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»Remarks From Chicago Public Schools CEO, Arne Duncan, On Not Accepting the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence’s Lincoln Award Until Stronger Gun Laws Are Passed
»Arne Duncan, Chicago Public Schools CEO, Was Honored With Prestigious Abraham Lincoln Award From the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence — But Wouldn’t Accept It Until Stronger Gun Laws Are Passed To Save His Students’ Lives
»Watch Video: Obama Panders Hard to NRA In New Ad
»In This Election, the NRA Is Down To Its One and Only Trick: “Gun Confiscation Phobia”
»Los Angeles: An Unemployed Financial Advisor Shot and Killed His Wife, Mother-In-Law, and Three Sons Before Turning the Gun On Himself.
October 8, 2008
Remarks From Chicago Public Schools CEO, Arne Duncan, On Not Accepting the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence’s Lincoln Award Until Stronger Gun Laws Are Passed
 (We are pleased to post Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan's remarks from the ICHV Lincoln Awards luncheon). I wish we could stand here today and declare victory over gun violence. I would love to salute elected officials across the State of Illinois for having the political courage to pass common sense gun laws that would keep our children safe. I want to look in the eyes of our children and promise them that they will be safe – and that their only concern is whether they did their homework not whether they can walk to school. I wish we could preserve their innocence long enough to foster a love of learning instead of a fear of death. I wish that our society valued children more than it values violent rituals and traditions that might have been at home in a frontier society two centuries ago but make absolutely no sense today. I wish for all of these things – but none of them are yet true.. We have lost eight Chicago public school students to gun violence since the start of the school year.That’s two a week. At this rate we could lose 60 or 80 kids this year. Last year – we lost 35 and the year before we lost 29. It’s not a good trend. Three of our students died this past weekend. One of them – 13-year-old Sameere Conn -- went to Bright Elementary School. He was buying a bag of chips after football practice when shots came through a store window and killed him. At this time tomorrow I’ll be speaking at his funeral. 17-year-old Kiyanna Salter of Julian High School was on a bus when two men got in a fight. One of them left the bus, fired back through the window and killed her. 17-year-old Shaun Brown of Fenger High School was at a party last weekend when a fight spilled out into the street. Moments later he was dead. We had six other shootings this weekend—at 11 in the morning – 6 pm. –at eight, at 11 at night and at 5:30 in the morning – on the South Side, the West Side and the Southeast side. It can happen anytime, anywhere – and we just live with it year after year. It makes me sick with sadness to see young lives destroyed in a moment of stupidity and confusion. If they fought with fists and words like we did -- they would be alive today. But instead our children are dying and no one can stop it. Not the police, the community, the parents, the kids, the courts, the jails or the legislature. According to a Sun-Times series last summer based on a survey of 6th, 7th and 8th graders, three-quarters of them say they heard gunshots in their neighborhood. Half of them know someone who had been shot at. A third of them knew someone who had been killed by a gun. Violence has become commonplace in their lives. So for me – today is not a day of joy – it is not a day of celebration – it is not a day for any of us to feel good. And so – while I am deeply honored to be here – and even more honored to serve on the board of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence -- I cannot accept your award. I don’t feel I have earned it. I don’t feel any of us have earned it. Instead I would ask us all to remember the horror and tragedy of children who live with death every day. I would ask us all to renew our commitment to reducing gun violence. No one works harder than the Illinois Council on Handgun Violence. No one is doing more to raise awareness. And each of you here today are supporting that effort. I thank you – not just on behalf of this organization but on behalf of children and families across Chicago. I won’t accept this award today but I will accept your hand in partnership – and your commitment to keep on fighting to end gun violence. We’ll keep fighting the NRA, the gun makers, the gun dealers, the gang bangers and everyone else who refuses to accept the undeniable fact that guns and kids don’t mix. We’ll fight them in Springfield – in the courts – in the community – and even in the home. We’ll fight for as long as it takes and when that fight is over – I will gladly accept this award. I will display it with pride. But not today – not yet. For now, the fight continues. Thank you.
