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Justice

At Least 5 Children Were Accidentally Shot By Children In The Week Before Mother’s Day

By Andrea Peterson on May 13, 2013 at 10:30 am

On Mother’s Day, the mothers of four Newtown victims warned of the danger guns pose to children. Meanwhile, at least five families saw a child injured — or in some tragic cases killed — when a child obtained and accidentally discharged a loaded firearm in the week leading up to the holiday.

  • On Monday a 4-year-old boy shot himself in the hand after removing a gun from his father’s safe in Indianapolis, IN. Thankfully, the boy was taken to the hospital and his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
  • Monday evening a 3-year-old boy in Florida accidentally shot and killed himself with a handgun police believe he found in a backpack belonging to his uncle, who slept in the same bedroom of the apartment also shared with the boy’s parents. The uncle has been charged with culpable negligence, a 3rd degree felony.
  • A 7-year-old Texas boy was accidentally shot in the lower back by his 5-year-old brother while taking a bath on Tuesday. The injuries were described by police as “non-life threatening” and no charges were filed against the parents for negligence as of Wednesday morning.
  • A 2-year-old Texas boy tragically died after accidentally shooting himself in head Wednesday. The boy found a handgun in a bedroom while his father was in the walk-in closet.
  • A 5-year-old boy is reported to be in critical condition after his 8-year-old friend accidentally shot him in the head with a .22 caliber rifle the night before Mother’s Day. Two adults and a teenager were in the home at the time of the shooting.

All of these tragic incidents likely could have been prevented if the children did not have access to the weapons, but 40 percent of households with kids under age 18 do not lock up their guns and almost half of U.S. states lack laws punishing individuals who allow children unsupervised access to firearms.

Guns kill twice as many children and young people as cancer, five times as many as heart disease, and 15 times more than infection each year in the United States according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

Health

How The Powerful Gun Lobby Works To Discredit The Doctors Trying To Keep Children Safe

By Tara Culp-Ressler on May 13, 2013 at 9:05 am

As the nation continues to grapple with the best policy solutions to help prevent gun violence, powerful lobbying groups like the NRA continue to wield outsized influence over the ongoing conversation. That’s why pediatricians, who are currently lobbying Congress for stronger gun laws in order to safeguard children’s health, are treading cautiously as they quietly push for legislative action.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which represents about 60,000 pediatricians across the country, has publicly come out in favor of expanded background checks, an assault weapons ban, and more federal research into gun violence. The group of doctors has consistently framed these steps as matters of public health, not politics. Nonetheless, the AAP is well aware of the fact that staking out a position on firearms could still get them in trouble with the NRA, which works hard to discredit any medical groups that wade into the issue:

Gun advocacy groups have moved to discredit the AAP, which represents 60,000 doctors who have voted overwhelmingly to support some gun measures. One was set up specifically to do this — the Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO). “DRGO is a nationwide network of 1,400 medical doctors, other health care professionals, scientists, and others who support the safe and lawful use of firearms for any legitimate purpose,” the group says on its website.

Founded by the pro-gun-ownership Second Amendment Foundation, DRGO says the the AAP and the American Medical Association are “motivated by deep-seated prejudice against gun owners.” “DRGO’s mission is to expose the poor medical scholarship — and the anti-gun bias behind it — held out as truth by organized medicine and medical journalism,” the group says.

The NRA has sponsored legislation to stop pediatricians from asking parents about guns in the home — something that really puzzles doctors who routinely ask about other safety issues, such as using car seats and wearing helmets while riding bikes.

A federal judge struck down Florida’s 2011 law that forbade doctors to ask about guns in the home, but the NRA has sponsored similar legislation in Alabama, North Carolina, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Oklahoma.

In fact, the NRA has stifled medical professionals’ ability to prevent gun violence for decades. In the 1990s, the group and its pro-gun allies successfully stripped funding from the Centers for Disease Control’s gun research programs, which has prevented public research into areas that could shed insight into gun violence prevention. At the beginning of this year, the White House announced that it will attempt to remove those restrictions and encourage new scientific innovation in this area — an especially important priority considering the fact that treating gun wounds costs the U.S. an estimated $2 billion each year.

