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Also see: School
shootings;
As of 2017, the U. S. has 5% of the
world's population and 30% of mass shootings.
Harvard Research, 1997 through the present:
Gun Threats and Self-Defense Gun Use [See October 21, 2015 for fake gun story
about Harvard]
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use-2/ -- 2011 --
Back to top June 30: As far as scholars can tell,
Jefferson never said it. Monticello.org, the official website of the
Thomas Jefferson Foundation,
says, "We have not found any evidence that Thomas Jefferson said or wrote,
'When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the
government, there is tyranny,' or any of its listed variations." The quotation
(which has also been misattributed to Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, and The
Federalist), actually was apparently said in 1914 by the eminent
person-no-one's-ever-heard-of John Basil Barnhill, during a debate in St. Louis.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/06/constitutional-myth-6-the-second-amendment-allows-citizens-to-threaten-government/241298/ -- 2013 --
Back to top April 8: Some Gun Control Opponents Cite
Fear Of Government Tyranny ... As the Senate returns from a two-week spring
recess Monday, topping its agenda is legislation to try to curb the kind of gun
violence that took the lives of 20 first-graders in Connecticut last December.
Recent polls show broad popular support for enhanced background checks and bans
on military-style guns and ammunition. But many members of Congress side with
gun-rights advocates who oppose such measures.
And contrary to the claims of its authors ... it does not prove that more guns
equals less crime.
The frenzy [over the debunked article] is a
carboncopy
of what happened when the so-called Harvard study was rediscovered back in 2013,
and previouslyin2012.
However, despite its continued resurrection, [the] work contains serious flaws.
For starters, the phrase “Harvard study” is a misnomer, as the paper was
not written by researchers at all affiliated with Harvard. Kates is a prominent,
NRA-backed
Second Amendment activist, while Mauser is a well-known Canadian gun advocate.
[Kates and Mauser's] paper appeared in the Harvard Journal of Law &
Public Policy, a journal that, unlike most academic publications, does not
have peer review. The publication describes
itself as a “student-edited” law review that provides a forum for “conservative
and libertarian legal scholarship.” [Which in essence means it's simply a paper
for armchair commentators, not for serious scientific papers]
One function that publications like the Harvard Journal of Law &
Public Policy serve is to provide a home for papers that wouldn’t survive
vetting by other academics; research that can pass peer review is almost always
sent to publications whose more stringent standards also come with greater
reach.
... the report by Kates and Mauser does not meet even the loosest criteria
of an academic study, which requires either new analysis of an old dataset or
boilerplate analysis of a new dataset. Kates and Mauser’s paper offers neither
of these, instead relying on highly subjective eyeball comparisons of suspect
data, without constructing a single statistical model.
https://www.thetrace.org/2015/10/harvard-study-false-claims-armed-with-reason/
June 20: Donald Trump presents his candidacy
as the only thing standing between American gun enthusiasts and Hillary
Clinton's alleged plans to confiscate their firearms.
In 2012, Trump
tweeted that President Barack Obama had "spoken for me and every American"
in his remarks at a vigil for the Newtown school shooting victims. Now, Trump
routinely accuses Clinton and Obama of plotting to undermine the Constitution.
Trump on Friday suggested that the Orlando nightclub massacre victims could have
stopped the attack or lessened its toll
if they had been armed.
April 25: A firearms advocacy group has gone to court to challenge
the constitutionality of California’s new assault weapons ban, as well as other
major gun control laws passed last year by the Democratic-controlled state
Legislature, arguing that “assault weapon” is a “political term.”
The California Rifle & Pistol Association filed a lawsuit against the state
Monday in federal court targeting six laws that took effect Jan. 1. Those, along
with provisions of a successful 2016 statewide ballot initiative, have made
California’s gun restrictions the strictest in the U.S., according to a ranking
by The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control nonprofit.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article146757074.html
April 28: President Trump spoke to the
National Rifle Association's annual leadership forum on Friday, the first
sitting president since Ronald Reagan to do so.
"We have news that you've been waiting for ... a long time," Trump told the
crowd in Atlanta. "The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has
come to a crashing end."
Trump [referred] to the mass shooting in a nightclub in Orlando, Fla.,
last summer, the NRA took issue.
"If we had people, where the bullets were going in the opposite direction, right
smack between the eyes of this maniac," Trump said to cheers at a rally in
Texas. "And this son of a b**** comes out and starts shooting and one of the
people in that room happened to have (a gun) and goes boom, boom. You know what,
that would have been a beautiful, beautiful sight, folks."
Almost immediately the group publicly denounced his comments.