More: Illinois, Shootings, kids & guns
Arne Duncan, Chicago Public Schools CEO, Was Honored With Prestigious Abraham Lincoln Award From the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence — But Wouldn’t Accept It Until Stronger Gun Laws Are Passed To Save His Students’ Lives
The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV) honored Chicago Public Schools CEO, Arne Duncan, with the prestigious Abraham Lincoln Award at its 26th annual awards banquet. However, in light of yet another shooting tragedy where a Chicago Public Schools student, Kiyanna Salter, 17, was killed by stray gunfire on a CTA bus on Sunday, Oct. 5th, Duncan said he would not accept the honor until lawmakers passed comprehensive legislation to reduce gun violence and save the lives of his students. According to the Chicago Sun-Times on Oct. 8th: His voice quaking with emotion, Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan refused Tuesday to accept an anti-gun violence award, saying "I don't feel I've earned it'' with student deaths on track to double this school year. Duncan left the Abraham Lincoln Award from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence on a sidetable, but walked away from the lecturn at the Ritz Carlton to a standing ovation from an obviously moved audience. But first, Duncan choked back tears as he recited this year's grim tally: eight Chicago Public School children killed since Sept. 2 -- the equivalent of two a week."At this rate we could lose 60 or 80 children this year,'' Duncan said. At this rate, CPS could double last year's 35 student deaths, he said. "Whole classrooms'' of kids are dying each year. The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence released the following statement about its annual Lincoln Awards event: Over the last 10 years Arne Duncan has established himself as one of the strongest leaders in the state and in the country in the fight to protect our youngest citizens from the impact of gun violence. Mr. Duncan, along with Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis, announced new safety initiatives designed to reduce the number of young people that are killed or wounded due to gun violence. Included in the proposal were measures to increase the number of police officers at schools in areas where there is a higher risk of gun related violence in order to insure “safe passage” to and from those schools. Duncan was also instrumental in expanding ICHV’s annual ‘Essay, Poetry and Art Contest’ to give a voice to young people advocating for solutions to gun violence. ICHV also recognized the ‘Founders of Purpose Over Pain’ with the Citizen Advocacy Award, a group spearheaded by families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. Ron Holt, a Chicago police officer whose son, Blair Holt, was shot on a CTA on May 10th 2007, and Denise Reed, whose daughter, Starkesia Reed, 14, was killed by random assault weapons fire in her home in March 2006, were among the advocates to receive the Advocacy Award. The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence also honored several lawmakers in the state for their leadership and perseverance in pushing for sensible measures to prevent gun violence. ICHV recognized State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, Cook County Commissioner Larry Sufferdin, Chicago Alderman Walter Burnett, and Village of Palatine Mayor, Rita Mullins each with a Legislative Advocacy Award. “We are fortunate in Illinois to have such dedicated allies and advocates in all levels of our government who demonstrate a willingness to tackle important issues, such as preventing gun violence, and not shy away from this challenge,” said Thom Mannard, Executive Director of ICHV. “All of our honorees deserve praise and our gratitude for their sacrifice and commitment in this noble work to save lives from gun violence.”
More: Police, Illinois, Shootings, kids & guns, Activism
Watch Video: Obama Panders Hard to NRA In New Ad
Sen. Barack Obama panders hard to the NRA in a new ad running in Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina according to Politico. In the ad, the voiceover says that "Barack Obama supports gun rights, our right to defend ourselves, and the Second Amendment." Obama has, unfortunately, taken the gun lobby's bait and framed his position on guns in terms of "rights" and "self-protection" versus fighting the lobbyists and special interests who control the agenda in Washington. Hmm, is that really "change we can believe in" Sen. Obama? What does "supporting gun rights" mean anyway? Does it mean our country shouldn't mandate background checks on all gun purchases to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of terrorists, gang members, drug dealers, domestic abusers, gun traffickers and mentally unstable people? As President, your solemn oath and duty is to protect the American people. Does protecting the American people from gun violence not factor into that equation? It would be nice if Sen. Obama clarified and explained his position on gun violence prevention, as opposed to repeating the catch phrases that gun owners and the NRA want to hear.
More: NRA, Second Amendment, Hunting
October 7, 2008
In This Election, the NRA Is Down To Its One and Only Trick: “Gun Confiscation Phobia”
 (We are pleased to post the following guest commentary and political cartoon by Martha Rosenberg). You'd think the National Rifle Association (NRA) would be taking bows. In June, the Supreme Court put its "Gun Confiscation Phobia" (GCP) to rest by finding the District of Columbia's gun ban unconstitutional and affirming the Second Amendment. (Evanston, Morton Grove, and Wilmette, IL promptly repealed their bans and the NRA is suing Winnetka, IL, site of the first major school shooting by Laurie Dann in 1988, over its ban.) And it has a wolf, moose and bear huntin' compatriot on the Presidential ticket. But instead, a NRA film crew, allowed on the premises by management, badgered coal miners at the Consol mine in Blacksville, West Virginia in September to make on camera remarks against Barack Obama even though their union has endorsed him--leading to a strike of 440 workers. Oops. "The union movement, fundamentally, is about workers coming together and protecting their rights in the workplace and as voters," writes union member Seth Michaels on the AFL-CIO blog site. "UMWA Local 1702 this week showed they won't tolerate management attempts to intimidate them." Which is worse for the NRA which is supposed to speak for the working man? The charge that it is a tool of management--or that it abused worker rights when "rights" is the NRA's middle name? Of course this isn’t the first time the NRA has had to back down from its paper tiger saber rattling. Who can forget its failed Jihads against: ConocoPhillips in 2005 over guns in the workplace; the United Nations in 2006 over small arms