Pediatricians aren’t the only ones pointing to the toll that gun violence takes on the nation’s youth. On Sunday, four mothers whose young children were killed in the Sandy Hook shooting emphasized the danger that guns pose to children in a powerful op-ed. Nevertheless, the NRA continues to market its products specifically to children.

Politics

On Mother’s Day, Sandy Hook Moms Remind Americans Of The Danger Guns Pose To Children

By Katie Valentine on May 12, 2013 at 1:17 pm

Four Newtown mothers whose children were killed during the December 14th shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have a message for the country this Mother’s Day: “We are not going away.”

In a heartbreaking essay, Jackie Barden, Nicole Hockley, Nelba Marquez-Greene and Francine Wheeler reflect upon their childrens’ lives, thank those who have stood behind them and ask others to make the Sandy Hook Promise. They write that while they’re disappointed by the Senate’s recent failure to pass additional gun regulations, they aren’t giving up on their efforts to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook from happening in the future:

There have been nearly four thousand gun related deaths since Newtown. Too many mothers are spending too much time talking to their children in heaven instead of across the kitchen table….It is time, as six-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene once said, to “let love win.” There are 150 million parents in this country and it’s our goal to unite them in a place of common ground. This is the Sandy Hook Promise.

This Mother’s Day, we encourage you to make the Sandy Hook Promise with us. Today is not about guns, laws or politics; it is about mothers and love. As “Sandy Hook Moms,” we often hear the phrase “I can’t imagine what you are going through.” Well, please imagine it. Imagine what it’s like to lose a son or daughter to gun violence and encourage your elected officials to do the same. We never thought our school, our community or these innocent children would ever face the unspeakable. The more we as parents expand the boundaries of our love beyond our family and to all children, the more likely a tragedy like the one that broke our hearts will never happen again.

The tragedy in Newtown has exposed the threats guns pose to children — not just in mass shootings but, for many children, in their everyday lives at home. In 2010, 15,576 children and teenagers were injured by firearms — three times the number of U.S. soldiers injured in the war in Afghanistan, according to a study by the Children’s Defense Fund. At least 71 children aged 12 and under have been killed by guns in the five months since the Newtown shooting. Several of these have been tragic accidental shootings by other children: on April 29, five-year-old Kristian Sparks shot and killed his two-year-old sister with a rifle marketed for kids. In the past two weeks alone, there have been at least eight accidents involving children shooting themselves or other children.

Proper firearm storage could prevent many of these accidental shootings: if children don’t have access to guns, they won’t be tempted to handle and shoot them. But about 29 percent of households with children under 12 don’t lock up their guns, and nearly half of U.S. states don’t have laws that punish individuals who provide children unsupervised access to firearms. And although the National Rifle Association — which fought hard against expanding background checks and other gun safety measures earlier this year — teaches a gun safety course for children, one of its convention speakers recently suggested parents store guns in a safe in their kids’ rooms.

Health

Pediatricians Tell Congress: Keep Kids Safe By Working To Prevent Gun Violence

By Tara Culp-Ressler on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:40 pm

(Credit: The Grio)

Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a measure that would have expanded background checks for Americans purchasing firearms at gun shows or online — despite the fact that background checks are extremely popular among the American public. Victims of gun violence, including the families who lost children in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary at the end of last year, have sharply criticized the lawmakers who opposed the measure. Now, those Senators have gained another group of critics: over 100 pediatricians.

On Tuesday, members of the members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) — which represents about 60,000 pediatricians across the country — will travel to Capitol Hill to push for policy solutions to gun violence, which they point out is one of the top causes of death among children. According to the Hill, about 110 pediatricians from 40 different states will meet with congressional staff to advocate for better gun control policies:

The group will advocate for stronger background checks, an assault weapons ban, and federal research on gun violence prevention.

