The Far-Right Continues To Attack The Parkland Teen Survivors

Today it was reported that an entire website has been started with the express purpose of trolling and hating a teenage shooting survivor 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....

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.

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?

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? 

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 happened to my friend Colin Goddard after he survived the Virginia Tech shooting and advocated for stronger laws.  It happened to Lucy McBath after her 17 year old son, Jordan Davis, was shot to death and she called for justice and change. It happened to David Wheeler, who lost his 6 year old son in the Sandy Hook shooting and testified for change. And so on....  Anyone who speaks out about gun violence and calls for change is immediately trolled, smeared, and threatened. It's even happened to me.

Sadly, we are seeing it again.  This time, they have come out to troll and hate on the survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  The fact that these are children makes the attacks even more pitiful.

These teen survivors are brave, well-spoken, and passionate, and we need to respect them, not tear them down.

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.

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, when asked what he thought of the attacks on his character and the conspiracy theories:

“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.” 

And the teens have been wildly successful in their effort: 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.

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:

• A GOP staffer, and many more extremists after him, falsely declared that teen survivors Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg are "crisis actors" 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 soon spread, even by Donald Trump, Jr.  Then NRA board member Ted Nugent echoed the "crisis actor" conspiracy theory.
• A far-right journalist called teen survivor David Hogg "clueless," a "pawn" for the FBI and "anti-gun" forces, and coached into saying what he has.
• A far-right blogger suggested the Parkland teens are too mentally undeveloped to have an opinion on gun violence or any matter of political importance.
• An ex-GOP lawmaker and Trump campaign organizer accused the teens of having been "hijacked" and coached by left-wing groups and are unable of organizing their own movement.
• NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch accused the teens of being "too immature to make policy about firearms" and being used by "pro-gun control organizations."
• Former GOP senator Rick Santorum suggested 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. The students and others pointed out that CPR cannot save a shooting victim, as it will not heal bullet wounds or stop bleeding.
• A fake photo was created and spread of teen survivor Emma Gonzalez tearing up a copy of the
  
  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.
• A GOP congressman and his team mocked teen survivor Emma Gonzalez and her Cuban heritage.
• A GOP representative compared the Parkland teens to Hitler Youth.
• FOX News commentator Laura Ingraham mocked teen survivor David Hogg on Twitter for having been rejected by some colleges, citing a far-right online publication that did the same. Hogg retorted 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 week off the air. To date, at least 17 companies have pulled their ads from her program. (update 4/13/18: now up to 26 companies)
• A GOP candidate called teen survivor Emma Gonzalez a "lesbian skinhead" and David Hogg a "bald-faced liar."
• TV star and Trump supporter Roseanne Barr tweeted a doctored photo of teen survivor David Hogg that suggested he was giving a Nazi salute. After being called out on it, she deleted the tweet.
• NRA board member Ted Nugent once again commented on the students, 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 were engaging in "hate speech" against him and were "dishonest, lying idiots."  (see Nugent's own history of hate speech and other deplorable behavior, HERE).
• Internet rumors were spread accusing the Parkland teens, or even Emma Gonzalez specifically, of "bullying" the shooter, suggesting they were to blame for the shooting.
• Michael Flynn, Jr. (the son of the Trump cabinet member who pleaded guilty) tweeted the teen survivor David Hogg wasn't "smacked" enough by his parents as a child, after Hogg refused Laura Ingraham's apology.
• A Conservative pundit wrote that teen survivor David Hogg needs a "rhetorical spanking" and called him a "bully" and "dictator."
• A far-right journalist called the Parkland teens "demagogues" who are "making our public debate even more poisonous and less civil."
• An NRA spokesman and YouTube star taunted the teens 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."
• A website was created 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.
• A GOP candidate for the Massachusetts House and current county commissioner, Ronald Beaty Jr., has attacked David Hogg with a Twitter 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 Beaty served time in a federal prison in the 90's for making death threats against President H.W. Bush, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and others, and as a result cannot own guns himself.
• A Conservative TV show host on a Sinclair station posted a tweet threatening to "ram a hot poker up David Hogg's ass." He was subsequently forced to resign from the network.
• Multiple far-right bloggers spread false information in an attempt to make people think that David Hogg was not actually at the school at the time of the shooting.
• The new NRA president, Oliver North (remember from the Iran-Contra scandal?), accuses the Parkland teen activists of being "civil terrorists" and suggests they are oppressing NRA in the same way that racists oppressed blacks during the civil rights movements of the 60's.

