tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16966188985806203972024-03-04T22:04:12.566-08:00New TrajectoryA blog dedicated to reducing gun violence, through education and sensible legislation. Maintained by Baldr Odinson for Ceasefire Oregon and Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation.Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comBlogger345125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-46891505388564814912019-08-17T19:07:00.000-07:002019-08-17T19:07:34.035-07:00Music: Somewhere In America by The Alternate Routes<span style="font-family: inherit;">On June 9, 2019, Tara Donnelly Gottlieb<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"> and her brother </span>Eric Donnelly<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"> stood across the green from the very spot where their parents were violently and tragically killed and encouraged us to continue the work to prevent gun violence. Tara <a href="https://youtu.be/BUE6tiZIZuM">recorded her brother</a> singing a song about their parents and so many other victims, Somewhere in America. Please take a few minutes to listen to this powerful message as a way to honor the memory of Kim and Tim Donnelly and the courage of their children.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BUE6tiZIZuM" width="560"></iframe></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;">Lyrics:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span></span>Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-19815698032985861702019-08-17T18:58:00.000-07:002019-08-17T19:07:09.266-07:00Poem: "America Is A Gun" by Brian Bilston<div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/brian_bilston/status/700011838415704064">Posted </a>by @brian_bilston on Twitter:</div>
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<img alt="Image" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbbxAyZW0AAx3-_?format=jpg&name=medium" /></div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-39389082705978468722019-05-18T21:22:00.003-07:002019-05-18T21:22:46.697-07:00Music Video: "Bang Bang Bang" sung by Tracy Chapman<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TqU3nQkkpxM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Lyrics:<br />
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<div class="M1CzJc MtKf9c kno-fb-ctx" data-lyricid="Lyricfind002-681497" jsname="rdVbIe" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-top: 12px;">
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">What you go and do </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You go and give the boy a gun </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Now there ain't no place to run to </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Ain't no place to run</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">When he hold it in his hand </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">He feel mighty he feel strong </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Now there ain't no place to run to </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Ain't no place to run</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">One day he may come back </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Repay us for what we've done </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Then where you gonna run to </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Where you gonna run</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But one fine day </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">All our problems will be solved </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Bang bang bang </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">We'll shoot him down</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Give him drugs and give him candy </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Anything, oh to make him think he's happy </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And he won't ever come for us </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">He won't ever come</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But if he does </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And if there's no one else around </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Bang bang bang </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">We'll shoot him down</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">If he preys only on his neighbors </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Brothers, sisters and friends</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">We'll consider it a favor </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">We'll consider justice done</span></div>
</div>
<div class="M1CzJc kno-fb-ctx" jsname="wq5Syf" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<div class="u7wWjf" data-mh="-1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But if he comes for you or me </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And we can place a gun in his hand </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Bang bang bang </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">We'll shoot him dead</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">What you go and do </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You go and give the boy a gun </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Now there ain't no place to run to </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Ain't no place to run</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Now we'll all be at his mercy </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">If he decides to hunt us down </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">'Cause there ain't no place to run to </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Ain't no place to run</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">If he wants the chances that you took from him</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Oh, and nothing that you own</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Then there'll be no place to run to </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">There'll be no place to run</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">And if he finds himself to be </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">A reflection of us all </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Bang bang bang </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">He'll shoot us down</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Before you can raise your eyes to read </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">The writing on the wall </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Bang bang bang </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">He'll shoot you down</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 0px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Before you can bridge the gulf between </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And embrace him in your arms </span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Bang bang bang</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">He'll shoot you down</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 0px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><br /></span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="62" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 0px; max-height: 62px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><div style="color: #70757a; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 13px;">
Songwriters: Clive Kenneth Scott / Desmond Dyer / Donavan L. Johnson</div>
<div style="color: #70757a; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 13px;">
Bang Bang Bang lyrics © EMI Music Publishing</div>
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Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-37475857649342425672019-05-10T09:35:00.001-07:002019-05-10T09:35:17.017-07:00"Guns Everywhere" Is Not A SolutionWell said... <br />
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"Guns everywhere" is the dream of the NRA and the gun industry $$$$. But that isn't the society the rest of us wish to live in.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsb_jdgNbMUDHk6kXQXH06ofNPhOVYPIYyLrRws-KhyphenhyphenKKiR4Uzwwr6lEI54gxPfE_w031nRC_MFRW-CfIlGm1ntj7GVrnGWN3A8ZEJTYYpbuMQyqIaR1SltrLlAC5OzT6lYnSVhir50Rp/s1600/armed+guards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsb_jdgNbMUDHk6kXQXH06ofNPhOVYPIYyLrRws-KhyphenhyphenKKiR4Uzwwr6lEI54gxPfE_w031nRC_MFRW-CfIlGm1ntj7GVrnGWN3A8ZEJTYYpbuMQyqIaR1SltrLlAC5OzT6lYnSVhir50Rp/s640/armed+guards.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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Instead of making every place we go into an armed camp, let's instead address the root of the problem: pass commonsense laws to keep guns out of the wrong hands.</div>
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Let's make a <i>new trajectory</i> for our communities.</div>
<br />Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-20815974282165453492019-01-18T20:05:00.001-08:002019-05-26T12:33:01.936-07:00My Son's School Went On Lockdown Twice In A Week<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Twice in a week's time, my son's high school went into lockdown because of gun incidents.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb31iMc1Pwh1WceGBXNPxvbcYGHRk5_DD6qFqATIoNGXnIpHvaadNEjD0pkAbR7GQpGlFPT65IrH97tChqO-ArZyRj1G5CHEYbDXJxLYRIJkyyNMqi4E1xiq0PPEKcnoci4D9aHeR6QrvV/s1600/lucy+lockdown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb31iMc1Pwh1WceGBXNPxvbcYGHRk5_DD6qFqATIoNGXnIpHvaadNEjD0pkAbR7GQpGlFPT65IrH97tChqO-ArZyRj1G5CHEYbDXJxLYRIJkyyNMqi4E1xiq0PPEKcnoci4D9aHeR6QrvV/s320/lucy+lockdown.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken from the book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Practices-Lockdown-Preparing-Lockdowns/dp/061577086X">Lucy Practices a Lockdown</a>"</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>THE FIRST INCIDENT:</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">As a parent, I found out the same way that most parents do when a gun incident happens at their kid's school: I got a panicked text from my son: </span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">There's a lockdown don't come to school it's not a drill I love you</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It was 11:00 AM on Friday, 1/11. I texted back that I loved him and to be safe, then immediately stopped what I was doing at work to let my wife know and to consult the news.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">What I soon learned was that the incident that precipitated the lockdown had been over for almost a half hour. Unable to get to his phone, my son had spent all that time laying on the floor in his teacher's office, the door barricaded and lights off, with other scared children, some crying, some frantically texting their parents, while they waited to find out what their fate was. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">A particular signal had come over the intercom. It was brief "so it wouldn't alert the shooter," as my son explained. Then, as the teacher barricaded the door, turned off the light, and they all took cover, administrators put his high school, and two other schools next door, into lockdown.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://kval.com/news/local/heavy-police-presences-at-cascade-middle-school-in-eugene?fbclid=IwAR08TSpfzjk-qYBcINO3A6CfM2J4cHffgEZsfrEzDpPh0PUg5ZqYqhDKOP8">HERE </a>is the news story I first read. It explained that a man had gone to the middle school right next to my son's high school for a "custody dispute," that the man had been shot and killed by officers, and that no students were harmed. According to the official Eugene Police Department release:</span></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit;">"At 10:27 a.m. today, January 11, Eugene Police responded to a custodial dispute involving an adult male at Cascade Middle School, 1525 Echo Hollow Road," Eugene Police said. "As officers were escorting the male from the school, he produced a firearm and a struggle ensued. During the struggle the subject was shot by police and is now deceased. This occurred outside of the school."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">The man who was shot was named Charlie Landeros, age 30. The shooting happened right outside the main doors to the middle school. From what I understand, the man's daughter witnessed the whole thing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I was relieved to know that my son wasn't in danger. And the lockdown soon ended. Meanwhile, concerned <a href="https://kval.com/news/local/parents-react-to-fear-filled-day-after-shots-fired-at-cascade-middle-school">parents had shown up to take their children</a>, having gotten the call about their kids and wondering how they would be traumatized, particularly the children at the middle school, some of whom heard the shots. One 11 year old boy <a href="https://www.kezi.com/content/news/Student-I-ran-to-the-504233831.html">described the fearful moments</a>:</span></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 12px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">"I was getting out of second period and I was sitting on a bench and I got up to go to my locker to put my binder away to go to third period when I [heard] the announcement … and I ran to the library and went under the computer lab desks," he said. "I was kind of scared because some of the people that were with me also underneath the desk were talking about they actually did hear gunshots and were down where it all started. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 12px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">"I wasn't thinking you know, about getting shot. I was just … thinking about my family and … that stuff because my tablet was in my locker and I couldn't text anyone and that kind of scared me a little. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 12px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">"I was relieved because when I pulled up my messages there were a couple texts from my mom and she was asking if I was OK," Josiah said. "I'm feeling good safe since I'm finally out of school."</span></blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuj01KkQoY-4gPpIyxYq-rhq6EfYCP_1PtYcSS_HANuRWoBLyuPqT3KZctli_oF73KhYSYjYOa5rkfVzTJZXg7_zlMrxwx8Ck1LI9ESaKpKZlDR5sHt2ZaCLleiJ84Z0dPmRy1gHjWd5wU/s1600/sculpture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="924" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuj01KkQoY-4gPpIyxYq-rhq6EfYCP_1PtYcSS_HANuRWoBLyuPqT3KZctli_oF73KhYSYjYOa5rkfVzTJZXg7_zlMrxwx8Ck1LI9ESaKpKZlDR5sHt2ZaCLleiJ84Z0dPmRy1gHjWd5wU/s320/sculpture.jpg" width="308" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;">My son told me that when the lockdown was over, and he went into the corridors with the other students, there were "a lot of red faces" from people crying. He had trouble that night, needing some quiet time to reflect and a bit of extra attention, unable to watch shows that involved any tense situations, but otherwise handled it pretty well. But I'm certain there were many children far more disturbed by the event, particularly younger kids.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;">Thankfully, the schools reacted exactly as they had practiced. I'm thankful the shooting happened outside the doors of the school, too.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;">The police haven't issued any further public report yet. Like most schools these days, who unfortunately have to prepare for this situation due to the increase in shootings at schools nationwide, there were cameras at the front door that almost certainly recorded the event. The family of the shot man have <a href="https://kval.com/news/local/family-of-deceased-wants-access-to-video-in-wake-of-deadly-police-shooting-outside-school?fbclid=IwAR3kSOwI-aEgpXd4ki0OoA8awjisPRmZ_xmlVBNyyIwT1NOWA8p17aU2Aio">demanded to view them</a>. The Civil Liberties Defense Center, which <a href="https://cldc.org/in-memoriam-charles-charlie-landeros-1988-january-11-2019/">released a statement and memorium</a> for Landeros, suggested that the shooting was not justified (they refer to it as a "homicide") and suspecting racial bias, calling for a "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">transparent, unbiased and thorough" investigation. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">But here's the crux of the problem: Landeros apparently showed up to the school with a concealed handgun. It is important to note that, in Oregon, <u>it is not illegal to have a concealed handgun on the grounds of public schools if you have a conceal carry permit.</u> The school board of a district can <i>choose </i>to disallow hidden guns of staff members and faculty, if they wish, but not for visiting parents. I don't know if Landeros had a permit. But this needs to change. This case is a very good example why it's a bad idea. Landeros showed up to a dispute, likely in an anxious state of mind. I don't know why police were called, or why he was being escorted by police out of the building. Was it because they knew he had a gun? I don't know at this time. But it's a dangerous situation made potentially deadly by the presence of a loaded firearm -- and deadly it was.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Pro-gun nutcases like to spout that school shootings wouldn't happen if only citizens could arm themselves. But it is precisely BECAUSE a citizen was armed that the event happened in the first place.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">THE SECOND INCIDENT:</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;">Only three school days later, on Wednesday, 1/16, my son texted me again:</span></span><br />
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</span>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white;">We are having another lockdown there is a suspicious person on campus we are safe in the our classrooms and the police are here to help</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">With no mention of guns this time, I was less worried. UNTIL I read <a href="https://kval.com/news/local/wil-hi-locks-down-after-report-of-a-potential-threat-on-or-near-campus-01-16-2019">a news article</a> a few minutes later that stated:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"a report of a person, possibly a student, who might have had a handgun on campus"</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My heart sank. Once again, students barricaded themselves in classrooms, this time <a href="https://www.kezi.com/content/news/Willamette-High-School-on-lockdown-due-to-potential-threat-504437622.html">for almost an hour, as police searched the grounds</a>, with my son's high school on lockdown and three other middle and elementary schools on lockout (where the exterior doors are locked but students are not barricaded and hiding in rooms). A student had seen the person with a handgun "in his waistband" and notified school staff, who then initiated the lockdown. The person with the gun <a href="https://kval.com/news/local/police-praise-wil-hi-student-who-reported-seeing-person-with-gun">was never found</a>. Was it a student? Was it another adult with dubious intent? Will they come back to the school, armed?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f2f3f5;"><span style="color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #f2f3f5;"><span style="color: #1c1e21;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">According to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/school-lockdowns-in-america/?utm_term=.86693c87da88">Washington Post study</a> released in December of last year, 4 million children (!) in America had to endure lockdowns in the 2017-2018 school year. <b><span style="font-size: large;">FOUR MILLION!</span></b> There was a time when children hid under desks in "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60">duck and cover</a>" drills, afraid of nuclear bombs from far away. But today, the threats are within our own communities.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">From the article:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">More than 4.1 million students endured at least one lockdown in the 2017-2018 school year alone, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by The Washington Post that included a review of 20,000 news stories and data from school districts in 31 of the country’s largest cities. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The number of students affected eclipsed the populations of Maine, Rhode Island, Delaware and Vermont combined. But the total figure is likely much higher because many school districts — including in Detroit and Chicago — do not track them and hundreds never make the news, particularly when they happen at urban schools attended primarily by children of color. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Still, on a typical day last school year, at least 16 campuses locked down, with nine related to gun violence or the threat of it. The Post’s final tally of lockdowns exceeded 6,200.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus. If these horrifying statistics don't alarm us, what will?? School lockdown drills are now at least as common as fire drills. Sadly, our society is so overflowing with guns and violence, it has become necessary. There are even books you can buy for your children that try to lessen the trauma of lockdowns and lockdown drills, like "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Practices-Lockdown-Preparing-Lockdowns/dp/061577086X">Lucy Practices a Lockdown</a>" and "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lockdown-Drill-Police-Our-Schools/dp/1486709427">The Lockdown Drill</a>."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But look at the cost to our children of all these lockdowns! From that </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/school-lockdowns-in-america/?utm_term=.86693c87da88" style="font-family: inherit;">same article</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The sudden order to hunker down can overwhelm students, who have wept and soiled themselves, written farewell messages to family members and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/us-school-shootings-history/">wills explaining</a> what should be done with their bicycles and PlayStations. The terror can feel especially acute right after school shootings like the one in Parkland, Fla., when kids are inundated with details from massacres that have taken the lives of students just like them.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Kids just like mine. And just like yours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/us-school-shootings-history/?utm_term=.359aba37dcc8">Year after year</a>, madmen and armed children go into schools and commit murder, suicide, and mass shootings, and still our national leaders have done nothing to change it other than to offer empty condolences.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure, we can turn our schools into armed fortresses, and every other public space, but is that really the kind of place we want for our children? The only solution is to do more to keep guns out of the wrong hands and to fight the NRA's "guns everywhere" profiteering agenda.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's time for change, for the sake of our children, to create a <i>new trajectory </i>for our communities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>UPDATE</b>: <a href="https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190316/charles-landeros-love-and-rage-fueled-fateful-jan-11-encounter">HERE </a>is a very good and detailed write-up on Charles Landeros and his motivations and pro-gun extremisim.</span>Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-56366316447209266492018-12-04T20:07:00.003-08:002018-12-04T20:07:23.247-08:00Music Video: "Shoot You Down" by the Revivalists<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNvKbA9S2gQ">HERE </a>is a link to the video, also posted below.<br />