“Gun violence is a public health issue that profoundly affects children,” the AAP wrote in a policy memo.

“Firearm injuries are one of the top three causes of death among youth, and studies show that strong gun laws help significantly reduce injuries, suicides and homicides.”

For the past several decades, medical professionals have been particularly invested in lifting the current ban on public health research into gun violence issues. Back in the 1990s, the NRA and its allies stripped funding for the Centers for Disease Control’s gun research programs. That move has seriously hampered public health efforts to reduce gun violence, which costs the United States an estimated annual $2 billion in medical treatment. But calling for other specific types of gun legislation is somewhat of a departure for pediatricians.

Undoubtedly, gun tragedies in the United States — particularly in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre — have certainly had a big impact on the nation’s youth. Sales of bulletproof backpacks and military-style vests for children have soared in the wake of the Newtown shootings, as parents are increasingly worried about their children’s safety in school. And the issue extends beyond gunmen who go on mass shooting sprees. Accidental shootings perpetrated by toddlers who stumbled across their older relatives’ weapons killed at least four people in just one weekend this month alone.

Justice

Louisiana House Passes Gun Bill That Sponsor Admits Is Unconstitutional

By Nicole Flatow on Apr 25, 2013 at 3:00 pm

Undeterred by even a gun bill sponsor’s admission that it is unconstitutional, the Louisiana House passed legislation Tuesday to criminalize any enforcement of gun laws restricting possession of semi-automatic weapons. By a vote of 67-25, legislators signaled their approval for punishment by up to two years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine for officers’ attempts to enforce federal law. The Times-Picayune reports:

House Bill 5 passed by a vote of 67-25 even as its sponsor, state Rep. Jim Morris, R-Oil City, reiterated his belief that the legislation is unconstitutional. […]

“Although I like what this bill states…I have $100,000 of student loans that tell me it’s probably unconstitutional,” said Rep. Joe Lopinto, R-Metairie, one of the bill’s supporters. Opponents cited the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says any state law that conflicts with federal law is unconstitutional.

Morris also said he know the passage of his bill could open up the state to litigation. Regardless, he said it would be worth fighting the federal government on the issue even “if we have to spend every dime.”

In November, Louisiana voters passed a ballot initiative that created constitutional gun rights that are arguably stricter than the Second Amendment. A court has already relied on this constitutional amendment to strike down a ban on gun possession by violent felons. But even this state amendment cannot insulate the state from the supremacy of federal gun law.

The bill, which will now go before the Senate, is one of eight aimed at expanding gun rights that cleared a House committee the day after the Senate filibustered federal background check legislation. Also on Tuesday, the House passed a bill to penalize one who “intentionally disseminates for publication” concealed carry permit information. Because the bill would ostensibly punish even third parties who don’t illegally obtain the protected information, the bill could violate the First Amendment and newspapers are threatening to sue.

On Wednesday, the House passed another bill to allow lifetime concealed carry permits, meaning once someone is vetted once for a permit, they will never have to verify that they still qualify. But proponents of the bill said the Louisiana State Police, which issue the permits, are immediately informed if a permit-holder is involved in a felony, and their permit is immediately revoked.

Politics

Tennessee Lawmaker Mocks Gun Regulations, Warns Of ‘Assault Pressure Cooker’

By Josh Israel on Apr 24, 2013 at 9:00 am

Assault Pressure Cooker

Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) took to his personal blog Sunday to mock U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), suggesting that she and other reformers should now be focusing on a ban on pressure cookers. And when criticized for his insensitivity to the Boston Marathon victims, Campfield doubled-down on the claims, crying “double standard.”

Campfield’s original post featured a photo of a pressure cooker, similar to that used by the Boston Marathon bombers, and the title “assault pressure cooker.” Campfield captioned the post, “Here comes Feinstein again.”