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 "Pizzagate" shooting?).

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 new trajectory for our communities and nation away from gun violence.

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Music Video: The President Sang Amazing Grace

“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.

Read more about the song and video at The Atlantic, HERE.

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, HERE.




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The 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, a town hall meeting was held to discuss the issues of gun violence reduction and how they related to the shooting.

It was an emotion-charged event, where students and teachers confronted legislators and the NRA, face to face, on the issues.

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 "Shine"....




"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.

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.

Bump-Fire Stocks And Why They Are Important In The Las Vegas Massacre

In Las Vegas, 59 people died and over 500 were wounded. 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.

As America continues to reel from the horror unleashed in Las Vegas this week, remembers the victims and all the heroic acts of concert-goers saving each other, the picture of the shooter and his high-powered, military-style weaponry is becoming clearer.

Searching the shooter's 32nd floor hotel room, investigators found 23 firearms, 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, 47 firearms were discovered that had been in his possession.

On many of the assault rifles, investigators found "bump-fire stocks."  This is a very important point.  What are bump stocks and why are they important?

"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.  HERE is an example of someone bump firing an AK pistol.

"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 words of Senator Dianne Feinstein, “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 looking to re-introduce the ban.

The Mercury News released a very good article that describes in more detail how bump-fire stocks work.

Here is a video 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:

[UPDATE: shortly after publishing this post, that video was taken down, so here is a different video 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."




Here is another video, 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):

UPDATE: (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.)

HERE is another video that compares "the world's fastest shooter" to bump fire.

Compare the rate of fire to the horrifying audio 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 this Navy veteran, or this Marine who managed to survive and helped save the lives of others. “It was a mini war zone but we couldn’t fight back,” he said.

Now imagine if a silencer (or "sound suppressor") had been used in addition.  Due to the Las Vegas shooting, the House decided to delay a vote on a bill (deceptively called the SHARE Act, supposedly to help hunters) that would deregulate silencers, as well as armor-piercing ammo and other gun regulations.

The shooter's weapons were not suppressed. Because of this, other hotel patrons heard the gunshots, like this guy two stories up, 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).  One policeman stated, “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.

Don't believe me?  Consider the following video, 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:

UPDATE: as with the first video in this post, this video was also taken down a day after I posted.  So here is a different video with a bump-fire stock with and without a silencer.  Compare the noise it produces.  He doesn't even need ear protection:

UPDATE: And now that link, too, has been taken off.  YouTube decided that it doesn't meet their guidelines!  Good for YouTube, honestly.  




"Fun, fun!" he exclaims after firing. "Life is really good."  He doesn't even need to wear ear plugs or any ear protection.

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.

It's time to ban these heinous devices and bring a new trajectory to our societies away from gun violence.


UPDATE (10/5/17): House Republicans are considering voting on a bill to make bump-fire stocks illegal, introduced by Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo.  From a CNN article:

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.

UPDATE (10/5/17):  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.

A statement from the NRA, from an article:

The group said: "Devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations." ....

The NRA called on Thursday for regulators to "immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law".  ...

"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. 

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.  UPDATE (10/12/17): Eh, nevermind, says the NRA, 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.


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.

UPDATE (10/5/17):  President Trump has also signaled that he would be willing to consider a ban on bump-fire stocks.

UPDATE (10/10/17): Not only are the gun nuts ashamed to the point of pulling their YouTube videos, but retailers are now pulling the bump-stocks off the market, even though there is demand.  Good for them!

UPDATE (2/20/18): President Trump today said that he would move to make bump stocks illegal. In his words:  "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?

UPDATE (12/18/18):  Today, the Trump administration has officially banned bump stocks.  "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.

Ceasefire Oregon Statement On The Las Vegas Mass Shooting

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.

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.

We call on all Americans to respect each other as fellow citizens and as human beings who are valued and cherished.

But respect and prayers are not enough.

    

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. 

Today, we are asking you to call your legislators to demand a ban on assault rifles, and to reject the SHARE Act which will deregulate silencers and make deadly firearms even easier to access. Find your legislator here. 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. 

For more information on how we can reduce gun violence, read Ceasefire Oregon's Plan to Reduce gun violence.

   

We won't stop, we won't let up. Thank you for speaking out!

