Showing posts with label Trayvon Martin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trayvon Martin. Show all posts

Monday, August 13, 2018

Gun nuts take hit on "Stand Your Ground" law



Stand Your Ground is without a doubt one of the stupidest laws to ever be passed in this country, thanks to Florida's Marion Hammer, top National Rifle Assn. lobbyist. First it was Trayvon Martin killed by George Zimmerman in 2012, who eventually got off scot-free, but since has experienced a number of personal problems as a result. This time Michael Drejka, 47, didn't get away with it with the killing of another black man, Markeis McGlockton in Clearwater, Florida. McGlockton, 28, was shot and killed on July 19, after shoving Drejka to the ground at a convenience store.

Drejka invoked the Stand Your Ground law, the sheriff refused to arrest him on that basis of the law, but Bernie McCabe, the state attorney for Pinellas County, decided to file charges based on the exact same investigation sheriff Bob Gualtieri had collected but did not file charges. Good 'ole boy vs. finally some common sense in Florida. So, another NRA creation for the purpose of protecting the gun nut over the innocent public from gun violence suffers a setback. It is prime time for the public to understand that the only way to stop this daily rampage of bloodshed is to get rid of the NRA.


Friday, May 18, 2012

The NRA’s imaginary world of guns for self-defense

The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has repeatedly cited the 2nd Amendment and the need for firearm protection in self-defense issues.  It’s even gone so far as to push its “Stand your Ground” law that allows the cowboys to shoot first and ask questions later.  A recent post I did on these points out the fallacy in the legislation with the result that even more will die unnecessarily from stupid laws like this if the NRA isn’t stopped dead in its tracks.


NRA weapons training

Wayne LaPierre, the wacky head of the NRA, had nothing more to say about the Trayvon Martin killing by George Zimmerman than deriding the American media for “sensational reporting from Florida.”  This bunch of thugs has no remorse for a black teenager who just wanted to be left alone.  Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and a doctor confirmed that he had a broken nose, bloodied, and had bruises. You can see his police booking video, below:


Dennis Henigan, Vice President of the Brady Campaign, comments on the surveys the NRA uses to prove the “good guys” need their firearms for protection but calls our attention to the ambiguity of their findings.  The Harvard School of Public Health conducted two telephone surveys asking about the self-defense of guns.  This was submitted to a panel for their opinions of the legality of claimed self-defense use.


Brady Campaign's Dennis Henigan

It found that, “…over half were rated as probably illegal by a majority of the judges.”  Further that, “…over two thirds of the self-defense gun incidents were reported by only six respondents, with three respondents claiming fifty, twenty and fifteen self-defense uses of guns each within the previous five years.”  These gun bubbas are so proud of their weapons that they feel obligated to pump up the figures.  But it is an indication of the credibility of what the NRA uses.

Additional analysis of the survey showed that the respondent’s response was suspicious in that it sounded like it might have been aggressive rather than defensive.  And research by the University of Pennsylvania provided the fact that gun-toters were 4 to 5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those without a gun.  Data from the FBI find that less than 3 percent of annual gun homicides are justifiable self-defense killings.

And in another Huff Post article by Jess Coleman, “How the NRA hijacked America,” he reminds us of all the mass school shootings from Columbine to Oikos University.  He laments that both Congress and the NRA have kept silent.  The White House did react after the Tucson shooting that injured former U.S. representative Gabby Giffords, but then also fell silent.  Americans live their everyday lives in potential fear while lawmakers, including Obama, do nothing.

Coleman reiterates that due to the NRA’s efforts, the United States is home to almost 300 million privately owned guns.  That is close to one for each individual in this country, although we know that many NRA households are more than adequately stocked.  He continues over how the NRA ramrodded the “gun show loophole, which currently makes it possible for criminals and fugitives to purchase guns without a background check.” 

Lee Harvey Oswald
Because there was a period in the past where the NRA was more cooperative, Coleman asks what happened?  He answers this through Jill Lepore’s book, “Battleground America,” and the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald was able to buy his rifle through a magazine and have it delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.  This prompted the Gun Control Act and scared the hell out of the NRA.  From then on it was to the trenches led by the 2nd Amendment.