<br />
In <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-revivalists-shoot-you-down-gun-reform_us_5bf43f00e4b0c1dbe168499e?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067&fbclid=IwAR3RL73UeEvmj2s8m2bcPbBGlsGPQ-IrYbC78NNWRsioJyKgel7BEh8d9WY">a Huffington Post article</a>, two of the Revivalists band members discuss the song and how shootings like the ones at Sandy Hook and Parkland inspired them to try to share this beautiful message.<br />
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<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LNvKbA9S2gQ" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<u><br /></u>
<u>Lyrics:</u><br />
<br />
<div class="Kvw2ac" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px 16px;">
<div class="G1VCxe kno-fb-ctx" jsname="rdVbIe" style="margin-top: 12px;">
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I’ll always be the stone, not the one who throws it</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I’ll always be the road, that’s the path I’ve chosen</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Know you’re not alone when your heart is broken</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Say, I just wanna know</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Yeah, I just wanna know</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Can we for once just live with no guns?</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">And I tell, tell no lies</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">We’re not born to just die</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">People say, people say, what goes around comes around</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But I won’t, no, I won’t shoot you down</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I’ll always be the bridge, not the one who burns it</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I’ll always be the kid with open arms deserving</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Of all the love you give in a world that’s hurting</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Say, we just want to live</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Yeah, we just want to live</span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">So can we for once just live with no guns?</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">And I tell, tell no lie</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">We’re not born to just die</span></div>
</div>
<div class="G1VCxe kno-fb-ctx" jsname="wq5Syf">
<div class="iw7h9e" data-mh="-1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">People say, people say what goes around comes around</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But I won’t, no, I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Said I won’t, no, I won’t shoot you down</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="48" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 48px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">So can we for once just live with no guns?</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="64" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 64px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">People say, people say what goes around comes around</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But I won’t, no I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">People say, people say what goes around comes around</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">But I won’t, no I won’t shoot you down</span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="96" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 0px; max-height: 96px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">I won’t shoot you down</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">No I won’t</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">No I won’t</span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge">Shoot you down</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="xpdxpnd kno-fb-ctx R5GB6b v2b5e Kvw2ac" data-mh="58" data-mhc="1" data-ved="2ahUKEwi7yMid54ffAhVfJTQIHd40CmEQycMBKAAwAXoECAcQBw" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 16px 16px 0px; max-height: 58px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<div style="color: #70757a; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 13px;">
Songwriters: David Shaw / Dave Richard Bassett</div>
<div style="color: #70757a; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 13px;">
Shoot You Down lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.</div>
</div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-33110931207021036432018-11-06T14:30:00.001-08:002018-11-07T14:35:13.060-08:00Reporting On So-Called Second Amendment Preservation Ordinances Is Wrong; Threats of Violence From Militias<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #676767; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">
<div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
<i>Here in Oregon, pro-gun extremist militias are pushing some local ballot measures they call "Second Amendment Preservation Ordinances" which would give county sheriffs unprecedented power which are constitutionally reserved for judges, to interpret gun laws themselves and choose whether or not to enforce them based on their own opinions about what the Second Amendment protects.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>From Ceasefire Oregon's Executive Director, Penny Okamoto, as cross-posted from the <a href="https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/blog/opbs-report-on-ballot-measure-is-deeply-flawed-contains-implied-threat-from-militias/">Ceasefire Oregon blog</a>:</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
On November 2, 2018, Oregon Public Broadcasting published an inaccurate and inflammatory <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/gun-rights-county-ordinance-oregon-militia-douglas-county/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;">article</a> about militia-backed ballot measures called “Second Amendment Protection” ordinances, or SAPs. These measures are appearing on some county ballots in Oregon. The article was repeated on the November 6, 2018 OPB morning radio broadcast.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1em;">Ceasefire Oregon reached out to the article’s author, Jonathan Levinson, and to OPB with the following email. If you wish to express concern or to ask that a correction be published today, please call OPB at 800-241-8123.</span></div>
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No voter should ever be subjected to threats of violence. Publishing these threats could intimidate voters or suppress voter turn out. OPB should have reported this to law enforcement, not given violence a public platform.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #676767; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">
Dear Mr. Levinson,</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #676767; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #676767; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">
Ceasefire Oregon is deeply concerned about several aspects of your November 2, 2018 <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.opb.org/news/article/gun-rights-county-ordinance-oregon-militia-douglas-county/&source=gmail&ust=1541611195055000&usg=AFQjCNH8UpWDry_lXSC_v6HO9-k18Innog" href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/gun-rights-county-ordinance-oregon-militia-douglas-county/" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">article</a>, “Sanctuary Cities For Gun Rights? Oregon Militias Try New Political Tactics.” First is the implied violence from Tom McKirgan, who claims membership in Oregon militias. Mr. McKirgan, a supporter of ballot measures for Sanctuary Cities for Gun Rights, admitted the militias are willing to engage in physical conflict if they do not achieve their goals on November 6. (“And if we have to fight physically to do it we will,” McKirgan said. “It’s just that simple.”)</div>
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<br /></div>
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We believe no voter should ever be subjected to a threat of violence. We question the wisdom of Oregon Public Broadcasting allowing a member of the Oregon militia (or anyone) to be quoted as saying that groups will “fight physically” if a voter does not agree with a supporter of a ballot measure. This statement is particularly concerning because the ballot measures could effectively place militia members or supporters of the militias in control of county law enforcement. As you know from your own October 30 article which featured Mr. McKirgan, he spent seventeen years in law enforcement and is a member of Oregon militias. Yet you chose to include his implied threat conspicuously as the last statement–without any comment or pushback–so readers are left with this thought in their memories.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #676767; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">
Violent rhetoric never deserves a platform, especially not in the aftermath of bombing attempts and the brutal shooting massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.</div>
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In addition, we would like to address the inaccuracies and implied bias in your article. We urge you to address these publicly. We have provided corrections with explanations and citations.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Second Amendment Protection (SAP) measures (referred to in your headline as “Sanctuary Cities for Gun Rights”) are not lawful.</strong></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
SAPs clearly attempt to give county sheriffs the ability to amend firearm-related laws. According to Oregon law, ORS 166.170, that power rests with the Oregon legislature.1</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
In July 2018, Grant County Judge W. D. Cramer ruled2 that a Grant County SAP petition violated Oregon’s firearm preemption law (ORS 166.170).</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
SAPs attempt to require county sheriffs to “determine whether any law or regulation pertaining to the right to bear arms or related rights violates the U.S. or Oregon Constitution.” Local officials are not Supreme Court justices and do not have the authority to interpret any part of the US or Oregon Constitutions.</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
Constitutional law expert, Charles Hinkle, was quoted in a 2015 <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-county-second-amendment-gun-laws_us_5638fcdee4b027f9b96a4ddc&source=gmail&ust=1541611195055000&usg=AFQjCNEjGVDV8qxlSBW1llJBZ8hZQQHXiQ" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-county-second-amendment-gun-laws_us_5638fcdee4b027f9b96a4ddc" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">interview</a>3 with “The Huffington Post” about the Coos County SAP. Mr. Hinkle stated that, under the Coos County SAP, Coos County Sheriff Zanni “would be violating his oath of office by enforcing a county ordinance that is contrary to state or federal law. ‘Of course local officials can’t decide what laws are constitutional. That’s why Kim Davis went to jail,’ Hinkle told the Huffington Post.” Mr. Hinkle’s remarks refer to the inability of sheriffs to act as US Supreme Court Justices.</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
In fact, in your prior article, your cite Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin’s admission that “interpreting the Constitution is not part of his job or something that he’s qualified to do.”</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Second Amendment is not an unlimited right.</strong></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
Tom McKirgan stated (and you failed to correct his comment), “If you look at the Second Amendment where it says that it ‘shall not be infringed,’ that’s exactly what it means — our founders meant that.”</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
The late <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html&source=gmail&ust=1541611195055000&usg=AFQjCNFyEopTJbi48y7ShXByFW9f7-3Prg" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">Justice Antonin Scalia’s ruling</a> on the<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html&source=gmail&ust=1541611195055000&usg=AFQjCNFyEopTJbi48y7ShXByFW9f7-3Prg" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> Heller</a> decision clearly stated4, “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”</div>
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In the same opinion, Justice Scalia continued, “…nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
Justice Scalia clearly stated that the Second Amendment is not an unlimited right and that laws can be enacted that will prevent firearms from being accessed by people who would be harmful to self or others.</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">SAPs are not protected by the Tenth Amendment.</strong></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
<span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black;">The Supreme Court ruled in <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478&source=gmail&ust=1541611195055000&usg=AFQjCNHGjJY9D8Hb6uUj0J3JpTAHkMj4XQ" href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">Printz v. United States (1997)</a> and New York v. United States (1992) that the Tenth Amendment prohibits the federal government from commandeering state governments to assist in enforcing federal law.5</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
Enforcement of federal law is the responsibility of federal law enforcement officials. Therefore, state and local police cannot be forced to detain a person merely to question that person’s U.S. citizenship status.</div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit;">
The Tenth Amendment does not give Oregon county sheriffs authority to ignore state laws or the laws of the Oregon Constitution.</div>
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The Oregon Firearm Safety Act (background checks for gun sales), laws prohibiting guns for stalkers, and the law providing for Extreme Risk Protection Orders are Oregon state laws, not federal laws. There is no Constitutional protection (federal or state) extended to county sheriffs to relieve them from their duty to enforce Oregon laws or allowing them to enact an initiative supporting such actions.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">SAPs have been ruled to be administrative in nature and, therefore, not the proper subjects for the initiative process.</strong></div>
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SAPs attempt to change who interprets laws; they do not make new laws. Therefore, SAPs are administrative and not the proper subjects of the initiative petition process.</div>
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Judge W.D. Cramer ruled6 that the Grant County SAP, measure 12-72, ran afoul of the initiative petition process under the<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://codes.findlaw.com/or/oregon-constitution/or-const-art-iv-sect-1.html&source=gmail&ust=1541611195055000&usg=AFQjCNG0PzWIB4m3qeHgKo6xgdsoXh9QjA" href="https://codes.findlaw.com/or/oregon-constitution/or-const-art-iv-sect-1.html" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> Oregon Constitution, Article IV, Section </a>7 which states that petitions can only make new law.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Ceasefire Oregon was disappointed by the bias shown in your statement:</strong> “In a state where Democrats in Portland and Salem have used their control over all the major branches of government<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-gun-law-domestic-violence-mental-health-stalking/&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNG7HcLjJRvU8j5ToCASAV50s7GR3w" href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-gun-law-domestic-violence-mental-health-stalking/" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> to push stricter gun laws</a>, giving local officials control over enforcing the laws could gain traction.”</div>
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People throughout the state voted for Democrats, not just in Portland and Salem.</div>
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Your statement shows bias against Portland and Salem, and implies that voters in those cities do not deserve the same voice as voters in other parts of Oregon.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Democrats have been elected by a majority of the citizens of Oregon. The will of the voters should not be dismissed because the Oregon militias disagree with the outcome of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Your statement is biased against those who support effective gun laws.</strong> A vast majority of Oregonians, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, support stronger gun laws. In fact, according to a<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ARS-Oregon-Background-Checks-Research-1.28.15-.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNHwMv-Z3O4J_JFUC2Spc0CuUNtHSA" href="https://giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ARS-Oregon-Background-Checks-Research-1.28.15-.pdf" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> Benenson Strategy Group poll</a> taken in 2015 during consideration of the Oregon Firearm Safety Act (SB 941), 87% of voters including 83% of gun owners supported background checks for firearm sales. The percentage of gun owners who support background checks has only increased throughout the country since 2015. Background checks for gun sales are now supported by 95% or more of gun owners queried in the<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID%3D2521&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNFqT-UJwUib-H9RtuFPq_liLIfivA" href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2521" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> 2018 Quinnipiac Poll</a> and the<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.gallup.com/poll/220637/americans-widely-support-tighter-regulations-gun-sales.aspx&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNG0dGNXZUOrLxEdlE0NUXySVlUTgA" href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/220637/americans-widely-support-tighter-regulations-gun-sales.aspx" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> November 2017 Gallup Poll</a>.</div>
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The gun violence prevention laws passed since 2015 are also popular. According to a<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID%3D2525&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNGRW5OZvmbQWitynVzh8S6kXCsDLA" href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2525" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank"> March 2018 Quinnipiac poll</a>, 89% of voters support Extreme Risk Protection Order laws (SB 719) and 91% support prohibiting convicted stalkers from purchasing or possessing firearms (HB 4145).</div>
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Clearly, voters support strong, effective gun laws and Democratic legislators have been working for years to pass laws that reduce gun violence.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Oregonians need clear and unbiased reporting on this issue.</strong> If passed, SAPs will usurp power from the legislative and judicial branches of counties, and leave citizens unsure of the processes of their own government. If a sheriff interprets a law, to whom does a citizen go to enforce a direct violation of that law? Who will have checks on the county sheriff? Will the county sheriff decide to determine the constitutionality of all the cases of the US Supreme Court? Will the sheriff decide to disallow immigration? Abortion? Voting?</div>
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The Second Amendment is already well protected by the gun lobbies and the US Supreme Court decisions Heller and McDonald. SAPs are an attempt by militias and the gun lobby to exert power over the executive branch of county and state government. Issues as grave as these deserve accuracy and fairness.</div>
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The law is well known to at least one of the backers of SAPs, the Oregon Firearms Federation, who used the firearm preemption law (ORS 166.170) in 2011 in a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/or-court-of-appeals/1606727.html&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNEYudPyKwHrkTzVPKbOBaXOeuJzGA" href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/or-court-of-appeals/1606727.html" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> that forced Oregon colleges to allow people with concealed carry handgun licenses to carry loaded, hidden guns onto Oregon University System campuses. Now, that group is deliberately flouting the firearm preemption law.</div>
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“The plain reading of measure 12-72 violates this statute [ORS 166.170] and by definition enters into an area that by law is not of county concern.” Grant County Circuit Case No.18CV19251, Judge W.D. Cramer, Jr., letter ruling, July 29, 2018.</div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-county-second-amendment-gun-laws_us_5638fcdee4b027f9b96a4ddc&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNEA53vQ1ntYTFKw77wBdK6O7Yje_w" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-county-second-amendment-gun-laws_us_5638fcdee4b027f9b96a4ddc" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>com/entry/oregon-county-<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>second-amendment-gun-laws_us_<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>5638fcdee4b027f9b96a4ddc</a></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNGq1u2lerEIkLQSdW2ybr4p0a1tcQ" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">https://www.law.cornell.edu/<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>supct/html/07-290.ZO.html</a></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNEitUUQXHKLBYUHtAeKmqKu8qBymQ" href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">https://www.oyez.org/cases/<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>1996/95-1478</a></div>
