Tag Archives: Gun violence

mondaish Monday


079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993
079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993 (Photo credit: David Holt London)

just another rant …

It’s the middle of April , technically spring, the last day to file taxes, but some Americans are still battling snow or summer like temperature while others hear birds chirping and it feels like spring , though if you live on the left coast ….  It still feels like fall.

The weather is like politics …right, seemingly straight forward with designated seasons only to find as the years progress,  little bumps appear that turn into malicious masses and in spite of it those who happen to be addicted to politics like so many wait to see when and where the sequester hammer will fall.   Though the sequester is only about a month old the media seems to have moved on to sizing up how Hillary will do against the various Republicans wanting to be King; I mean President.

If you did not know better and took what the media spews as the truth, it seemed as if we were closer to 2016 than the beginning of President Obama’s 2nd term.  Telling viewers that gun safety legislation was more than impossible and a filibuster was imminent; then President Obama gave a fabulous speech with families of victims of gun violence standing with President Obama in support of better gun safety laws. This led Newtown families to be advocates for their and our futures asking that members of Congress to do their jobs and let the debate on gun reform happen on the floor of the Senate and the first test vote to move forward and debate Gun Reform was taken  on the Senate floor and passed  68 -31. Unfortunately, two Democratic Senators decided to side with Republicans and while gun reform seems like a no brainer to me we should give props to anyone for their bipartisan efforts to move gun laws into the 21st Century.

Now, the media focus still seems to want viewers to accept that nothing positive can be done in Congress and we hear all their skepticism they have leaped frogged from 2016 elections to the pushing public cynicism on all that is on the Congressional calendar.  Yet, this is the time that voters, people who have friend’s family or co-workers fallen victim to gun violence make calls to a Republican member of the House

This week, in Congress the political games are just about to begin; the so-called debates heated and the word filibuster will probably make its way into even the youngest members of our society’s vocabulary, but as Margaret’s Mead said fits …

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead

The time is NOW ~ Gun Reform Reduces Gun Violence


The White House, Washington

David Simas Deputy Senior Advisor
Hello, all –For the first time since the 1990s, Congress might be on track to pass legislation aimed at reducing gun violence in the United States. And it’s because folks in Washington are starting to understand that the rest of the country isn’t going to sit by and let them ignore this issue. Your voices are the reason we have a chance to win this debate. The American people expect and demand a yes or no vote.But this is a critical moment. It’s been almost four months since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, thousands more Americans have died at the hands of gun violence, and time is on the side of those who would prefer that we do nothing.We want to make sure that your voices are impossible to ignore. So we’re asking people from all over the country to speak out online in concert — all at the same time. Will you join us?

Pledge to speak out about the need to reduce gun violence.

It’s easy to participate. Over the next few days, anyone can sign up to tweet or share a message to Facebook. Through that time, we’ll gather up as many people as we can. Then we’ll make sure that all these individual messages get posted together in the same moment for maximum effect.

That wave of social media will get seen by millions and millions of people.

We’re talking about common-sense reforms. Like the idea that any of us who want to buy a gun should have to go through a background check first — which 90 percent of Americans support.

So let’s make sure that there’s absolutely no confusion about the public consensus.

Pledge to speak out with us, and then forward this email to your family and friends:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/now-is-the-time/action

Thanks!

David

David Simas
Deputy Senior Advisor
The White House

Weak Gun Laws & High Levels of Gun Violence Go Together


 

 McQueen, per 1920 United States CensusHere are the ten states with the highest levels of gun violence:

by Center for American Progress

  1. Louisiana
  2. Alaska
  3. Alabama
  4. Arizona
  5. Mississippi
  6. South Carolina
  7. New Mexico
  8. Missouri
  9. Arkansas
  10. Georgia

Under the Gun


By  ThinkProgress War Room

Weak Gun Laws & High Levels of Gun Violence Go Together

Today, our colleagues at the Center for American Progress put out an important new study examining the relationship between a state’s gun laws and its rate of gun violence. Unsurprisingly, the states with the weakest gun laws tend to also be the states with the highest rates of gun violence.

Here are the ten states with the highest levels of gun violence:

  1. Louisiana
  2. Alaska
  3. Alabama
  4. Arizona
  5. Mississippi
  6. South Carolina
  7. New Mexico
  8. Missouri
  9. Arkansas
  10. Georgia

As both common sense and hard data indicate, 8 of these 10 states are among the 25 states with the weakest gun laws. Indeed, the 10 states with the weakest gun laws have more than double the rate of gun violence of the 10 states with the strongest gun laws.

On the flipside, states with strong guns have low levels of gun violence. The five states with the lowest levels of gun violence — New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Connecticut — are all among the ten states with the strongest gun laws.

Here’s a chart showing how all the states rank in term of gun violence:

To find out exactly where your state’s gun laws rank and where it ranks in terms of gun violence, please click HERE.

BOTTOM LINE: Gun violence prevention laws matter and they work. It’s time for Congress to act on strong gun violence prevention laws — especially universal background checks — so all Americans can be protected, no matter which state they live in.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

North Carolina Republicans propose ignoring the Constitution and establishing an official state religion.

Mike Huckabee: President Obama planning a gun grab in order to establish Nazi-style dictatorship.

Head of gun organization says it’s “time to hunt Democrats.”

Another Tennessee bill goes after Muslims.

GRAPHIC: Adam Lanza’s terrifying home arsenal.

Yes, background checks will reduce crime.

GOP frets over South Carolina special election.

Sportsmen’s group comes out for universal background checks.

The GOP’s “shameful” plan to filibuster gun violence prevention laws.