Clips From Nasty Jack Buzz: Gun Violence

 

The night of Nov. 13, 2022, three people were shot and killed on the campus of the University of Virginia. Two others were injured. The three dead were football players. The shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones, is in custody. Yahoo!News says...

"A former student athlete accused of fatally shooting three University of Virginia football players was able to legally buy two guns after failing a background check last year and trying to get a handgun while underage four years ago, according to the gun shop that sold him the firearms."

And then only hours later, four University of Idaho students were found dead in an

off-campus house. CNN reports...

Moscow [Idaho] police said they are investigating the deaths as homicides, but did not provide any other information about what happened. As of midday Monday, no suspect was in custody. Anyone with information about the case has been asked to contact police.

Two gun violence murder scenes so close together, it was hard for the media to decide which to concentrate on. It is no doubt the Idaho killings that will receive the most focus until the shooter is caught. Authorities called it senseless killings but did not get into the basics that lead to this kind of brutality resulting in unlimited bloodshed. I looked at the Gun Violence Archive and this is the gun violence activity in only the last 72 hours. The list is almost endless with 10 pages.

The hard numbers are 39,005 gun violence deaths so far this year. There were 34,706 injuries from gun violence. Of these 285 children (age 0-11) were killed, 627 injured. Added to this teens (age 12-17), 1,194 dead, 3,354 injured. There are 390 million guns out on U.S. streets with a population of 329 million people. America rules the world as the Czar of guns and gun violence. This is not a reputation most citizens of this country want, but are comatose when it comes to action. 

I have selected a few posts done on gun violence, as follows:

This one actually came to pass in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol, "Gun violence bloodshed threatened if 2020 goes to Democrats." Here's an excerpt...

You would expect no less from Fox News and other conservative news outlets than to suggest gun violence bloodshed should the Democrats win big in 2020. It's looking likely that they will so these anarchistic terrorists are "threatening mass violence and a bloody people’s revolt in the streets."

And turning back to 2018, "American Medical Association asks for ban on assault weapons." It's about time the people who witness gun violence firsthand get in the act. Here's a startling clip...

The ban of assault weapons in the U.S. today should be a given based on the number of school children killed by one of these weapons in 2018 alone. Kids all over the country are expressing their fear of going to school because they are afraid they will be the next victim. Just a couple of years ago some youngsters were scared to face the school bully. That bully has now decided to arm himself and wipe out as many as 44 students.

Are COVID-19 deaths more relevant than gun deaths? Comparing gun deaths

to Covid deaths, I cite Donald Trump, then in the Oval Office, because of his reluctance to acknowledge the pandemic, as leading the American public into a state of apathy similar to the gun violence problem. Here's a selection from that post...

And here we go again says Charlie Warzel in the New York Times...

"The coronavirus scenario I can’t stop thinking about is the one where we simply get used to all the dying."

And therein rests the problem. The American public was tricked into indifference over the deaths from gun violence by Wayne LaPierre, the NRA head, and his minions. and once again when Donald Trump refused to address the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately both gun violence and the Covid virus continue to spread. 

Here are all my gun violence posts to read...

 

 

The Agony of Stupidity...GUN VIOLENCE

 

The agony of this issue is the fact that something could be done about gun violence, but the first question is, do we need more guns on the street than there are American residents? NO! But there are 393 million guns, only 326 million people. The first move should be to get as many of these guns off streets as possible, and, again, yes, there are some people out there that don't need a gun. And there are some who don't need an arsenal; in 2020 the average gun owner had 8 guns.

 As of November 16, 2021, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 39,275 deaths due to gun violence; 18,155 homicides, murder, etc. and 21,120 suicides. Add to that 35,963 injuries due to guns and you have a situation that is completely out of control. Yet, gun nuts, which include not only some gun owners, but also politicians, who have conceded to the gun lobby for years, taking their money in return for legislation protecting these same gun nuts.

Listen to Arizona absurb gun law, typical throughout U.S...

As an example, in Arizona, the state where I live, all that is necessary to own a gun is a warm body. They can take their firearms pretty much anywhere they want to, and now Congress is considering legislation so owners can carry their guns across state lines all around the country. I am 89 and not once has there been the case where I have needed to carry a gun. Agreed, there are limited cases where this might be required; single females living alone as an example.

A well-known firearms researcher says "America is on a collision course with disaster. We need to listen." Garen Wintemute, 69, is director of the California Firearms Violence Research Center at UC Davis, researching gun violence for around 40 years. Here's why...

"He’s also an emergency room physician whose obsession with firearms violence grew from his constant treatment of gunshot wounds."

 Wintrmute questions...

“How could we have prevented this from happening? I’ve tried to 

understand some of the social determinants in a gun purchase.”

Wintemute contacted politicians...

“The risk of major political violence is higher now than at any other time in my lifetime,” said Bob Shrum, a former Democratic consultant who is director of the Center for the Political Future at USC.

Schnur cited the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 insurrection, where 5 people died from gun violence, adding...

“As long as we convince each other that people who disagree with us are evil, the likelihood for violence will keep growing. The answer isn’t more gun control or more gun ownership…. The core issue is tolerance.”