regulation, and; Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) over gun legislation in 2007 leading to shooting targets with his face painted on them? And its 27-page "Freedom in Peril" brochure leaked in 2007--just a "first draft" dismissed the NRA--that demonized the New Orleans police, Katie Couric, Rosie O'Donnell, George Soros, Barbra Steisand, Michael Moore, Nancy Pelosi, Sens. John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, animal activists and undocumented workers with 5th grade style "I-hate-the-teacher" illustrations? In August, a Mother Jones expose accused the NRA of hiring career spy Mary McFate to infiltrate the gun safety groups CeasefirePA and States United to Prevent Gun Violence where she leaked documents, encouraged intra-organizational fractiousness and "had access to all the legislative strategy for every major issue for years." She even met with members of Congress. McFate infiltrated animal rights groups on behalf of U.S. Surgical in the 1980's which was using "hundreds of dogs a year to train doctors and the company's own salesmen with the high-speed surgical staplers it manufactures… after which the animals are destroyed," according to Time magazine. Of course everyone knows the NRA's position on John McCain--it was against him before it was for him--and that it probably didn't want its first minted candidate to be a winking and puckering cartoon character named Sarah Palin. It has also lost constituency to its nemesis, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), after failing to fight Mining Law amendments tucked in the House Federal Budget Deficit Reduction Act that allowed millions of acres of public lands treasured by hunters to be sold to mining companies in 2005. But the NRA's real problem is the Wall Street crisis. In the past the NRA has convinced its supporters to put an abstraction--Second Amendment rights--in front of bread and butter issues and policies. And they did--when there were jobs, car loans and food and gas money. But now, as the economy tanks, the NRA is left with only one bullet-- Gun Confiscation Phobia (GCP)--with which to whip up voters.Voters who are more concerned with butter than guns.
More: NRA, Politics, handgun bans, Supreme Court, West Virginia
October 6, 2008
Los Angeles: An Unemployed Financial Advisor Shot and Killed His Wife, Mother-In-Law, and Three Sons Before Turning the Gun On Himself.
The Los Angles Times reported on Oct. 6th a grisly murder-suicide in Porter Ranch where Karthik Rajaram, 45, used a handgun he purchased on Sept. 16th to murder his family before killing himself. An unemployed financial advisor apparently despondent over his troubles shot and killed his wife, his mother-in-law and three children before taking his own life in a gated community in the northwest San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles police said today. Officers responding to a call from concerned friends found the bodies about 8:30 a.m. in a two-story house in the 20600 block of Como Lane in Porter Ranch, said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore. "We believe this to be a murder-suicide," Moore said. "It appears [the gunman] killed his family and then took his own life." Karthik Rajaram, 45, used a handgun he purchased Sept. 16, Moore said. The weapon was found still in his grasp, he said. The bodies of the man's 39-year-old wife, 69-year-old mother-in-law Indra Ramasesham, and three sons -- ages 19, 12 and 7 -- were found inside the home's various bedrooms. Authorities had earlier said that one of the victims was the gunman's mother but now say it was his mother-in-law. Friends and neighbors identified the suspect's wife as Subasri Rajaram and said the close-knit family had lived in the neighborhood for a few years. All of the victims were shot in the head and some were shot multiple times, Moore said at an afternoon news conference in front of the house. "This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed," he said. "It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times." Ramasesham was found in a downstairs bedroom, Moore said. The 19-year-old victim, whom police identified as Krishna Rajaram, was found in the master bedroom and his mother in another upstairs bedroom. In an adjacent room, police found the 12-year-old, whom school officials identified as Ganesha Rajaram, on the floor and the 7-year-old in bed, Moore said. The gunman was also found in that same room, he said.
More: California, Guns, Murder Suicide
Chicago: Teenage Girl Shot, Killed On CTA Bus
Random gunfire claimed the life of yet another Chicago teenager, Kiyanna Salter, 17, in a horrific tragedy. According to Chicago's CBS news station, WBBM on Oct. 6th: CHICAGO (CBS) ― A teenage girl was shot and killed Sunday night while riding a CTA bus traveling through the South Side's Grand Crossing neighborhood. On Monday morning, family members said they were certain that Kiyanna Salters, 17, was not the intended target. As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, Calumet Area police detectives are looking for a man who stepped off the bus at the busy three-way intersection of 71st Street, Cottage Grove Avenue and South Chicago Avenue, and then turned and fired a shot into the bus, killing Kiyanna.Family members said Kiyanna was riding the bus with her best friend. They had just visited an ill family member and were coming home around 10 p.m. Sunday night. The gunman was arguing with another man and began to exit the bus, fired once, and ran away, family members said. Kiyanna was shot in the head, and she fell on the friend seated next to her. Kiyanna, of the 11300 block of South Racine Avenue, was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Kiyanna was a senior at Percy L. Julian High School, at 10330 S. Elizabeth St., and family and friends say she loved school. Kiyanna's tragic death echoes the shooting of Blair Holt who was also killed on a CTA bus on May 10th, 2007 when he shielded a friend from random gunfire. Ron Holt, Blair's father, who is also a Chicago police officer, continues to advocate for stronger gun laws in the aftermath of his son's death. We wrote in May 2007: "A young man has been hailed as a hero in Chicago for pushing a few of his fellow students out of the way of gunfire, and his death has pushed many in the community to call louder than ever for stronger gun laws. According to the Chicago Tribune: Blair Holt was killed saving a young life on a city bus last week. But the 16-year-old's heroic example could save many more lives, eulogists told more than 2,000 mourners who gathered Friday to honor him. The shooting of the Julian High School honor student, who pushed his classmate out of the path of gunfire before he was struck himself, should galvanize a community fed up with gun violence, they said. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Kiyanna Salters.