The Supreme Court has agreed with the right to bear arms but seems to be guarded as to whether that means just in one’s home, or outside that domain.  But it was Chief Justice Warren Burger who said, this interpretation is "one of the greatest pieces of fraud ... by special interests groups I have ever seen in my lifetime."  We’ve all heard the arguments over what James Madison referred to in the creating of a militia for protection.  We haven’t defined just what he meant.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Gun owners need “rigorous training” according to the experts

Ariz. Wis. gun bubba
Don’t know about your state but in Arizona you can buy a handgun and carry it around anywhere you want to, even concealed, and you don’t have to have 1 second of training.  You can imagine the danger running around the streets of this state, gun worshippers with a gun in their pocket who don’t have the slightest idea how to use it.  Concealed carry advocate, Todd Nehls, wants the gun population better trained, no doubt recognizing the stupidity of Arizona gun laws.

Nehls is the Sheriff of Dodge County, Wisconsin, and although I disagree with his support of concealed carry, he has made some good points that should be considered seriously by the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and its membership.  Nehls asks all gun owners, “Are you ready?” meaning have you had sufficient training that would allow you in an emergency in your home to act responsibly.  I replace his reference to a “store” because I believe guns belong at home.

Nehls offers that “In Wisconsin, the state Department of Justice has received more than 108,000 applications for concealed carry permits…” since the state made it legal in December of 2011.  And I thought Arizona was gun crazy.  But the training these people will end up with is nothing compared to what law enforcement officers will receive.  Here’s the difference according to Nehls:

“…law enforcement officers go through several hours of incident simulation training a year to prepare them for pulling the trigger on another person. They face off with instructors or other officers, firing high-speed paintball shells at each other. Military personnel also go through rigorous training so they know the ramifications of pulling the trigger.  {The cops} can be put through any of 350 different scenarios that they might encounter on the street.”


Is this a joke?

OK.  Let’s stop right here for a bit of debate on whether or not these cowboys who claim that they need a gun in their possession to protect themselves in case of an emergency are ready for the challenge.  Unless you are a former cop or were trained in the military, you are not!  One of your own has just made my point and you can quote all of the NRA garbage you want, even bring Wayne LaPierre to my house to argue, but your premise is still pure crap.

Wisconsin’s Trayvon Martin was an innocent 20-year-old black man by the name of Bo Morrison who was killed by Adam Kind.  Morrison had fled from a party being raided by police and hid on a fully enclosed porch at the back of Kind’s home.  In this instance the intruder was in someone’s home, but the question is to what extent was Kind in danger to make him shoot in supposed self defense.  Nehls said a trained cop would have yelled a challenge.  Did Kind?

Brian Dorow, associate dean in the department of criminal justice, homeland security and counterterrorism said, “Generally, deadly force - intentional use of a firearm that could result in a death - is justified only when someone reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm.


Stand Your Ground Law
 Did either Adam Kind or George Zimmerman believe this?  It’s doubtful based on the information we have in both scenarios.  But it would be most interesting to know how much training each had in the handling of a handgun.  My gut tells me again that a sufficient amount is doubtful.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Has the NRA provided a ‘license to murder’ in “stand your ground law?”

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks so, claiming the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) promotes a gun culture at the expense of public safety in its creation of and promotion of the “stand your ground” laws.  This legislation that allows gun owners to claim self defense in shooting someone, even killing them, if they feel threatened, has been passed or is under consideration in 35 states.  Florida, where it originally passed in 2005, is where Trayvon Martin was killed.

Bloomberg claims it advocates vigilantism saying, “You just cannot have a civilized society where everybody can have a gun and make their own decisions as to whether someone is threatening or not."  Further, "This has nothing to do with gun owners' rights, nothing to do with the second amendment. Plain and simple, this is just trying to give people a license to murder."  The twisted minds of the NRA and some of its members will no doubt try to refute all of this.

And this fanaticism is not limited to the gun worshippers.  Immediately following the Trayvon Martin shooting, U.S. senators introduced NRA-backed legislation that would require all states to honor any permit for the concealed carry of weapons that has been issued by any other state.  Considering the fact that just about anyone in the state of Arizona can buy a gun and carry it anywhere they choose, you could be putting gun freaks on the street throughout the country.