And if all this isn't enough, we now have ghost guns, and I don't mean the creepy crawly kind. This new quirk for gun nuts is a make-at-home kit for a real gun that is available through gun dealers and online. There is some work necessary to complete the firearm and, when complete, the piece is not subject to regular gun regulations, thus, no serial number. Just another way for an anonymous homicide with, essentially, a throwaway killing machine. What's next?

Back to my initial statement, 'something could be done about gun violence,' there is a need for some new gun control laws, and revision of some already on the books. A priority is to revise the open/concealed law to include only those absolutely in need. Another, create a national registry, eliminate the gun show loophole, cancel straw purchases and get rid of the NRA, the main source of gun violence with its philosophy of 'more guns on the street.' Unfortunately, there's more.

LATEST The NRA and gun violence

It is easy to lose sight of the damage guns cause in our society when COVID-19 is wreaking such havoc across the country. But there was a 3% increase in gun deaths in 2019 over 2018, and 2020 has started with 13,674 gun deaths, including 8,382 suicides.

They're down and probably won't get up

Talking to gun nuts is just as futile as trying to convince an anti-stay at home nut to protect himself or herself and others by observing the lockdown rules. I did a blog post recently on double-digits who fail to acknowledge the severity of a disease that is killing an average of 2,000 daily, just in the U.S. Their response is, "It's only a virus." This corresponds with the gun owner who will protect his weapons, and that is plural, over your right to survive from gun violence.

Here are the stark figures from Gabby Giffords site, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence: 100 Americans are Killed with Guns Every Day; 36,383 Americans Die from Gun Violence each Year; States with the Highest Gun Death Rates have the Weakest Gun Laws; Americans are 25 Times More Likely to Die from Gun Violence than Residents from Peer Nations; and 51% of suicides in the U.S. Involve a Firearm. There's more and it is pathetic.

Economist on what gun violence looks like in America...

And there is one organization that is always in the forefront to prop up gun violence, at least until recently, the National Rifle Assn. and its head gun nut Wayne LaPierre. pushing constantly for more guns on the streets to please its gun manufacturing supporters. Well, someone has pulled the shade down and the NRA is going down the drain...where it should be. A recent report shows their legal troubles alone have cost the group $100 million. And it's getting worse.

LaPierre was just reelected executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association, just in time to see his gang...

"go from an electoral kingmaker to the edge of financial ruin. He and other NRA executives have urged laid-off employees to seek public assistance benefits. The nation's most prominent pro-gun lobby has lost tens of millions of dollars amid numerous legal woes and investigations that have exposed its questionable financial dealings."

Yet, it gets even better...

"Now, the longtime NRA leader hopes his lawyers can "keep him out of jail," according to previously unreported allegations in court documents in the group's legal battle against its longtime public relations firm, Ackerman McQueen."

Gun owner groups fight to replace NRA...

Life in this country couldn't be better with the complete eradication of the NRA and Wayne LaPierre in jail one year for each death he has caused from gun violence. And I don't think I am alone with this feeling. According to Gallup, 49% have an unfavorable opinion of the National Rifle Assn. But there is another side to the gun violence problem; that's countries who have the common sense to act when they see why it is happening.

The weapon of choice for shooting someone is now the assault rifle. There are around 17 million of these guns in the hands of private American gun owners, and have been used regularly in the execution of mass shootings. In this country so far this year there have been over one-hundred mass shooting, and, yes, the U.S. leads the world in this carnage. Canada, a gun-wise country, has decided to ban assault weapons.

Canada's Trudeau announces assault weapons ban...

The Canadians have regularly come forward to control the gun violence in their country which is the reason it has only a 0.61 death rate per 100,000 population when the U.S. has 4.46. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is quoted in the Washington Post...

"The Canadian government on Friday announced an immediate ban on some 1,500 makes and models of 'military-grade' assault weapons, including two models used by the gunman who killed 22 people last month in rural Nova Scotia during the country’s deadliest mass shooting."

Trudeau said...

“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time.”

He added...

“There is no use — and no place — for such weapons in Canada,” he said. While most firearms owners are responsible, he said, “you don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.”

Canada sits just north of the United States but is millions of miles away when it comes to logical thinking about gun violence. Perhaps with the NRA's huge budget for propaganda gone, leading to its inability to bribe members of Congress with generous donations that have resulted in weak to no guns laws in this country to protect its citizens, well, one might hope for improvement. But many of the gun nuts in Washington will never abandon the 2nd Amendment.

Donald Trump waffles on gun violence...

A USA opinion piece calls attention to "Donald Trump’s vacillating response to repeated acts of carnage that occurred prior to the coronavirus pandemic"...

"In 2018, after meeting with survivors of the Parkland shooting, Trump vowed, 'We're going to be very strong on background checks.' However, days later, after conferring with his friends and financial supporters at the National Rifle Association, he walked back on that assurance."

There's more...

"The same Trump turnaround occurred in the wake of horrific mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton on successive days last August. The Tweeter-in-Chief typed, 'Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks.' A week later, Trump’s resolve wilted under pressure from the gun lobby, insisting, 'we have very strong background checks right now.'"

It will take a revolt of the people and a clearing of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans to fix this dilemma. But, there is no doubt the more serious problem today is COVID-19, although neither Congress nor the White House maniac seem to be doing anything about this either.