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“Further [the measure] contains provisions that are not legislative in nature and; therefore, not proper for an initiative by definition.” Grant County Circuit Case No.18CV19251, Judge W.D. Cramer, Jr., letter ruling, July 29, 2018.</div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://codes.findlaw.com/or/oregon-constitution/or-const-art-iv-sect-1.html&source=gmail&ust=1541611195056000&usg=AFQjCNGhAM9RGyoRCnxUuNw7UaO_cqi_Vg" href="https://codes.findlaw.com/or/oregon-constitution/or-const-art-iv-sect-1.html" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;" target="_blank">https://codes.findlaw.com/or/<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>oregon-constitution/or-const-<wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></wbr>art-iv-sect-1.html</a></div>
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<span style="color: #676767; font-family: noto serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><b>UPDATE (11/7/18):</b> Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.kdrv.com/content/news/8-of-10-Oregon-Counties-Approve-Measure-to-Boost-Gun-Rights-499962471.html">8 out of the 10 SAP measures passed</a>. They will almost certainly be challenged in court.</span></span></div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-55077665179938026602018-09-21T00:39:00.002-07:002018-09-21T00:40:02.551-07:00Sculpture: The Last Lockdown.<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sculpting by Manuel Oliver whose son Joaquin, 17, was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The sculpture is called "The Last Lockdown" and is made by 3D printing. More information <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/parkland-shooting-manuel-oliver-art-student-desk_us_5ba3eff1e4b069d5f9d12c4b">HERE</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The figures were created using 3D printers, an intentional reference to the debate over guns potentially being</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3D printed. The desks are real school desks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We want you to feel unsettled,” the project’s co-creator </span><a data-rapid-parsed="slk" data-rapid_p="4" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:4;elm:context_link;itc:0" href="https://abc7chicago.com/politics/chilling-anti-gun-violence-statues-make-debut-this-weekend/4236287/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-shadow: rgb(13, 190, 152) 0px -2px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Sean Leonard said</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></div>
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<img alt="Image may contain: shoes and indoor" height="480" src="https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/41965129_2265394516815260_7710091080917581824_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&oh=e81c81130d63bfc70e1078b137e1ff21&oe=5C1DA9F8" width="640" />Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-26609394578781306492018-08-21T17:01:00.001-07:002018-08-21T17:03:04.488-07:00A comparison of firearm-related death rates in selected Oregon counties<i>(This is a cross-post from the Ceasefire Oregon blog, <a href="https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/blog/a-comparison-of-firearm-related-death-rates-in-selected-oregon-counties/">here</a>)</i><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif;">By Penny Okamoto, Executive Director of Ceasefire Oregon</i><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Numbers from 2005 – 2014 about firearm-related deaths in Deschutes, Multnomah, Klamath, and Linn Counties. For comparisons, I highlighted Multnomah County because it has the highest population and is the most urban. I highlighted Klamath because it ranks third (behind Curry and Baker) in firearm-related death rates but Klamath has a larger population for better comparison. (Klamath has 66,000; Baker, 16,000; and Curry 22,000 rounded.) I highlighted Linn because it was comparable in population size to Deschutes.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">All rates are per 100,000 people.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Deschutes County:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Average yearly death rate from firearms: 12.16 per 100,000</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-suicide rate: 11.20</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-homicide rate: 0.64</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Population: 163,000 (rounded)</li>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Multnomah County:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Average yearly death rate from firearms: 8.88 per 100,000</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-suicide rate: 6.41</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-homicide rate: 2.07</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Population: 757,000 (rounded)</li>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Klamath County:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Average yearly death rate from firearms: 21.60 per 100,000</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-suicide rate: 16.47</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-homicide rate: 4.08 (No, that is not a typo.)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Population: 66,000 (rounded)</li>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Linn County:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Average yearly death rate from firearms: 10.57 per 100,000</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-suicide rate: 9.01</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Average firearm-homicide rate: 0.95</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;">Population: 118,000 (rounded)</li>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Data from https://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2017/12/where_do_oregonians_die_by_gun.html</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">An additional comparison: Chicago’s firearm-homicide rate is 16.4 per 100,000 (2010-2015). Even Chicago, however, is much lower than that of New Orleans (46.9), Detroit (45.0), or St. Louis (43.8) for the same time period. [Sixty percent of guns recovered in crimes in Chicago were first sold in other states, many with weaker gun laws. A small handful of gun stores, three from Cook Country and one from Gary, Indiana, continue to be responsible for a disproportionate number of crime guns recovered on Chicago’s streets.] (<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/06/21/is-chicago-really-americas-most-dangerous-city-infographic/#2b3e4a6450da" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Source</a>: “Is Chicago Really America’s Most Dangerous City?”)</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Further studies are needed to determine if firearm-homicide rates in Jefferson (4.62), Klamath (4.08), Malheur (2.26), Coos (2.22), and Josephine (2.06) Counties could be reduced with immediate access to <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/ProviderPartnerResources/EMSTraumaSystems/TraumaSystems/Pages/desiglvl.aspx" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Level 1</a> trauma centers. The same question should be asked of firearm-suicide rates. (Approximately 85-90% of firearm-suicide attempts are immediately lethal.)</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">One must question if providing <a href="https://www.gettrainedtohelp.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit;">effective suicide prevention support</a>–including educating people about <a href="https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/719-saves-lives/" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Extreme Risk Protection Order</a>–and investigating firearm sellers who violate SB 941 by not performing background checks for gun sales, would reduce firearm-related deaths. SB 941 took effect in 2015 and ERPO took effect in 2018. Data could be available next year to determine if SB 941 is effective in reducing firearm-related deaths in counties which enforced the law.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Note: The counties with the highest rates of firearm-related deaths all have or have had* a sheriff who publicly refused to support SB 941 (background checks for almost all firearm sales). (<a href="https://www.currypilot.com/csp/mediapool/sites/CurryPilot/News/story.csp?cid=4322031&sid=919&fid=151" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Curry</a>, <a href="https://www.ktvz.com/news/crime/klamath-sheriff-slams-lawmakers-over-gun-control-bill/68822881" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Klamath</a>, <a href="https://theworldlink.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/coos-county-second-amendment-preservation-ordinance-passes-by-wide-margin/article_188f6bed-6fbe-5369-8a0c-8158861b4f68.html" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Coos</a>, <a href="http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news437.htm" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Josephine</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DouglasCoSO/posts/811041965646969" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Douglas</a> Counties).</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">*Mr. Skrah (Klamath County) is no longer sheriff after he was <a href="https://kobi5.com/news/regional-news/no-jail-time-for-former-klamath-county-sheriff-frank-skrah-53724/" style="box-sizing: inherit;">found guilty</a> on five counts relating choking and harassment. Skrah was cleared of a charge of strangulation. Skrah <a href="https://kobi5.com/news/regional-news/no-jail-time-for-former-klamath-county-sheriff-frank-skrah-53724/" style="box-sizing: inherit;">stated</a> (without irony), “</span>And if you send me to jail, I don’t know if I can defend myself,” even though he faced jail time for fourth-degree assault. Mr. Gilbertson is no longer sheriff of Josephine County after he was defeated in the last election. Gilbertson, who faced <a href="https://www.change.org/p/the-commissioners-of-josephine-county-oregon-remove-and-prohibit-any-image-of-sheriff-gil-gilbertson-wearing-the-master-eod-badge" style="box-sizing: inherit;">charges of stolen valor</a>, was replaced by <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/04/15/oregon-sheriff-says-proposed-gun-background-check-law-wont-be-enforced.html" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dave Daniel</a>who also states he will ignore Oregon law.</div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-38513038552814708552018-06-30T14:37:00.002-07:002018-06-30T14:45:50.107-07:00If Only He'd Had A Gun To Defend Himself. Oh, Wait.... (Open Carry Samaritan)<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">Jason Erik Washington was on the campus of Portland State University when he witnessed an argument between two men, one of whom used a racial slur. The men began to fight each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">That's when, armed with his openly-carried handgun and a valid conceal carry permit, he leaped into the fight to try to break it up.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Meanwhile, two armed university police officers were already arriving to do the same thing. Washington continued to try to break up the fighters even as the police were attempting to do so.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">A witness took <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=6IPN3QoMBvo">a video</a> of the incident. Here's a screenshot from that video where I highlighted the gun hanging off his hip, at 18 seconds into it:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKnNwg3HOLDrc6RwF8Ere-MFnbEi0DxhoIVCiBhxqvxU_O3BO48K-Eahmkbs5fbtFts3J2ujAWy66tdFrDj_0lFIu2CFP7EayiwcKJTqO-EyOO0ibAw5Q_nJnLWbo2utkLQFu277gGR3u/s1600/gun+on+hip+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="261" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKnNwg3HOLDrc6RwF8Ere-MFnbEi0DxhoIVCiBhxqvxU_O3BO48K-Eahmkbs5fbtFts3J2ujAWy66tdFrDj_0lFIu2CFP7EayiwcKJTqO-EyOO0ibAw5Q_nJnLWbo2utkLQFu277gGR3u/s320/gun+on+hip+a.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">From <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-state-shooting-victim-jason-erik-washington/#.WzfsxAVHjbE.twitter">an articl</a>e: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><script src="https://www.opb.org/video/embed/psu-shooting.js"></script></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Video footage shows what appears to be a black object attached to Washington’s right side as he’s seen pulling one man off another. Two PSU police officers can also be seen.<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“The gun slipped out of the holster when he had fallen, and I think he may have tried to retrieve it,” Smith said. “Then they said ‘gun.’”<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s when police fired, she said.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Watch the video and judge for yourself. You can hear the police telling him to drop his gun. And, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/06/man_killed_by_portland_state_p.html#incart_target2box_default_%23incart_target2box_targeted_">one witness</a>....</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">....recalled the man reaching for his gun after police told him three or four times not to.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"They warned him multiple times not to reach for it, but he did," Dietz said. "I don't want the message out there that the cops were trigger-happy." Dietz said employees at the Cheerful Tortoise did everything they could to stop the situation from escalating like it did. "It's just that people got drunk and stubborn," he added. "They had to do it," he said of the officers involved. "People think they were overzealous, but they had to do it."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">One friend of his, named Joseph, had <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/06/man_killed_by_portland_state_p.html#incart_target2box_default_%23incart_target2box_targeted_">this to say</a>:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;">"I saw the video, and there is no way he should have been shot," Joseph said. "I wish he didn't have a gun on him, because this probably wouldn't have happened if he didn't."</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">According to an article:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Washington was a Navy veteran and an employee with the United States Postal Service since 1998. He worked with the collections unit as a letter carrier at the main office in downtown Portland, where he also served as the union shop steward.<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Washington was married with three kids and one grandchild.</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">And now those kids, wife, and grandchild have lost him in their lives, because he chose to arm himself, and because those police reacted the way they did. This is also an example of how being a military veteran doesn't automatically make you more responsible with your guns.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">PSU <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2015/01/psu_vote_to_arm_campus_police.html">voted to arm its police force in 2015</a>, despite opposition from students.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">[this post is part of <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/search/label/if%20only%20he%27d%20had%20a%20gun">an ongoing series</a> of people being shot to death despite being armed (and sometimes <i>because </i>they are armed)]</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">.</span></span>Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-10947004258958704392018-05-25T15:03:00.000-07:002018-05-25T15:03:02.039-07:00Fear Of Taking Your Guns Versus Our Fear For Our ChildrenThis really says it all...<br />
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<img alt="Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, text" height="640" src="https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/33059403_1707042769383061_5359720213010972672_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeFha_wsqjtdWJcRvjTEt2twnPiKkhC6sZODhFyQaGRmg5T_f0P2M8VkUSxa831EHJLGALyHysZeSHGJCjdp1kRF1TxqgJ5vJPy0kh528jT6-w&oh=c17a99e89ce2e385f629ddc0563d1260&oe=5B792A94" width="545" />Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-49253115523023830932018-04-30T15:11:00.003-07:002018-04-30T15:11:58.252-07:00Music Video: "Sound of Surviving" by Nichole Nordeman<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaOExJJa_YA">HERE </a>is a link to the YouTube video, where you can also find links to purchase the song and contact information for the singer, Nichole Nordeman.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IaOExJJa_YA" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<u>Lyrics:</u><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">They told me
I’d never get to tell my story
Too many bullet holes
It would take a miracle
These voices
Inside my head like poison
Trying to steal my hope
Silencing my soul
But my story is only now beginning
Don’t try to write my ending
Nobody gets to sing my song
This is the sound of surviving
This is my farewell to fear
This is my whole heart deciding
I’m still here, I’m still here
And I’m not done fighting
This is the sound of surviving
These pieces
The ones that left me bleeding
Intended for my pain
Became the gift you gave me
I gathered those pieces into a mountain
My freedom is in view
I’m stronger than I knew
And this hill is not the one I die on
I’m going to lift my eyes and
I’m going to keep on climbing
I’m still here
Say it to the ache, lying there awake
Say it to your tears
I'm still here
Say it to the pain, say it to the rain
Say it to your fear
This is the sound of surviving
This is my farewell to fear
This is my whole heart deciding
I’m still here, I’m still here
And I’m not done fighting
No, I'm not done fighting
And I am still rising
Rising, I'm still rising
And I'm not done fighting
This is the sound of surviving
Music video by Nichole Nordeman performing Sound Of Surviving. (C) 2017 Capitol Christian Music Group, Inc.</span>Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-57172222132713875142018-04-12T10:47:00.003-07:002018-05-04T22:47:21.254-07:00Arm Teachers In Florida? Parkland School Board Says No. One Teacher Disagreed - And Had A Gun Accident<span style="font-family: inherit;">After the Parkland shooting, there was tremendous pressure on the Florida Governor Rick Scott to take action. He signed into law a bill called the "<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-governor-signs-school-safety-bill-could-arm-teachers-n855311">Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act</a>" which raised the age to buy all firearms to 21, imposed a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases, provides new mental health programs for schools, and restricted access to guns from people who show signs of mental illness or violence.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdRtMVcX7fGmwkaE7xlL5UGHbntb9-UTx8n0f3EX16nRKYHYnJ83Ap727FTnwkntpX98TEXC3_9M9_vNUi-fZsCLp5hvJ6YMpqip49vKnPrvNIEXfKjwih2Bvc0zir4r7D_rrpCmCi5N5/s1600/arm+teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="640" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdRtMVcX7fGmwkaE7xlL5UGHbntb9-UTx8n0f3EX16nRKYHYnJ83Ap727FTnwkntpX98TEXC3_9M9_vNUi-fZsCLp5hvJ6YMpqip49vKnPrvNIEXfKjwih2Bvc0zir4r7D_rrpCmCi5N5/s320/arm+teachers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But, in a nod to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/02/26/588865775/renewing-call-to-arm-teachers-trump-tells-governors-the-nra-is-on-our-side">the NRA and President Trump's call to arm teachers</a>, the act also now allows Florida schools to choose to arm their teachers and staff. It's a provision that is vocally opposed by teaching organizations, child advocacy groups, Florida school students, and even the families of school shooting victims. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nevermind that no school shooting was ever stopped by an armed civilian who wasn't law enforcement. And, as I've <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2018/03/a-list-of-incidents-caused-by-legal-gun.html">pointed out in a prior post</a>, at least 23 incidents have been CAUSED on school grounds by armed individuals, including guards, who were supposed to be the sort the NRA claims will protect our children.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/382647-parkland-school-board-votes-against-arming-teachers">Parkland school district isn't playing along</a> -- the very school district where the shooting occurred -- and is <b>refusing to arm their staff</b>:</span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2c30; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I have not met one teacher or one student who is in favor of arming teachers in Broward County,” board member Laurie Levinson said.<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2c30; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The school board instead wants the allotted money from the bill to go toward armed school resource officers, CBS Miami reported.<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2c30; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We should definitely launch a campaign to persuade the governor, for those districts who do not want to arm their employees, that they give us the money to keep kids safe in other ways,” board member Robin Bartleman said.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(And they <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/382647-parkland-school-board-votes-against-arming-teachers">aren't the only Florida school board</a> to reject the notion).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, actually, there was <i>one</i> teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was open to the idea of packing heat on campus. Science teacher Sean Simpson supported his students in their calls to bring tighter gun regulations, but he also <a href="https://www.local10.com/news/local-10-investigates/parkland-teacher-faces-charge-after-his-gun-is-fired-in-public-bathroom?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar">stated</a> about arming teachers: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I know there are some of us that are willing to take the training if it was offered and probably be another line of defense."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He was on campus when the shots rang out and the shooter killed 17 and injured 15. <b>So why aren't the gun nuts trumpeting his assertion to arm himself on campus?</b> Probably because <a href="https://www.local10.com/news/local-10-investigates/parkland-teacher-faces-charge-after-his-gun-is-fired-in-public-bathroom?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar">he promptly had an accident with his loaded gun</a>:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">[Simpson] told deputies he accidentally left the gun in a stall at the bathroom at the </span>Deerfield Beach Pier<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> during a visit to the beach Sunday. While going back to retrieve it, he heard a gunshot and once back inside the bathroom, saw 69-year-old </span>Joseph Spataro<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> holding the gun. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He left his loaded gun unattended in a public bathroom and a homeless man found it and fired it "to see if it was loaded." Luckily no one was injured. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Oopsie! </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">So much for </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">that </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">NRA poster child! </span><a href="https://www.local10.com/news/local-10-investigates/parkland-teacher-faces-charge-after-his-gun-is-fired-in-public-bathroom?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">According to responding deputies</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"There was a reasonable likelihood that the firearm could have ended up in the hands of a child or the discharge of the firearm could have wounded another person or child."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Imagine if he had left that gun in the <i>school </i>bathroom instead! </b>It's happened before, <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cops-teacher-left-gun-bathroom">again</a>, and <a href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/17/32-year-veteran-school-guard-leaves-gun-in-school-bathroom/">again</a>, and <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/armed-school-guard-leaves-gun-in-student-bathroom-a6071cf72d44/">again</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures;">Both Simpson and the homeless person are facing charges, but so far Simpson hasn't lost his job as a teacher. I can only wonder what his students are thinking of him as they deal with their shooting-induced PTSD. At least they can rest assured that neither he nor any of the other teachers will be allowed to carry on campus!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-67457029428961924422018-04-11T23:36:00.000-07:002018-04-12T14:20:29.214-07:00Assault Weapons For Hunting? "A Good Clean Kill"<a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2011/07/youre-probably-pro-gun-extremist-if.html">Pro-gun extremists</a> like to argue that assault rifles, like the AR-15, are "modern sport rifles" that are perfect for hunting (like <a href="https://www.realtree.com/brow-tines-and-backstrap/why-you-should-use-an-ar-15-as-a-deer-rifle">THIS SITE</a>, which adds "It's even fun for kids"). Well, anything that throws a projectile can be used to hunt, technically.<br />