April 28: ... for the first time since 1983, a sitting president will
address the National Rifle Association at the group's annual convention — when
President Trump, along with a
who's who
of gun rights advocates, is scheduled to talk at the NRA Leadership Forum in
Atlanta, Ga.
NRA spokesperson Jason Brown says the group is hoping to hear a clear message
from Trump.
April 28: On the eve of his 100th day in office,
President Trump rallied a convention of the National Rifle Association by vowing
to "never, ever infringe" on Second Amendment rights and declaring his
predecessor's alleged "assault" on those freedoms is over.
The NRA endorsed Trump after he promised to do away with then-President Barack
Obama’s efforts to strengthen background checks. Trump himself was a onetime
support of gun control before he entered politics. During the presidential race,
he became a champion of gun rights and often spoke about his Democratic rival
Hillary Clinton’s intent to abolish the Second Amendment – a claim she never
made.
April 28: The President was once a proponent for stricter gun control
laws, and hails from a city with some of the toughest restrictions on firearms
in the country. ... However, when Trump suggested that "Second Amendment people"
take matters into their own hands should Clinton be elected, the NRA backed
Trump, saying he was right that Clinton was a threat to their constitutional
right to bear arms.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/28/politics/trump-nra-speech/index.html
May (undated): Gun control has long been a
partisan issue, with Democrats considerably more likely than Republicans to say
it is more important to control gun ownership than protect gun rights. But what
was a 27-percentage-point gap between supporters of Obama and John McCain on
this question in 2008 surged to a historic
70-point gap between Clinton and Trump supporters in 2016. [In 2017 it was
85% Republicans and 27% Democrats leaning towards gun rights].
http://www.pewresearch.org/2017/01/10/how-america-changed-during-barack-obamas-presidency/
May 18: So confident was [Trump] of his own
immunity to convention that he once boasted he could shoot someone in the middle
of New York's Fifth Avenue and wouldn't lose voters. But as President, that
impunity has been challenged and Trump's behavior became a liability.
Ultimately, had he not fired [FBI Director James] Comey in a fit of pique about
the Russia investigation, it might never [have] emerged that he reportedly asked
the FBI chief to cool it in his investigation. And [Deputy Attorney General Rod]
Rosenstein's hand may not have been forced and Trump may not have faced a
special counsel [Robert Mueller].
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/donald-trump-robert-mueller-democracy/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
August 4: Gun Sales Have Dropped Since
Trump's Election
Background checks related to U.S. firearm purchases suffered their deepest
quarterly decline in over three years in July, suggesting a sales slump despite
price discounts aimed at improving customer demand following President Donald
Trump’s election.
October 2: At a campaign rally for appointed
Alabama Sen. Luther Strange last month, President Donald Trump painted a picture
of what would have happened to gun owners if Hillary Clinton had won last
November. "If Crooked Hillary got elected, you would not have a Second
Amendment, believe me,"
Trump told the crowd, which responded with chants of "Lock her up."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/politics/guns-maps-las-vegas/index.html
October 2:At least 58 people are dead and
more than 515 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history ...
after a gunman opened fire on an outdoor country music
festival from his room on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip hotel Sunday
night. ... President
Donald Trump called the massacre an “act of pure evil” and ordered flags to be
flown at half staff
https://news.vice.com/story/at-least-50-dead-in-beyond-horrific-las-vegas-massacre
October 2: ISIS, without any evidence,
claimed Monday’s deadly shooting in a series of statements released through
their Amaq News Agency. Senior U.S. officials ... said there was no evidence to
back up ISIS’s claim. In recent months, the terror group has falsely claimed
responsibility for numerous incidents
https://news.vice.com/story/at-least-50-dead-in-beyond-horrific-las-vegas-massacre
Note: [According to some reports Vice's
content varies dramatically and its political and cultural stance is often
unclear or contradictory. Vice sometimes appears to resort to asinine and inflammatory
statements]
October 2: As she expressed her condolences to the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas,
former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also sharply criticized
the National Rifle Association and a bill working its way through Congress that
would make it easier to buy gun silencers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-slams-nra-gun-silencer-bill-wake/story?id=50231518
October 2: The Hearing Protection Act
removes silencers from the Internal Revenue Code's definition of "firearms,"
which could ultimately make it easier for individuals to purchase them without
the background checks required for firearm buyers. It further eliminates a $200
tax on the sound suppressors.
October 12: The National Rifle Association
says it is opposed to new legislation in the US Senate and the House that would
ban the production and sale of "bump fire stocks," a firearm accessory that
allows semi-automatic weapons to fire at a more rapid pace like automatic ones.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/politics/nra-opposes-bump-stock-bills/index.html
November 6: [On his first trip to Asia,
while in Japan] President Trump said mental health, not guns, is to blame for
the church shooting massacre that left at least 26 people dead [by a man
carrying a semi-automatic weapon] in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday,
calling the assailant a "very deranged individual."