More: Illinois, Shootings, kids & guns
October 5, 2008
“He Was a Hero”: Mike Robbins, Chicago Officer Wounded In the Line of Duty, Became An Ardent Gun Violence Prevention Activist, Died At 57
(We are posting the following obituary from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, about our dear friend, Mike Robbins who died on Sept. 13th. Mike was a remarkable advocate, who is sorely missed by all of us).  Mike Robbins, a Vietnam veteran who later became a police officer and was shot in the line of duty, was a dedicated and outspoken activist on gun violence issues. Mike died in Chicago on September 13th at the age of 57. Mike was a man who knew from personal experience the impact gun violence has on peoples’ lives. He was shot at least eleven times by an assailant in 1994; after being shot, he was on medical disability from the police department. Meanwhile, his son also survived a shooting. In a story he wrote for ICHV last year, Mike said that “I decided during that time [after he was shot while serving as a police officer] that I need to talk to kids about gangs…There are so many who need help….One of my messages to kids has always been clear: Too many guns are getting into the hands of people who have criminal intent. In fact, my life has been about addressing the availability and access of too many firearms getting in the hands of too many individuals who shouldn’t have them.” Mike’s commitment to the prevention of gun violence was one of many ways he worked to improve communities, families and victims of gun violence. For example, in addition to working with the HELP Network (HELP stands for Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan), a coalition of medical and allied organizations addressing gun violence, he was involved in a group called Black on Black Love, which addressed violence and other issues in African-American communities. Mike also worked tirelessly in his community – whether that meant being a surrogate uncle to children, passing out turkeys at Thanksgiving, or keeping an eye on the block where he lived on Chicago’s South Side. In the meantime, he was a strong advocate for disabled police officers, and a liaison to law enforcement agencies for ICHV. And, of course, he spent countless hours talking to young people about gun violence. In 1996, Mike addressed the Democratic National Convention about gun violence at the United Center in Chicago. That night, and for many years, he offered a message and vision for reducing gun violence that we can learn from for many years. “We should honor Mike by following his example and doing all we can to make our communities and our country a better place for all,” said ICHV Executive Director Thom Mannard in a guest book published on the Internet by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “He was a hero in every sense of the word.”
More: Police, Illinois, Activism
October 3, 2008
West Virginia Coal Miners Stay Home To Protest a Film Crew From the NRA Interviewing Union Members To Attack Sen. Obama
It's become one of the oldest tricks in the cynical political playbook: manipulate working class union households to vote against their own economic interests by dividing Americans along "social issues" such as guns, religion, gay marriage, and even civil rights issues. But perhaps there is hope that at least some "Reagan democrats" are tired of being lied to by the right-wing. In desperate economic times, union households are seeing how the gun lobby is vainly trying to carry the water for the GOP to distract working families with cultural politics. A West Virginia station reported: Blacksville #2 Mine Idle After 440 Workers Stay Home -- UMWA Workers Took Memorial Day in Protest BLACKSVILLE -- Coal production at a mine in Monongalia County came to a halt today when every union miner stayed home, as part of a political protest. It was an idle day Monday at the Blacksville #2 Mine. More than 440 workers who are members of the United Mine Workers of America took what's called a Memorial Day instead of going to work. Union officials say they took the day to protest after a film crew from the National Rifle Assocation showed up at the Consol mine last week to interview union workers.They say the crew tried to get union coal miners to speak out against Barak Obama. The UMWA has endorsed the democratic presidential nominee.