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I don't hunt, but all the serious hunters I know scoff at the stupid and transparent attempt to rebrand these weapons, and many hate them with a passion. I've posted before on <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-growing-movement-of-gun-owners.html">the growing movement of hunters against the NRA</a>. But with the <a href="https://blogs.voanews.com/all-about-america/2014/12/08/are-us-hunters-an-endangered-species/">number of hunters decreasing every year</a>, and the rising cost of hunting as a hobby, the gun lobby wants to try to tap a new generation in any way it can. Why not increase your firepower? Why kill one deer when you can take out the whole herd with one ammo magazine? How much firepower is too much?<br />
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Well, leave it to Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr to point out the ridiculous nature of this position, in this excerpt from the movie "The Magic Christian" from 1969....</div>
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Just a "good clean kill." ....<br />
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Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-80687438676947119172018-04-06T08:00:00.000-07:002018-05-10T15:41:25.758-07:00The Far-Right Continues To Attack The Parkland Teen Survivors<div>
Today it was reported that <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/conspiracy-theorist-launches-site-attacking-parkland-survivor-david-hogg-article-1.3911977">an entire website has been started with the express purpose of trolling and hating a teenage shooting survivor </a>who has dared to call for more gun regulation. It is only the latest of a long list of such attacks by Conservatives and pro-gun forces against him and the other teens who survived the Parkland shooting....</div>
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If a person survives a plane crash, then publicly calls for better air safety, do people attack their character? What about if their child dies in a building fire and they advocate for better building codes? Or their friend dies in a multi-car crash so they call for better speed enforcement? What is the response from lawmakers and pundits? Usually it is very understanding.<br />
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Are any of these survivors lambasted as "soulless liars"? Or compared to Hitler? Or told that they should be learning first aid instead of talking out? Or pronounced that they should have been smacked more as children? What sort of person says such awful things to victims, survivors, or their families?</div>
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And what if they are saying these things about child survivors who saw dozens of their friends killed and injured, and had to run past their bodies to escape? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmL-xRodtHWzFyk8O887vDtlnaW87nHLB2OSAAE5mNEtqFAzbykEQDzN4_sOGLCdzc8gnPx5bmZe9ENJ7gFpvUuy6ldFhAweJFLAoH-ZFdsnhQjUjpYduxKx30sN6IigW1So4NjbxUaZ1/s1600/hate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="482" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmL-xRodtHWzFyk8O887vDtlnaW87nHLB2OSAAE5mNEtqFAzbykEQDzN4_sOGLCdzc8gnPx5bmZe9ENJ7gFpvUuy6ldFhAweJFLAoH-ZFdsnhQjUjpYduxKx30sN6IigW1So4NjbxUaZ1/s320/hate.jpg" width="320" /></a>Yet I see this all the time when the issue is gun violence-related. Survivors and victims are ignored by the Conservative gun-loving crowd ... until they call for sensible regulation to keep the shootings from happening again. And then the gun crowd comes out shooting, so to speak, attacking the character of those survivors who dare to speak out. The right-wing hate machine starts up. It <a href="https://www.csgv.org/pro-gun-activists-call-virginia-tech-shooting-survivor-a-coward/">happened to my friend Colin Goddard</a> after he survived the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting">Virginia Tech shooting</a> and <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2011/05/colin-goddard-visits-oregon.html">advocated </a>for stronger laws. It <a href="https://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/05/13/lucy-mcbath-stop-lying-stand-ground-laws/">happened to Lucy McBath</a> after her 17 year old son, Jordan Davis, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Jordan_Davis">was shot to death</a> and she called for <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/02/a-white-man-shot-and-killed-her-only-son-now-lucy-mcbath-is-running-so-it-doesnt-happen-to-anyone-else/">justice and change</a>. It <a href="https://www.cjr.org/special_report/fake-news-pizzagate-seth-rich-newtown-sandy-hook.php">happened to David Wheeler</a>, who lost his 6 year old son in the Sandy Hook shooting and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgPsErRe4ac">testified for change</a>. And so on.... Anyone who speaks out about gun violence and calls for change is immediately trolled, smeared, and threatened. It's even <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2011/10/anonymous-comments-will-no-longer-be.html">happened to me</a>.</div>
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Sadly, we are seeing it again. This time, they have come out to troll and hate on the survivors of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneman_Douglas_High_School_shooting">shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School</a> in Parkland, Florida. The fact that these are children makes the attacks even more pitiful.</div>
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<b>These teen survivors are brave, well-spoken, and passionate, and we need to respect them, not tear them down.</b></div>
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There have been so many attacks on these teens by the far right that I've started to lose track. So I decided to make a sort of laundry list of them, here, though it is by no means complete (for instance, I didn't bother going to all the pro-gun blogs to see their reactions) and is just a sampling. Read them and tell me if this is a sign of an intelligent reaction. When the facts don't support the extremists, they resort to name-calling, conspiracy theory, and outright hate speech.</div>
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How have the teens handled it? Far better than many adults would. In fact, I'm impressed how they cope with the constant attacks and remain focused on the need for change. In the words of teen survivor David Hogg, <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7xd47e/david-hogg-responds-to-parkland-conspiracy-theories">when asked what he thought of the attacks on his character and the conspiracy theories</a>:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">“I don’t care,” Hogg said. “I don’t. I have bigger, more important things to focus on than these stupid conspiracies that aren’t true in any way, shape or form, have no validity, and don’t hold their weight. At all … these people are going to keep trying to take us down but that’s how we know what we’re doing matters … whenever someone tries making a change that matters, and a change for the better, there’s always someone that tried stopping them.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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And the teens <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/the-parkland-teens-will-win-eventually.html">have been wildly successful in their effort</a>: The nation's largest-ever one-day march and rally; State legislation pushed forward; Conversations on gun violence in nearly every living room. Their passion, honesty, and progressive attitude is very much at the heart of it all.<br />
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Here's the list I have so far (which I will update when I find more), more or less in chronological order, of some of the major attacks on the Parkland teens. As you can see, a great many of them target Emma Gonzales and David Hogg, the two most outspoken teens:</div>
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<li>A GOP staffer, and many more extremists after him, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/florida-gop-staffer-accuses-parkland-students-crisis-actors-travel-shootings/">falsely declared that teen survivors Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg are "crisis actors"</a> who weren't at the shooting, aren't students at Douglas, and are merely acting the part of survivors. The conspiracy theory may have started on online bulletin boards, but <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/how-a-survivor-of-the-florida-school-shooting-became-the-victim-of-an-online-conspiracy/2018/02/21/d54083a0-172e-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html?utm_term=.649dfeec746a">soon spread, even by Donald Trump, Jr. </a> Then <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/02/21/nra-board-member-ted-nugent-pushes-conspiracy-theory-parkland-school-shooting-survivors-are-actors/219443">NRA board member Ted Nugent echoed the "crisis actor" conspiracy theory</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/02/exposed-school-shooting-surviver-turned-activist-david-hoggs-father-fbi-appears-coached-anti-trump-lines-video/">A far-right journalist called</a> teen survivor David Hogg "clueless," a "pawn" for the FBI and "anti-gun" forces, and coached into saying what he has.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/students-anti-gun-views/">A far-right blogger suggested</a> the Parkland teens are too mentally undeveloped to have an opinion on gun violence or any matter of political importance.</li>
<li><a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/media/374605-ex-gop-lawmaker-suggests-florida-shooting-survivors-being-coached-by-left-wing#.WoyW69TiJ4w.facebook">An ex-GOP lawmaker and Trump campaign organizer </a>accused the teens of having been "hijacked" and coached by left-wing groups and are unable of organizing their own movement.</li>
<li><a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/qvx8gp/the-nra-is-attacking-the-teen-organizers-of-march-for-our-lives">NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch accused the teens</a> of being "too immature to make policy about firearms" and being used by "pro-gun control organizations."</li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/03/25/rick-santorum-criticizes-gun-control-marches-sotu.cnn">Former GOP senator Rick Santorum suggested</a> that the teens should take CPR classes instead of focusing on gun violence, in essence blaming the teens for their friends' deaths because they didn't know first aid. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/03/26/david-hogg-lauren-hogg-parkland-santorum-reaction-sot-newday.cnn">The students and others pointed out</a> that CPR cannot save a shooting victim, as it will not heal bullet wounds or stop bleeding.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/us/emma-gonzalez-photo-doctored-trnd/index.html">A fake photo was created</a> and spread of teen survivor Emma Gonzalez tearing up a copy of the<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Constitution and making her look pale and dark-eyed. The actual image was of her tearing up a shooting target, as part of a photo shoot with other Parkland teens.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rep-steve-king-team-attacks-parkland-survivors-march-article-1.3895918">A GOP congressman and his team mocked</a> teen survivor Emma Gonzalez and her Cuban heritage.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.citypages.com/news/rep-mary-franson-compares-march-for-our-lives-kids-to-hitler-youth/478026603">A GOP representative compared the Parkland teens to Hitler Youth</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lauren-hogg-school-shooting-survivor-clashes-with-fox-news-host-laura-ingraham/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6j&linkId=49844160">FOX News commentator Laura Ingraham mocked</a> teen survivor David Hogg on Twitter for having been rejected by some colleges, citing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/28770/gun-rights-provocateur-david-hogg-rejected-four-joseph-curl">a far-right online publication</a> that did the same. <a href="https://twitter.com/davidhogg111/status/979168957180579840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Flauren-hogg-school-shooting-survivor-clashes-with-fox-news-host-laura-ingraham%2F&tfw_site=CBSNews">Hogg retorted</a> by calling for companies who have ads during her show to boycott the program. The outcry forced an apology by Ingraham and at least <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/31/fox-host-taking-break-after-david-hogg-feud-and-this-is-the-bold-bible-verse-shes-sharing">a week off the air</a>. To date, <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/31/heres-the-complete-list-of-companies-boycotting-laura-ingrahams-show-and-it-continues-to-grow">at least 17 companies have pulled their ads</a> from her program. (update 4/13/18: now <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/red-lobster-puts-pinch-laura-ingraham-pulls-advertiser/">up to 26 companies</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5492593/GOP-candidate-calls-Parkland-student-skinhead-lesbian.html#ixzz5BGnfGw3E">A GOP candidate called</a> teen survivor Emma Gonzalez a "lesbian skinhead" and David Hogg a "bald-faced liar."</li>
<li><a href="https://my.xfinity.com/video/roseanne-barr-accuses-parkland-shooting-survivor-david-hogg-of-giving-a-nazi-salute/1199049283930/Comcast/Access?cid=sf_vidtray_Barr&tab=Entertainment">TV star and Trump supporter Roseanne Barr tweeted a doctored photo</a> of teen survivor David Hogg that suggested he was giving a Nazi salute. After being called out on it, she deleted the tweet.</li>
<li>NRA board member Ted Nugent <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-nugent-parklands-student-activists-are-soulless-liars">once again commented on the students</a>, calling them "soulless" liars and "mushy brained." After a backlash against him for his statements, Nugent doubled down on his statement, once again saying they have "no soul," and said his critics <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/ted-nugent-whines-hes-victim-hate-speech-attack-parkland-teens-backfires/#.WsKFo9mjY-4.facebook">were engaging in "hate speech" against him</a> and were "dishonest, lying idiots." (see Nugent's own history of hate speech and other deplorable behavior, <a href="http://nraontherecord.org/ted-nugent/">HERE</a>).</li>
<li>Internet rumors were spread <a href="http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/right-now-blaming-parkland-teens-for-bullying-nikolas-cruz-10221533">accusing the Parkland teens</a>, or even <a href="https://www.truthorfiction.com/emma-gonzalez-admits-to-bully-parkland-shooter-nikolas-cruz-fiction/">Emma Gonzalez specifically</a>, of "bullying" the shooter, suggesting they were to blame for the shooting.</li>
<li>Michael Flynn, Jr. (the son of the Trump cabinet member who pleaded guilty) tweeted the teen survivor <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/1/1753683/-Michael-Flynn-Jr-Says-David-Hogg-s-Parents-Didn-t-Smack-Him-Much-As-A-Kid">David Hogg wasn't "smacked" enough by his parents as a child</a>, after Hogg refused Laura Ingraham's apology.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2018/04/parkland_survivor_david_hogg_n.html">A Conservative pundit wrote</a> that teen survivor David Hogg needs a "rhetorical spanking" and called him a "bully" and "dictator."</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/march-for-our-lives-teen-activists-poison-gun-debate/">A far-right journalist called</a> the Parkland teens "demagogues" who are "making our public debate even more poisonous and less civil."</li>
<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/24/nra-host-taunts-parkland-teens-no-one-would-know-your-names-if-classmates-were-still-alive/?utm_term=.2839bc7f8d16">An NRA spokesman and YouTube star taunted the teens</a> by saying "no one would know your name" if the shooting had never happened or if the shooter had been killed by a guard, and that their story would be "completely and utterly ignored."</li>
<li><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/conspiracy-theorist-launches-site-attacking-parkland-survivor-david-hogg-article-1.3911977">A website was created</a> for the purpose of trolling teen survivor David Hogg, created by a conspiracy theorist tied to the infamous hater, Alex Jones, the conspiracy site Infowars, and the anti- and fake-science site Natural News. The trolling webpage, which I won't link here, is filled with name-calling, conspiracy theory, and vitriol against this brave teen.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.pluralist.com/posts/381-gop-candidate-polls-supporters-is-david-hogg-a-communist-pig/partners/43901">A GOP candidate for the Massachusetts House and current county commissioner, Ronald Beaty Jr., has attacked David Hogg with a Twitter</a> rant (after blocking Hogg), calling the boy "inept", a "twit", an "insect", a "clown", an "opportunistic rat", "a communist pig", a "fascist wannabe", and a potential "drug addict or worse." And he's made fun of his name, calling him "HoggBoy and "The Hoggster." It should be pointed out that <a href="http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/news/20170102/county-commissioner-elect-ron-beaty-takes-shots">Beaty served time in a federal prison in the 90's for making death threats </a>against President H.W. Bush, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and others, and as a result cannot own guns himself.</li>
<li>A Conservative TV show host on a Sinclair station posted a tweet threatening to "<a href="https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/04/06/jamie-allman-vows-to-ram-a-hot-poker-up-parkland-students-ass">ram a hot poker up David Hogg's ass</a>." He was subsequently <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/10/601117504/sinclair-tv-host-resigns-after-vulgar-tweet-threatening-parkland-survivor">forced to resign</a> from the network.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2018/mar/27/blog-posting/david-hogg-not-school-during-shooting-s-fake-news/">Multiple far-right bloggers spread false information</a> in an attempt to make people think that David Hogg was not actually at the school at the time of the shooting.</li>
<li>The new NRA president, Oliver North (remember from the Iran-Contra scandal?), <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/nra-oliver-north-parkland-terrorists-919989">accuses the Parkland teen activists of being "civil terrorists"</a> and suggests they are oppressing NRA in the same way that racists oppressed blacks during the civil rights movements of the 60's.</li>
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This sort of hatred, trolling, and conspiracy theorizing isn't just rude and disgusting, it's dangerous. Weak-minded (and armed) people who listen to this may believe it and act out violently as a result. It's happened plenty of times before (remember the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/22/pizzagate-conspiracy-theorist-prison-sentence-washington">"Pizzagate" shooting</a>?).<br />
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I think you can see how toxic these extremist Conservatives are to their own cause. I applaud the Parkland teens for their courage, and thank them for trying to make a <i>new trajectory</i> for our communities and nation away from gun violence.<br />
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Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-48418753006937822442018-03-31T01:07:00.000-07:002018-03-31T01:09:38.292-07:00Music Video: Hallelujah Parody - Letter to Wayne LaPierre, NRA<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parody of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen - Based on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2uTpONBuiI">arrangement by Pentatonix</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>LYRICS TO THE HALLELUJAH PARODY</b>
Open Letter to Wayne LaPierre
You see yourself the defender of
the amendment passed to you from above,
and any change that happens must go through ya.