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-calls-texas-church-shooting-act-evil/story?id=50950818
November 6: When asked whether tighter
gun-control laws could help prevent such shootings, Trump said the attack "isn't
a guns situation" and that "mental health is your problem here." He said the
initial investigation indicates the killer was a "very deranged individual."
November 7: Donald Trump literally just made
the 'good guy with a gun' argument [after the Texas massacre of 26 people on
Sunday].
"There is not even the slightest hint in the data that (right to carry) laws
reduce overall violent crime," wrote [Stanford Law professor John] Donohue,
concluding that violent crime was somewhere between 13-15% higher in states that
have right to carry laws than if that same state had not passed that sort of
legislation.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/07/politics/trump-extreme-vetting-guns-korea/index.html
Undated:
Where there are more guns there is more homicide (literature review)
Our review of the academic literature found that a broad array of evidence
indicates that gun availability is a risk factor for homicide, both in the
United States and across high-income countries. Case-control studies,
ecological time-series and cross-sectional studies indicate that in homes,
cities, states and regions in the U.S., where there are more guns, both men and
women are at a higher risk for homicide, particularly firearm homicide.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/
Undated: In 2007-11, less than 1% of victims
in all nonfatal violent crimes reported using a firearm to defend themselves
during the incident.
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf
November 7: President Donald Trump's nominee
for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Dr. Dean Winslow, said
Tuesday it is "insane" that a civilian can buy a semi-automatic weapon like the
gun that Devin Kelley used in the Texas church shooting.
November 10: Senate Panel Votes to Make
Blogger With No Trial Experience a Federal Judge
Brett J. Talley has practiced law for less than three years. He has never tried
a case — or even argued a motion.
But he does write a spirited, far-right blog: Shortly after the
massacre at Sandy Hook elementary, Talley
described Barack Obama’s proposal to expand background checks and restrict
rapid-fire weapons as “the greatest attack on our constitutional freedoms in our
lifetime.” One month later, he endorsed the idea that Americans “will have to
resort to arms when our other rights — of speech, press, assembly,
representative government — fail to yield the desired results.” During the 2016
campaign he derided the Democratic nominee as “Hillary Rotten Clinton.”
December 6: The House of Representatives
approved legislation Wednesday loosening gun regulations and allowing those with
permits to carry concealed weapons to legally travel with those firearms to
other states, a top priority of the National Rifle Association.
The bill passed mostly along party lines, 231-198, with six Democrats supporting
it. Fourteen Republicans opposed the legislation, the first major
firearms-related bill Congress has voted on since the massacres in Las Vegas and
Texas earlier this year.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/gun-restrictions-house-vote-concealed-carry/index.html -- 2018 --
Back to top February:Claim: President Trump signed a
bill blocking Obama-era background checks on guns for people with mental
illnesses.
February 15: Why Trump’s response to
Florida’s school shooting is so inadequate ... Would the Republican White House
and its allies in Congress support new restrictions on those individuals’ access
to firearms? Are they prepared to make significant new investments in a robust
mental-health network?
February 15: There have been at least 12
threats against schools across the nation since a mass shooting Wednesday at a
Florida school, according to a news analysis by McClatchy.
February 15: Florida school shooting: Trump
SLAMMED for response to Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre
One person said on Twitter: “On a day of profound tragedy, Trump is so scared of
the press that he can’t even make a simple statement at the podium.” ... Another
added: “What's not on the White House schedule for tomorrow? Any public events
for Trump. Or a press briefing.” ... While a third said: “Clinton held press
conferences. ... “Bush held press conferences. ... “Obama held press conferences.
February 16: The U.S. attorney general is
ordering an immediate review of how the Justice Department and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation respond to warnings about potential mass killers.
The action followed an admission Friday by the FBI — the top national law
enforcement agency — that it had ignored a tip about the gunman who killed 17
people and wounded 14 others at a school in Florida on Wednesday.
"This includes more than just an error review but also a review of how we
respond," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement rebuking the FBI.
"This will include possible consultation with family members, mental health
officials, school officials and local law enforcement."
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-to-visit-florida-school-shooting-victims/4257824.html
February 17: Mitt Romney said Friday that
the nation must act swiftly to address the scourge of gun violence, stating that
he was open to tougher measures like "enhanced background checks" if they would
help keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
February 17:Even the federal government
defines and counts mass shootings in inconsistent and
murky ways. Starting in 2008, the FBI limited its definition of mass
shootings to a single incident in which a shooter kills four or more people,
according to the criminologist Frederic Lemieux,
writing in the Chicago Tribune. But in 2013 the agency decided to
rely on a definition for an “active shooter” instead of narrowing in on a
definition of “mass shootings”; it defined an “active shooter” as a person
“actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and
populated area.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/02/another-school-shootingbut-whos-counting/553412/
February 17: US President Donald Trump said
Saturday the FBI was so caught up in the Russia probe that it failed to heed
signs which could have prevented the Parkland school shooting.