More: NRA, Gun culture, elections, West Virginia
September 28, 2008
Washington Post Profiles Mary “McFate”, a Corporate Spy Hired By the NRA To Infiltrate the Gun Control Movement — Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ) Is Demanding Answers
 The Washington Post posted an in-depth profile of Mary "McFate", aka, Mary Lou Sapone, who was on the NRA payroll for almost a decade as a paid spy to infiltrate the gun violence prevention movement. McFate was a former board member to the Freedom States Alliance -- which oversees our GunGuys blog -- before she was removed from the board of directors after Mother Jones released a shell-shocking report outing Mary as a paid mole for the NRA. The Washington Post story by Jenna Johnson, from Sept. 28th, is a must-read:Informant Might Have Stood Among Gun Safety Activists The day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the D.C. gun ban, leading gun control advocates dialed into a nationwide conference call to coordinate how the movement should frame its reaction to the media. Listening in was Mary McFate, a longtime board member of a Pennsylvania gun safety group. Although McFate had been a familiar face in gun safety circles for more than a decade, the other activists on the line were unaware that she once had a career as a corporate spy infiltrating activist groups. Now, three gun safety groups have expelled McFate, 62, on suspicion that she was actually a longtime informant for the National Rifle Association or other gun rights organizations. McFate and the NRA are not commenting, and Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) is demanding that the NRA address the allegations. The gun control groups' suspicions arose after a July report in Mother Jones magazine revealing that McFate was once known as Mary Lou Sapone, whose career as a corporate spy is well documented and undisputed. A civil court deposition includes testimony that McFate had the NRA as a client as far back as 1999 but does not detail the work she did for it. A year later, McFate was a volunteer coordinator of the gun control movement's Million Mom March. In the 1980s, when she used her married name, Sapone, McFate worked undercover in animal rights circles, gathering intelligence for a medical supply company in Connecticut. A decade later, she was in management, serving as the handler for an operative who infiltrated an environmental group protesting a chemical spill in Louisiana. "The more we learn about Mary McFate and her actions, the more reason for concern that she deceived gun violence victims and gun safety advocates," Lautenberg, a longtime foe of the NRA, said in a statement. "If the NRA has nothing to hide, it should come forward and answer our questions about this alleged spy. Its silence thus far has been deafening." The assertion that McFate was a corporate spy shocked members of the tightly knit gun control movement, many of whom considered her a friend. "This is somebody I've been with dozens and dozens of times," said Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire New Jersey. "We've walked the halls of Congress together. . . . It's really hurtful." In 2005, McFate unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the board of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the nation's most influential gun safety groups. Years earlier, she was named as an unpaid board member of Ceasefire Pennsylvania, which advocates for stricter rules for handgun sales and other measures. Her spot on that group's board allowed her to participate in two national coalitions, the Freedom States Alliance and States United to Prevent Gun Violence. McFate became the legislative director for States United and was in charge of lobbying Congress. "She seemed to feel so strongly about it," said Barbara Hohlt, executive director of States United. "She was one of us." From her multiple perches, McFate had access to strategic discussions on which issues or legislative positions would be pushed and which lawmakers and states would be targeted when and how. She was privy to the movement's public relations strategies and its reactions to NRA activities. "Mary was very involved with everything: telephone calls, conferences, meetings -- everything," Hohlt said. "In our group, there are not a lot of secrets. But we don't expect everything we say openly is going to be passed along to the NRA." On that June day the D.C. case was decided, McFate was among the several dozen advocates who listened as the lead attorney for the District gave his interpretation of the ruling and suggested how state groups might frame their reactions to the media, Hohlt said. "A call like that would definitely be intended to be an internal call," said Robyn Thomas, executive director of the Legal Community Against Violence in San Francisco, which hosted the call. According to Hohlt and Miller, McFate obtained a draft copy of an amicus brief prepared by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence in the D.C. case several days before the brief was filed. McFate told a worker with the group that she might be able to enlist other supporters if she had an advance copy, Miller said. Given that such briefs are generally filed early enough that there is ample time for a response, a draft might be of questionable value to a courtroom opponent. McFate's alleged connection to the NRA was described in the 2003 deposition of Timothy Ward, a former investigator with a now-defunct Maryland private detective firm, Beckett Brown Intl., which used McFate as a subcontractor. The deposition came amid a contract dispute involving company investor John C. Dodd III, who gave The Washington Post access to court and company documents. In the deposition, Ward was quizzed about how his firm arranged a security contract with the NRA. Ward said McFate had the gun rights group as a client and in 1999 introduced him to her contact there, Patrick O'Malley. At the time, O'Malley was deputy executive director of the Institute for Legislative Action, the NRA's lobbying unit. Ward did not discuss the nature of McFate's work. O'Malley, who has since left the NRA, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Ward did not respond to a message seeking comment on McFate and the NRA. (Read more of the Washington Post here).