Gun violence bloodshed threatened if 2020 goes to Democrats

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Fox News suggests gun violence to stop new gun legislation  

Wayne LaPierre-Always there with more guns

You would expect no less from Fox News and other conservative news outlets than to suggest gun violence bloodshed should the Democrats win big in 2020. It's looking likely that they will so these anarchistic terrorists are "threatening mass violence and a bloody people’s revolt in the streets." Here's a sampling of right media delirium...

"If you take 'people’s guns away from them, there’s going to be a lot of violence,' The View’s Meghan McCain announced. 'What you are calling for is civil war,' warned Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. 'What you are calling for is an incitement to violence.'”

Of course, these are two of the most insane of the conservative Republican media wingnuts. And the nation's gun nuts still believe the...

"Second Amendment exists not for self-defense, or to protect the rights of hunters and gun enthusiasts, but to enable citizens to go to war with the U.S. government, and to fend off a 'tyrannical' turn at home."

And that is basically what Fox is espousing, suggesting a bloody revolution will be necessary to stop the Democrats. Here's the scenario...

“The core philosophy of the Three Percenter movement, whose adherents have engaged in violence, is that citizens would be justified in taking up arms to violently overthrow the government if the government enacted stronger gun regulations.”

The Daily show's Trevor Noah on Fox News and guns...

It all started with the Obama election when the radical gun nuts were convinced he was going to take away their guns. They were supported by the head gun nut, the National Rifle Assn.'s Wayne LaPierre. Following the Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut...

"Fox’s Todd Starnes warned there would 'a revolution' if the government tries to 'confiscate our guns,' while Fox News Pat Caddell claimed the country was in a 'pre-revolutionary condition,' and 'on the verge of an explosion.'”

AlterNet says, "The sinister, desperate threats of bloodshed come as the public opinion pendulum continues to swing away from the NRA and its radical gun defenders." And gun owners must now look forward to the possibility of a Democratic House, Senate, and White House where new gun laws are most likely. Of course, the most immediate benefit will be for the gun manufacturers since the gun nuts will be amassing to buy more firearms.

The latest massacre in Texas follows "a long list from that state alone." The Washington Post says...

"the [Texas] governor encourages people to buy more guns and a new set of laws now allow you to take your gun to church and prohibit landlords from banning guns in rental properties."

Elizabeth Warren talks about gun violence...

Now that's a move in the right direction if your intention is to encourage more gun violence in your state. Paul Waldman of the WP muses, "If we actually told the truth about guns"...

The first thing they’d [gun advocates] say: The rote response we give after every mass shooting is just playacting. President Trump will say, “We’re looking at a lot of different things. We’re looking at a lot of different bills, ideas, concepts,” but he’s not going to do anything. He’ll claim that he’s going to stand up to the National Rifle Association, but then he’ll cave. Republicans in Congress will make sure no bill offering even the mildest controls on gun ownership will pass, even if it’s supported by 93 percent of the public. We may offer up our “thoughts and prayers,” but our main thought is “Can’t we talk about something else?” and our prayer is that voters don’t decide to change the situation we’re in.

There's more but you get the idea. The gist of all this is the fact that the gun huggers aren't serious about anything that even slightly resembles the enactment of responsible gun laws...like universal background checks. They would rather listen to the evocative rantings of Fox News and its propaganda spouters. That's why we are in the situation we are, a nation where there are more guns than people. This is bound to catch up with us soon, and we'll be sorry.

Read more about gun violence from my blog.

  

Did the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban work? Actually…yes

Alex Seitz-Wald has done an excellent job in Salon of organizing and evaluating statistics that relate to the success of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.  Having expired in 2004, the question was whether or not it had helped reduce gun violence while in effect.  The answer is that it did, especially when you consider the main obstacle the results were up against.  In 1996 Congress passed a law limiting the use of gun violence data collected that could be used to analyze this issue.  Naturally, this was backed and promoted by the National Rifle Assn. (NRA). 

Although Obama has issued a memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies to conduct more gun violence research in the future, fortunately one group did not wait for this to happen and compiled their own data on the success of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.  In the Salonarticle, it accuses the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) of misleading the American public on assault weapons.  It’s full of loopholes, Seitz-Wald says, and there are studies confirming that the ban was effective. 

Congress required an assessment of the law in 1999 which was paid for by the National Institute of Justice, a research arm of the Department of Justice.  Conducting the investigation were two criminologists, Christopher Koper and Jeffrey Roth.  The report was updated in 2004, evaluating everything from homicides to gun prices.  To start, it was found that banned guns and magazines were used in up to 25% of gun crimes before the ban.  Assault pistols were used more than assault rifles also finding large-capacity magazines were the biggest problem.

Comments on 2013 assault weapons ban:

I did a blog back in January, “NRAafraid of gun violence statistics,” that examined this issue of the missing gun violence data.  I came to the conclusion that, although the NRA made sure we can’t use the numbers, we still know that the gun violence is caused by guns.  No matter who is doing it or where they got the weapon, it was a gun that caused the injury or death.  Without the “death data” the gun manufacturers continue to sell more firearms and pour more money into the coffers of Wayne LaPierre and the NRA.  It is truly a vicious circle.