While other freedoms slipped away
with nothing standing in their way,
you waved your gun and claimed your hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We’ve heard you say these words before,
about the guns that you adore.
There really is no point in talkin’ to ya.
You pride yourself the ears and eyes
of five or so million other guys,
and think your words will draw their hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Your mind is stuck in sixty-five
when cold-war commies were alive.
And those who wanted change were out to screw ya.
And gun controls of any kind
mean liberal commies in your mind
who'll steal your rights then raise their hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Your logic is profoundly flawed,
with teachers for your new vice-squad.
You’d arm them to the teeth but they see through ya.
Your rigid stance results in death.
You claim that right with every breath,
howling through your broken hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We think it’s time that you step down.
Just walk away and pass the crown,
before someone decides they need to sue ya.
The arms race lost, it would appear
and you’ve become the thing you fear
an echo of your bloody hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">To support Pentatonix's work please visit </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&v=O2uTpONBuiI&redir_token=Su4nE_sOgywWOHmBXkWjNd8dzid8MTUyMjU2OTczM0AxNTIyNDgzMzMz&q=https%3A%2F%2Fparodyproject.com%2Fsupportus" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: var(--yt-formatted-string-endpoint_-_line-height); text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://parodyproject.com/supportus</a></span>Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-57032768079611505242018-03-27T23:46:00.002-07:002018-03-27T23:46:38.982-07:00Music Video: The President Sang Amazing Grace<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I was driving when I heard ‘The President Sang Amazing Grace,’” Joan Baez told The Atlantic, “and I had to pull over to make sure I heard whose song it was because I knew I had to sing it.” The 77-year-old folk legend included the song in her final album, Whistle Down The Wind, released in early March. Originally written and performed by Zoe Mulford following the 2015 mass shooting in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Baez’s rendition of “The President Sang Amazing Grace” has been animated in a powerful new video.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read more about the song and video at The Atlantic, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/555992/failure-modern-success/">HERE</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nine men and women were killed by a lone gunman in a church in Charleston. Less than a week later, President Obama visited the church to lead the eulogy and led the congregation in singing "Amazing Grace," which is the subject of the song and video. Read more about that mass shooting, <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-charleston-church-shooting-one-week.html">HERE</a>.</span><br />
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.Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-21736802704449085562018-03-26T13:00:00.000-07:002018-03-26T13:24:21.217-07:00On Guns In America -- Tom Mooney<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6T2ePPfi-tjNDndmrdwK3qCnOXa9IhyphenhyphenseYQ8W21FXFhwfGBaIrSy6_FdktwuoG40Hc9NlLdeHxTLEDwSMcivIRz-y9BUFMkhzKVhjxoGPbKaGIbubirTsZhhcKLPE7rKvJz0YsGo1jRu/s1600/tom+mooney.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="99" data-original-width="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6T2ePPfi-tjNDndmrdwK3qCnOXa9IhyphenhyphenseYQ8W21FXFhwfGBaIrSy6_FdktwuoG40Hc9NlLdeHxTLEDwSMcivIRz-y9BUFMkhzKVhjxoGPbKaGIbubirTsZhhcKLPE7rKvJz0YsGo1jRu/s1600/tom+mooney.jpeg" /></a><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">This is a guest post by a lifetime gun owner and hunter, Tom Mooney. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; orphans: 3; widows: 3;">Tom is very much in line with the majority of gun owners (and myself) in calling for reasonable gun regulation to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them and prohibit the sale of assault rifles.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; orphans: 3; widows: 3;">Thank you, Tom, for sharing your post....</span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I have a confession to make. I am a gun owner. To most people who know me that probably doesn’t come as a surprise. After all, I’m the guy who brings venison stew to the potluck and shares my homemade wild game jerky. That meat comes from somewhere, and my guns are one of the tools that allow me to bring that lean, organic, healthy meat home to my friends and family. In light of our ongoing epidemic of gun violence in this country and the latest horrific example of it in Florida, I think it’s important for people like me to speak up. I believe my views represent the majority of gun owners and that fringe groups like the NRA do not represent us. Gun ownership is actually at the <a href="http://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_Trends%20in%20Gun%20Ownership_US_1972-2014.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;">lowest level it has been since the late 70s</a>, down from around 50% of households in 1977-1980 to around 30% of households now. Gun owners are definitely in the minority overall and a radical minority of those, combined with gun manufacturers represented by the likes of the NRA, have managed to completely dominate the conversation around guns in this country for decades. It’s time we change that, and my aim is to counter the narrative put forward by the NRA about gun owners and give my non-gun owning friends and fellow citizens a view into how I think and how I believe most gun owners think, about the issues of gun violence and gun control in this country.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I grew up in Montana, which has a robust gun culture, for lack of a better term. I received my first hunting rifle as a gift from my Grandfather when I was 13. It was a .300 Savage model 45 Super Sporter manufactured some time between 1928 and 1936 from what I’ve been able to find out. It lived a hard life behind the seat of his pickup for many years and was in pretty bad shape when I got it. I restored it to good shooting condition and took pride in the work and time it took to get it there. I still have that rifle, but it’s been retired from service now and stays safely locked away and out of the elements. it’s the only physical object I still have left from my Grandfather and the sentimental value of it is priceless. After I had put in the work to get the rifle in good shape, I took the Montana hunter’s safety course and went on my first hunt that Fall. This was a rite of passage that had a profound impact on the rest of my life. It was when I gained my love of the outdoors, an appreciation for time spent with family and friends in nature, and an understanding and respect for the circle of life. The thing about it is that it was never really about the guns per se. The gun had value because it was a gift from my Grandfather who I respected immensely and it was a tool that opened up opportunities to have adventures in the mountains with friends and family and bring home meat for the freezer. I won’t deny that there wasn’t some fascination in my teenage mind with the power I perceived that the gun gave me. However, the culture I grew up in, with a family that emphasized the utilitarian nature of the gun, and the formal safety training I recieved tempered that effectively. I was lucky to grow up in what I would term a “healthy” gun culture, that emphasized safety and looked at the gun as a tool not as an integral part of identity or as a means of exerting power.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Today I own a total of 3 hunting rifles including the one my Grandfather gave me 25 years ago, a .22 caliber rifle for cheap target practice, and a shotgun. No hand guns or assault rifles here. I admit I’ve struggled over the years with how to safely store them and to do my best to be a responsible gun owner. For a long time they just sat in my closet completely unlocked with ammo on the closet shelf right above. I figured it wasn’t a big deal since I didn’t have kids and I trusted the people I lived with. That was a bad choice in hindsight, however. All it would have taken is a single break-in, or a friend of a friend who I didn’t know and trust to get a hold of one of them for a tragedy to ensue. Today, I don’t have a proper gun safe since they are expensive, heavy, and hard to handle, but the guns do stay hidden and pad locked in hard plastic cases with trigger and bolt locks in place and bolts removed on the hunting rifles. Even if someone did manage to take one, cut the locks on the case and gain access, they would find an inoperable weapon. The ammunition and bolts stay locked in a small safe in a seperate location. I do not find the need to keep one easily accessible for “home defense”, and I certainly don’t have the need to carry one with me all the time. All the statistics show that a gun in a home is more likely to hurt the owner or a loved one than it ever is to be used against a hypothetical intruder. As much as the NRA would like people to be scared of things like home invasions so they keep buying guns, the truth is such crimes are exceedingly rare. The chances of being struck by lightning, eaten by a shark, or hit by a car walking down the sidewalk are probably greater than the chances of being a victim of a home invasion. As a result of this plain logic and risk assessment, I keep the guns as inaccessible as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now with that background on my personal history and relationship with guns out of the way, on to the nitty gritty of what we do about the gun violence epidemic in this country. As with so many of these big issues, there are multiple, intersecting issues at work. Among them is the culture of toxic masculinity that has given rise to the #MeToo movement and the growing awareness of the pervasiveness of rape culture and mysoginy in our society. Gun violence at it’s core is really a problem of male violence. It is the horrific end game of the endemic issues the #MeToo movement has brought to light around sexual assault and domestic violence that pervade every corner of our society. Sexual assault is not about sex, it is about power. Gun violence is much the same. We have an entire generation of men, white men in particular, who feel their power in society diminishing as the country becomes more mulicultural; Who have seen the middle class hollowed out, and good-paying, traditionally male jobs in manufacturing dissappear. This loss of societal and economic power among white men is one piece of the puzzle in explaining the rise of this toxic gun culture. Feeling powerless over their own lives, I believe many men turn to guns to give them a sense of that power back. As someone who has seen the devastating power of guns first hand, with the ability to bring down a 600 pound animal at 200 yards with a single well placed shot, I can understand the allure. It certainly does give one a sense of power, an almost god-like feeling of holding the key to life and death in your hands. The problem with this, and where it becomes toxic is that it gets wrapped up in people’s core identity. Instead of looking at guns as a tool, the gun and the power it brings, become a core part of who they are as a person. I believe this is part of the reason it has become so hard to talk about gun control in this country. Because for many people, it’s not just about guns, it’s about a core part of who they are and how they relate to the world. When you talk about limiting access to guns, they hear limiting access to one of the only things they feel they have left to give them a sense of power in the world. Obviously this is a huge issue, with many economic and cultural facets that won’t be solved any time soon. In the meantime, our children are dying and we absolutely must do something about it NOW!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What we can do now, while we continue to work on the cultural and economic issues that are at the root of the problem, is to join the rest of the industrialized world and pass common sense gun control legislation that keeps lethal weapons out of the hands of mass murderers and reduces the damage they can do in any single incident. The fact is that higher rates of gun ownership in a country are directly correlated to higher rates of gun violence. While it’s important to not conflate correlation with causality, it’s also just sort of common sense. The more guns there are and the more easily they are accessed, the more likely it is that they will be used to commit crimes. Again, the rest of the world has figured this out, it’s not rocket science. Now, the gun lobby would have us believe just the opposite. That they way to curb gun violence is for everyone to carry a gun. Arm teachers, arm doctors, arm Grandma in her wheelchair. Well, following that logic the United States should be one of the safest countries in the world since we have the most guns of just about any country in the world. As we are all painfully aware at this point, that is just not the case. No other comparable country has the level of mass shootings or gun violence in general that we do. Not to mention, I don’t think that is a society that most of us want to live in. A place where everyone is walking around armed to the teeth isn’t a civilized country, its a war zone, and that’s not where I want to live. Therefore, I believe our immediate goals need to be to limit access to the deadliest weapons and take steps to start to reduce the overall number of guns in this country. To be clear, I’m not advocating banning all guns, and I’m not advocating confiscation by force. As you know by now, I own guns, and I’d like to keep them and continue to hunt thank you very much. The fact is though that I don’t need assault rifles to do that and I don’t need an arsenal of 50 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition to do that and neither does anyone else. So, here are some the steps I belive we can take, and that as a gun owner I would fully support:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">1.) Ban the sale, manufacture, and import of semi-automatic military style rifles, assault rifles, whatever you want to call them. Just as a side note, one of the favorite diversion tactics of the radical gun lobby apologists is to turn the argument to what is and what isn’t an assault rifle. I’m not going to play that game. We all know what they are. It’s like porn, you know it when you see it. I would define them as lightweight weapons that fire small caliber, high-velocity rounds at a high rate of fire that are designed to do maximum damage to as many human bodies as possible in as short a time as possible. The AR-15 is the most notorious example since it is the weapon of choice for mass shooters lately, but there are many others. Obviously part of this would be coming up with objective criteria that define what these are. We put a man on the moon, I don’t think coming up with criteria for this should be beyond our ability. These weapons are meant for one thing, to kill enemy combatants on a battlefield. No self-respecting hunter would use one and there’s no reason for any civilian to have them. If you think you’re going to fight the government with your AR-15, you’re delusional. If that’s your concern and your interpretation of the second amendment, then we better all have tanks, Apache helicopters and nuclear missiles because if the government did decide to turn against the people you’re AR-15 isn’t going to help a bit. In reality, they are used to mow down school children and concert goers. Be real and stop living in some kind of right-wing militia fantasy land where you and your AR-15 will be heros in some hypothetical revolution. Kids are dying now, and these weapons being so freely available are a huge part of the problem. if you want to play with battlefield weapons, go join the army, I’m sure they’d be happy to have you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">2.) Ban the sale, manufacture, and import of things like bump stocks and other parts that make it easy to convert a semi-automatic weapon to a fully automatic weapon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">3.) Ban the sale, manufacture, and import of high capacity magazines. If you can’t hit your target with 4 or 5 rounds, then you need a lot more practice and have no business with a weapon in the woods or anywhere else.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">4.) Limit the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at one time. We do this with Sudafed for God’s sake, and it has been very effective in combating the methamphetamine epidemic. We should do the same with ammunition. You don’t need thousands of rounds of ammunition for hunting or even target practice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">3.) Raise the age limit for purchasing any kind of gun to 21.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">4.) Institute mandatory universal background checks at the Federal level.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">5.) Institute a mandatory waiting period of at least 10 days for any weapon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">6.) Require safety training and licensing for gun owners, just like we do for cars.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">7.) Require that liability insurance be carried on all guns, just like we do for cars. I believe this would discourage the small percentage of gun owners who have massive arsenals because it would be prohibitively expensive to insure at some point. In my opinion this would be one of the best ways we could start to reduce the overall number of guns that are out there, without confiscation, just by letting the market do it’s thing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">8.) Require by law that guns be stored safely.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">9.) Institute a nationwide voluntary buyback program. This worked very well in Australia. They had a school shooting in the 90s and part of their response to it was to start a nationwide buyback program that drastically reduced the number of guns at large in the country. Guess what, they haven’t had a school shooting since.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">That’s my list of common sense gun control legislation that I would be fully behind and that most gun owners I have talked to would be fully behind as well. Would it make my life a bit more complicated? It sure would, but if a bit of inconvenience for me will save the life of even one child then it’s worth every bit. Purchasing a gun is a rare thing for most gun owners. Maybe a few times in a lifetime. Having to go through a few more steps, waiting periods, etc. would not be that big of a deal for most of us. It would have a bigger impact on collectors and the “prepper” set who feel the need to have a massive arsenal. But you know what, I don’t care. Their hobby or paranoia isn’t worth the lives of children.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">One last point that I’d like to make about gun control is that as with everything in America we have to think about the racial aspect of it. The fact is, some of the first gun control laws were put into place in California with the full backing of the NRA, as a reaction to the Black Panther movement and black folks openly carrying guns. if we are not careful about how we institute and execute gun control legislation it will become just another tool like the “war on drugs” for targeting communities of color and perpetuating the national shame of mass incarceration of black and brown people.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Also, here are some organizations that I’ve contributed to that are doing good work around this and countering the likes of the NRA. I urge you to do the same.</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;">Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;">Everytown for Gun Safety</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><a href="https://www.backcountryhunters.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;">Backcountry Hunters and Anglers</a> </span>(I included BHA not because they are promoting gun control obviously, but because I believe they promote a more “healthy” gun culture; one focused on the gun as a tool and as a means to enjoy the outdoors, kind of what the NRA used to be before they were infiltrated by gun manufacturers and zeaolts. Their conservation work is also tremendous.)</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><b>Addendum by Baldr:</b> There is a growing movement of gun owners against the NRA, as well as a number of organizations (such as <a href="https://www.responsibleownership.org/">Gun Owners for Responsible Gun Ownership</a>) and Facebook groups (such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GunOwnersAgainstTheNra/?fref=ts">Gun Owners Against the NRA</a>) of responsible gun owners who support commonsense gun regulation. See my prior blog post on this, <a href="https://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-growing-movement-of-gun-owners.html">HERE</a>.</i></span></div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-82298678529748969942018-03-24T21:33:00.001-07:002018-04-30T23:31:57.758-07:00Oregon Ballot Measure 43 - Ban Assault Weapon And High-Capacity Magazine Sales<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab5336270e802ff969f9c0f/t/5ab534d303ce648650fe49e5/1521824985196/Logo.png?format=500w" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="alignnone " height="224" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab5336270e802ff969f9c0f/t/5ab534d303ce648650fe49e5/1521824985196/Logo.png?format=500w" style="box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="285" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #676767;">Clergy members of all faiths, youth, advocates, and Oregonians who are gun owners and non-gun owners have come together as a coalition to stop the carnage in our schools, our streets, and throughout our country. The coalition, "Lift Every Voice," has one goal: to make the state a safer place for all Oregonians.