More: NRA, New Jersey, Gun Control, Mary McFate
Pennsylvania High Court Rules That Philadelphia Can’t Pass Local Gun Laws To Reduce Gun Violence In Setback To Community Safety
The Philadelphia Daily News reported a major setback for the residents of Philadelphia who vainly appealed for the right to strengthen local gun laws to reduce gun violence, lower crime and save lives. But the Pennsylvania State Commonwealth Court ruled that state pre-emption of gun laws took precedence over local control. According to the New York Times: "At a City Hall news conference, [Philadelphia Mayor Michael] Nutter attributed the fatal shooting on Tuesday in Philadelphia of a Highway Patrol officer, Patrick McDonald, on the state’s gun laws, which he said had resulted in the use of an illegal weapon in the killing. "Mr. Nutter accused state lawmakers of 'stunning hypocrisy' in claiming to support police officers like Officer McDonald while also refusing to pass tougher gun laws." The Philadelphia Daily News posted the following story: Philadelphia yesterday lost another battle but vowed to continue its war - in court and in politics - to pass local legislation to regulate the sale of handguns. The state Commonwealth Court struck down a lawsuit filed last year by City Council members Darrell Clarke and Donna Reed Miller against the state General Assembly for not passing enabling legislation to allow a package of gun-control laws to be enforced in the city. The court rejected Council's argument that the state's Uniform Firearms Act does not preempt local control over guns. "While we understand the terrible problems gun violence poses for the city and sympathize with its efforts to use police powers to create a safe environment for its citizens, these practical considerations do not alter the clear pre-emption imposed by the legislature, nor our Supreme Court's validation of the legislature's power to act," the ruling said. That's a reference to the state Supreme Court's 1996 ruling that overturned a Philadelphia ban on owning assault rifles. The local laws would have limited purchases of handguns to one per month, required gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to police, required a police-issued annual license to bring a gun into the city, allowed police to confiscate guns from people considered a risk to themselves or others, banned semiautomatic weapons with clips that hold more than 10 rounds and established a registry of ammunition sales. City Council members and Mayor Nutter have been angling for a chance to challenge the 1996 Supreme Court ruling. In responding yesterday, it became clear that Council will continue with legal challenges while the mayor will turn up the political heat. Nutter gathered reporters to express his disappointment, especially since the ruling comes at the end of a week in which a Philadelphia police officer was shot to death by a convicted felon. Nutter made his case in stark terms, saying the General Assembly must now decide if it wants to side with cops or criminals when it comes to gun control.
More: Pennsylvania, Courts, Gun Control
Nevada Ranks #1 in Rate of Women Murdered by Men for Second Year in a Row According to VPC Study Released Annually for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October
(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Violence Policy Center).  WASHINGTON, DC--For the second year in a row, Nevada, with a rate of 3.27 per 100,000, ranked first in the nation in the rate of women killed by men according to the Violence Policy Center (VPC) report When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2006 Homicide Data. The annual VPC report details national and state-by-state information on female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The study uses the most recent data available from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report and is released each year to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Ranked behind Nevada were: South Carolina at 2 with a rate of 2.84 per 100,000; Alabama at 3 with a rate of 2.20 per 100,000; Oklahoma at 4 with a rate of 2.10 per 100,000; Louisiana at 5 with a rate of 1.97 per 100,000; Vermont at 6 with a rate of 1.90 per 100,000; Texas at 7 with a rate of 1.82 per 100,000; Arkansas at 8 with a rate of 1.74 per 100,000; Arizona at 9 with a rate of 1.72 per 100,000; and, Tennessee at 10 with a rate of 1.70 per 100,000. Nationally, the rate of women killed by men in single victim/single offender instances was 1.29 per 100,000. VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "These findings alarmingly demonstrate how domestic violence can escalate to homicide. More resources need to be made available to protect women and prevent such tragedies." Nationwide, 1,836 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2006. Where weapon use could be determined, firearms were the most common weapon used by males to murder females (907 of 1,675 homicides or 54 percent). Of these, 73 percent (666 of 907) were committed with handguns. In cases where it could be determined if the victim knew her killer, 92 percent of female victims (1,572 out of 1,701) were murdered by someone they knew. Of these, 60 percent (949 out of 1,572) were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. More than 12 times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers. In 88 percent of all incidents where the circumstances could be determined, the homicides were not related to the commission of any other felony, such as rape or robbery.
More: Nevada, VPC, Murder Suicide, Domestic Violence
September 26, 2008
Mother Jones: Two NRA Lobbyists Violating the McCain Campaign’s Conflict Rules?
