Tag: gun violence

Opinion: No, Judge Benitez, we do not need weapons of war for ‘home defense’

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A FEDERAL judge’s decision overturning California’s longtime ban on assault weapons has been rightly mocked for its ludicrous likening of an AR-15 rifle to a Swiss Army knife. But the ruling is no laughing matter. While it will be appealed — and hopefully overturned by jurists who understand the Second Amendment is not without limits — the ruling is part of a sustained attack on gun safety laws that has been emboldened by the shift in balance of the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California on Friday termed the state’s ban on assault weapons, implemented in 1989 and revised over the years, “a failed experiment” and ruled it unconstitutional. “Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle,” began the 94-page ruling that dripped with disdain for California’s efforts to confront gun violence and showed no concern for its victims. “No amount of ‘common sense’ gun control laws will prevent criminals from misusing guns,” he wrote, comparing California’s efforts to Victor Hugo’s Inspector Javert relentlessly searching for Jean Valjean. Also disturbing was his argument that assault weapons are protected by the Second Amendment because they could be useful in a citizens militia, citing his birth country of Cuba and the revolution there. Just the suggestion the country needs after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The ruling runs counter to repeated decisions over the years in both state and federal courts upholding prohibitions against assault weapons on the grounds of the state’s compelling interest in protecting public safety. Among the states where bans of these weapons of war were ruled constitutional are Massachusetts, New York and Maryland. California’s own law was previously upheld by a federal district court of California and multiple state appellate courts. But those familiar with Judge Benitez, appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush, were not surprised by his ruling. He once wrote “the Second Amendment gets even less respect” than Rodney Dangerfield, and he previously struck down a law passed by the state’s voters that would have banned possession of magazines holding more than 10 bullets, a decision now pending appeal before the Ninth Circuit. His court, the New York Times reported, has become a welcoming place for gun-rights advocates because of a rule that allows “related cases” to be funneled to one judge rather than randomly assigned. Continue reading.

Shootings never stopped during the pandemic: 2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades

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Until two lethal rampages this month, mass shootings had largely been absent from headlines during the coronavirus pandemic. But people were still dying — at a record rate.

In 2020, gun violence killed nearly 20,000 Americans, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, more than any other year in at least two decades. An additional 24,000 people died by suicide with a gun.

The vast majority of these tragedies happen far from the glare of the national spotlight, unfolding instead in homes or on city streets and — like the covid-19 crisis — disproportionately affecting communities of color. Continue reading.

US saw highest number of mass killings on record in 2019, database reveals

The US suffered more mass killings in 2019 than any year on record, according to researchers.

A database compiled by the Associated Press (AP), USA Today and Northeastern University recorded 41 incidents and a total of 211 deaths.

Mass killings are defined as four or more people being killed in the same incident, excluding the perpetrator.

Among the deadliest in 2019 were the killings of 12 people in Virginia Beach in May and 22 in El Paso in August. Continue reading

Trump abandons proposing ideas to curb gun violence after saying he would following mass shootings

Washington Post logoPresident Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence that his White House debated for months following mass shootings in August, according to White House officials and lawmakers, a reversal from the summer when the president insisted he would offer policies to curb firearm deaths.

Trump has been counseled by political advisers, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, that gun legislation could splinter his political coalition, which he needs to stick together for his reelection bid, particularly amid an impeachment battle.

The president no longer asks about the issue, and aides from the Domestic Policy Council, once working on a plan with eight to 12 tenets, have moved on to other topics, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.

View the complete November 1 article by Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

This back-to-school PSA from Sandy Hook Promise is a punch in the gut

Washington Post logoContent warning: The embedded video depicts scenes of school shootings and gun violence.

Familiar back-to-school supplies such as pencils, scissors and gym socks are recast as emergency survival tools in a devastating new public service announcement from the Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-violence nonprofit founded by the parents of victims of the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012.

In the PSA, “Back to School Essentials,” young students breezily show off their new school supplies before the tone veers into something much darker: A boy marveling over his new sneakers is running down the hallway not to dodge a hall monitor but a gunman. The ad reflects a grim reality for the network of survivors from the more than 228,000 students who have experienced a school shootingsince the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999.

“Back to School” debuted on NBC during the Wednesday morning broadcast of the “Today” show alongside an interview with Sandy Hook Promise co-founder Nicole Hockley. Hockley’s 6-year-old son, Dylan, was among the 20 children and six adults who were killed in the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

View the complete September 18 article by Kim Bellware on The Washington Post website here.

300 Mass Shootings

This year alone, there have been 300 mass shootings in the United States — killing or injuring over 1,500 innocent people.

Today in America, our children are being instructed how to duck and cover if an active shooter enters their classroom. Teachers and staff are in constant fear that their school could be targeted next. Churches, synagogues, and mosques are on high alert, and Americans doing their shopping or attending events are increasingly concerned that they or their loved ones may fall victim to gun violence at the hands of a shooter.

It is difficult to write these words and acknowledge these truths — and yet, this is our reality.

View the complete commentary by Rep. Dean Phillips on the Medium website here.

145 CEOs implore Senate leaders to act on gun violence, saying doing nothing is ‘simply unacceptable’

Washington Post logoThe chief executives of Levi Strauss, Twitter, Reddit, Dick’s Sporting Goods and others urged lawmakers to expand background checks to all firearms sales and implement stronger “red flag” laws, marking the latest attempt by corporate America to pressure Congress for meaningful action on gun violence.

“As leaders of some of America’s most respected companies and those with significant business interests in the United States, we are writing to you because we have a responsibility and obligation to stand up for the safety of our employees, customers and all Americans in the communities we serve across the country,” the executives wrote. “Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety.”

View the complete September 12 article by the Washington Post Staff on The Washington Post website here.

Trump again appears to back away from gun background checks

Washington Post logoPresident Trump appears to be backing away from potential support for gun background check legislation, according to White House aides, congressional leaders and gun advocates, dimming prospects that Washington will approve significant new gun measures in the wake of mass shootings that left 31 dead.

Immediately after the carnage in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, Trump said “there is a great appetite” for tightening background checks on people who buy firearms. But in recent days, Trump has focused in public remarks on the need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill while emphasizing that the nation already has “very strong background checks right now” — positions that hew more closely to the views of the National Rifle Association.

Behind the scenes, Trump’s communication with key lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Manchin III, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has sought to develop bipartisan gun-control measures, has gone mostly cold, according to Capitol Hill aides, in part because Congress has left town for its summer recess.

View the complete August 20 article by Josh Dawsey and David Nakamura on The Washington Post website here.