It is almost as if the NRA looks at a tragedy like Trayvon Martin’s killing and suddenly realizes the promotability of the incident to assure its dues-paying membership that, no matter how horrific a situation is we can overcome the negativity by passing another law to loosen gun control.  And then they promptly take it to the gun nuts in Congress who are afraid to oppose the NRA.  Pathetic! 


Geo. Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin


If you are a Bill Cosby fan, or even if you aren't, this is a must-see video on his view of gun control below:




And something that could become a national public safety issue is the confusion that has been planted in the minds of police officers of whether or not to bring charges against someone like a George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin in supposed self defense.  The Sanford, Florida police did not, yet a special prosecutor brought 2nd degree murder charges against Zimmerman.  This kind of mentality could potentially release a maniac to do even more killing.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, “Most Americans support the right to use deadly force to protect themselves -- even in public places -- and have a favorable view of the National Rifle Association…”  OK, I can live with number one, confined to the home, but two and three completely baffle me considering the evidence of so many guns on the street and the shootings that take place daily.  There were 48 deaths from shootings alone in just last March. 

The poll concluded that "Americans do hold to this idea that people should be allowed to defend themselves and using deadly force is fine, in those circumstances," said pollster Chris Jackson. "In the theoretical ... there's a certain tolerance of vigilantism."  But did the poll mention to its respondents that many of these cowboys have absolutely no training in the use of firearms, like in Arizona where it isn’t required.  Ladd Everitt of the Coalition to stop Gun Violence.

I asked him the amount of training the average gun owner was required to have?  His reply: 

“If they're simply purchasing firearms, none whatsoever.  If they are  going to be carrying that gun in public, they MIGHT be required to have training.  In 28 states you can now openly carry a loaded gun in public with no permitting, screening or training.  Four states now require no permitting, screening or training to carry a concealed firearm in public.  And even in "Shall Issue" states that require one to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public, several have no training requirement.”

“According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, nearly 100,000 people are shot every year in the United States in murders, suicides, accidents or police intervention.”  A whopping 91 percent want every gun owner to have a background check, including those in the gun show loophole, a move that the NRA and its members will probably fight to the death.  A measly 6 percent were in favor of no or minimum restrictions.

There is so much mixed reaction in this poll that I recommend that some independent pollster conduct a current study to determine just how often a gun-carrier has been successful in stopping an individual confrontation or has been instrumental in assisting someone in need.  The NRA crusades for guns for everyone everywhere in the name of protection and self defense.  It is time that we know just how effective this is, particularly re. carrying of concealed weapons.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Graying Granny Marion Hammer excellent example of NRA’s brain washing


Marion Hammer

Attacking grandmothers is not something I would normally do but Marion Hammer is the exception.  She is ruthless in her loyalty to the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), one who illustrates perfectly just how this gun worshipping culture is instilled in kids from a very young age.  She was five when her grandfather gave her a .22 bolt-action single-shot rifle—at least it didn’t have a high-capacity magazine—and ordered her to “hunt down a rabbit or a squirrel for dinner.”

In 1995 she was president of the NRA and today is committed as a top lobbyist for the organization dedicated to putting a gun in the hands of every American—including even 5-year-olds—and make it legal for them to carry their weapons anywhere they want to.  She was the ramrod behind the “Stand your Ground” law which has been deemed responsible for the Florida shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.  She is now 70 years old.


Brian Malte

“Brian Malte, director of legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said he considers Hammer an extremist.”  Further, "Marion Hammer and the NRA are the masterminds of a dangerous paranoid mentality that got Trayvon Martin killed, the mentality that is responsible for endangering all of our lives.  It's based on a lie that you need to be armed to the teeth anywhere you go,” said Malte.


Gary Kleck

Rep. Dennis Baxley, the Ocala Republican who sponsored Florida's Stand Your Ground law in 2005, counters. "It's not because we want to shoot somebody," he said. "We want to keep people from getting hurt."  Based on that statement, I looked for some confirmation of just how often an individual’s personal gun is used for self-defense.  The latest I could find was a 1997 study by Gary Kleck, an expert and Professor of Criminology at Fla. State U.  He said: 

“…gun ownership is largely passive self-protection--once a gun is acquired, the owner only rarely does anything defensive with it. Only a minority of defensive owners actually use their guns for self-protection; most of the rest just keep the gun in a bureau drawer or similar location, where it is available for use should the need arise.”