Not in the defense of assault weapons but more facing the reality of just what kind of gun control legislation might pass a much prejudiced Congress, my blog, “Would banning highcapacity magazines and requiring universal background checks be a good start tostricter gun control?” asks whether limiting these magazines to no more than ten rounds would at least be a start.  The Salon article reported that assault weapons accounted for only a fraction of the total gun deaths overall.  It was the high-capacity magazines that really caused the mayhem.

 

The infamous AR-15

 

As an example, Seitz-Wald says, “the same .223 Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle was used  in the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre, the shooting at the Clackamas Mall in Oregon, the Newtown elementary school shooting, and, just a few days ago, the killing of two firefighters in upstate New York.”  Jared Loughner in Tucson used a 33-round high-capacity magazine, Seung-Hui Cho used a 15-round magazine at Virginia Tech.  The big question here is whether curbing the size of the magazine would limit the effectiveness of the assault weapon?

Following are additional factors found in the recent independent gun violence research:

· An October 2012 study from Johns Hopkins concluded that “easy access to firearms with large-capacity magazines facilitates higher casualties in mass shootings.”

· Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also shows a significant drop (66%) in assault weapon usage in gun crimes following the 1994 ban.

· The 10-year ban was also complicated by the fact that millions of pre-ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines meant that any progress in stopping the violence would be gradual. The real results of the ban may not be known for years.

Seitz-Wald concludes with a comparison between American gun violence and our lack of gun control and Australia’s enactment of an assault weapons ban following a 1996 massacre killing 36 people.  Gun-related homicide plummeted by 59 percent.  In my 2012 blog, “Australia: Another gun control successstory,” I wrote about this carnage where the shooter also used an AR-15 assault rifle.  Are the citizens of Australia and some European countries with tough gun control laws more intelligent than the U.S. or do they just love life more?

I urge you to read the Salonarticle.

Cherokee activist Albert Bender believes that guns are the root of America’s problems

Albert Bender is a journalist and Cherokee activist taking the position that you can blame guns for most problems that face Americans today.  From slavery to Native Americans, it is a gun culture in the U.S. fostered by white Americans that has created the dilemma that we are in.  Bender, as many others are beginning to do, is bringing the crisis with gun violence closer and closer to the health care system, particularly mental health.  Mr. Bender takes aim at what he calls a “monolithic” weapons industry that is “opting for profit over humanity.” 

 

Gun control pieces missing in health care

And now public health experts are saying a gun is like a virus, a car, tobacco or alcohol.  It is a social disease that needs to be treated, and they liken it to reducing car crashes and deaths years ago with safety measures, product changes and driving laws that improved automobile safety dramatically.  When you compare this with the firearms industry, they have resisted safety changes due to cost and the NRA has prevented any research on gun deaths as well as stopped all gun control legislation in its tracks.  All accomplished through buying off Congress and spreading fear among its membership.

 

Although mass shootings don’t account for most of the gun deaths, they are the most visible in the media, and even more so when the victims are 20 little children ages 6 and 7.  Unfortunately, police reporting of these incidents often lags by more than a year, so we don’t really have the true picture.  This follows suit to the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) efforts that have prevented any reliable research on gun violence for years.  Even the automobile industry was solidly behind the research that brought down car deaths.  In comparison, the gun lobby fights gun violence research with millions of dollars.

 

Here’s another shocker on how the gun lobby has prevented firearms violence research:

 

One source reports, “The Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates over 15,000 products in all, but federal law prohibits them from controlling the safety of firearms.  In fact, there is next to no regulation of firearm manufacture, and only the gun manufacturers themselves can issue recalls.  What's more, gun makers, dealers and trade groups are immune from negligence and product liability lawsuits.” 

 

In this public health approach, “One recent study found firearm owners were more likely than those with no firearms at home to binge drink or to drink and drive, and other research has tied alcohol and gun violence. That suggests that people with driving under the influence convictions should be barred from buying a gun,” said  Dr. Garen Wintemute, an emergency medicine professor who directs the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis.  This group once again quoted the study that says 40% of guns are purchased without a background check.

 

Daniel Webster, a health policy expert and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore says "There's sort of a contagion phenomenon" following a shooting.  I liken this to when the gun bubbas come out of the woodwork screaming 2^nd Amendment rights and rushing out to buy several more guns for a household that already closely resembles a military arsenal.  It is all so ludicrous that one might wonder about the mentality level of a group of fanatics who have to repeatedly re-live the Revolutionary War to justify their worship of guns.

 

Dr. Mark Rosenberg, president and CEO of the Task Force for Global Health, an Atlanta-based nonprofit public health organization along with Jay W. Dickey Jr., a former Arkansas congressman, says, “The same evidence-based approach that is saving millions of lives from motor-vehicle crashes, as well as from smoking, cancer and HIV/AIDS, can help reduce the toll of deaths and injuries from gun violence.”  Dickey was once the point-person in Congress for the NRA.  Rosenberg at the time was director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which had conducted firearms research.

 

The CDC has all the data necessary to analyze gun violence and draw several conclusions on how it could be prevented.  But, “The CDC doesn’t analyze gun violence because it can’t use federal money to advocate or promote gun control.”  And that comes to your regular mass shootings and every day gun murders compliments of Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. (NRA).  There is no excuse for this negligence but it will continue as long as the American public refuses to react and allow the NRA-controlled Republicans and Democrats to stay in Congress.  Amen!

