BRADY CAMPAIGN SAYS NINE CHILDREN DIE EACH DAY IN U.S. OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS

PolitiFact checked Brady's figures with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database and found that from 2007 to 2011--latest data available-14,258 children died of gunshot wounds. That makes it 7.81 deaths per day, close enough to Brady's figures. The fact that it is even one per day is too much. These incidents include accidental shootings by adults, kids who find unsecured guns, gang violence, suicide and planned mass shootings. Brady acknowledged their error citing a volunteer incorrectly using the number nine for deaths. Eight is correct and they said the nine represents children unintentionally shot daily who survive, which is in addition to the eight who die. Any way you look at this the outcome is pathetic.

Stopping illegal weapons trafficking could put big dent in gun violence

Gun trafficking is closely related to straw buyers.  The latter is defined as an illegal firearm purchase where the actual buyer of the gun, being unable to pass the required federal background check or desiring to not have his or her name associated with the transaction, uses a proxy buyer who can pass the required background check to purchase the firearm for him/her.  You can see a list of those prohibited to purchase a gun here.  It is illegal to sell to these people but in many cases it is even done through a small number of corrupt federal firearms dealers. 

According to the Brady Campaign, only 1 % of gun dealers account for almost 60 % of crime guns recovered by police.  But 94% of licensed dealers approached by undercover stings at gun shows in Ohio, Tennessee and Nevada sold to individuals who appeared to be criminals or straw purchasers.  34% of crime guns recovered in 1999 (last year data available, had been purchased from a new gun dealer within the last 3 years, indicating to the ATF that the guns had been trafficked.  40% of all U.S. gun sales are without background checks.

There is no federal law against buying a gun from a dealer today and selling it to someone else tomorrow.  The Federal Observer says, “Although the maximum federal penalty for participating in a straw purchase is a 10-year prison term, in practice sentencing guidelines call for only 2 to 2 1/2 years' imprisonment for someone caught providing as many as a dozen guns to a convicted felon. That's half the mandatory (5-year) minimum for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine.”  Some gun control advocates favor limiting purchases to one handgun per month.

Continuing, “The so-called straw purchase of guns is ‘the most significant factor in gun trafficking, without any question,’ said Jack Killorin, director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' Atlanta field division.  As an example, in a straw purchase, the two shotguns and a rifle used in the 1999 Columbine High School carnage were bought by Dylan Klebold’s 18-year-old girlfriend.  Klebold was too young at age 17.  According to Bureau of Justice statistics, 40% of criminals obtain firearms from friends or family.

Sen. Kristen Killibrand introduces gun trafficking law:

From the Brady Campaign’s first report of Gun Industry Watch, Without A Trace, it exposes how the gun lobby, working with the Bush Administration and its allies in Congress, had protected corrupt gun dealers by systematically blocking the release of information identifying the gun dealers responsible for selling most of the crime guns recovered in America.  The Action Council’s Fact Sheet on gun victims provides more startling answers to why the government is so constrained in efforts to curb gun violence:

Until 2002, the ATF released aggregate crime gun trace reports to local police departments, researchers, policymakers and public safety advocates.  Then Congress voted to restrict police access to crime gun trace data and cut off public access altogether. These restrictions, known as the Tiahrt Amendments (named for the Kansas Congressman who sponsored the bill), have passed in every Department of Justice budget since 2003, despite the fact that prominent law enforcement associations oppose them as a serious threat to public safety.

The ATF, the sole government agency charged with enforcing federal gun laws, has operated without a permanent director since the Bush Administration, and operates with just 1,800 agents to monitor approximately 77,000 gun dealers. Given these constraints, it would take ATF 22 years to inspect all federally licensed gun dealers. Even if the ATF had the manpower to inspect most gun dealers, federal law limits the agency to a single unannounced inspection of a dealer in any 12-month period. Congress has made it increasingly difficult for the ATF to revoke licenses of crooked gun dealers.        

It is impossible for law enforcement to know the whereabouts of millions of firearms in circulation today because Federal law explicitly bars the ATF from establishing a database of retail firearms sales, and private gun sellers are not required to keep a paper trail of transactions. Prior to 2001, federal authorities maintained criminal background check records for up to six months. Under President Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft reversed this policy and ordered the destruction of all criminal background check records within 24 hours. Even though the General Accounting Office found that destroying these records endangers public safety, the policy remains in effect.