February 18: A top Republican donor vowed on
Saturday to stop cutting checks for candidates and political groups that do not
support a ban on assault weapons.
February 19: A Kansas congressional hopeful
said Monday that he's sticking by his campaign giveaway of an AR-15 rifle
despite criticism in light of last Wednesday's mass school shooting in Florida.
February 19:On Monday
morning, two survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting slammed
politicians' responses to the massacre, calling them "disgusting" and "pathetic"
in a appearance on CNN. Emma Gonzalez, whose speech in favor of gun control went
viral, spoke out against her state's Republican senator, Marco Rubio, who has
doubted that proposed gun laws would have prevented the massacre. Gonzalez said
we can prevent "seriously nasty crimes and tragedies from occurring. And if
somebody doesn't want to do that at this point, that's pathetic."
https://eblnews.com/video/parkland-survivors-rip-politicians-pathetic-responses-333273
February 20: The Florida state House on
Tuesday rejected a ban on many semiautomatic guns and large capacity magazines
as dozens of survivors of last week's school shooting headed to the state
Capitol to turn their grief into political action.
Lawmakers voted down a motion to consider the ban during a session that opened
with a prayer for the 17 people killed by a former student last Wednesday at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The vote in the
Republican-dominated body was 36-71.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/us/florida-legislature-weapons-ban/index.html
February 20: Anderson Cooper
laid into President Trump on Monday, accusing the commander-in-chief of
hitting the links at his south Florida golf club while school shooting victims
were laid to rest miles away.
February 21: At least 6 lawmakers turned
down meetings with ... shooting survivors ... Four Marjory Stoneman Douglas
students and one of their friends from another Florida high school said they've
been turned down at least six times when they requested meetings with lawmakers
in Tallahassee today.
February 21:
David Hogg has become a strong voice among survivors of the mass
shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School ... it has also made him the
subject of smear campaigns and demonstrably false conspiracy theories.
Either he has been “coached” by his father, a former FBI agent; or he is a
“pawn” for anti-gun campaigners; or, the most far-fetched, he is not a victim
but a “crisis actor,” paid to travel to disaster sites to argue against stricter
gun laws.
February 21: Trump Backs Arming Teachers
During Emotional White House Listening Session ... The president said that
gun-free zones to "maniacs" are a signal that "let's go in and let's attack
because bullets aren't coming back at us."
He suggested additional training for teachers and other school personnel to be
able to better respond to active-shooter attacks, if adults working at schools
are carrying weapons.
“As usual, the opportunists waited not one second to exploit tragedy for
political gain,” LaPierre said during CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative
activists and Republican leaders in National Harbor, Md. “Chris Murphy, Nancy
Pelosi, and more, cheered on by the national media, eager to blame the NRA and
call for more government control.”
February 23: Enterprise car rental ends
NRA partnership
Three car rental brands are ending their discount deals for National Rifle
Association members.
Enterprise Holdings — which runs the Enterprise, Alamo and National car rental
groups — posted tweets Thursday
evening saying the perks will come to an end by March 26.
February 23: Why the NRA is so powerful on
Capitol Hill ... Republican Sen. Marco Rubio [was] asked: Would you refuse to
accept further campaign donations from the National Rifle Association?
After a moment, Rubio gave his answer: No, he wouldn't.
Rubio has been on the receiving end of some of the largest financial support
from the NRA over the years.
His hesitancy to distance himself from the organization shows how many in
Congress have come to rely on the NRA's largesse to help them remain in office
-- and their fear of crossing a group legendary for its ability to get its
supporters out to vote.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/23/politics/nra-political-money-clout/index.html
President Trump told a raucous crowd at the Conservative Political Action
Conference on Friday that if Democrats take power in Congress in the midterm
elections, they “will take away your Second Amendment.”
https://nypost.com/2018/02/23/trump-address-cpac-for-second-time/
February 23: Democratic governors ready to
take action on gun control ... "We as governors are demanding action from the
federal government and we need them to take action, but in the meantime, we've
decided to take a regional approach," said Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo.
That approach includes "sharing information about guns across our state lines,
sharing a database, and for the first time that I know of having a regional
research center which studies gun violence and the impact on public health," she
said.