In a Monday followup, titled “Inappropriate? Me? Never.” Campfield wrote:

Really? If my post was inappropriate talking about “crock pot control” then where is the outrage from the left when they push for gun control after the Sandy Hook shooting? Im sorry if I exposed your double standard…. Well, not really.

Campfield has a long history of questionable comments and actions. Earlier this month, he proposed cutting welfare benefits for kids with poor grades and attacked an eight-year-old critic as a “prop.” Last January, he falsely claimed that HIV/AIDS came from the LGBT community, citing a 1988 advice column from a Christian apologetics website. He also authored Tennessee’s odious “Don’t Say Gay” bill, compared homosexuality to “shooting heroin,” threatened to reduce funding for the University of Tennessee over their sex education week programming, and was a plaintiff in a 2009 “birther” lawsuit demanding President Obama’s birth certificate.

Justice

Missouri Senators Cite Gun, U.N. Conspiracy Theories In Voting To Defund Driver’s License Bureau

By Nicole Flatow on Apr 23, 2013 at 1:30 pm

In retribution against a Missouri agency’s record-keeping of concealed carry gun permits, the state Senate voted Monday to eliminate all funding for the Department of Revenue’s driver’s license bureau and slashed funding for several other agencies. If the measure became law, it would halt the issuance of driver’s licenses in the state, and would hobble the core functioning of several other agencies that senators believe played a role in collecting gun permit information to combat fraud. Raw Story explains:

Republican lawmakers in Missouri became alarmed at a recent hearing at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing when Revenue Department Director Brian Long refused to agree to stop scanning and retaining concealed carry data. Long said that the records helped to prevent fraud.

Long resigned from his post as director earlier this month.

The 2005 federal Real ID Act requires states to retain a database of scanned documents for verifying identity. Missouri appeared to be the only state where the license bureau was charged with printing concealed carry permits, either on driver’s licenses or as a separate document. Lawmakers gave the licensing bureau control over concealed carry permits in 2003 to help law enforcement identify people who were [sic] weapons.

But lawmakers have recently become increasingly concerned that gun records would be shared with federal officials to create a gun registry that could lead to confiscations.

Melissa Wilson, wife of state Rep. Kenneth Wilson (R), told the committee earlier this month that she was certain that gun records had been shared with the federal government as a part of a United Nations initiative called Agenda 21, which some conservatives believe is a conspiracy to “transform America from the land of the free, to the land of the collective” through “a mind-control” tactic called the Delphi technique.

A 2009 Missouri law prohibits state officials from implementing the federal Real ID Act, and a state House panel this week approved legislation that made it illegal to share information about concealed carry permits.

Lawmakers may have some reason to be concerned about the privacy of Missouri’s record-keeping generally. Gov. Jay Nixon (D) recently ordered an end to electronic copies of concealed carry permits, after a list was sent to a fraud investigator at the Social Security Administration (who did not use the list). But concerns that the record-keeping will lead to gun confiscation or play a role in a United Nations conspiracy theory are completely unfounded. Federal gun registries are already illegal, and nothing in Obama’s executive orders nor the defeated congressional proposals would come close to widespread confiscation, which would be a Second Amendment violation. The theory that some claim will “transform America” — Agenda 21 — is nothing more than a series of non-binding recommendations about how to better use natural resources in promoting development. But that has not stopped some from alleging that Obama is using a mind-control technique known as “Delphi” to garner support for the U.N. plan. A concern more grounded in reality is how the state will protect public safety if it abolishes its drivers’ license system.

Alyssa

From ‘Family Circus’ To ‘Doonesbury’ To ‘Zits,’ Cartoonists Stand Up For Gun Regulation

By Alyssa Rosenberg on Apr 23, 2013 at 12:02 pm

In the wake of the Senate’s failure to move forward on gun regulation last week, one of the most-repeated points of discussion has been the gap between the 90 percent of the American public who support a system of expanded background checks that purchasers would have to pass before buying weapons and the cravenness of members of the United States Congress. And if efforts to adopt a more sensible purchasing system aren’t to end in that vote, one of the politically important elements in resurrecting that fight will be to translate that abstract figure into the faces and voices of individual voters. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has stepped forward as a powerful voice in the debate, but we need many other people like her.