Thirdway.org says, “In 9 of 10 gun crimes, the gun was not used by the original purchaser.  Felons and gun runners exploit the unregulated private market—the denial rate has plummeted to 1.53% despite the fact that the background check system is far better today than 15 years ago.  And 92% of background checks are completed within minutes.”  So what’s the problem?  With the combination of universal background checks and sending people like Klebold’s girlfriend to prison for 20 years could at least put a dent in gun violence.

And now to counter this gun insanity, 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans have taken the first bipartisan step toward new gun restrictions by introducing a bill in the House of Representatives to crack down on gun trafficking to criminals.  Carolyn Maloney, New York Democrat, along with Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the other Democrat, and Republicans Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania and Scott Rigell of Virginia.  The bill would strengthen penalties on "straw purchasers," who buy guns for those who are barred by law from buying their own weapons.

Reuters quotes Cummings re. The Gun Trafficking Prevention Act of 2012, "We have a message for our colleagues in the House.  This bill simply makes sense. Law enforcement officials have asked for it. It will make a significant difference in combating gun crime. And it will not affect the rights of a single legitimate gun owner."  I can just hear the head gun nut of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), Wayne LaPierre, right now.  He has a message for Cummings, and promptly trots out the NRA’s clichéd, stagnant and tiring stand on an out-of-date 2^nd Amendment.  Pathetic.

June U.S. Shooting Report numbers soar

Although I have changed the formula in counting shootings—it is now one shooting for each death or wounded to conform with Brady campaign protocol—the total number has climbed to more than 4-times the May figure.  June was a startling 361 to 90 in May.  Prior to this, if three people were shot in the same incident, it was counted as one shooting.  Once again, these numbers are taken direct from qualified news reports throughout the country.

But the number of dead and wounded from shootings is even worse, considering the sizable increases.  In May there were 69 people killed as a result of a shooting compared to 128 in June.  That is an 85.5% increase.  These are folks their family or friends will never see again…all because of a gun.  Also in May, there were 131 woundings from shootings, compared to 233 in June.  That is a 77.9% increase.  And some of these may have died by now.

I keep saying this but it is still beyond me why lawmakers, and the White House, haven’t taken action to do something about this crisis.  They do have something of an excuse—which is really inexcusable—with the coming November elections.  But the major gun control advocates have absolutely no excuse for not jumping on these numbers to point out the need for immediate action to stop gun violence.  This report can’t be the only source of data; if it is, the situation is worse than any of us thought.

Once again, let me encourage any of you who know of shootings I have missed in this or future reports to let me know through comments and I will post an update.

Here are the June numbers by date and location, broken down by shootings, dead and wounded.  This is in a Word compatible Excel format which I hope to have converted to HTML soon so that all months will be available, and the file will be interactive.