   

Penny, Joanne, and the entire Ceasefire Oregon team

Powerful New Allies To Help Prevent Gun Violence

The Gun Violence Prevention movement has long struggled to make headway against the huge lobbying efforts and money pumped into legislator's pockets.  But mass shooting after mass shooting, every increasing, has opened more eyes to the growing danger of gun violence in our society, and with each tragedy there are more supporters of our cause.  After Sandy Hook, for instance, we saw the formation of Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, funding efforts by Michael Bloomberg, and 

After the mass shooting in Orlando, at the Pulse club, with a record 49 people killed, plus the shooter, and 53 injured, more people than ever have come forward.  Notably, three powerful groups have thrown in their support.

The LGBTQ movement: Violence and murder against those of alternative sexual orientation has

only increased in recent years, with a massive jump in just the last year of 20%.  From a RawStory.com article, citing results from a report released by The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP):

The number of murders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people jumped 20 percent in the United States last year, activists said on Monday, releasing their findings a day after a mass shooting at a Florida gay nightclub left 49 people dead. 

The violence in 2015 was the highest since 2012, according to the report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP). ...

Beverly Tillery, who heads the New York City Anti-Violence Project, which coordinates the NCAVP, called for public discussion on LGBTQ people and violence. 

“This is … a tragedy that belongs to LGBTQ communities, but a tragedy that belongs to the entire nation as well,” she said. 

And given that the majority of those shot at the Pulse club were LGBTQ, it stands to reason that this demographic has now fully committed to the GVP movement.  In fact, 50 organizations signed a joint open letter to Congress calling for stronger gun legislation, including universal background checks, a renewed assault weapon ban, closing the Terror Gap, and stronger legislation against hate crimes.

I have every faith in the LGBTQ movement and their goals.  In the words of my friend, Mike The Gun Guy, from his blog post:

I don’t know what’s going to happen with the Senate vote this week and I care but I really don’t care.  Because the momentum created by the Orlando tragedy won’t go away.  And let’s not forget that when LGBTQ began its historic push for cultural change, many of Gun-nut Nation’s best friends (right-wing Evangelicals, political conservatives) tried to block their way. Guess what?  They lost.  And if LGBTQ gets behind gun violence prevention, Gun-nut Nation will lose that one, too.

The American Medical Association (AMA):  Though a number of other national health and medical associations have taken a stance in favor of increased gun regulation and a lifting of the federal ban on funding gun violence research, this week the AMA joined those ranks at their 2016 annual meeting, declaring that gun violence is a "public health crisis."  In a public release, they stated,

"With approximately 30,000 men, women and children dying each year at the barrel of a gun in elementary schools, movie theaters, workplaces, houses of worship and on live television, the United States faces a public health crisis of gun violence," said AMA President Steven J. Stack, M.D. "Even as America faces a crisis unrivaled in any other developed country, the Congress prohibits the CDC from conducting the very research that would help us understand the problems associated with gun violence and determine how to reduce the high rate of firearm-related deaths and injuries. An epidemiological analysis of gun violence is vital so physicians and other health providers, law enforcement, and society at large may be able to prevent injury, death and other harms to society resulting from firearms."

and they stated that they would lobby Congress for stronger gun reform, including waiting periods and universal gun background checks.

There was also a call to action by the AMA:

AMA policy guides our advocacy efforts for patients and physicians and at this meeting, we built on existing policy with several key developments:

• Officially calling gun violence in the United States a public health crisis that requires a comprehensive public health response and solution

• Directing the AMA to actively lobby Congress to overturn legislation that for 20 years has prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from researching gun violence

• Calling for background checks and a waiting period for all firearms purchasers, whereas previous policy only dealt with handguns

Numerous surgeons and other medical professionals testified at the meeting about their experiences with gun violence.  For instance:

One physician testified that she had treated so many gunshot victims as a resident that she was told to stop tracking the head and neck surgeries she performed because she had more than enough to demonstrate her competency to complete her training. 

A young emergency physician shared that trying to revive gunshot victims and treat the wounded had become shockingly routine for him. What’s more, he noted that even as an academic physician treating such a high number of victims, he doesn’t have the ability to turn to data to examine how these injuries might be prevented.

Indeed, gun violence is an urgent public health crisis, and an evidence-based approach is the only logical way to address the problem.  