There’s more.  In 2008, Hammer and the NRA defied Walt Disney and the Chamber of Commerce and were the driving force behind a 2008 law that allows employees to bring guns to work -- as long as they lock the weapons in the car.”  She wasn’t done.  Her next pursuit was taking on the medical community to pass legislation “…to prevent doctors from asking young patients about guns in their homes. A judge shot down that law, saying it violated doctors' free speech.”

In the following video you must watch it to the end for the true meaning:



Apparently “Stand your Ground” was inspired by a Florida homeowner, 77-year-old James Workman, who shot and killed an intruder in a trailer outside his hurricane-damaged home.  He wasn’t prosecuted because it was legal to protect yourself in your home against imminent harm.  A reasonable law that most gun control advocates agree with.  But that wasn’t good enough for Marion Hammer, who saw an opening to move gun defense out onto the streets.

Hammer is described as “emotionally compelling’ in her presentations to lawmakers.  What is more important than her enthusiasm to these under thumb legislators is the fact that, if they don’t cooperate, the NRA will cut off contributions to future campaigns and back a competitor in the next election to run them out of office.  It is bad enough when money alone can decide elections but it is tragic in the hands of a Marion Hammer and the NRA.

Hammer has said little following the killing of Trayvon Martin, only commenting that Stand your Ground is “a good law.”  It is this complete lack of recognition for what is wrong and the lack of responsibility to admit you have perpetrated something horrible on the American public, that is defined by many as typical NRA arrogance.  And it will go on as long as the Marion Hammers and her NRA are allowed to pass more gun rights laws and loosen those on the books.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Romney view(s) on gun control illustrate his flip-flop style in tackling serious issues

Mitt Romney on gun control
In 1994 running against Ted Kennedy for Massachusetts’ Senate seat, Mitt Romney said, “I don’t line up with the NRA” on gun control.  By 2008 he had completely reversed himself stating that if he became President, he would support the 2nd Amendment and vigorously defend the rights of Americans to defend their homes.  This was also at odds with the fact that early in his political career he was supportive of many gun control laws, particularly the Brady Act.

Today the GOP candidate is opposed to any further gun control legislation.  He called Trayvon Martin’s shooting “a tragedy” and said there should be a “thorough investigation.”  To my knowledge he didn’t mention the “stand your ground” law, nor did he comment on whether it was good or bad legislation.  It would seem to me the perfect opportunity for President Obama to come out in full force to repeal all these laws and challenge Romney to his positio


Mitt Romney on gun control 4 years ago:



In his 1994 Senate bid, Romney defied the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) by saying that he favored strong gun laws and did not “line up with the NRA.”  But in considering a run for the presidency in 2006, he signed up for a lifetime membership in the NRA.  He even praised the group for “doing good things” and confirmed “supporting the right to bear arms.”  When asked in 2007 if he was still in favor of the Brady Bill he was vague and referenced his term as Governor.

Romney said that he signed the assault weapons ban as Massachusetts’ governor exclaiming that it was a “weapon of such lethality” and poses grave risk to law enforcement.  This didn’t get him any accolades from the NRA but then that may well be put aside when he addresses the gun lobbying group at its annual meeting Friday the 13th in St. Louis, MO. 

This after the recent Trayvon Martin shooting and the earlier massacre in Tucson, AZ, injuring former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and killing six.  This when the nation is still reeling from mass school shootings and a potential hate crime that left 3 dead and two injured in Tulsa, OK.  I am running a documented count of shootings across the U.S. which I started in March and will publish monthly.

While campaigning, Romney tells potential voters that we have all the gun control laws we need and about a month ago let the world know he owns two shotguns.  Not a handgun, mind you, just two shotguns and he actually doesn’t even own them.  In an interview with the Boston Globe he bragged of being a hunter and having a gun of his own.  He was corrected by the interviewer who said isn’t that your son’s gun?  Romney responded, “Um, well, yes, but so what?