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We have filed Measure 43 as a ballot initiative for the November 2018 election. Measure 43 would prohibit the future sale or transfer of semiautomatic rifles and large-capacity magazines. Any such firearms or ammunition, described clearly in the measure, owned at the time the act becomes effective must be registered with the state, sold out of state, permanently disabled or can be given to law enforcement for disposal. The same safety measures will be applied to large-capacity magazines, defined as a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The ballot measure has been filed. Sponsorship signatures were turned in on Saturday, March 24. The push for 88,184 signatures will not begin until we have cleared any court challenges. At this time, we do not expect to be able to begin collecting those signatures until June. Until then, this is an "initiative petition" (IP 43).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/signup/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;">Sign up here</a> to receive email alerts from Ceasefire Oregon about Measure 43, how you can help, and pending federal firearm legislation.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Frequently Asked Questions:</span></strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Will people be forced to surrender their guns?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">No. People will be required to register the firearms and magazines described in Measure 43. The firearms and magazines may also be sold out of state, permanently disabled or given to law enforcement for disposal.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is this Constitutional?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes. Seven other states (HI, CA, NJ, NY, MD, MA, CT) and the District of Columbia already have similar laws banning assault rifles.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is this divisive or controversial?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">No. A <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2521" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;">Quinnipiac Poll</a> from last month (February 2018) showed that 67% of Americans support an outright ban on the sale of assault rifles. )</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why doesn’t the Oregon legislature pass this as a bill?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Oregon legislature did not pass a similar bill (HB 3200) in 2013 after the Clackamas Town Center and Sandy Hook shootings. They have not been willing to address this issue since then.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How will this bill protect Oregonians?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When access to assault weapons is restricted, deaths due to mass shootings decrease. A 2014 study found that “both state and federal assault weapons bans have statistically significant and negative effects on mass shooting fatalities.” Everytown for Gun Safety, Assault Weapons Bans on Public Mass Shootings,” <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Applied Economics Letters</i> 22, no. 4 (2014): 281-284, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504851.2014.939367" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #007fb0;">http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504851.2014.939367</a>.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HERE IS THE CURRENT LANGUAGE OF MEASURE 43</span></strong><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Campaign to Stop the Sale and Transfer of Weapons of War</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OREGON:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">SECTION 1. Sections 2 to 5 of this 2018 Act are added to and made a part of ORS 166.250 to 166.470.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">SECTION 2. The people of the State of Oregon find and declare that a reduction in the availability of assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines will promote the public health and safety of the residents of this state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">SECTION 3. As used in sections 2 to 6 of this 2018 Act: (1)(a) “Assault weapon” means any:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(A) Semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(i) Any grip of the weapon, including a pistol grip, a thumbhole stock or any other stock, the use of which would allow an individual to grip the weapon, resulting in any finger on the trigger hand in addition to the trigger finger being directly below any portion of the action of the weapon when firing;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(ii) Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the nontrigger hand;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(iii) A folding or telescoping stock;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(iv) A shroud attached to the barrel, or that partially or completely encircles the barrel, allowing the bearer to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned, but excluding a slide that encloses the barrel;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(v) A forward pistol grip; (vi) A flash suppressor, muzzle brake, muzzle compensator, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, muzzle brake, or muzzle compensator;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(vii) A bayonet mount; or</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(viii) A grenade launcher or flare launcher;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(B) Semiautomatic pistol, or any semiautomatic, centerfire or rimfire rifle with a fixed magazine, that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(C) Semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than thirty inches;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(D) Semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(i) Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the nontrigger hand;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(ii) A folding, telescoping or thumbhole stock;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(iii) A shroud attached to the barrel, or that partially or completely encircles the barrel, allowing the bearer to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned, but excluding a slide that encloses the barrel;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(iv) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at any location outside of the pistol grip; or (v) A threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash suppressor or forward pistol grip; 2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(E) Semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(i) Any grip of the weapon, including a pistol grip, a thumbhole stock or any other stock, the use of which would allow an individual to grip the weapon, resulting in any finger on the trigger hand in addition to the trigger finger being directly below any portion of the action of the weapon when firing; and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(ii) A folding or telescoping stock;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(F) Semiautomatic shotgun that has at least one of the following:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(i) A fixed magazine capacity in excess of ten rounds; or</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(ii) An ability to accept a detachable magazine;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(G) Shotgun with a revolving cylinder; and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(H) Conversion kit, part or combination of parts from which an assault weapon can be assembled if those parts are in the possession or under control of the same person. (b) “Assault weapon” does not include any firearm that has been made permanently inoperable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(2) “Criminal background check” has the meaning given that term in ORS 166.432.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(3) “Department” means Department of State Police.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(4) “Detachable magazine” means an ammunition feeding device that can be loaded or unloaded while detached from a firearm and readily inserted into a firearm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(5) “Fixed magazine” means an ammunition feeding device contained in or permanently attached to a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(6) “Large capacity magazine” means any ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds or any conversion kit or combination of parts from which such a device can be assembled, but does not include any of the following:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(a) A feeding device that has been permanently altered so that it cannot accommodate more than 10 rounds;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(b) A .22 caliber tube ammunition feeding device; or (c) A tubular magazine that is contained in a lever-action firearm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">SECTION 4.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(1) Notwithstanding ORS 166.250 to 166.470, and except as provided in subsections (2) to (4) of this Section 4, a person commits the crime of unlawful possession or transfer of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine if the person manufactures, imports, possesses, purchases, sells or transfers any assault weapon or large capacity magazine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(2) Subsection (1) of this Section 4 does not apply to: 3 (a) Any government officer, agent or employee, member of the Armed Forces of the United States or peace officer as that term is defined in ORS 133.005 if that person is otherwise authorized to acquire or possess an assault weapon or large capacity magazine and does so while acting within the scope of that person’s duties; (b) The manufacture of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine by a firearms manufacturer for the purpose of sale to any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that agency or its employees, provided the manufacturer is properly licensed under federal, state and local laws; or (c) The sale or transfer of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine by a firearms dealer licensed under 18 U.S.C. 923 to any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(3) Any person who, prior to the effective date of this law, was legally in possession of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine shall, within 120 days after the effective date of this 2018 Act, without being subject to prosecution: (a) Remove the assault weapon or large capacity magazine from the state; (b) Sell the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to a firearms dealer licensed under 18 U.S.C. 923 for lawful sale or transfer under subsection (2) of this section; (c) Surrender the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to a law enforcement agency for destruction; (d) Render the assault weapon permanently inoperable; or (e) If eligible, register the assault weapon or large capacity magazine with the Department as provided in Section 5 of this 2018 Act.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(4) Any person who acquires an assault weapon or large capacity magazine, for which registration was previously properly obtained under Section 5 of this Act, by inheritance, bequest or succession, or by virtue of the person’s role as executor or other legal representative of an estate or trust, shall, within 120 days after acquiring title, without being subject to prosecution under this section: (a) Surrender the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to a law enforcement agency for destruction; (b) Transfer the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to a firearms dealer licensed under 18 U.S.C. 923 for lawful sale or transfer under subsection (2)(c) of this section; (c) Render the assault weapon permanently inoperable; or (d) If eligible, register the assault weapon or large capacity magazine with the Department and meet all of the requirements under Section 5 of this 2018 Act, except the time for registering shall run from the date of acquiring title.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(5) Any person who moves into the state and immediately prior to moving is in lawful possession of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine, shall, unless exempt under Section 4(2)-(4) of this Act, within 120 days:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(a) Surrender the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to a law enforcement agency for destruction;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(b) Transfer the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to a firearms dealer licensed under 18 U.S.C. 923 for lawful sale or transfer under subsection (2)(c) of this section; or 4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(c) Render the assault weapon permanently inoperable. (6) Unlawful possession or transfer of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine is a Class B felony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">SECTION 5.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(1) Any person seeking to register an assault weapon or large capacity magazine with the Department shall do so as provided in this section within 120 days after the effective date of this 2018 Act.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(2) In order to register an assault weapon under this section, the owner of the assault weapon must: (a) Submit to the Department, on a form approved by the Department, the owner’s name and address and the identification number of each assault weapon owned by the owner: (b) Be the lawful owner of the assault weapon prior to the effective date of this 2018 Act; and (c) Allow the Department to conduct a criminal background check of the person to confirm that the person is not a prohibited possessor under ORS 166.250.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(3) In order to register a large capacity magazine under this section, a person must: (a) Submit to the Department, on a form approved by the Department, the owner’s name and address and information sufficient to identify any large magazine owned or possessed by the owner; (b) Be the lawful owner of the large capacity magazine prior to the effective date of this 2018 Act; and (c) Allow the Department to conduct a criminal background check of the person to confirm that the person is not a prohibited possessor under ORS 166.250.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(4) A person seeking to register an assault weapon or large capacity magazine must submit evidence satisfactory to the Department to establish that: (a) The owner has securely stored the assault weapon or large capacity magazine pursuant to existing law and, in addition, as provided in any rules and regulations adopted by the Department specifically relating to assault weapons and large capacity magazines; (b) The owner possesses any lawful assault weapon or large capacity magazine only:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(A) On property owned or immediately controlled by the registered owner;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(B) On property owned by another with the owner’s express permission in a manner consistent with subsection (4)(a) in this section;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(C) On the premises of a firearms dealer or gunsmith licensed under 18 U.S.C. 923 for the purpose of lawful repair;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(D) While engaged in the legal use of the assault weapon or large capacity magazine, at a public or private shooting range, shooting gallery or other area designed and built for the purpose of target shooting;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(E) At a firearms competition or exhibition, display or educational project about firearms sponsored, conducted by approved or under the auspices of a law enforcement agency or a national or state-recognized entity that fosters proficiency in firearms use or promotes firearms education; or</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(F) While transporting the weapon in a vehicle as permitted in ORS 166.250 to one of the locations authorized under this statute.</span></div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-64495295762634689472018-03-12T20:40:00.000-07:002018-03-13T01:06:06.727-07:00Guns Explained Using Animated CatsThe whole issue of gun violence and legislative actions can get, shall I say, "heated," and is as complex of an issue as it comes. So sometimes it's a good idea to simplify things with an analogy. I once did so with <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-if-gun-control-debates-were.html">a "play" about "gum control"</a> in the classroom.<br />
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But here's <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/animator-brilliantly-explains-the-gun-control-debate-using-cats_us_5aa2bc71e4b01b9b0a3afb2e?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=main_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063">a remarkably better analogy</a>... CATS! More specifically, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxwPcUh97oc">an animated video</a> using cats instead of guns:<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WxwPcUh97oc" width="560"></iframe><br />
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"But my crazy cat-lady neighbor wants everybody to think it's okay to own a cheetah!"Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-41922412825239122332018-03-06T22:17:00.004-08:002018-03-07T15:08:40.871-08:00Victory In Oregon: Closing The "Boyfriend Loophole" <span style="font-family: inherit;">This week marks another great victory for gun regulation in the state of Oregon. Governor Brown signed into law House Bill 4145.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3p_h9C0SYl-muDBeq1E_TnDlJmx_hDK4cUqotID4nkE8EaUkdOM0fLgtNBFgREOm-Qqqz5CGd2H6NyOAERkhcnDo3tiB2ZALA5Wy1KvywaJSSK5roFuyTKBKaTTk1Od0T0F8lHwO_Sth/s1600/HB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3p_h9C0SYl-muDBeq1E_TnDlJmx_hDK4cUqotID4nkE8EaUkdOM0fLgtNBFgREOm-Qqqz5CGd2H6NyOAERkhcnDo3tiB2ZALA5Wy1KvywaJSSK5roFuyTKBKaTTk1Od0T0F8lHwO_Sth/s320/HB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crowd as Governor Brown signs HB4145</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In Oregon, it was already illegal for someone to own or possess guns if they were convicted of domestic violence against spouses, former spouses, someone they cohabit with, unmarried parents of their child, someone they've had sexual relations with whom they are cohabiting with, or someone they are blood relatives with. Seems pretty broad, right? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately, it excluded those who were simply intimate partners who didn't cohabit. In other words, the abusive boyfriend who is convicted of stalking or abusing his girlfriend. Thus, the "boyfriend loophole."</span><br />
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HB 4145 closes this loophole. The bill also now mandates that local law enforcement is notified when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a gun and fails a background check.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;">According to the <a href="http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center/stalking-information#fem" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Oregon Health Authority</a></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;">:</span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span><br />
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<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">From 2003 to 2012, 256 people were killed in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Oregon.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Most homicide victims were women and children.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">More than 80% of female victims of intimate partner homicide were killed by their current spouses or boyfriends.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Most male victims are killed by someone other than an intimate partner.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.70233rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Firearms are a common mechanism of death among IPV-related homicides.</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Today is a huge victory for Oregon families,” said Penny Okamoto, executive director of Ceasefire Oregon. “Convicted stalkers and abusers will no longer be able to purchase or possess guns. In addition, law enforcement now has the tools necessary to help prosecute prohibited purchasers who attempt to buy firearms illegally.”</span></span><br />
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Extremist pro-gun groups attempted to argue that a disgruntled girlfriend need only accuse her ex of abuse and his gun rights would be wrongly stripped from him. But that's a lie. They still have to be convicted of stalking or domestic abuse first.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUPghWC-dC4">HERE</a> is a video of Governor Brown signing the bill into law outside the state Capitol, surrounded by hundreds of supporters including, in largest part, passionate teenagers who took off from their school day to show their support:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RUPghWC-dC4" width="560"></iframe><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">Both local and national gun control groups were pleased with the bill’s passage into law. “Today Oregon became a safer place to live,” </span><a href="https://giffords.org/2018/03/giffords-or-dv-bill/" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #005093; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">said </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. “Guns and domestic violence are a deadly, tragic mix, something that Oregonians know all too well.”</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To learn more about this new law, and related statistics, please visit the Ceasefire Oregon page for it, here: <a href="https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/bills/hb4145/">https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/bills/hb4145/ </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our thanks goes out to the Governor, the sponsors and supporters of this bill. Together, we are making a <i>new trajectory</i> for our society away from gun violence.</span><br />
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<br />Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-23165050097393743562018-03-01T22:19:00.002-08:002019-08-22T14:10:00.398-07:00A List Of Incidents Caused By Legal Gun Owners On School Grounds<div>