 Mother Jones reported that two former NRA lobbyists are neck deep in McCain's campaign and may have violated the McCain campaign's own conflict of interest policy. Have two lobbyists who work for John McCain's campaign—one as national finance co-chairman, the other as co-chairman of the campaign's Sportsmen for McCain committee—violated the campaign's conflict of interest policy? In May, when the campaign was being hit by one news story after another about lobbyists working on its staff, campaign manager Rick Davis (who is now on leave from his own influential lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, and under fire for his past connections to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) issued conflict rules that banned any active lobbyist or foreign agent from being a paid employee of the campaign. Lobbyists and foreign agents, though, could work for the campaign as part-time volunteers, as long as they did not participate in policy-making regarding the matters on which they lobby. Another provision declared that "no person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 [campaign committee] or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate." That rule that may cause trouble for the campaign and two of its prominent supporters, Wayne Berman and James Jay Baker, who are lobbyists for the National Rifle Association, for the NRA recently began airing harsh attack-ads against Barack Obama. Berman and Baker work at the powerhouse lobbying shop Ogilvy Government Relations, where both are managing directors. According to the most recent Senate lobbying reports, the pair are registered lobbyists for the gun rights group. (Another Ogilvy lobbyist working for the NRA, Moses Mercado, has advised the Barack Obama campaign on a volunteer basis.) Berman—whose bio on the firm's website describes him "as one of Washington's quietly influential insiders on both domestic and foreign policy"—co-chairs McCain's national finance committee. Baker, a former NRA official, co-steers (with Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating) the campaign's National Steering Committee of Sportsmen for McCain. This month, the NRA—one of their many clients—launched a multimillion-dollar television ad assault against Barack Obama. One of the NRA ads shows a hunter claiming that Obama supports a "huge new tax" on "guns and ammo" and wants to take away guns and ammunition commonly used by hunters. (The Washington Post awarded the ad three Pinocchios for blatantly misrepresenting Obama's stance on guns.) On its website, the NRA recently had headlines reading "Barack Obama—Lying Rabble Rouser" and "Barack Obama Encourages Supporters to Lie About His Gun Ban Record."
More: NRA, Politics, elections
Guest Column from Yale Daily News Responds to Ludicrous Idea That Students Should Be Allowed to Carry Hidden and Loaded Handguns
In the Yale Daily News, Jacob O. Iversen, a graduate student at Yale, wrote a strongly worded response to a recent column by Andrew Clark who called for allowing students to carry concealed handguns on college campuses and in dorms. Mr. Iversen's remarkably persuasive column, supported with facts and sound arguments, is worth quoting at length and certainly worth reading: Maybe Arming Elis Is Not the Best Solution I was alarmed by Andrew P. Clark’s column on the subject of allowing students to carry concealed weapons (“Elis safer when armed,” 9/19) — not alarmed that students might be carrying guns, but rather that the column could pass for rigorous thought. As a graduate student myself, I understand the strenuous demands on one’s time, but writing this piece, I truly had to be certain and spent almost 40 grueling minutes obtaining historical data on Connecticut’s crime rates from the Department of Justice’s Web site. Perhaps there is something superfluous about using data to check the validity of the completely hypothetical statement, “If the criminal element knew that some minority of students were trained and armed, the spillover benefit to the University would be immense.” But, as criminals often act despite the presence of police, armed guards or even armed rivals, one might begin to suspect that the introduction of a concealed-carry policy might have a muted effect on crime rates. Clark didn’t seem to know — or perhaps didn’t care — that this state’s shall-issue concealed-carry policy has been in effect since 1969. Surely, we should expect to see a huge drop in state-level crime rates when criminals were suddenly faced with possibly armed victims, no? No. Not at all. From 1970 until 1981 the robbery rate in Connecticut more than tripled. It declined for five years, rebounded to the same level by 1990 and then precipitously dropped off. The murder and manslaughter rate doubled from 1970 to 1990, and then dived. Burglaries peaked in 1981, declined and then really started to fall after 1991, reaching a 40-year low in 2006. Almost all rates for all types of crime followed the same pattern. If the concealed-carry law had any effect on crime at all, it took a damn long time to do it. Otherwise, something else must have been the cause of the crime spike. That fantasy, in fact, totally disregards strategy. Robbers tend not to strike in large superstores filled with bright lights and large crowds or in front of security cameras. Any entry-level criminal who has played Grand Theft Auto knows that it is much easier to attack isolated individuals or small groups at night. Muggers, or at least the successful ones, don’t usually walk facing their victims while flashing a piece from a block away. They attack from behind, from the side or in groups large enough to overwhelm. They’re smart enough to not produce a weapon until they are in close range and the victim has no time to react.Clark seems to think that a robber might be scared of his concealed gun, but I invite him to explain how to unholster, unlock, cock and aim when a thief already has a knife pressed against your belly or a pistol pointed at your heart. The only way for armed students to stop potential assailants would be preemptively. Here we encounter a problem. To be shockingly frank, how many Yale grad students, be they from Clark’s “fly-over” or any liberal enclave, are able to instantly tell who is a young black male robber and who is a young, law-abiding black male? I doubt that the police are afraid of armed students, but everyone should be very afraid of a Yale student accidentally starting what is politely termed an “incident” in a city full of decades-long racial tensions. To speak of other uncomfortable things, the horrific Virginia Tech massacre had nothing to do with robbery, but everything to do with insanity. I won’t disagree that sane armed students might have stopped a psychotic armed student and prevented much carnage. But how many students would it have taken? How could any students have reached their hypothetical guns while being fired upon? In too many grim scenarios, innocent people are still killed long before they have time to react.The grim lesson of Virginia Tech is not that armed students will prevent violence; it is that society law enforcement, lawmakers, gun dealers, the bureaucracy and pro-gun organizations collectively failed to keep a semi-automatic Glock 19 and Walther P22, as well about a dozen recently-legalized extended 15-round 9 mm clips, away from a deranged young man.Clark’s argument lacks what we liberal types call “reason” and “facts.”