Measuring Gun Violence a New Way...Same Innocent Deaths

 

A report by the scientific group, Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open, reveals that "Firearms have cost 12.6 million years of life in just a decade," as reported by Erin Blakemore of the Washington Post. As a new and unique way of addressing this issue, it reflects on the problem of too many guns on the street; 390 million in a country of 329 million people. Since the number of weapons coincides with laws governing their use, here are the states with the least strict gun laws...

New Hampshire, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Texas, Montana, West Virginia, Alabama, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alaska, Kansas, South Dakota, Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Idaho, Wyoming, and Mississippi.

There is also another site from the state of Arizona, where, by the way, it only takes a warm body to buy a gun, which documents the most "gun friendly state" for gun owners. AZDefenders lists Alaska (122.9) as number one and New York (10.7) as least friendly. 

If you are at all interested in gun violence, compare the above site with those states with the most gun violence based on gun deaths per capita...

• Alaska - 24.4
• Mississippi - 24.2
• Wyoming - 22.3
• New Mexico 22.3
• Alabama - 22.2
• Louisiana - 22.1
• Missouri - 20.6
• South Carolina - 19.9
• Arkansas - 19.3
• Montana - 19.3

It's also a regional thing...

"The researchers found stark regional differences in the trends, and point out that the South — the region with the highest number of registered firearms — has a higher level of gun-related suicide and homicide than the rest of the nation."

The gun nuts will tell you that the more armed Americans are, the less gun deaths there will be. Over the years this has been proved wrong and the Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open group reports...

“the data reveal that the resulting access to firearms has equated to magnitudes of death due to firearm suicides in the same individuals demanding access to firearms.”

EXCELLENT:  Gun violence: An American epidemic?...

My blog has posted regularly over the years on gun violence with posts you can see here. Here are some excerpts...

'I am 89 and not once has there been the case where I have needed to carry a gun. Agreed, there are limited cases where this might be required; single females living alone as an example.'

'And there is one organization that is always in the forefront to prop up 

gun violence, at least until recently, the National Rifle Assn. and its head gun nut Wayne LaPierre. pushing constantly for more guns on the streets to please its gun manufacturing supporters. Well, someone has pulled the shade down and the NRA is going down the drain...where it should be. A recent report shows their legal troubles alone have cost the group $100 million. And it's getting worse.'

'Albert Bender is a journalist and Cherokee activist taking the position that you can blame guns for most problems that face Americans today. From slavery to Native Americans, it is a gun culture in the U.S. fostered by white Americans that has created the dilemma that we are in. Bender, as many others are beginning to do, is bringing the crisis with gun violence closer and closer to the health care system, particularly mental health. Mr. Bender takes aim at what he calls a “monolithic” weapons industry that is “opting for profit over humanity.”'

There's much more in this collection of the destruction done by guns in this country over the years with the conclusion that more guns cause more deaths and until the American gun culture understands this more innocent people will die. 

SUPPORT UKRAINE 

 

United Kingdom has right to criticize U.S. gun control laws

As far as I can see, gun control is going almost nowhere, at least with the momentum that has been created by the increased gun violence nationwide.  Perhaps we have concentrated too much on mass killings like Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.  Although this kind of carnage is horrific, it still represents but a small amount of the gun deaths that take place daily.  Apparently statistics like ‘there are some 300 million guns in American households’ or ‘88.8 per 100 households’ does not impress the public.  Hard to believe but true.

Or the fact that in a comparison of the rate of private gun ownership in 179 countries, the United States ranked No. 1, and with 10.3 gun deaths per 100,000 population they are much higher than the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the list goes on and on.  Could the fact that most of these countries have measurably stronger gun control laws than the United States have something to do with the results?  ‘Absolutely not’ would be the answer from wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA.

These are figures taken from GunPolicy.org, a non-profit organization reporting on international firearm injury prevention and policy.  If you have any doubts about my numbers I suggest you go to this site and do your own research.  If you come away without the opinion that America’s gun culture is completely out of control, then you are either a gun worshipper, completely apathetic over the issue, or you have a terrible problem with math.  The truth is in the statistics and in every case there is a monumental case for more gun control laws in the U.S.

Harry J. Enten writing in the UK Guardian says, “Americans want gun control, but not badly enough.”  His point one, “Most Americans don't see gun control as the most significant way to prevent mass shootings.”  Once again, mass gun violence, but it is obvious that Enten has zeroed in on where the American focus is.  He quotes, “only 25% of Americans believe that stricter gun control laws and enforcement would be the key to preventing massacres.“  Further, CBS News found, only 21% feel stricter gun control would prevent gun violence by much.

In point two, he laments that the subject of guns just isn’t a high priority for most Americans.  A tragedy when you consider the daily reporting of people shot and killed with guns, others injured, some seriously.  In the latest CBS News poll, only 4% listed guns at the top of their list.  50% chose the economy, jobs or the budget deficit.  It will be interesting in the future to learn what the impact of continued and escalating gun violence will have on the country’s economy and its overall well-being.  If as bad as it looks, then it will be too late.