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<i><b>-- THIS POST IS UPDATED AS NEW INCIDENTS ARE FOUND --</b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Every time there's a school shooting, the NRA and pro-gun forces come out of the woodwork again to say that schools, as "gun free zones," are targets for shooters, and that arming teachers and school staff is the only way to insure safety. It's the <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-myth-of-conceal-carry-hero-coming.html">myth of the "conceal carry hero"</a> made into a school drama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcRN8_FGyUF09JN3EaPRJi1tZMRuKVlTQsni-DtZHuLSjNIwKnq4WLnhBVvgiEle0rJR9cF8bGfe3_0bU-CA_gLaB_NQI0OeRiWSgdEbqBKSgN5RslPeaEcxllW_3iizMwdJuNypO7-V7/s1600/nra+plan+for+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="480" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcRN8_FGyUF09JN3EaPRJi1tZMRuKVlTQsni-DtZHuLSjNIwKnq4WLnhBVvgiEle0rJR9cF8bGfe3_0bU-CA_gLaB_NQI0OeRiWSgdEbqBKSgN5RslPeaEcxllW_3iizMwdJuNypO7-V7/s400/nra+plan+for+school.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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This lunacy came to a peak after the Sandy Hook shooting, when, after <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/opinion/the-nra-crawls-from-its-hidey-hole.html?hp&_r=0">shameless silence</a>, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre stepped up to the microphone and shocked the world by actually suggesting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/us/nra-calls-for-armed-guards-at-schools.html">arming all schools</a>, a move that was soundly rejected as insanity by <a href="http://newtrajectory.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-myth-of-conceal-carry-hero-coming.html">nearly every national organization representing parents, teachers, and law enforcement, as well as the citizens of Newtown, and has no merit with any historical context</a>, including when it <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/columbine-armed-guards_n_2347096.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email+Notifications">failed to stop the Columbine shooting</a>. Since then, the idea has been floated many times, including by various <a href="https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2018/02/26/sen-lindsey-graham-supports-trained-teachers-guns-opposes-assault-weapons-ban/372803002/">GOP legislators</a>, <a href="http://www.oregonfirearms.org/12-17-12-time-to-arm-teachers">extremist gun groups</a>, and even <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/02/26/588865775/renewing-call-to-arm-teachers-trump-tells-governors-the-nra-is-on-our-side">President Trump</a> after the massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. States like <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/1/17059248/florida-legislatures-arm-teachers-gun-control">Florida</a>, <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/28/tennessee-gun-laws-lawmakers-school-safety/381215002/">Tennessee</a>, and <a href="https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/27/lawmakers-move-arm-teachers-allow-university-prohibit-guns/376651002/#/questions">Mississippi </a>have introduced bills to follow through with this. And <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/us/armed-teachers-guns-schools.html">a handful of school systems</a> have decided to do it, including <a href="http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/36482387-75/oregon-lets-school-districts-decide-gun-policies.html.csp">here in Oregon</a>. Legislators have even tried to <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/gop-floats-tax-credit-for-gun-owners-who-prowl-schoolyards.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=s3&utm_campaign=sharebutton-t">encourage armed vigilantes to prowl school grounds</a> in return for tax credits.<br />
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Two different studies (<a href="http://yas.sagepub.com/content/43/2/705.short">HERE</a> and <a href="http://yas.sagepub.com/content/43/1/365.short">HERE</a>) have shown that armed guards in schools make students feel <i>less</i> secure, possibly affecting their academic performance. Not that student perceptions really matter to the pro-gun forces trying to make these decisions.<br />
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But could they be right? <a href="https://everytownresearch.org/reports/analysis-of-school-shootings/">An analysis by Everytown </a>found that there was an average of two school shootings at K-12 schools every month between 2013-2015. A more recent examination for 2018 by Everytown found an average of <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/school-shootings-2018_us_5a84a68ee4b0058d55659ae9">one school shooting every 63 hours</a>. With all those school shootings, shouldn't there, by now, have been some good examples where armed civilians other than police have stopped a school shooting? </div>
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Well, no, actually. There has never been a school shooting stopped by an armed teacher or a citizen conceal-carry owner. The <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20123633,00.html">closest case I ever found</a> was of a school staff member (and Army reservist commander) who went out to their car and got a gun, but the shooting was over by that point, the shooter was out of ammo and was driving out of the parking lot (the only reason he was stopped was that the shooter crashed his car, allowing the staff member to get to him and hold him under arrest).</div>
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However, there HAVE been plenty of cases where gun owners, legally carrying guns on school grounds, have CAUSED incidents on campus, including incidents that wound children, other adults, or themselves.</div>
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Here is a list of those incidents that I have found, which will be updated as I find more. So far, it is up to <b>TWENTY SEVEN </b>incidents, resulting in the wounding of <b>five children</b> and <b>five adults. Sixteen </b>incidents were caused by police officers or security guards.</div>
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<ul style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>August 19, 2019: </b>The district transportation director in Sparta, Ohio, who was allowed to carry a loaded, concealed handgun on campus as part of the district's conceal carry plan meant to "protect" students, <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190819/first-grader-pointed-loaded-gun-at-student-in-school-office-email-says?fbclid=IwAR3Igz6YiSCuuasch0YMqkEvJ2qHGCA3ya1_5JKUYO5RxUOnDi4XaGM7h6k">left her gun in her desk unattended</a> for around 30 minutes while she went to the bathroom and the nearby high school. A first grader found the loaded gun and pointed it at another student. No charges were filed and no one was fired, though the director was removed from the conceal carry program and was suspended without pay for three days.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>October 5, 2018: </b>A security guard at </span></span>Somerset Academy Bay School in Kendall, FL,<a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/kendall/article219585185.html"> left his loaded gun in the bathroom</a>. A fifth-grade child found the gun and immediately notified administrators at the school office. The guard was fired, but no charges were filed.</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>May 23, 2018: </b>A parent visiting a classroom an Early Childhood Center in Pittsburgh, PA, when a 3-year old <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/3-year-old-pulls-gun-from-mothers-purse-in-classroom/755425902">reached into her purse and pulled out her loaded handgun</a>. Luckily, the child was stopped before pulling the trigger. The woman was charged with</span></span> possessing a weapon on school property and four counts of recklessly endangering another person.</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>April 18, 2018: </b>A parent visiting a school in Gladstone, Oregon, for a volleyball tournament <a href="http://usatodayhss.com/2018/report-oregon-parent-left-revolver-in-bathroom-at-volleyball-tournament">left their loaded revolver in a bathroom stall</a>. Luckily, a coach found the gun before any children, and turned it in to police. The owner had a conceal carry permit.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>April 4, 2018: </b>A county sheriff <a href="http://record-eagle.cnhi.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=0cabc0aa6">left his loaded backup handgun in the stall of a middle school gym bathroom</a> in Shepherd, Michigan. A sixth-grade boy found the gun and reported it. Luckily, the gun was not handled.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>March 13, 2018: </b>A teacher and reserve police officer was giving a class on gun safety in his high school classroom in Seaside, CA, when he unintentionally fired his gun toward the ceiling. <a href="http://www.ksbw.com/article/seaside-high-teacher-accidentally-fires-gun-in-class/19426017">Bullet fragments wounded a 17-year old boy in the neck</a>. Other students <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/3-students-injured-when-california-high-school-teacher-fires-gun-n856481?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma">were injured by debris</a> falling from the ceiling.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>March 13, 2018: </b>A school resource officer <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/School-Resource-Officer-Accidentally-Fires-Weapon-Inside-School-476676103.html">unintentionally discharged his handgun</a> inside an Alexandria, VA, middle school. Luckily no one was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>February 28, 2018: </b>A high school social studies teacher in Dalton, Georgia, barricaded himself in a classroom and <a href="http://time.com/5179477/dalton-high-school-shooting/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">fired a shot from a handgun</a>. Luckily, no one was injured, and he was taken into custody. He had a <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/03/02/teacher-accused-of-firing-gun-in-class-once-had-his-rifles-taken-away-sheriff/">history of mental problems</a> and violent behavior that had led, at one time, of having his guns removed.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>February 5, 2018: </b>A police officer was at an elementary school in Maplewood, MN, "building relationships" with 3rd and 4th graders when one little boy reached over and <a href="http://kstp.com/news/no-one-hurt-when-third-grader-reaches-into-school-liaison-officer-holster-fires-gun-harmony-learning-center-maplewood/4773777/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">pulled the trigger on the officer's holstered handgun</a>. The gun fired into the floor. Luckily, no one was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>September 13, 2016: </b>A school teacher at </span></span>Cumberland Christian School, in Chambersburg, PA, <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cops-teacher-left-gun-bathroom" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">left a loaded, unsecured handgun on a toilet in a bathroom</a>. Four children, ages 6 to 8, went in the bathroom before one of the children reported the gun. Luckily, none of them fired the gun.</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>February 19, 2015: </b>A school resource officer at Western Wayne School District in Pennsylvania <a href="http://wnep.com/2015/02/19/investigation-after-gun-went-off-inside-high-school/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">unintentionally fired his handgun in the school</a>. Luckily, no one was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>September 11, 2014<span style="font-family: inherit;">: </span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A teacher was in the bathroom of a school in Taylorsville, Utah, when <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58402182-78/teacher-horsley-teachers-carry.html.csp" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">she unintentionally shot herself<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in the leg </span>with her own handgun</a>.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>January 18, 2014: </b>An armed security guard <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/18/1469231/armed-school-guard-leaves-gun-in-student-bathroom/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">left his weapon unattended in the bathroom</a>, fully accessible to K-8 students, despite being a retired police weapons instructor.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>January 18, 2014:</b> Two police officers serving as school resource officers decided to clean their guns while on the grounds of an Akron, Ohio, high school. One of them <a href="https://www.ohio.com/akron/writers/brimfield-police-officers-disciplined-after-gun-discharges-at-high-school">unintentionally discharged his gun</a>. Luckily, no one was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">October 24, 2013:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> A police officer left his loaded AR-15 assault rifle strapped to his motorcycle while visiting an elementary school. <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Chino-Newman-Elementary-School-Safety-Demonstration-Weapon-Gun-Misfires-Injures-228984301.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">A boy pulled the trigger</a>, firing the weapon and leading to a shrapnel injury of three kids.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">August 24, 2013: </b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">A SWAT police officer was giving a presentation at an elementary school in Lodi, California, when a 6-8 year old boy<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/09/01/lodi-police-investigating-after-child-discharges-swat-officers-gun/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">fired the officer's holstered gun</a>, hitting the officer in the leg.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">May 15, 2013: </b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">A Winchester, PA, police officer boarded a special needs school bus to calm a student. After the officer sat next to him, <a href="http://www.policemag.com/channel/weapons/news/2013/05/15/officer-s-weapon-accidentally-discharges-on-school-bus.aspx">the child reached over and pulled the trigger on the officer's handgun</a>, discharging a round into the bus seat and floor. Luckily, no one was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">May 14, 2013:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> A school staffer with a conceal carry permit was offering a ride to a student, in the parking lot of a high school in Aurora, Colorado, when<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://kdvr.com/2013/05/13/police-staff-worker-accidentally-shoots-student-outside-rangeview-h-s/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">he unintentionally fired</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>his legally concealed handgun, hitting the student in the leg.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">April 16, 2013: </b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">A Boy Scout troop leader, who was also a retired police officer and conceal carry permit holder, dropped a fanny pack containing his gun while attending a scout meeting inside a Des Plains, Illinois, grade school. The <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-16/news/chi-retired-cop-drops-gun-shoots-self-at-des-plaines-school-20130416_1_police-officer-retired-officer-des-plaines">gun discharged, striking him in the leg</a>. No one else was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">March 6, 2013:</b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>A recently-started armed resource officer program at schools in Highland, New York, was suspended after one of the security guards<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/07/guns-school-officer-shoots/1970017/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">unintentionally fired his weapon in school</a></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Children were present, but luckily no one was injured.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">March 1, 2013:</b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>During a conceal carry training class, on school grounds, which was part of a new program to arm school staff, a school maintenance worker who was a student in the class<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/28/texas-school-worker-shot-during-district-sponsored-gun-training/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">unintentionally fired his weapon</a></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">, wounding himself in the leg.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">January 17, 2013:</b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>A charter school in Lapeer, Michigan, decided to start having an armed guard on campus. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Three days after hiring a guard, the man<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><a href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/17/32-year-veteran-school-guard-leaves-gun-in-school-bathroom/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">left his weapon in a school bathroom</a></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> </span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">where kids could have found it.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">October 8, 2012:</b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>A man with a concealed handgun visited an elementary school classroom in Moore, Oklahoma, to help the teacher with her computer. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><a href="http://www.news9.com/story/19765276/moore-police-gun-left-at-elementary-school-by-accident" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">His gun fell out and he left without it</a></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">, only realizing it was missing after the media reported it. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Small children were present in the room at the time.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>March 22, 2012: </b> A volunteer track coach at John Mall High School in <span style="line-height: 18px;">Walsenburg, Colorado, <a href="https://huerfanoworldjournal.com/coach-accidently-shoots-himself/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">unintentionally shot himself in the leg</a> with his new .40 caliber Glock handgun, nearly bleeding to death. He was in his vehicle in the parking lot of the school sports complex.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">December 8, 2011: </b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">A janitor with a conceal carry permit was working on ceiling tiles in a preschool classroom in Waterbury, Connecticut, when he took off his gun belt. He then <a href="http://articles.courant.com/2011-12-07/community/hc-waterbury-janitor-gun-1208-20111207_1_loaded-gun-chris-corbett-classroom" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">left the loaded gun in the classroom and forgot about it</a>. Monday morning, teachers came in the room and found the gun, only moments before 3- and 4-year olds entered the room.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 10.25pt;">September 12, 2011:</b><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>An armed security guard, patrolling schools at night in Salem, Oregon,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><a href="http://salem.katu.com/news/parents-kids/443071-update-no-sign-school-security-guards-missing-gun" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">unintentionally lost his loaded firearm somewhere during his rounds</a></span><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;">. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The gun was never found.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 10.25pt;"><b>May 12, 2011:</b> A school resource officer was cleaning his gun, while in the school building, and <a href="http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/school-resource-officer-fires-gun-while-cleaning-it/article_b2dadaa6-c4ae-55e2-852f-434862cc35ee.html#.UQrpTuizPw4" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">unintentionally fired the gun</a>. The round went through the wall and into the nurse's room where there were two student, the nurse, and another adult. Luckily, no one was injured.</span></span></li>
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[By the way, this list <b><i>doesn't include</i></b> shootings by adults who are simply behaving badly on school grounds, such as arguments in the parking lot, like <a href="https://patch.com/maryland/greenbelt/shooting-reported-high-point-high-school-police-0">this one</a>, <a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2017/12/28/man-arguing-with-girlfriend-in-lancaster-school-parking-lot-is-shot-by-another-man/">this one</a>, or <a href="http://catcountry1063fm.com/commodore-woman-charged-in-accidental-shooting/">this one</a>, or shootings by <a href="http://kidshootings.blogspot.com/search/label/School%20Shooting">children who bring guns to school</a>. The list would be FAR longer. Instead, this list just focuses on "law-abiding" school staff, teachers, security, or anyone else who might be expected to protect kids with their guns, as the NRA argues.]<br />
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I urge you to save this list. The next time you hear a pro-gun supporter suggest that guns in school is a good idea, whether it is from a legislator, school board, or some gun guy off the street, please show them this list and challenge them to show you a comparable list of incidents that support their side. They'll come up with crickets. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIhCexRVih8_49vu2Mr1g2JdbyKFx5Eyep_L9SJdnvT-_JcEmh-Dxpc6evi99-8ltV2TyP20uMOSF2eDQsBwiWXJStn3EWbk7pDReFbHrodfYLpciF3PbTHgcZGtgnALcYn0X7W1CLmL0N/s1600/arm+teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIhCexRVih8_49vu2Mr1g2JdbyKFx5Eyep_L9SJdnvT-_JcEmh-Dxpc6evi99-8ltV2TyP20uMOSF2eDQsBwiWXJStn3EWbk7pDReFbHrodfYLpciF3PbTHgcZGtgnALcYn0X7W1CLmL0N/s320/arm+teachers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">February 28, 2018, Dalton, GA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And you might also remind them that school shootings <i>have </i>been stopped by school staff... unarmed. Like <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/us/antoinette-tuff-school-shootings/index.html">this one</a>, who said <span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;">"If I had had a gun on me, we'd have all been dead." There's also <a href="https://www.alicetraining.com/news/founders-forum/hero-teacher-stops-shooter/">this one</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/11/justice/california-school-shooting-teachers/index.html">this one</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></span></div>