DATE	CITY/STATE	SHOOTINGS	DEAD	WOUNDED
6/1/2012	Phoenix, AZ	5	5	0
6/1/2012	Tucson, AZ	1	0	1
6/1/2012	Miami, FL	2	1	1
6/2/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	1	0
6/2/2012	Brooklyn, NY	2	1	1
6/2/2012	Clarksdale, MS	1	0	1
6/2/2012	Vallejo, CA	4	1	3
6/2-6/5/2012	Baltimore, MD	10	4	6
6/3/2012	El Mirage, AZ	2	1	1
6/3/2012	Miami, FL	2	2	0
6/3/2012	Phoenix, AZ	2	0	2
6/4/2012	Surprise, AZ	2	1	1
6/4/2012	Los Angeles, CA	2	1	1
6/4/2012	Springfield, MA	2	2	0
6/4/2012	Little Mexico, TX	1	1	0
6/4/2012	Phoenix, AZ	2	2	0
6/5/2012	Fresno, CA	4	1	3
6/6/2012	Chicago, IL	3	1	2
6/7/2012	Stone Mountain, GA	2	2	0
6/7/2012	New York, NY	3	3	0
6/8/2012	Belle Glade, FL	2	0	2
6/8/2012	Cobb County, GA	1	1	0
6/8-6/9/2012	Hartford, CT	11	2	9
6/9/2012	Auburn, AL	4	3	1
6/9/2012	Sacramento, CA	4	4	0
6/9/2012	Glasgow, MT	1	0	1
6/9/2012	Selma, CA	5	5	0
6/9/2012	Rochester, NY	3	1	2
6/9-6/11/2012	Mount Vernon, NY	2	0	2
6/10/2012	Hartford, CT	3	1	2
6/10/2012	Corpus Christi, TX	2	0	2
6/10/2012	Goldsboro, NC	4	0	4
6/11/2012	Louisville, KY	2	1	1
6/11/2012	West Palm Beach, FL	1	1	0
6/11/2012	Baltimore, MD	5	0	5
6/11-6/12/2012	Chicago, IL	7	2	5
6/12/2012	Tucson, AZ	1	1	0
6/12/2012	Providence, RI	1	1	0
6/13/2012	Kansas City, MO	2	1	1
6/13/2012	Buffalo, NY	1	1	0
6/13/2012	Buffalo, NY	1	1	0
6/13/2012	San Francisco, CA	4	2	2
6/13/2012	Bakersfiels, CA	2	0	2
6/13/2012	Chicago, IL	2	2	0
6/14/2012	Orlando, FL	2	2	0
6/14/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	1	0
6/15/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	1	0
6/15-6/17/2012	Chicago, IL	31	5	26
6/15/2012	St. Louis, MO	7	2	5
6/15-6/16/2012	Hamden, CT	1	0	1
6/15-6/17/2012	Chicago, IL	42	7	35
6/16/2012	Baltimore, MD	2	0	2
6/16/2012	Phoenix, AZ	4	0	4
6/16-6/17/2012	Camden, NJ	2	2	0
6/17/2012	Paterson, NJ	3	0	3
6/17/2012	Indianapolis, IN	2	2	0
6/17/2012	Anchorage, AK	3	1	2
6/17/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
6/17/2012	Anniston, AL	1	0	1
6/18/2012	New Orleans, LA	2	0	2
6/18/2012	Pensacola, FL	2	0	2
6/18/2012	Manatee, FL	2	0	2
6/19/2012	Chicago, IL	2	2	0
6/19/2012	Chicago, IL	1	0	1
6/19/2012	McAllen, TX	3	3	0
6/19/2012	New Orleans, LA	3	1	2
6/20/2012	Edinburg, TX	4	2	2
6/20/2012	Houston, TX	5	3	2
6/21-6/26/2012	Flint, MI	10	6	4
6/22/2012	Buffalo, NY	2	0	2
6/24/2012	Trenton, NJ	2	1	1
6/22/2012	Phoenix, AZ	3	0	3
6/22/2012	Ionia, MI	3	1	2
6/22/2012	Richmond, CA	2	1	1
6/22-6/23/2012	Chicago, IL	14	1	13
6/23/2012	Beverly Hills, CA	2	2	0
6/23/2012	Rockford, IL	4	0	4
6/23/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
6/23/2012	Albany, GA	3	0	3
6/23/2012	No. Las Vegas, NV	2	0	2
6/23/2012	Anchorage, AK	2	0	2
6/23/2012	Atlanta, GA	2	2	0
6/23/2012	Portland, TX	2	1	1
6/23-6/24/2012	Salinas, CA	3	1	2
6/24/2012	Louisville, KY	6	1	5
6/24/2012	Denver, CO	1	1	0
6/24/2012	Chicago, IL	2	1	1
6/24/2012	St. Louis, MO	2	0	2
6/25/2012	West Houston, TX	2	2	0
6/26/2012	Tucson, TX	1	0	1
6/26/2012	East Orange, NJ	2	2	0
6/26/2012	Miami, FL	2	2	0
6/26/2012	Memphis, TN	1	0	1
6/26/2012	Evansville, IN	3	0	3
6/27/2012	Las Vegas, NV	2	1	1
6/27/2012	Chicago, IL	2	1	1
6/28/2012	Fayetteville, NC	3	2	1
6/28/2012	SE Washington, DC	3	0	3
6/28/2012	Newport News, VA	3	1	2
6/28/2012	Houston, TX	5	1	4
6/29/2012	Chicago, IL	4	0	4
6/29/2012	Essex County, NJ	2	2	0
6/30/2012	San Jose Hills, CA	2	0	2
6/30 12	Winterhaven, CA	2	0	2
6/30/2012	Chicago, IL	3	1	2
TOTALS		361	128	233

See March, April, May reports.