Veterans Coalition for Common Sense:  A group of former senior military officials,

including General David Petraeus, General Wesley Clark, and General Stanley McChrystal, along with other generals and admirals, and spearheaded by Captain Mark Kelly, have formed this new group of veterans committed to the GVP movement, Veterans Coalition for Common Sense, splintering off from Captain Kelly's other group, Americans for Responsible Solutions.  HERE is the official organizational announcement with the signatures of each of the military leaders who founded it.

From an article by Stars and Stripes:

“Veterans are folks that understand firearms and weapons. These are people who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, which includes the Second Amendment,” Kelly said. "At the same time, we have a problem with more than 30,000 people dying from gun violence and have to act.” 

The group also plans to address the outsized impact of guns used in veteran suicides. Nearly two-thirds of veterans who kill themselves do so with a firearm, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

The article then goes on to point out:

A 2013 Global Strategy Group poll of 804 veterans found 84 percent agreed with the statement that “we can protect responsible gun owners’ Second Amendment rights while still making it more difficult for criminals and other dangerous people to obtain guns.”

No doubt, in the coming days, we will see more national groups join forces with the GVP movement.  Despite this week's failure, once again, by our federal leaders to pass any meaningful gun reform bills, the people will not be ignored.  Our lives are on the line, and together we will demand action and vote out those who continue to allow dangerous people to get their hands on guns.

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A Statement From Ceasefire Oregon On The Orlando Shooting

A statement from Ceasefire Oregon:  

Ceasefire Oregon and Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation are horrified by the mass shooting early this morning in Orlando, Florida. Fifty people were shot to death and at least 53 were injured after a gunman armed with an assault rifle and handgun opened fire in a crowded nightclub. 

This mass shooting has already been labeled by law enforcement as an act of terror and a possible hate crime.

   

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.

  

We call on all Americans to respect each other as fellow citizens and as human beings who are valued and cherished.

   

At this time, we ask all Americans to do everything possible to help Orlando. If you live in Florida, please take food to the families and the local first responders. Offer rides to the hospital to friends and families of survivors. Babysit. Hug. Listen.

   

Where ever you live, donate blood. Do it today. Even if you don't live in Florida, someone in your state needs blood.

   

Tomorrow we will talk about steps we must take to end America's unique and tragic madness of gun violence. But for today, please show all Americans how much we honor and respect each other. 

   

Respectfully,

   

The Board of Directors of Ceasefire Oregon and the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation

The Orlando Shooting

Another day, another mass shooting.  This time it's different from the usual (you know, the sort of mass shooting of four or more people that happens nearly every single day in America).  This time it was the worst in America's history.  50 dead.  At least 50 injured.  By one unstable man with an assault weapon and high-capacity ammo magazines.

I feel horrible for the victims, their families, their friends, their community, and for us all.

I think this image says it all....

I think our President sums up our appropriate response quite nicely:

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Mass Shootings Where Conceal Carry Gun Owners Were Present But Failed To Stop The Carnage

[This post was updated as of 5/18/18]

The NRA mantra, famously recited by Wayne LaPierre after the Sandy Hook shooting, is that "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun."  It is the basis by which they push gun ownership and conceal carry in any and all public (and private) places, along with fabricated data by disgraced pro-gun researcher John Lott.  The "conceal carry hero" is a myth oft repeated by pro-gun forces both high and low.  As one pro-gun state representative put it, "When everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody is going to be a victim."

I've posted before on the ridiculous assertion of the "conceal carry hero," such as after the Aurora theater shooting, or after the Sandy Hook shooting.

But there is no basis to this myth.  Not one mass shooting has been stopped by a conceal carry "hero" who wasn't law enforcement or a security guard.  In fact, Mother Jones did a study, and out of 62 mass shootings that they looked at over 30 years, not one of them was stopped by a citizen with a handgun.  Another study by the FBI, of 185 mass shootings over a 13 year period, also failed to find any that were stopped by a citizen with a gun who wasn't police or a security guard.

The closest case I ever found 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.

However, I know of at least ten mass shootings where there was an armed citizen with a concealed handgun present who failed to do anything to stop the shooting, and one of them died in the process.  Here they are.....


Route 91 Harvest Festival, Las Vegas, Nevada (October, 2017)

The Route 91 Harvest Festival massacre was the worst civilian mass shooting of all time in America, by a single shooter with high-powered assault rifles, some equipped with bump-fire stocks.  