February 23:
National Rifle Association spokeswoman
Dana Loesch
said Friday that her organization supports strengthening background checks
through a more integrated system.
“Politicians need to, right now, call for states to fully submit all convictions
to the National Crime Information Center,”
Ms. Loesch
said on CNN.
February 26: Trump said to be backing away from raising minimum age on some
weapons
President Donald Trump appears to be backing away from his
call last week to increase the age limit to 21 for some weapons, sources
told CNN.
Trump last week verbally
embraced a handful of measures, including appearing to support raising the
age limit from 18 for some gun purchases -- but sources close to the discussions
between the White House and Congress on gun control said it appears that the
President is changing his position.
February 26: Georgia Republicans threaten to
stop Delta tax break over NRA decision ... Delta's decision to cut ties with the
NRA could cost it a generous tax break from the state of Georgia.
The state's Republicans — including a major candidate for governor— are
threatening to kill part of a bill that would eliminate a state tax on jet fuel.
If it passes, the provision is expected to save the Atlanta-based airline tens
of millions of dollars.
"We felt that it was wrong for them to single out one company," said Chuck
Hufstetler, chairman of the state's Senate Finance Committee. Delta (DAL)
on Saturday announced that it would end discounted rates for National Rifle
Association members.
February 27: Breaking down the NRA-backed
theory that a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun
Research has shown, however, that the maxim isn’t always accurate.
"It’s a good slogan,” said Liza Gold, a clinical professor of psychology at
Georgetown University’s School of medicine who examines the nexus between mental
illness and gun violence.
“When we saw what happened in Parkland, we were so disturbed and upset,” CEO
Edward Stack said.
The move leaves just one major retailer standing alone in continuing to sell the
semi-automatic assault rifles
commonly used in mass shootings: Bass Pro Shops, which now includes Cabela’s,
a competitor it
purchased last year. Bass Pro Shops was named by
Forbes as one of America’s largest privately-owned companies. There
are a total of over 160 Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops retail stores in the U.S.
and Canada. Both stores also sell high-capacity magazines, which allow shooters
to fire a higher number of rounds without needing to reload.
February 28: President Donald Trump said
Wednesday that his administration was drafting an executive order that would
ban rapid-fire gun bump stocks and appeared to embrace a series of
gun-control measures that his party has long rejected.
"Take the guns first, go through due process second," Trump said
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who was not in the White House meeting, torched Trump's
idea in a statement Wednesday evening.
"We have the Second Amendment and due process of law for a reason. We're not
ditching any Constitutional protections simply because the last person the
president talked to today doesn’t like them,” Sasse said.
The Obama administration did not regulate bump stocks in the aftermath of the
deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in
2012, but that was because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives decided at the time that it could not legally regulate bump stocks.
The Trump administration may be trying to come at the issue with an executive
order, but it's unclear how they will avoid similar questions about the legality
of such an action.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-says-he-ll-ban-bump-stocks-through-executive-order-n852021
March 2: Delta CEO says 'our values are not
for sale' after feud with Georgia lawmakers over NRA ...
The CEO of Delta sent a letter to employees today, affirming the company's
decision to end a discount for members of the
National Rifle Association.
Georgia lawmakers took revenge on
Delta Air Lines, which is based in Atlanta, by killing a tax break that
would have saved the
airline millions of dollars.
March 2: BlackRock
poses tough questions to gunmakers and sellers
Asset manager BlackRock Inc said on Friday it is pressing gunmakers and weapons
retailers in its portfolios to explain how they monitor firearm sales and use,
and it is studying the creation of new index-based portfolios of stocks that
would exclude gunmakers and retailers.
“As it has for many people, the recent tragedy in Florida has driven home for
BlackRock the terrible toll from gun violence in America. We believe that this
event requires response and action from a wide range of entities across both the
public and private sectors,” BlackRock said in a note to clients posted on its
website.
In a
statement sent to Delta employees and obtained by HuffPost, CEO Ed Bastian
said the company’s intent in ending the discount was to “remain neutral” in the
debate over gun access and public safety. Bastian said the discount could have
been seen as Delta endorsing the NRA, and the goal was to end that perception.
“Our people and our customers have a wide range of views on how to increase
safety in our schools and public places, and we are not taking sides,” Bastian
wrote. “Our objective in removing any implied affiliation with the NRA was to
remove Delta from this debate.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/delta-air-lines-nra_us_5a9ae083e4b089ec353ac174
March 3: Donald Trump's 'chaos' presidency
is 'freaking out his own party' now more than ever before
March 6: Trump slams the brakes on Obama
gun-safety measures
As part of Trump's government-wide push for deregulation, the ATF has stalled a
number of gun regulations that had been moving forward under Obama, including a
new requirement to make secure gun storage or safety devices more widely
available. Last year, the administration formally reclassified the proposed gun
storage rule and other regulatory changes as "long-term
actions," indicating the ATF was not expecting to act on them within the
next year.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-slams-brakes-obama-gun-safety-measures-n853846
Keep Guns Out of the Classroom: Allow Teachers to Teach
As California Teachers of the Year and the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction, our focus is on our students, our classrooms, and education policy.