 

Point three, most in the U.S. doesn’t feel gun control legislation is a priority in 2013, only 46% according to Pew Research.  With all the shootings and mayhem nationwide connected to guns on the street, the American public says, mañana.  Go figure.  And in point four, the public’s obsession with gun violence will eventually dwindle, meaning, if we don’t do this in 2013, we’ll never do it.  And as my headline indicated, the UK can criticize the United States because they have done what we cannot seem to accomplish due to the gun lobby.  Gun laws in the UK:

They have a gun registry

Firearms are restricted

Right to gun ownership not guaranteed by law

Assault weapons are banned

Handguns are banned

Background checks required

Number of guns and amount of ammunition owned is restricted

As a result of the above regulations, below are comparisons between the United States and the United Kingdom in gun violence:

                                                                                                US                   UK

All gun deaths per 100,000 population                                   10.3                 0.25

Gun homicides per 100,000 pop.                                            3.6                   0.04

Handgun homicides per 100,000 pop.                                    2.0                   0.01

Gun suicides per 100,000 pop.                                               6.3                   0.18

I rest my case.

American Medical Association asks for ban on assault weapons

The American Medical Association wants to outlaw assault weapons but they are also against arming teachers. The AMA has called the recent gun violence, in schools and around the country a, "public health crisis." The group apparently gave in to an...

"unprecedented demands from doctor-members to take a stronger stand on gun violence — a problem the organizations says is as menacing as a lethal infectious disease."

The ban of assault weapons in the U.S. today should be a given based on the number of school children killed by one of these weapons in 2018 alone. Kids all over the country are expressing their fear of going to school because they are afraid they will be the next victim. Just a couple of years ago some youngsters were scared to face the school bully. That bully has now decided to arm himself and wipe out as many as 44 students.

Dr. David O. Barbe, AMA’s immediate past president said...

“People are dying of gun violence in our homes, churches, schools, on street corners and at public gatherings, and it’s important that lawmakers, policy leaders and advocates on all sides seek common ground to address this public health crisis. In emergency rooms across the country, the carnage of gun violence has become a too routine experience... It doesn’t have to be this way, and we urge lawmakers to act.”

Do you know that there have been nearly as many US mass shootings as days in 2018? There have been 101 including the recent massacre in Santa Fe, Texas, which screams the fact that we can no longer look at this kind of event and just say it is only a small part of the total gun violence.

There were twelve new policies proposed by the AMA which included...

"taking guns away from those considered at risk of committing violence, expanding domestic violence restraining orders to include dating partners, recognizing the role of firearms in suicides, and opposing President Donald Trump’s recent suggestion that schoolteachers should be armed."

Dr. Megan Raney, an emergency-medicine specialist at Brown University, also called the siege of gun violence a "disease," and spoke of the human toll she and other emergency room doctors witnessed. There will be at least 11,000 people killed in firearm assaults in the U.S. in 2018. Will you be one of them?

Read more: Frustrated American Medical Association adopts sweeping policies aimed at gun violence

                   American Medical Association: Ban Assault Weapons To Curb ‘Public Health Crisis’

                   There have been 101 mass shootings in the US so far in 2018 — here's the full list

Are COVID-19 deaths more relevant than gun deaths

Will Donald Trump's handling of the COVID-19 crisis eventually jaundice this country to the depths of the people beginning to ignore deaths from the virus as they have the deaths caused by gun violence?

A Brooklyn cemetery

That would mean then that coronavirus deaths share the same level of importance as when someone dies from being shot. Minimal. My reasoning is, right now people are shot every day but no one is doing a damn thing about it. Not the American public, not Congress, nor the dufus sitting in the White House. There have been 14,032 gun deaths since the start of 2020, 80,004 COVID-19 deaths since we first learned of the virus in early January.

Just recently on February 23, a black man, Ahmaud Arbery, was killed in Georgia and it took 74 days before the state stepped in and applied justice. Former police officer Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, have been arrested and charged with murder...

"Will Day, 25, of Brunswick, who had known Arbery since first grade, said the revelations about law enforcement agencies refusing to act on arrestable evidence continued to vex him, even after the murder charges.

“If I had done something like that, if I had shot somebody, I’m pretty sure I would have my justice served to me the same day,” said Day, who is black. Since Arbery’s death he said he’s “just been staying in the house. It used to be enough just to stay out of trouble and keep your nose clean.”

Video of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder...

And here we go again says Charlie Warzel in the New York Times...

"The coronavirus scenario I can’t stop thinking about is the one where we simply get used to all the dying."

Sound familiar. like what's going on today in gun violence?  Here's a headline from the Oberlin (Ohio) Review: "American Apathy Perpetuates Gun Violence." Could not have been said better; I call these people the apathetics. Warzel continues...

"I first saw it on Twitter. 'Someone poke holes in this scenario,' a tweet from Eric Nelson, the editorial director of Broadside Books, read. 'We keep losing 1,000 to 2,000 a day to coronavirus. People get used to it. We get less vigilant as it very slowly spreads. By December we’re close to normal, but still losing 1,500 a day, and as we tick past 300,000 dead, most people aren’t concerned.'”

Watch Trump's foolish, illogical and laughable timeline on COVID-19 reaction...