Nevada is very lax with gun laws, allowing both open (w/o a license) and conceal carry (w/ license), including in casinos, bars, and the Las Vegas Strip. Apparently guns were not prohibited at the concert.

With 22,000 country fans at the concert that night, doubtless many of them were armed with concealed handguns. Country fans are very often pro-gun. In fact, the NRA has sponsored country singers and events through their "NRA Country" program. Doubtless, too, the untold thousands of people at the Mandalay Bay hotel and out on the Strip were armed, too.  

It is known that some of the country bands and singers were armed. For instance, according to Caleb Keeter, guitarist with the Josh Abbott band, many of the band members were armed that night.  Quoting Keeter from an article:

We actually have members of our crew with [Concealed Handgun Licenses], and legal firearms on the bus,” Keeter wrote. “They were useless.” He continued:

We couldn’t touch them for fear police might think we were part of the massacre and shoot us. A small group (or one man) laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless police officers desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of fire power.

Josh Abbott Band (source, Rick Kern/WireImage)

Wise words. One of the biggest arguments against conceal carry vigilantism, despite what the NRA says, is that police might not be able to distinguish "bad guys with guns" from "good guys with guns."  And, yes, most of these high-profile mass shooters have "insane amounts of fire power" compared to a single handgun in the hands of a "good guy with a gun."

And even the police, who are highly-trained, had trouble even figuring out where the shots were being shot from, in part due to all the echoes. Transcripts of the radio communications (example HERE) indicated confusion about where the shots were from, and even when they figured it out, they didn't want to fire up at the hotel window for fear of hitting innocent people in surrounding rooms.  Do you think any ordinary gun owner would fare any better? (one disturbing thing from those recordings, though, was that the police were warning each other to lock their patrol cars, since people were trying to break into them to steal the shotguns or even the cars themselves!).

Another of the performers, John Rich, was armed but, but the time of the shooting, was three miles away at a bar that he runs. He gave his handgun to an off-duty policeman who guarded the door. Did either of them go to the shooting site and play vigilante? No, wisely, they stayed put.

As stated in an article by Slate:

A concertgoer carrying a pistol would have been vastly outranged by Paddock; pistols can barely reach targets 50 meters away. It would have taken a concertgoer carrying a rifle, ideally with a scope and large magazine of ammunition, to respond. And even then, it would have taken the discipline and skill of a Navy SEAL to effectively shoot back at Paddock while under fire, and hit him, while not killing scores more in the Mandalay Bay hotel and turning the scene into a firefight.

So the concert, hotel, and streets outside were not gun-free zones. 59 people were killed and 527 injured by a single shooter, who killed himself before SWAT entered his hotel room ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.


Protest March in Dallas, Texas (July 2016)

In the wake of perceived police brutality reports from Louisiana and Minnesota, hundreds of people turned out to march and protest that evening in Dallas. Along with the protesters were up to thirty "open carry activists" with assault rifles slung over their shoulders and handguns strapped to their waists, camo gear, and bulletproof vests, as if ready to go to war. Recently-expanded Texas law allowed open carry of rifles, handguns, and shotguns. Some of the pro-gun supporters of this law said it was to help "aide" local law enforcement.

So, clearly, this was not a "gun-free zone."

Around midnight, shots range out, and confusion reigned. According to Dallas Police Chief David Brown, the presence of all of these openly displayed guns made it difficult to determine who the actual shooter was, as gun violence prevention activists had warned.  In his words:

"We're trying as best we can as a law enforcement community to make it work so that citizens can express their 2nd Amendment rights," Brown said. 

“But it’s increasingly challenging when people have AR-15s slung over their shoulder and they’re in a crowd,” he said. “We don’t know who the good guy is versus the bad guy when everyone starts shooting.”

He added:  “They are suspects until we eliminate that.”  

The mayor of Dallas agreed:

“You know, in dealing with the law of gun holding, you can carry a rifle legally, and when you have gunfire going on, you usually go with the person that’s got a gun,” Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings said on CBS’ Face the Nation programme. “And so our police grabbed some of those individuals, took them to police headquarters, and worked it out and figured out that they were not the shooters.”

Open carry activist Mark Hughes,
confused with actual shooter
(source, Dallas PD via AP)

Instead of "aiding police" or taking out the shooter, the open carry activists scattered and caused confusion. One of them, Mark Hughes, who was dressed in camo and had an assault rifle slung over his back, was, at first, considered a "person of interest" and was confused with the actual shooter. After turning himself in and being questioned for 30 minutes, he was released.