Now, however, we must talk about another topic: guns.
We can no longer remain silent while students, teachers, and classified
employees are slain on school campuses with assault weapons designed for combat.
Since Columbine took place nearly 20 years ago, we have witnessed tragedy after
tragedy with no significant changes in our national gun laws.
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr18ltr0308.asp
March 9: 'March for Our Lives' gun control
rally to draw thousands across US
Just days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 people, students-turned-activists echoed the
words “never
again” and “not one more,” pushing lawmakers for increased gun control and
better school safety.
March 11: Trump's plan will seek to 'harden'
schools against shootings
President Donald Trump's plan to combat school shootings will include a call on
states to increase the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons and an
effort to "harden" schools so they're less vulnerable to attacks.
March 14: In an unprecedented show of unity
and political solidarity, waves of students marched out of class Wednesday to
demand stricter gun laws and an end to school massacres.
March 13: Thousands of small shoes were
placed on the ground in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on
Tuesday morning, one pair for each of the estimated 7,000 children who have died
from gun violence since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
Called Monument for Our Kids, the demonstration is part of a far-reaching effort
to pressure Congress to pass additional gun control legislation. The shoes, all
worn, were donated by thousands of people across the country, organizers
said. Prominent celebrities, including Bette Midler and Chelsea Handler, helped
publicize the drive via social media.
http://www.newsweek.com/thousands-shoes-displayed-washington-dc-gun-violence-protest-842488
March 21: A Republican candidate for
Kentucky secretary of state has apologized after suggesting he'd like to use US
Rep. John Yarmuth as target practice.
A Republican candidate for Kentucky secretary of state has apologized after
suggesting he'd like to use US Rep. John Yarmuth as target practice.
"I'm so proud of my @NRA rating, I'll wear it on my chest," Yarmuth, a Kentucky
Democrat, posted on Twitter Monday, along with a picture of him wearing a "F"
pin showing his rating from the National Rifle Association.
Carl Nett, whose campaign website says he's a former US Secret Service agent and
CIA contractor, replied that Yarmuth should move the pin "over just a bit."
"I was trained center mass," he added, referring to the
law enforcement tactic to hit a suspect's vital organs. Nett has since
deleted the tweet.
March 24: To hear the National Rifle
Association tell it, Saturday's
March for Our Lives was orchestrated by billionaires and Hollywood to push
an anti-gun agenda.
On Facebook Saturday morning, the NRA posted a short membership-drive video
along with a brief message.
"Stand and Fight for our Kids' Safety by Joining NRA,"
it said. "Today's protests aren't spontaneous. Gun-hating billionaires and
Hollywood elites are manipulating and exploiting children as part of their plan
to DESTROY the Second Amendment and strip us of our right to defend ourselves
and our loved ones."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/24/us/nra-march-response-trnd/index.html
March 24: On Eve Of March, NRA Taunts
Parkland Survivors
In what can only be described as a desperate plea for attention, the NRA has
released a new video that takes aim at survivors of the Parkland
shooting, telling them that if their friends hadn’t died, “no one would know
your names.”
The video, titled “A March for Their Lies,” was posted to NRA-TV’s YouTube
channel just ahead of the student-led March
for Our Lives event scheduled for Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Continuing his desperate attack on the teens, the NRA mouthpiece turned his
attention to Saturday’s march, calling it “one-sided, logic-deprived, and
intellectually dishonest” and dismissing the historic event as a “festival
masquerading as a march.” ... accusing them of wanting to “burn the Constitution
and rewrite the parts that you all like in crayon.”
http://www.nationalmemo.com/eve-march-nra-taunts-parkland-survivors/
March 24: While others marched for their
lives, these folks marched for their guns
In Washington, Eric Ciabottonia, 19, and John Bolduc, 18, traveled with a group
of students from Pennsylvania State University to march for gun rights. The
freshman engineering majors said they are supporters of President Donald Trump
and came to voice their beliefs about the Second Amendment and see what the
opposing side thinks.
"I came to open dialogue," Ciabottonia said, adding that calling for a ban on
bump stocks was reactionary. "I like talking to people I disagree with so I can
get a broader range of views. I'd say there's a lot of misinformation and I came
to talk to people."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/24/us/march-for-our-lives-counter-protests-trnd/index.html
March 25: Remington bankruptcy: Gunmaker files for Chapter 11
protection
Remington, one of the nation's oldest gunmakers, has filed for bankruptcy.