The man is an enigma unto himself, making it repeatedly clear that he is swayed by the issue at hand and will switch in whatever direction necessary that will benefit his candidacy.  By the way, this isn’t Romney’s first appearance before the NRA.  He addressed them in 2008 and 2009 and sent a video message for the 2011 annual meeting.  Since charges against Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, have been made, will this come up at the NRA’s meeting?

And finally, the dreaded link with Barack Obama in his views on gun control.  Yes, says former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney does share many of President Obama’s views on guns.  He also included the issues of health care and energy policy in this forum.  Santorum sums up Romney’s apparent nomination by saying, the party shouldn’t nominate a moderate with this little contrast with the President.  But it sure looks like they will.

Friday, April 6, 2012

The ALEC conspiracy broadens

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been called a “bill churning mill” primarily due to the fact that, of the nearly 1,000 bills it presents to state lawmakers each year, 20 percent become law.  Some of them verbatim, right out of ALEC’s factory.  Marvin Meadors writing for the Huff Post likens it to the “evil law firm” in the movie The Devil’s Advocate, a 1997 film in which a lawyer finds out his new boss is Lucifer himself.

I can see how the Koch brothers, David and Charles, would be considered the devil reincarnated by consumers because everything these two concoct ends up flying in the face of the average American citizen.  Things like the “stand your ground” laws (Castle Doctrine), voter id laws, voucher programs for private schools that dilute public education, anti environmental bills, anti-immigration legislation, anti-worker laws, and the list goes on.

But the Koch brothers aren’t in this alone; their cronies are some of the largest corporations in the U.S., all of which depend on the very consumers ALEC laws are designed to oppose.  Companies like Wal-Mart, Kraft, State Farm, Exxon/Mobil, Verizon, AT&T, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, not to mention Koch Industries and there are more.  These back-stabbers are joined by over 2,000 of your state legislators who pretty much do just what ALEC tells them to.

And then there is the National Rifle Assn., which brought the “stand your ground” law to ALEC, who along with the NRA got it passed in Florida in 2005, which then went on to another twenty-something states.  It is the basis on which George Zimmerman shot and killed black teen ager Trayvon Martin in Florida recently, and the possible answer to why justifiable homicides are increasing at an alarming rate in the states that have passed this law.    

ALEC was actually founded by conservative Paul Weyrich, also the founder of the Heritage Foundation to defy liberal think tanks.  He was one of the earliest to marry conservatives to evangelicals, joining Jerry Falwell to found the Moral Majority.  Weyrich actually said: “I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people.  He continues, “As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

His underlying meaning, above, becomes quite clear when you consider the voter-id laws that ALEC is proposing under the guise of stopping voter fraud that are actually meant to discourage voting by the poor and ethnic minorities. 

But there is probably nothing more profound in ALEC’s privatization efforts than its crusade to turn America’s prisons into private enterprise.  Its model legislation has been responsible for an explosion in prison population.  Laws like “three strikes,” mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and “truth in sentencing” that does away with or limits parole.  As crime fell dramatically in the 1990s, the prison population grew by a half-million inmates, as just one example.     


Gov. Brewer fills private prisons

And where do we go for the most glaring examples of ALEC’s privatization of prisons?  Why Arizona of course.  I did a post on this in February, “Private prisons another example of big business exploiting states,” which related the conspiracy going on between Gov. Jan Brewer’s office, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Republican state legislators to bring in companies like Corrections Corp. of America (CCA), and guarantee to keep their cells filled for profit.

But there is a darker side that the state doesn’t talk about because it completely refutes Arizona’s original reason for going this route.  It was to save money, which it hasn’t.  A report released in February reveals that the state overpaid its private prisons by $10 million between 2008 and 2010.  And what they received in return was unacceptable including malfunctioning alarm systems, fences with holes in them, inept staffs plus other problems.

In total there were 157 serious security failings across five facilities.  There were some 28 riots, a figure that cannot be confirmed since the prison administration attempted to hide the evidence.  And just this past Tuesday, Arizona’s Dept. of Corrections awarded a $349 million three-year contract to privatize health care for inmates, costing $5 million more than the state paid in 2011.