It’s for that reason that I found this video made by cartoonists ranging from outspoken liberals like Garry Trudeau of Doonesbury and Tom Tomorrow of This Modern World, to less politically predictable artists like Jeff Keane of The Family Circus and Bill Amend of Fox Trot is so striking:

These cartoonists have wildly different core concerns that animate their work. Lalo Alcaraz has been a key commentator on immigration issues for decades, both in his strip La Cucaracha, and in his editorial cartooning. Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman spend most of their time sketching deft portraits of teenage suburban life in Zits, a comic that gives us some sense of how the main character of Calvin and Hobbes might have grown up and approached high school. But what this video does is make visible the consensus that has existed among them all along, and that has become more important to them in this political moment.

It’ll be striking if they decide to continue that work in their strips as well. It would be complicated for the syndicated strips to coordinate all taking up gun regulation on the same day, given production deadlines, the different syndicates’ relationships with papers and online outlets, and the fact that individual outlets could decide simply not to run gun regulation-themed strips. But it would be extraordinarily powerful to see them take this message from a PSA into their day-to-day work. It’s one thing to see an abstract number like 90 percent. It’s quite another to see or to hear what an overwhelming agreement on a public policy issue actually looks like.

Justice

Arkansas Lawmaker Mocks Boston ‘Liberals,’ Says They Wish They Had Assault Rifles

By Josh Israel on Apr 19, 2013 at 11:38 am

On Friday morning, Arkansas State Rep. Nate Bell (R) tweeted that “liberal” Boston residents likely wished for assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, as the manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspects continued.

Bell, a second-term legislator and National Rifle Association life member, has previously supported allowing guns in churches as “removing a state mandated restriction on religious freedom.”

His tweet said:

Bell has also backed legislation to make concealed carry licenses cheaper and to prevent the governor from regulating firearms even in state emergencies. In 2010 told Arkansas Carry, a state gun rights group, that he supports Stand Your Ground laws and tax exemptions for sales of gun and ammo manufactured in state.

Update

Herman Cain’s CainTV agrees:

Update

Bell has apologized for his timing (but not his sentiment), posting on Facebook and Twitter: “I would like to apologize to the people of Boston & Massachusetts for the poor timing of my tweet earlier this morning. As a staunch and unwavering supporter of the individual right to self defense, I expressed my point of view without thinking of its effect on those still in time of crisis. In hindsight, given the ongoing tragedy that is still unfolding, I regret the poor choice of timing. Please know that my thoughts and prayers were with the people of Boston overnight and will continue as they recover from this tragedy.”

Justice

As Senate Filibustered Federal Gun Legislation, Louisiana Advanced Bills To Criminalize Federal Enforcement

By Nicole Flatow on Apr 18, 2013 at 5:50 pm

On Wednesday, as gun violence victims’ families were up in arms over the Senate filibuster of key gun legislation, a Louisiana House committee approved eight bills that would relax the state’s already-permissive gun violence prevention laws, including one that would criminalize enforcement of federal law.

One bill that cleared the House Criminal Justice Committee would make enforcement of any federal restriction on ownership of semi-automatic weapons punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. Another claims to exempt intrastate gun manufacturers from federal regulation by issuing in-state licenses. Both of these laws, versions of which have been introduced in several states, would be clearly unconstitutional as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause.

Other proposals approved Wednesday would make it a felony to intentionally disseminate concealed carry permit information, allow off-duty law enforcers to carry firearms into school campuses and restaurants that serve alcohol, permit lifetime concealed carry permits, and allow sheriffs to recognize concealed carry permits from neighboring jurisdictions.

In November, Louisiana voters passed a ballot initiative that created constitutional gun rights that are arguably stricter than the Second Amendment. A court has already relied on this constitutional amendment to strike down a ban on gun possession by violent felons.

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