When it comes to COVID 19, we know what the source of the problem is. It is solely in Donald Trump's lap, and my opinion of how many virus cases and deaths we can expect by December is grossly underestimated, as long as the White House maniac is in control. The question, of course, is, if we dump Trump in November, can we recover?  Yes, coronavirus must stay on the front burner right now, but we mustn't ignore gun violence.

One immediate action that must be taken is to ban firearms from all COVID-19 demonstrations. Common sense would say to ban guns from any large gathering of individuals, except military and law enforcement. Folks, these gun nuts are carrying around assault rifles, regularly used to kill numerous people in mass murders. The slightest spark could set these double-digits off into a rage that would no doubt result in hundreds of deaths.

Michelle Norris of the Washington Post says...

"We’ve gotten far too accustomed to the image of white protesters carrying paramilitary-level firearms in public spaces. The presence of guns — often really large guns — at protests has become alarmingly normalized. It is time to take stock of what that means."

She adds...

"Accepting and even expecting to see firearms at protest rallies means that we somehow embrace the threat of chaos and violence. While those who carry say they have no intention of using their weapons, the firepower alone creates a wordless threat, and something far more calamitous if even just one person discharges a round."

It would appear there might be hope today in the gun violence dilemma; the National Rifle Assn. is on the ropes and it looks like head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre, is going down with it. Over the years the NRA has been the one lobbying group most responsible for gun violence as they fight to put more guns on the street. But what we do about the coronavirus pandemic, well, that is currently dependent on one individual.

But we must not put the disease in the same discounted and neglected category as we have relegated gun violence.

NRA still doesn't want public to know true gun violence statistics

The National Rifle Assn. pushed through the Dickey Amendment in 1996, gun legislation that prevents, "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using funds 'to advocate or promote gun control.'" Naturally it is in the best interest of this violence promoting organization to keep the true facts from the public. According to Health, "Of the 30 leading causes of death in the United States, gun violence is the least researched." And the Brady organization reports, on an average day 96 people die from gun violence. But the NRA refuses to accept these figures.

I have followed David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center for years and despite the NRA's head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre, he is making progress in documenting and publishing about gun violence. He regularly side-steps the Dickey Amendment which prevents "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using funds 'to advocate or promote gun control.'" It's a stupid law meant only to hide the facts that gun violence is completely out of control, to keep it all secret so a stupid Congress doesn't have to face the facts.

Actually, gun violence research has proliferated over the past few years thanks to people like David Hemenway and with the help of universities, think tanks and private philanthropy. Even states like California are beginning to recognize the problem and then "governors from six northeastern states and Puerto Rico announced plans to launch a research consortium to study the issue. "A gun in the home increases the risk of someone in that home dying from suicide maybe threefold, and the evidence is overwhelming," Hemenway says. The NRA, and the public, must face up to these facts.

NRA afraid of gun violence statistics

 

Where do you go to find out what states have the highest proportion of gun ownership?  Or whether gun ownership correlates with homicide rates in a city?  How many guns used in homicides were bought legally?  Where juveniles involved in gun fatalities got their weapons?  What factors contribute to mass shootings like the Newtown, Conn., one that killed 26 people at a school?  You wouldn’t go anywhere because the data isn’t available thanks to Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).  They made sure in a 1996 law that stopped gun control research in its tracks.

 

The Associated Press reports that although almost as many Americans die from gun violence as car crashes each year, nothing is done to analyze the former, but the latter has been studied thoroughly, significantly bringing down the number of car crashes even when the number of cars on the road goes up.  Here’s an anomaly to illustrate the absurdity of this situation:

 

"If an airplane crashed today with 20 children and 6 adults there would be a full-scale investigation of the causes and it would be linked to previous research," said Dr. Stephen Hargarten, director of the Injury Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

 

This is all true because of a law that wacky Wayne LaPierre and his bunch of gun nuts pushed through Congress in 1996 following a study a few years earlier showing that “people who lived in homes with firearms were more likely to be homicide or suicide victims.”  Following this no government agency dared to do anything on the subject for fear of losing their grant money.  Sixteen years later, we have no real concept of exactly what is causing gun violence.  Except the one thing we know is that gun violence is caused by guns. 

 

What we need is a “black box” like airliners and newer model cars.

 

Let me give you an idea why the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) doesn’t want this research.  MSN did an article on state gun regulations with the following results:

 

• Only six states require mandatory background checks on all purchases at gun shows.  They are Oregon, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Connecticut.
• Only seven states require mandatory background checks on assault weapons.  They are California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
• Only seven states have restrictions on high-capacity magazines.  They are Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

 

When you combine all of the states included in the non-requirements, it adds up to humongous sales for gun manufacturers, and that is why the NRA is in business; to make sure these companies sell more and more guns, more and more ammunition, and more and more gun accessories like high-capacity magazines.  And for their efforts, the NRA receives millions in donations from these gun companies each year.  Since 2005, those donations have totaled just under $39 million. 

 

The NRA can’t survive without this money and gun companies cannot survive if we learn the morbid statistics on gun violence.