Remington is planning to reduce its debt by $700 million through its Chapter 11
filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
March 25: Firearms manufacturer Remington
Outdoor Company has filed for bankruptcy protection in the face of falling sales
and lawsuits stemming from the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
... the gun industry is facing low demand and high stock after Donald Trump's
unexpected election to the presidency in 2016. According to the paper, firearms
manufacturers boosted output in the run-up to the election, expecting that a
Hillary Clinton victory would lead to a boost in sales ahead of tighter gun
laws.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/25/gun-maker-remington-files-for-bankruptcy.html
March 25: The gun industry as a whole has
suffered plunging sales and profits under the Trump administration, because
consumers are no longer driven by fears of more restrictive gun control with a
Republican in the White House who's been endorsed by the National Rifle
Association
Responding to the March for Our Lives protests that took place around the world
on Saturday, Santorum asked, "How about kids, instead of looking to someone else
to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to
deal with situations that, when there is a violent shooter, that you can
actually respond to that?"
http://theweek.com/speedreads/763109/rick-santorum-teens-should-learn-cpr-instead-pressing-gun-control
March 25: Doctors Skewer Rick Santorum For
Suggesting Students Learn CPR, Skip Gun Control Activism
“I can confirm that performing CPR can’t remove AR-15 bullets from a body. Get a
clue.”
Doctors weren’t the only ones to rip Santorum for his tone-deaf remarks. Rep.
Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted that CPR would do little to save the victim of
“AR-15 bullets [that] obliterate organs.”
On Twitter: Rick Santorum - who thinks we
should reactively revive the dead instead of proactively passing data-proven,
lifesaving gun laws - had an A+ rating from the
@NRA
and took hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from their
lobbyists as a quid pro quo.
https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/977923063902822405 …
March 25
@shannonrwatts
March 25: Santorum's comments came
a day after protesters assembled at March for Our Lives events in Washington
and across the country to demand gun control legislation in the wake of the
deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
March 27: Retired Supreme Court Justice John
Paul Stevens believes the students and demonstrators who protested this past
weekend for gun control should seek a repeal of the Second Amendment.
March 29: Gun owners would not have to give
up their guns under 'assault weapons' ban
Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, appeared
on The Capitol Pressroom to voice his group’s opposition to stronger gun control
laws.
April 6: Republican Rep. Ralph Norman pulled
out his loaded, personal .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun Friday and laid it
on the table at a diner where he was meeting with his constituents in Rock Hill,
South Carolina.
Norman told CNN he wanted to make a point in the debate over gun violence.
"I merely proved a point that guns themselves are not the issue," he said.
May 12: Parkland father blasts Oliver North
for comparing gun activists to terrorists
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland, Fla. school
shooting earlier this year, hit incoming National Rifle Association (NRA)
president Oliver North for comparing gun control activists to terrorists.
"Less than three months ago, I was a normal Parkland parent who had two kids,"
Guttenberg
told Newsweek in an interview. "Now I have one ..."
May 15: Trump administration releases plan
to shift gun export approvals
While officials say the goal is to reduce regulatory burdens on manufacturers
and promote American exports, foreign policy experts and gun control advocates
have said they think the approval transfer will lead to less Congressional
oversight of large gun export deals causing U.S. guns to end up in the hands of
criminal organizations, human rights abusers and terrorist groups.
http://thehill.com/regulation/administration/387785-trump-administration-releases-plan-to-shift-gun-export-approvals
May 20: Texas Lt. Gov. Thinks Abortion,
Video Games Show 'Culture Of Violence' That Leads To School Shootings
“We have devalued life, whether it's through abortion, whether it's the breakup
of families, through violent movies, and particularly violent video games which
now outsell movies and music,” Patrick said in response to host George
Stephanopoulos’ observation that there had been more students killed by gun
violence in schools than active duty military deaths in 2018.
http://www.newsweek.com/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-abortion-video-games-show-culture-violence-leads-935705
May 24: Armed citizen kills shooter at
Oklahoma City restaurant
A man walked into Louie's Grill & Bar and opened fire, striking two people. As
the gunman was fleeing the scene, a bystander armed with a pistol confronted the
shooter and fatally shot him outside the restaurant, Oklahoma City Police
Captain Bo Mathews told reporters.
June 21:After identifying they didn't have the funding
to support a school resource officer in every school, leaders in Lee County,
Virginia have come up with an alternative solution to protect students, and
staff.
Sheriff Gary Parsons said he was approached by the school system about the
possibility of arming teachers inside every school.