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The idea of arming school teachers and staff is wrongheaded and flies in the face of the facts and common sense. Instead of turning our classrooms into guardrooms and our schools into fortresses, let's work to keep guns out of the wrong hands in the first place with better, common sense gun regulations.<br />
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<b>ADDENDUM (5/7/18):</b> <a href="https://apnews.com/08659d568d7448a6b500f27d98a6c3a6">A related article</a> citing 30 incidents by armed adults at schools, collected from the <a href="http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/">Gun Violence Archive</a>.</div>
Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-25286458560573241482018-02-25T14:13:00.001-08:002018-02-25T14:13:34.767-08:00The Stoneman Douglas High School Drama Club Performs "Shine"On February 21, one week after the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, <span id="goog_666471063"></span><a href="https://www.boston.com/news/national-news/2018/02/21/cnn-town-hall-marco-rubio">a town hall meeting</a><span id="goog_666471064"></span> was held to discuss the issues of gun violence reduction and how they related to the shooting.<br />
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It was an emotion-charged event, where students and teachers <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/the-most-stunning-parkland-student-quotes-from-cnns-town-hall-prove-theyre-the-true-heroes-8295687">confronted legislators and the NRA</a>, face to face, on the issues.<br />
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At the end of the event, though, was this moving musical tribute, where members of the Stoneman Douglas High Schooll Drama Club, some of whom lost friends during the shooting, performed an original musical performance, entitled "<b>Shine</b>"....<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sW6cXVzRnuo" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #373a3c;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"You're not gonna knock us down / We'll get back up again / You may have hurt us but I promise we are stronger and / We're not gonna let you win / We're putting up a fight / You may have brought the dark / But together we will shine a light," the chorus says.</span></span><br />
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It is chilling and amazing. If only we didn't have to have events like this, so that memorial songs like this wouldn't be needed anymore.Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-45222914128386602972017-10-04T01:15:00.000-07:002018-12-18T08:27:38.932-08:00Bump-Fire Stocks And Why They Are Important In The Las Vegas Massacre<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">In Las Vegas, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/las-vegas-shooting-59-killed-more-500-hurt-near-mandalay-n806461" style="color: #7d181e;">59 people died and over 500 were wounded</a>. It's hard to fathom how one man could kill and injure so many people in less than 10 minutes -- until you consider the weapons he had at hand, weapons that are legal to purchase almost anywhere in our nation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">As America continues to reel from the horror unleashed in Las Vegas this week, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooting-victims/index.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">remembers the victims</a> and all the <a href="http://people.com/crime/las-vegas-shooting-heroic-actions-night-of-terror/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">heroic acts of concert-goers</a> saving each other, the picture of the shooter and his high-powered, military-style weaponry is becoming clearer.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">Searching the shooter's 32nd floor hotel room, investigators<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/03/what-gun-used-las-vegas-shooting/726743001/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;"> found 23 firearms</a>, almost all of which were semi-auto assault rifles, along with high-capacity ammo magazines, sniper scopes, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Searching the shooter's home, more firearms were found, as well as more ammunition and signs of explosives. In all, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/guns-loaded-high-capacity-magazines-found-vegas-shooters/story?id=50228093" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">47 firearms were discovered</a> that had been in his possession.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">On many of the assault rifles, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/us/las-vegas-gun-sounds-trnd/index.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">investigators found "bump-fire stocks."</a> This is a very important point. What are bump stocks and why are they important?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">"Bump-fire" is a technique used by "gun enthusiasts" to fire semi-auto guns far faster, almost like a full-auto machine gun, by using the gun's recoil to cause their finger to hit the trigger in a rapid fashion. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzDrTFnxsEM" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">HERE</a> is an example of someone bump firing an AK pistol.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">"Bump-fire stocks" are similar, in that they are an accessory rifle stock (the back part of the gun that goes up against your shoulder) that is manufactured in such a way as to create the bump-fire action in an easier fashion. In the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/03/whats-the-bump-fire-stock-that-the-vegas-killer-may-have-used-to-killed-59-people/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">words of Senator Dianne Feinstein</a>, <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb;">“This replacement shoulder stock turns a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire at a rate of 400 to 800 rounds per minute." This in essence turns a semi-auto assault rifle, which is already high-powered, into nearly the equivalent of a fully automatic "machine gun." These also help get around strict gun regulations in California which are meant to prevent fully automatic rifle sales. Feinstein had introduced a bill in 2013 to ban bump-fire stocks, but the bill was defeated. In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, she is <a href="https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=DE62FF33-A366-48DD-A80A-9AD106BD440B" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">looking to re-introduce the ban</a>.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mercury News <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/03/whats-the-bump-fire-stock-that-the-vegas-killer-may-have-used-to-killed-59-people/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">released a very good article</a> that describes in more detail how bump-fire stocks work.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Ws9qu4rs0&feature=youtu.be&t=42s" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">Here is a video</a> of a gun manufacturer who is selling bump-fire stocks, as advertised during the 2013 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, ironically, in 2013. Note how fast the shots are fired with it with both an AR-15 and AK-47:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[<b>UPDATE</b>: shortly after publishing this post, that video was taken down, so <a href="https://youtu.be/z2d6OLs5rZw?t=2m37s">here is a different video</a> demonstrating a comparable bump-fire stock in action] The narrator says "Once we really got the hang of this thing, it was a ton of fun. As you can see here, Brian is just rippin' through rounds here and really enjoying it!" then adds "It's cheap, it's only $100."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z2d6OLs5rZw?start=157" width="560"></iframe></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrqSno35faU">another video</a>, this time by a gun nut showing it off with his AK-47, calling the bump-fire stock a "real fun toy" (note that his little child is just off-camera, asking when he can have a turn):</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>UPDATE</b>: (As with the other videos I originally posted, this one was taken down soon after I published this blog post. -- it seems the gun guys aren't too keen on their ads for these bump fire stocks now that 59 people were killed and hundreds injured by a shooter with one.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddPTyoV-Irc">HERE </a>is another video that compares "the world's fastest shooter" to bump fire.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">Compare the rate of fire to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI0TvX0eDRs" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">the horrifying audio</a> from the Las Vegas massacre. Rapid fire like that belongs on the battleground, not at a concert in Las Vegas. There were military veterans who died at the concert, who suffered from PTSD from their time overseas. Imagine the horror they felt as they heard rapid fire, here at home, which took the life of <a href="https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/10/03/veteran-and-las-vegas-shooting-victim-described-harrowing-firefight-months-before-his-death/23230953/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">this Navy veteran</a>, or <a href="http://kdvr.com/2017/10/03/las-vegas-shooting-marine-veteran-steals-truck-transports-dozens-of-victims-to-hospital/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">this Marine</a> who managed to survive and helped save the lives of others. <span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">“It was a mini war zone but we couldn’t fight back,” he said.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now imagine if a silencer (or "sound suppressor") had been used in addition. Due to the Las Vegas shooting, the House <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/in-wake-of-las-vegas-shootings-no-plans-to-bring-gun-silencer-bill-to-house-floor-ryan-says/2017/10/03/04575ce6-a848-11e7-b3aa-c0e2e1d41e38_story.html?tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.fb09fb7569b7" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">decided to delay a vote on a bill</a> (deceptively called the SHARE Act, supposedly to help hunters) that would deregulate silencers, as well as armor-piercing ammo and other gun regulations.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">The shooter's weapons were not suppressed. Because of this, other hotel patrons heard the gunshots, like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/10/02/what-its-like-to-hear-a-shooting-spree-unfold-two-floors-above-your-hotel-room/?utm_term=.e972f8ec1fb2" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">this guy two stories up</a>, and were alarmed. When the police team searched for the shooter's room, the sound of the gunfire helped them find him (in addition to smoke alarms from the smoke created by the weapons during firing). <a href="http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12764659/how-the-swat-team-found-the-las-vegas-gunman/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">One policeman stated</a>, <span style="background-color: white;">“I'm inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor, I can hear the automatic fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us.” If the guns had had silencers on them, most hotel patrons beyond one room away likely wouldn't have known what was happening, and police would have had a harder time locating the shooter's room.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't believe me? Consider <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u-P0c8HJf8" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration-line: none;">the following video</a>, where a gun enthusiast demonstrates his AR-15 assault rifle, complete with bump-fire stock, outfitted with a sound suppressor. He describes it as "very very quiet suppressor." Listen carefully and judge for yourself whether you would be able to hear it more than a couple rooms away:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>UPDATE</b>: as with the first video in this post, this video was also taken down a day after I posted. So <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=224&v=MAdhoeFBTaA">here is a different video</a> with a bump-fire stock with and without a silencer. Compare the noise it produces. He doesn't even need ear protection:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>UPDATE</b>: And now that link, too, has been taken off. YouTube decided that it doesn't meet their guidelines! Good for YouTube, honestly. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MAdhoeFBTaA?start=224" width="560"></iframe></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Fun, fun!" he exclaims after firing. "Life is really good." He doesn't even need to wear ear plugs or any ear protection.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And why would anyone need the bump-fire stocks? For the "Fun, fun!" of it, apparently, unless you're fending off a small army of invaders -- or trying to kill hundreds of concert-goers.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">It's time to ban these heinous devices and bring a <i>new trajectory</i> to our societies away from gun violence.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>UPDATE</b> (10/5/17): House Republicans are considering voting on a bill to make bump-fire stocks <span style="font-family: inherit;">illegal, introduced by </span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo. From <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/05/politics/paul-ryan-bump-stocks-gun-control/index.html">a CNN article</a>:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Florida Republican said his proposal would be a straight ban on bump stocks: "no one can have them, no one can make them, no one can transfer them." His approach mirrors a measure introduced by House Democrats on Wednesday.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><b style="color: #333333;">UPDATE</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">(10/5/17):</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #262626;">Well, now here's a surprise! It must be the first time in two decades that the NRA is actually willing to support a form of stricter gun regulation! They are willing to support stricter regulation of bump-fire stocks.</span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #262626;">A statement from the NRA, from <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41519815">an article</a>:</span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040;">The group said: "Devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations." ....</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040;">The NRA called on Thursday for regulators to "immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law".</span> ...</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040;">"In the aftermath of the evil and senseless attack in Las Vegas, the American people are looking for answers as to how future tragedies can be prevented," NRA chiefs Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox wrote in the statement.</span> </span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #262626;">Does this mean that they will also support other means of rapid fire, such as "bullet buttons" or the sale of parts and books intended to make your own full-auto modifications, or 3D printed parts that do the same? I hope so. <b>UPDATE </b>(10/12/17): Eh, nevermind, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/politics/nra-opposes-bump-stock-bills/index.html">says the NRA</a>, they don't actually support a ban on them, just "further review" by the ATF, who can't regulate firearms *accessories* unless told to do so by a law passed by Congress. So, in other words, nothing will change if the NRA has it's way. Gee, what a surprise.</span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;">Again, as with the GOP, I suspect that they are throwing the public a bone in the hopes that public outrage over this shooting can be quelled before further gun regulation is proposed.</span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #262626;"><b style="color: #333333;">UPDATE</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">(10/5/17):</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> President Trump <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/05/politics/trump-bump-stock-ban-gun/index.html">has also signaled</a> that he would be willing to consider a ban on bump-fire stocks.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><b>UPDATE </b>(10/10/17): Not only are the gun nuts ashamed to the point of pulling their YouTube videos, but retailers are now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/business/bump-stocks.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur">pulling the bump-stocks off the market</a>, even though there is demand. Good for them!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><b>UPDATE </b>(2/20/18): President Trump today said that he would move to make bump stocks illegal. In <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/politics/donald-trump-bump-stocks/index.html">his words</a>: </span></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;">"Just a few moments ago I signed a memo directing the attorney general to propose regulations that ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns." It's just a memo, and the NRA and pro-gun legislators have already, quietly, opposed the measure. So we'll see what comes of it. Also, he said, "ban all devices," so does this include trigger cranks, bullet-buttons, and other devices? What about all the books and accessory parts sold out there that help gun owners retrofit their semi-auto rifles to become full-auto?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;"><b>UPDATE </b>(12/18/18): Today, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/bump-stocks-ban/index.html">has officially banned bump stocks</a>. "</span></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626;">Under a new federal rule, those who possess the devices, commonly known as bump stocks, will get 90 days to turn them in from the date that the final rule is published in the federal register, which is likely Friday, the officials said." It took a lot of pressure and going around Congress, but, for once, I'm approving of Trump's stance on something.</span></span>Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696618898580620397.post-64532297661875472612017-10-02T16:15:00.001-07:002017-10-02T16:15:46.608-07:00Ceasefire Oregon Statement On The Las Vegas Mass Shooting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ceasefire Oregon and Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation are horrified by the mass shooting early this morning in Las Vegas. Recent reports suggest that 58 people were shot to death and more than 500 were injured after a gunman armed with military-style weaponry shot into a crowded concert audience in Las Vegas from a casino hotel balcony before shooting himself to death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ceasefire Oregon and the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation grieve for the fallen and the injured, and for their families and friends. We also grieve for our nation as we suffer from the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history.</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">We call on all Americans to respect each other as fellow citizens and as human beings who are valued and cherished.</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
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<b>But respect and prayers are not enough.</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mass shootings of increasingly alarming numbers of killed and wounded continue to happen with no action from our federal legislators to stop the next one. We must have commonsense gun laws put in place to keep guns out of the hands of those who wish to do evil, and we must have a renewed ban against military-style weaponry designed for the battlefield. </span></div>
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<b>Today, we are asking you to call your legislators to demand a ban on assault rifles, and to reject the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v%3D2%26c%3DCTXj9A97V9PbLN7VqVIgK5uVi0BCNDON&source=gmail&ust=1507072324171000&usg=AFQjCNGSFKSg--GgAEkyo11hPs8lKZBhYQ" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CTXj9A97V9PbLN7VqVIgK5uVi0BCNDON" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">SHARE Act</a> which will deregulate silencers and make deadly firearms even easier to access. Find your </b><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v%3D2%26c%3DPk4m4k1prgr9TlYlzS41cvKeoZUg1V5F&source=gmail&ust=1507072324171000&usg=AFQjCNGf3sTBqQd0nEWuhTrLApNB49iaLA" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Pk4m4k1prgr9TlYlzS41cvKeoZUg1V5F" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><b>legislator here.</b></a></span><b> Say that you've had ENOUGH of the carnage. The only ones who are benefitting are the gun lobby and the politicians who are beholden to the NRA. Tell your legislators to ban assault rifles and vote NO on the SHARE Act. </b></div>
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For more information on how we can reduce gun violence, read <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v%3D2%26c%3DDAsq%252B5SbKdHzfIHARJV3sJuVi0BCNDON&source=gmail&ust=1507072324171000&usg=AFQjCNFjHCKkHFSeP2FKrAUm3_roqQ1HYQ" href="http://org2.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DAsq%2B5SbKdHzfIHARJV3sJuVi0BCNDON" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Ceasefire Oregon's Plan to Reduce</a> gun violence.</div>
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We won't stop, we won't let up. Thank you for speaking out!</div>
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Penny, Joanne, and the entire Ceasefire Oregon team</div>
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Baldr Odinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11818934498607763309noreply@blogger.com