 

Private funding for gun control research has been a paltry amount when compared to potential federal grants.  When you Google “private research grants for gun control,” you get some general stuff but nothing specific to gun control.  One of the most topics that did show up is the question of whether or not Obama’s executive orders would get gun control research going.  Unfortunately, the money required to fund this research requires an act of Congress and we all know there are enough yellow bellied NRA butt-kissers to stop that.  Unless…???

 

Gun Violence is here! Why are we still Debating About it?

 

The debate of whether to enact strict(er) gun laws should have ended years ago. It would have if not for National Rifle Assn. head, Wayne LaPierre, and his gun nut minions. ABC reports...

"There have been more than 500 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to a tracker from the Gun Violence Archive. Two of those shootings -- one at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York and the other at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas -- sparked nationwide outrage and debate about gun violence."

And we finally have a response from the state of Oregon where voters will consider a gun reform measure on the ballot this year. It's a start and, hopefully, other states will take notice after a year of unnecessary gun violence resulting in 37,018 deaths so far and 32,962 injuries. We've even had feedback from a "drugged" Congress in the passing of red flag laws, closing the "boyfriend loophole" and enhancing background checks for potential gun buyers under the age of 21.

Gun violence in America shows no sign of slowing after new spate of mass shootings...

Here's Rev. Mark Knutson, one Oregon's chief petitioners behind Measure 114 and chair of the group Lift Every Voice...

"It's been called the Oregon model," Knutson said, adding, "I think it'll give a lot of courage to state legislatures, if they can see a major victory come out of Oregon."

Gun control is not a priority issue today, which is unbelievable to me when you consider the above statistics. For the upcoming election the economy and abortion are on the top of the list. Issues we have to address but with minimum attention to gun violence, we can expect over 3,000 otherwise avoidable gun deaths each month. Think about it. 

LATEST: Gun violence/Gun control/Gun corruption

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Gun violence must be stopped...   

NRA internal turmoil

Items have a tendency to pile up these days in the "to blog" file on Donald Trump's Ukraine call and subsequently the move to impeach him. You can't ignore it because of the intensity of the issue, and the importance of getting rid of the Oval Office lunatic. Just today Trump said, "I don't care," in reference to GOP concerns over protecting the whistleblower. There's more, Mike Pompeo is in a standoff with key House committees on trump Ukraine information.

But other news does go on and here's a wrap-up of what's happening in the Gun violence/Gun control/Gun corruption areas:

It's the 'If we could just get rid of them, gun violence would improve dramatically' organization, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), along with its leader Wayne LaPierre. Here's the scenario...

"Its president was ousted. Its top lobbyist resigned over allegations that he engaged in an extortion scheme to kick out the chief executive, Wayne LaPierre. Its board members are resigning regularly, saying they’ve lost confidence in the group’s leadership. It’s spending more money than it’s taking in, and it’s in a brutal legal battle with its former ad agency. Oh, and its tax-exempt status is being investigated."

READ MORE...

Gabby Giffords on gun control...

And here in the wide open, 'if you are a warm body you can own and carry a gun' state of Arizona, the voting public has decided the gun laws aren't strict enough. But a gun nut legislature doesn't quite get it yet, so they plow ahead with the loosening of these gun laws that the public wants tightened. "Fifty-four percent of likely Arizona voters said the current laws in the state on the sale and ownership of guns are insufficiently strict, a 6-point rise from May."

Can you believe this?...

"Arizona is an open carry state, which means if you own a weapon you can carry it. You can also carry a concealed weapon with or without a permit.
Permits are issued by the state Department of Public Safety and involve a simple process.
You just go on our [state's] website and fill out an application. The concealed weapons unit will do a check of you and make sure you are not a prohibited. possessor."

By the way, assault weapons like the AK-47 are included in the above.

READ MORE...

Doctors are pissed-take on NRA...

And it would seem that the NRA spends more money in Texas because the gun nuts there really love their guns. But, Kim Olson, a Democrat running for a Republican seat, is trying to change that. Her passion for gun control reflects this quote, “weapons of war do not belong on the streets of America.” Here's what the author of the Washington Monthly piece said...

"One of the reasons I find Olson to be so impressive is that she reminds me of women from Texas that I have admired—like Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, and Molly Ivins. While they didn’t serve in the military, they were warriors too. No one would have ever accused Jordan, Richards, or Ivins of mincing words. Whether you agreed with them or not, they stood their ground unapologetically."

And this is what is so sorely needed in the fight against gun violence. When you see a gun nut, call it a gun nut and let them know just where we stand on taking guns off the streets. The writer, Nancy LeTourneau, finishes with, "But one thing is for certain, Kim Olson is exactly the kind of Democrat that should scare Republicans—and the NRA." Amen!

READ MORE...

Now the NRA is charged with harboring a toxic sexual harasser who is the former favorite and chief of staff for head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre.  Josh Powell was so bad that...

Ackerman McQueen [the NRA's ad agy.] refused to work with him. According to a report, Powell was the subject of two harassment settlements at the nonprofit; the amount of money spent to keep these stories hidden is not known.

It would appear that the NRA is rotten from the core.

READ MORE...

10 injured in shooting after high school football game in Alabama...

To fix our gun crisis, we should revert to ’60s gun laws...

More NRA corruption: 

NRA board member and former president Marion Hammer obtained low-interest loan from affiliate she leads...