July, and a larger followup the week after that. Pennsylvania Senator Bob Regola was out of town last year when a neighbor boy, Louis Farrell, was found dead in the woods behind his house. The boy had been housesitting for Regola, and the firearm, it [...]
So far we’ve heard nothing but good news from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s lawsuit against out-of-state gun dealers– he’s gotten twelve of them to settle already, and agree to tighter surveillance and stronger training of gun sellers. But the NRA has been furious about the whole thing. Even though Bloomberg is doing the right [...]
Despite heavy opposition from business owners and citizens’ advocates alike, the NRA has somehow passed guns at work through a Senate committee in Florida. They’ve had to water it down a bit since last year– apparently, the NRA is steadfast on “Second Amendment rights”… unless they need to pass legislation. A bill that would prohibit [...]
Our citizens are crying out for stronger gun laws. They’re in support of them, and in support of politicians who will vote for them. But still, our legislators fail to move, and as a result, Americans continue to die. AL: Teens arrested in second shooting– they used an AK-47 and a sawed off shotgun to [...]
In every corner of the country, citizens continue to push for stronger and stronger gun laws, and to hold gun owners and gun dealers alike responsible for the firearms they choose to pollute our communities with. Sacramento, CA is no exception. The Sacramento City Council is considering two controversial ordinances to stem gun violence. One [...]
Long Beach, CA’s Press Telegram has an editorial up about the gun store closing we spoke of yesterday, and they repeat our point: it took far too long to shut this place down. In a presidential campaign speech almost 20 years ago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson warned that anybody who had cash could buy a [...]
We’ve said it before, and we’re sure it’ll be said again– no one is really certain why the NRA is pushing their guns at work bill again. It was a big loser in quite a few states last legislative session, and this year isn’t looking any better. Not that we’re complaining– the bill itself is [...]
There’s a war going on in America– and we lose when both sides die. So why does the war continue? Because when both sides die, the gun industry wins. FL: Two men found shot in parking lot, police pick up alleged shooter MS: Two 18-year-old males wounded in park shooting NY: Five people arrested after [...]
Finally today, our friend Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center tackles that NRA introduction we reported on a little while ago, in which the NRA planned to “scare the hell” out of their assembled members, trying to convince them that their guns would be taken away if they didn’t back the extremist agenda. Sugarmann [...]
Whenever mayors like Michael Bloomberg and anti-gun-violence activists start talking about what’s called “straw purchases,” the NRA is always quick to reply that straw purchases are already illegal throughout the United States. And they’re exactly right. The process of straw purchasing, in which someone who can’t buy a firearm hires someone who can to get [...]
The NRA’s License to Murder bill is also working through Texas’ legislative body (we reported last week on it showing up in Montana), and this Statesman editorial points out what we’ve said before: that License to Murder will encourage gun violence, and allow shooters to open fire first, and ask questions never. Let’s just call [...]
Our streets are flooded with guns, and the NRA is pushing for more. We’ve got to stop the cycle of violence, and we’ve got to do it by passing the firearms laws we need. MS: Shooting results in death of baby NC: At least six charged in fatal shooting of 13-year-old girl TX: Shooting at [...]
Not content with failing miserably to pass the law in Florida, the NRA has brought their odious “guns at work” legislation to Georgia, and the Gainesville Times are laying into them. Sometimes with the Georgia General Assembly, you just have to ask yourself, “Why?” As in, “Why do state legislators think it’s vitally important to [...]
There’s new life in Iowa for an issue that should have been settled a long time ago. Domestic abusers there are being allowed to keep their firearms, putting victims of domestic abuse in even more danger. “I thought he was going to kill me,” Fredrickson said after a news conference at the Iowa Capitol Wednesday [...]
We’re seeing even more press show up about ICPGV’s announcement the other day that the vast majority of voters in Illinois are in complete support of stronger gun laws. Even hunters are getting in on the action– the survey showed that across all six queries that ICPGV did, even most of those who self-identified as [...]
Our legislators listen to the wants of the NRA over the needs of their constituents. And then this happens. TX: Shooting at nightclub leaves ten injured IL: Suspect in custody for shooting 15-year-old TN: Man says he did shoot student who was having an affair with his wife, a teacher, but it was an accident [...]
The Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a project of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV), is a brand new research-based public education campaign to promote meaningful gun policy reform in Illinois. Working with a statewide advisory group representing law enforcement, the medical and public health communities, faith-based organizations, local and state policymakers and advocacy groups, [...]
It is just amazing to see how far the NRA will go beyond any sense of justice to get their way– when it comes to legislative bullying, they really have no peer. Case in point: when The Humane Society (the organization that constantly works for animal rights in America) passed a bill in Michigan that [...]
The Minnesota Daily lays out the issue of gun violence in black and white: this isn’t an issue of politics, it’s an issue of safety. And right now, we’re choosing against the safety of Americans and for gun lobby profits. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court struck down a law in the District of [...]
While legislators continue to neglect their citizens, instead choosing to support a special interest, the violence continues to affect us all. NE: Just months after concealed weapons laws go into effect, Omaha is suffering from gun violence TX: Man calls 911 to say he shot his wife FL: Angry customer shoots the manager at a [...]
Earlier this week we reported that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was facing down critics over his lawsuits against out-of-state gun dealers, and we said that he made his case well. But then again, Bloomberg doesn’t necessarily have to defend himself on this– his actions are speaking plenty. Three more gun shops have settled a [...]