These are your tax-paying dollars folks, and ALEC makes the U.S. Congress’ pork barrel politics look like kids stuff.  The question is not if, but rather when, ALEC will come up with a new state program to privatize.  How about parks?  Now that’s a possibility.  Fence them all in and charge admission.  But the state must find ways to force more people into the parks for maximum profit of let’s say a company like “Private Parks of America.”

Absurd?  Not at all.  And if progressives don’t get busy on both the national and state levels and dump these conservative lawmakers that worship big business, this country is in for a shock some day when corporations will occupy the White House and the Congress, not individuals.

BREAKING NEWS: Just announced that Coca Cola and Pepsico have severed their ties with ALEC due to pressure from special interest groups.  More on this later. 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

“Stand your ground” gun laws have to go


Fla legislators love the NRA

Two good questions arise in a Wall Street Journal article that seem to challenge the “stand your ground laws in those states where it has been passed.  “For instance, does a rise in justifiable homicides reflect killings that otherwise wouldn't have happened? Or does it reflect the fact that more killings might naturally fall into the "justifiable" category, if a new law broadens that category?”  Tough questions and without more study will no doubt remain unanswered.

Up until the killing of Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, the primary battle between gun control advocates and those for more gun rights has been to just let anyone who wants to own a weapon of their choice take it anywhere they wanted to.  So far, the gun worshippers have gotten their way.  Now it would seem that the NRA-backed gun bubbas would like to add an amendment: “If I kill someone, let me call it self defense.”

The alleged justifiable homicides almost doubled between 2000 and 2010, but distinguishing these events are some interesting factors.  Around 60 percent were strangers.  Firearms were used in 80 percent of the cases compared to 65 percent in non-justifiable cases.  The average age of victims in justifiable versus non-justifiable are about the same. 

Re. the race issue, in 75 percent of each type the victim and the killer were the same race.  On the other side, in these quasi justifiable cases, when the races are different, the victim is more often black.

So far there is only one common denominator in all the chaos of these laws and statistics and that is the fact that there is a proliferation of guns in the hands of literally anyone who wants them and these gun nuts are able to walk around with their firearms just about anywhere.  And that is not right.  George Zimmerman’s judgment was proven inadequate to own a handgun when he defied law enforcement by following Trayvon Martin, resulting in the black teen’s death.


Where the 2nd Amend. was designed for

In my opinion, the 2nd Amendment was meant by its drafters to protect individuals in their homes.  Conversely, as a militia then, or for today’s law enforcement and military, the purpose was to arm them for anywhere they were needed to protect the citizenry.  Protection of the homestead was the definition of the “Castle Doctrine” for several years until the gun-crazy gang decided they wanted to play Wyatt Earp.  Retreat was the law before this “stand your ground” crap.

Fla. legislator on his "stand your ground" law



According to the WSJ, one of the reasons reports of the U.S. homicide rate is in decline is the fact that it is voluntary for states to report the data, and police agencies across the country aren’t consistent in their reporting.  I did a post earlier this week, “48 dead from 49 shootings across U. S. in March alone,” where the title speaks for itself.  Actually, there was a slight increase in homicides from 2000-2010, but slight decline when adjusted for population.


GOP delivers for the NRA

Now when you look at justified killings over the same period, justifiable rose by 85 percent.  And most of these occurred after 2005 when Florida and 16 other states passed their first “stand your ground law.”  Coincidence?  The NRA would argue yes.  Sane individuals would see the figures as representing a law that all of a sudden provided these gun addicts a legal excuse to blast away.  And they would have probably continued to get away with it if not for George Zimmerman.

I am not suggesting that gun owners use the “stand your ground” law for a reason to either shoot or actually kill someone.  These people have been so brain-washed by the National Rifle Assn. that they are convinced they must push for the right to display their weapons before the world, fighting for literally any way to do this, and to stand firm against any move to control the violence caused by all these loose weapons on the street.  Pathetic!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

48 dead from 49 shootings across U. S. in March alone…See timeline below

When will the American public understand that guns do kill people and that it is the proliferation of these weapons throughout the country that is causing the deaths of our family, friends and neighbors?  Not until these same people say no to the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and similar gun rights groups and put them in their place.  And that would be as provocateurs of the death and violence that has taken place since these organizations have diluted gun laws nationwide.