"After thinking it through, if it's done properly, I'm in full support of it."
Parsons said.
He added that discussing school safety has become a recurring conversation, and
he wants to see something done.
"That's the problem, every time we have a school shooting, we have meetings, we
have discussions, we have conferences, and we talk and we talk and we never take
any action, well it's time to take some type of action," Parsons said.
July 2: Men and Women Voters’ Different
Positions on Guns Matter in Midterm Elections
... when compared to the men who share their party affiliation, Democratic women
and Independent women are significantly more likely than the men to identify the
passage of gun control regulations as a top legislative priority. More than
seventy percent of Democratic women and 64 percent of Democratic men identified
gun control legislation as a top priority. And, while the overall percentages
were much lower, Independent women were more likely than the men to identify gun
control legislation as a top priority, at 36 and 31 percent, respectively. In
other words, voters, particularly women, are already primed to be supportive of
candidates who support gun control. [Note that the issue is "gun control",
not "2nd Amendment repeal"].
https://www.genderwatch2018.org/men-women-voters-guns/
July 30: Imagine this: the convicted
domestic abuser next door tries to buy a gun. He's turned down because he fails
his background check. When he gets home, he opens up his browser, and in half an
hour he's printing out his own undetectable, fully functional plastic gun, with
no background check and no record of his purchase.
As of August 1, it will be a reality in America ...
Due to a
settlement between the State Department and Defense Distributed -- a Texas
based designer of 3D guns -- felons, domestic abusers, terrorists, those
adjudicated too mentally ill to own guns and any other person unable to legally
purchase firearms will be able to print one at home. Depending on the printer,
they can be untraceable and plastic, or they can be metal. People will be able
to make anything from novelty guns to AR-15s. And we will never know -- until it
is too late.
September 7: In the battle for control of
Congress, President Donald Trump's weapon of choice is fear.
At a rally for Republican Senate nominee Matt Rosendale in Billings, Montana, on
Thursday night, the president warned his faithful that Democrats would raise
their taxes, take their guns, block his wall, abolish the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency, open U.S. borders, end Social Security and cut
Medicare.
He's also warned supporters this summer that the outcome in November could spell
trouble for freedom of speech and religion and the First Amendment — and that if
the GOP loses, violence could follow.
September 24: [From "why do people love -or
hate- Trump? Here Are The 20 Top Reasons "]
16. He is pro-gun.
Even after all the senseless and high-profile mass shootings of the past few
years in which countless innocent people were caught in the crossfire of some
crazed lunatic loser who was working out his inadequacy and hatred on the world,
Trump insists that we all need guns—the more, the merrier. He will tell you that
guns don’t kill people, people kill people. That’s true, but people with guns
kill a LOT of people—nearly 40,000 last year alone. Forty thousand beautiful
lives cut down because to many men, a gun is a second penis.
https://thoughtcatalog.com/jeremy-london/2018/07/why-do-people-hate-trump/
October 27: Trump says armed guard could
have stopped Pittsburgh tragedy
When President Trump was asked about the mass shooting this morning at a
Pittsburgh synagogue that left eight dead, he told reporters that greater
security inside the synagogue, not stricter gun laws, could have prevented the
tragedy.
November 28: A Trauma Surgeon Who Survived
Gun Violence Is Taking On The NRA
For trauma surgeon Joseph Sakran, gun violence is a very personal issue. He has
treated hundreds of gun wound victims, comforted anxious loved ones and told
mothers and fathers that their children would not be coming home.
But Sakran's empathy for his patients and their families extends beyond the
hospital. Sakran knows the pain of gun violence because he is a survivor of it;
when he was 17, he took a bullet to the throat after a high school football
game.
May 12: Researchers Tackle Gun Violence
Despite Lack of Federal Funding
In charting a course forward, it is necessary to move beyond "people's anecdotal
opinions," says David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research
Center. He and other researchers are analyzing data and conducting studies with
the ultimate goal of informing public policy. It's a tough task, in part because
of a by now
well-known piece of legislation called the Dickey Amendment, passed by
Congress in 1996 with the support of the National Rifle Association. This
amendment prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using
funds "to advocate or promote gun control." It didn't ban federally-funded gun
research, but the legislation had a chilling effect: from 1996 to 2013, CDC
funding in this area dropped by 96 percent.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/12/609701029/researchers-tackle-gun-violence-despite-lack-of-federal-funding -- 2019 --
Back to top February 15: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
warned Republicans on Thursday that a future Democratic president could declare
gun violence a national emergency.
Her comments to reporters came shortly after the White House said President
Donald Trump would declare a national emergency in order to "build the wall,
protect the border, and secure our great country."