More: Concealed Carry, Connecticut, Students, School Shootings
America’s Shooting Gallery 9.26
NY: An 8-year-old boy was shot in the upper body by random gunfire on Parsells Avenue tonight in Rochester. The child was on the porch when a fight broke out between two people in front of the house. OR: In Maple Heights, the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old girl was first thought to have happened during a break-in but may have been an accident. Briana Bryant died Sept. 25 after suffering a gunshot wound to the abdomen. IN: A 16-year-old Richmond youth, Corey A. Smith, died Thursday night from injuries related to a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Smith was a junior at Richmond High School. MS: Tunica County sheriff’s deputies found 17-year-old Patrick Davis lying near the playground with a single gunshot wound to the head on Sept. 17th. An autopsy was performed and the incident has been ruled as an accidental shooting. NC: Skip Brinkley, a Caldwell County man wanted in the killing of a sheriff's deputy last week, was found dead in a secluded area of his property after committing suicide with a gun. Searchers found the body of Skip Brinkley at the same time mourners were holding a funeral service for the deputy, Adam William Klutz. WV: Pamela Doss, 55, and her son, Grant Timothy Doss, 19, are in jail after troopers say the son fired shots at another man and killed a pit bull during an ongoing argument. ND: A western North Dakota outfitter, Gary Stang, 63, was arrested after shooting at a bald eagle decoy has pleaded guilty to a charge he attempted to kill a protected migratory bird. IL: One of two Illinois State Police troopers wounded in a southern Illinois shootout that killed a suspect remains hospitalized in stable condition. During the police raid 61-year-old William Patrich, opened fire and struck two troopers. Patrich was killed in the gunfire exchange. GA: Johnny Hill Jr., 18, of Albany was indicted in the June 17 shooting of Officer Timothy Harvey. UT: The man who turned himself in to authorities following a double-fatal shooting Monday had fired a gun at another person seven years ago in what might have been a drug-related incident. Christian Sweeten, 26, pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2001 of four gross misdemeanors, including attempted drug possession, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and two counts of firing a gun at a human being.
More: America's Shooting Gallery
September 25, 2008
Must Watch: Bill Moyers Journal On Hate Radio and How It Inspired a Shooting At a Knoxville, Tennessee “Liberal” Church In July
 We strongly encourage you to watch this remarkable Bill Moyers Journal program about right-wing and hate radio and how it inspired a disgruntled man to take his shotgun and attack a "liberal" church in Knoxville, Tennessee. We've pasted the beginning of the transcript below. Click this link to watch the video now. Transcript RICK KARR: On a steamy Sunday morning in July a man armed with a twelve-gauge shotgun burst into this church in Knoxville, Tennessee and opened fire. Seconds later, one person lay dead, another mortally wounded, and six injured. REVEREND CHRIS BUICE: The man who walked into this sanctuary on July 27th was armed with a gun but he was also armed with hatred, he was armed with bitterness, he was armed with resentments, he was armed with indiscriminate anger. He was armed in body and spirit. RICK KARR: Members of the congregation wrestled a fifty-eight-year-old, unemployed truck driver named Jim David Adkisson to the floor and held him until police came. At first it seemed like just another inexplicable outburst of violence until a police news conference the next day. POLICE CHIEF STERLING OWEN: It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement. RICK KARR: Why did Adkisson hate "the liberal movement"? Police said that he told them "that all liberals should be killed ... because they were ... ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and ... ruined every institution in America...." Police said that Adkisson had targeted the Unitarian Universalist Church "because of its liberal teachings." The church advocates social justice and tolerance, and it openly welcomes gay, lesbian, and transgendered members. According to police, Adkisson said that, "Because he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would target those that had voted them in to office."In the weeks following the tragedy, the congregation and its pastor, Reverend Chris Buice struggled with what they were learning about Adkisson. REVEREND CHRIS BUICE: Some have suggested that his spiritual attitudes, his hatred of liberals and gays, was reinforced by the right wing media figures. And it is beyond dispute that there are a plethora of books which have labeled liberals as evil, unpatriotic, godless and treasonous. RICK KARR: During that recent sermon Buice told his congregation, some of who had risked their own lives to stop the shooting, that he has been reading some of those books. REVEREND CHRIS BUICE: One of the books has the title "Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism". If that author was here in this room right now I would introduce him to some good liberals who acted decisively on that Sunday, acted quickly and courageously to stop the terror that came into our church building. I would introduce him to some good liberals who know how to fight terror with more than just their mouths. RICK KARR: Buice says even with the outpouring of sympathy from around Knoxville and across the country, Adkisson's lethal anger has left him angry and full of questions.
More: Tennessee, Culture of Violence, Armed Citizens, churches
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