It is that simple.  Looking back at Columbine, then Virginia Tech, followed by the Loughner massacre in Tucson, AZ that almost took former Rep. Gabby Giffords life and left her with years of rehabilitation, the T.J. Lane mass shooting in Chardon, OH, it isn’t hard to see how we have easily arrived at the point where no one seems to know just what to do about the recent shooting of the black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. 

We don’t know whether to blame it on George Zimmerman, the lax gun laws of Florida and other states like it, the NRA, the U.S. Congress, or an apathetic public that has allowed congressional and state legislators, who are gun worshippers, to give the NRA and their cronies a free-reign.

NRA "gun control"
Well, it’s all of the above.  Nobody listens to the gun control advocates who have been predicting increased violence for years if gun laws continue to loosen.  As an example, 29 states have the ‘Stand Your Ground” law and 4 more are considering it.  Yes, statistics do indicate some violence is going down across the country, but you can’t prove it by the above figures.  One of these reported deaths was a 3-year-old who shot himself with a family gun he found in their car.

If you have the patience, and the guts, to learn more about what is going on in gun-crazy America, take the time to read the following documentation of the 49 shootings that left 48 dead in just this past March.

        • March 6, Jacksonville, FL, 2 dead when fired teacher kills school head, then himself.
        • March 7, Tulsa County, OK, 3 hospitalized after being shot in Courthouse Plaza.
        • March 8, Pittsburgh, PA, 2 dead, 7 hurt at psychiatric hospital.
        • March 9, Montesano, WA, Officer shot, Judge stabbed at Grays Harbor County Courthouse.
        • March 12, Las Vegas, NV, 5 shot at a resort casino parking structure which was thought to be gsng-related.
        • March 12, Lamoine, ME, 1 dead, 3 injured in weekend shooting.
        • March 13, Sanford, FL, Trayvon Martin is shot and killed by watch captain George Zimmerman, supposedly in self-defense.
        • March 13, Gallup, NM, 2 killed, a father and son, 2 wounded, in total of 4 shootings within two hours.
        • March 14, Little Rock, AR, 1 dead, shot by 9-year-old sister while parents away from their apartment.  The girl was autistic.
        • March 14, Phoenix, AZ, 1 dead, 1 wounded at an apartment complex.
        • March 14, Tacoma, WA, 3-year-old dead after shooting himself with gun he found in family car.
        • March 14, Jefferson County, TX, 1 dead, at least two injured at Texas courthouse.
        • March 14, Houston, TX, 1 killed at rave party where from 300 to 600 teens were crowded into a house.
        • March 16, Glendale, AZ, 3 dead in apparent murder/suicide, two were man’s young sons.
        • March 18, Fayetteville, NC, 1 highschooler dead in nightclub gang fight.
        • March 18, Fayetteville, NC, less than an hour from above, 1 dead at another club shooting in the parking lot.
        • March 18, Chicago, IL, 5 dead, 12 wounded, in attacks across the Chicago metro-area.
        • March 18, Indianapolis, IN, 5 teens shot in downtown Indianapolis, some injuries believed to be life-threatening.
        • March 18, Bourbon, MO, 4 dead including woman and three children at a campground resort.  Could be murder/suicide.
        • March 18, Oak Hill, WV, 3 dead including two women found in a home.  Shooter was 83-year-old man.
        • March 19, Lacey, WA, 1 dead, 2 wounded in Seattle suburb, requiring eight schools to go on lockdown.
        • March 20, Gilbert, AZ, 1 wounded, a 12-year-old girl shot by her 10-year-old brother.  Father a police officer, but gun owner unknown.
        • March 20, Newport, RI, 1 dead 1 injured, in shooting and stabbing, an assault according to police.
        • March 21, Avondale, OH, 4-year-old wounded when walking home from a cookout.
        • March 21, Avondale, OH, 1 wounded in aggravated robbery.
        • March 23, Ypsilanti, MI, 3 wounded during apparent attempted narcotics sale resulting from argument over price of pills.
        • March 23, Burlington, IA, 1 man dead, 1 woman wounded in head who then shot boyfriend in the head several times in a fight killing him, all over their relationship.
        • March 24, Oakland, CA, 1 boy dead in shooting going to a house party.
        • March 24, Oakland, CA, 1 man dead, 1 woman seriously wounded.
        • March 24, Rogue Valley, OR, 1 dead, wife murdered by her husband with 10-year-old son at home.
        • March 24, Rogue Valley, OR, 1 dead in White City shooting.
        • March 25, Starkville, MS, 1 dead at Mississippi State U. in his campus room.
        • March 26, Decatur, GA, 1 teen shot to death by apartment security guards.  The investigation is on-going.
        • March 30, Lake Charles, LA, 1 dead, 1 wounded in shooting where drugs were involved.
        • March 30, Lake Charles, LA, 1 wounded in another drug deal gone bad.
        • March 30, Batesville, MS, 2 dead, at least 3 wounded in an apartment complex, apparently gang-related.
        • March 30, Phoenix, AZ, 1 dead at apartment complex.
        • March 30, Chicago, IL, 1 dead, 5 wounded at a convenience store.
        • March 31, Chicago, IL, 2 dead, 11 wounded, including the nephew (wounded) of Miami heat star Dwyane Wade.
        • March 31, Prince Georges County, VA, 3 wounded in Hyattsville in residential area.
        • March 31, Miami, FL, 2 dead, 12 injured in mass shooting during a funeral.  Wounded included a 5-year-old girl.
If you have survived this far, I won’t keep you any longer except to say, I’ve been telling you so.   