Here’s an interesting idea about how to make sure the cost of gun violence is covered: a few advocates in Boston are trying to push a handgun surcharge. Just as cigarettes are taxed now, these activists would like handguns to be taxed at purchase, with the proceeds going directly to fund research against gun violence. [...]
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel checks in on the D.C. Circuit Court decision, and they echo nearly every intelligent thing we’ve heard about the case yet: no matter what the courts decide about the Second Amendment, those rulings should not be allowed to hamstring reasonable firearms legislation in America. The drafters of the U.S. Constitution get much [...]
Gun violence rears its ugly head almost constantly in America– every day of the week. PA: Man with long arrest record is suspected in bus shooting TX: 17-year-old shot earlier this month died on Sunday KS: Police investigate drive-by shooting NM: Police find 11-year-old boy shot in vehicle, handgun next to him IL: One dead, [...]
Finally today, yet another voice speaks out against the License to Murder bill in Montana. It looks like this bill is particularly nasty– not only does it allow firearms owners to open fire first and ask questions never, it’s also got some clauses that allow firearms to go where they clearly don’t belong, and to [...]
Here’s another editorial speaking out against that DC Circuit Court decision the other week. If you’ve been following the site, you already know the deal: a conservative judge wrote up a 2-1 decision that went against years of judicial precedent (and common sense to boot). In doing so, he gave the gun guys the fuel [...]
Marc Fisher over at the WaPo has written up a blog post about the Roanoke Times’ recent sellout of the First Amendment to the Zumbo mob. Originally, the Times wanted to make a statement not about gun violence, but about open and free information. But now that they’ve folded like an accordion, there may even [...]
Despite what you think about what “rights” are or are not granted by the Second Amendment, one truth emerges: we have a gun violene problem in this country. And we have to fix it. MS: Security guard charged with assault after shooting at apartment complex MS: Shooting during dice game leaves one dead and three [...]
While the NRA backs a conservative judge who uses his position in DC to threaten to weaken our gun laws, the violence continues. Last week it happened in New York City, where a gunman shot up a pizzeria in Greenwich Village, killing two voluteer police officers and a bartender. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who’s been working [...]
If you needed any more proof that the NRA has gone off the deep end, here it is. First, there was that NRA pamphlet, featuring racist and stereotypical pictures (animal terrorists were involved, as well as a condemnation of the media for supposedly underwriting gun violence). And now, a script has surfaced that shows just [...]
Saul Cornell checks in with another commentary about the seeminly politically motivated decision that came out of that D.C. Court of Appeals last week. The Parker case decision was written by conservative judge Lawrence Silberman, and went directly against years and years of judicial precedent– including the other big case in the issue, US v. [...]
While the courts use their power politically in DC to erode our gun laws, Americans continue to die on our streets. VA: 10-year-old girl testifies that she was going to warn cop right before gang member shot him NY: Shooter in pizzeria shooting was an ex-marine and ex-employer who’d been thrown out of the restaurant [...]
Finally today, here’s a strange case that’s a capsulized version of the conflict at the center of the gun debate. Richard Seruga is a gun guy in Jersey, who’s filing suit against the county, the town and his neighbors over what he feels is his inalienable right. He wants to fire his handguns off in [...]
Lots of progress is being made on dangerous firearms around the country– in both Illinois and New Jersey, citizens are pressing their governments to finally ban once and for all those deadly and dangerous .50 caliber rifles. Unfortunately, legislators in Maryland don’t agree that their citizens should be kept safe from assault weapons: a Senate [...]
The acting chief of DC’s metro police department checks in on the politically motivated decision made about the handgun ban in that city last week. The decision, made by a 2-1 conservative Court of Appeals, went against not only common sense and years of judicial precdent, but against the handgun ban– a law that the [...]
With the easy availability of firearms in America, it’s no surprise at all that American citizens are being injured and killed every day. NY: Ex-employee of pizza store comes back with guns, kills three before police shoot him CO: Shooting near car wash leaves 26-year-old dead OH: Man found shot and killed inside car Tuesday [...]
First New Jersey announces aims to become the second state in the country to ban .50 caliber sniper rifles (California has already done so), and now Illinois is looking to take the next spot. A proposed ban on .50-caliber rifles advanced Tuesday in the Illinois Senate after supporters cautioned that terrorists could use the weapon. [...]
The latest numbers from the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence are out, and it seems that domestic violence murders are up by 6 percent in the last year– and the majority of those are committed with firearms. Advocates for victims of domestic violence said today that more money is needed for shelters and prevention [...]
A report from an Arizona television station shows just how weak our gun laws in the United States. Criminals from other countries are getting guns from ours– and they’re getting them directly from currently legal outlets. “There’s an iron river of guns flowing to Mexico,” said special agent Thomas Mangan, spokesman for the Phoenix office [...]
Here’s what firearms are doing to our country, every day of the week. TN: 20-year-old woman used baby as bait to carjack vehicle and then shot driver FL: Man shot dead in Ft. Lauderdale after talking with shooter in a car MS: Man dies, another hurt in shooting at grocery MN: Two dead in North [...]
Two gigantic editorials dropped today about the politically motivated ruling that came out of the D.C. Circuit Court’s appeals court. Judge Lawrence Silberman ruled, against years of precedent, that the Second Amendment supposedly grants gun guys the “right” to own any and all firearms they wanted. Of course, the NRA has jumped on the ruling [...]
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