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

NRA pushed “stand your ground” law that may be responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death

The Florida law that is currently protecting watch captain George Zimmerman, termed “stand your ground,” was brought to the organization American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) by the National Rifle Assn.  ALEC, a national organization that fosters legislation primarily anti-consumer, has promoted the concept to states nationwide resulting in several laws passed similar to Florida’s. 

It is one of the bills supported by ALEC disproportionately impacting communities of color, according to the Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch.  The question is whether it prompted Zimmerman to take vigilante justice into his own hands resulting in action that he was not authorized to carry out.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a front for back-room closed-door sessions between big business and state legislatures to draft legislation that benefits business.  The center for Media and Democracy has been fighting this organization for some time now, and I have done two past articles you can see here and here.  One of the major problems with ALEC is its secrecy in bringing biased legislation to states that is often passed as presented.

This law, also known as the “Castle Doctrine,” changes state criminal justice and civil law codes by giving legal immunity to a person who uses deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to themselves or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.  It also bars the deceased's family from bringing a civil suit.  Additional information suggests Zimmerman acted as he did because the teen was black.

Florida Senator Durell Peadon introduced the law with NRA lobbyist, Marion Hammer, reportedly staring down legislators as they voted, according to CMD.  Afterwards Hammer presented the bill to ALEC where the NRA “boasted” it was “well-received,” after which all corporations and state legislators on the Task Force unanimously approved the bill as an ALEC model.  At last count, 25 states had the “stand your ground law.”

See Al JaZeera video below of Former federal prosecutor Michael Wildes discussing the NRA's power and the need for improved gun safety and control laws:



Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a devoted ALEC alum, signed a bill into law in his state in 2011 with the key elements of the Castle Doctrine included.  On March 3 of this year, 20-year-old college student Bo Morrison was shot and killed by a homeowner in Slinger, Wisconsin as the young man hid from police after attending an underage drinking party.  Because of the Castle Doctrine, no charges will be filed in the shooting. Like Trayvon Martin, Morrison was black.


Trayvon Martin

Former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey says the “stand your ground” law is “a license to kill,” noting that the number of justifiable homicides in Florida has tripled since the law was passed in 2005.  CMD says, “The Castle Doctrine and its ‘stand your ground’ provisions give license for people to engage in vigilantism without liability.  As such, the ALEC bill can put the decision to take a life in the hands of a person whose fears are motivated by prejudice and racial bias.

To my knowledge and at this writing, the NRA has made no official comment about the Trayvon Martin death, nor has it commented on the “stand your ground” law in relation to whether George Zimmerman acted correctly in his shooting of the black teen ager.  I read somewhere recently a headline that said, “George Zimmerman is the NRA.”  If that statement is correct, the Florida incident could well be the catalyst to more gun control in the future.

Read more here.

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