The open carry organizers, instead of acknowledging that their presence can cause confusion, instead called the mayor and police chief "anti-gun" and racist.

Eventually the police were able to identify the actual shooter, an army reservist who was targeting white police officers, cornered him, and killed him with an explosive on a bomb robot.

Five officers were killed. Six officers and two civilians were injured, and this wasn't a "gun-free zone." The shooter was killed by police ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.



Houston, Texas (May, 2016)

25-year-old Dionisio Agustine Garza III, an Afghan war vet with depression and PTSD, broke into a west Houston tire shop, Memorial Tire and Auto, then emerged and started firing on civilians then police.  Using an assault rifle, and outgunning the police, he fired off 212 rounds, killing one person and wounding six before he was stopped by SWAT.

Byron Wilson (source)

One of the civilians that was wounded was (John) Byron Wilson. A resident in the area, Wilson rushed out with his gun and confronted the shooter, but quickly realized he was outgunned and fled. While fleeing, he was shot twice in the legs, breaking them, and once in the shoulder.  According to his gofundme page, the wounds were severe, requiring surgeries, and potentially may prevent him from walking again.  

His gofundme page hails him as a hero because he may have distracted the shooter (thus, the unfounded supposition is that he would have killed more people), but Wilson didn't stop the shooter, and Wilson's attempt also confused law enforcement, who initially thought that HE was the shooter and was briefly a suspect.

This was not a "gun free zone."

1 victim was killed.  6 were injured.  The shooter was later killed by a police SWAT sniper ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.



San Bernardino, California (December, 2015)

Yes, the 355th mass shooting of 2015, actually had an armed citizen pulling his gun and aiming at the husband-wife terrorists as the event unfolded!  Did this "good guy with a gun" stop the "bad guy with a gun?"  No.  Why?  Because ... he just didn't feel like walking on the grounds of the Inland Regional Center??  From an article:

The armed citizen at the San Bernardino shooting, Glenn
Willwerth, who didn't change the outcome (source)

Glenn Willwirth owns a paper company across the street from the Inland Regional Center. When a man ran into his business and said a shooting was taking place, Willwirth grabbed his .45 caliber handgun and walked toward the center, taking position behind a water truck that was refilling a fire hydrant. Willwirth told CNN that he was able to draw a bead on the shooters but chose not to fire because of the chaos. In a separate interview with the Boston Herald, he added this about why he held back: 

“I wasn’t going to travel onto their property to get involved — just because it’s not my property — but I went up to the edge of it and that was as close as I really needed to be getting to the whole situation. If they came at me it would have been a different story.”

I haven't heard if the Inland Regional Center is a "gun free zone" or not.

14 victims were killed.  17 were injured.  The shooters were later killed by a police SWAT team ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.


Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon  (October, 2015)

When a deranged gunman came on campus and started shooting up a classroom full of community

The armed student at UCC, John Parker Jr.,
who didn't change the outcome (source)

college students, it wasn't a gun-free zone (which I blogged on before).  Oregon law allows conceal carry on campuses.  And at least one adult student was packing a loaded handgun.  Did he run in to kill the "bad guy with a gun?"  No.  He didn't even go near.  Why?  Because he understood that he might not know all the facts and that he might be mistaken as the shooter by law enforcement.  John Parker, Jr., who is a military veteran, explained why he and some other armed students chose not to confront the shooter:

"When we found out there was an active shooter on campus, we were going to go and see if we could intervene. ... If there was something we could do, we were going to do it." 

"Luckily, we made the choice not to get involved," he told MSNBC. "We were quite a distance away from the actual building where it was happening, which could have opened us up to being potential targets ourselves. And, you know, not knowing where SWAT was on their response time, they wouldn't know who we were, and if we had our guns ready to shoot, they'd think we were the bad guys."

Nine people were killed, and up to ten people were injured, and it wasn't a gun-free zone.  The shooting ended when the suspect shot himself to death ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.


Walmart/CiCi's Pizza Shooting, Las Vegas, Nevada (June, 2014)

A man and woman, who had been at the Bundy Ranch, decided to "start a revolution" by shooting two police to death, with no warning, in a CiCi's Pizza restaurant.  The couple then went to a neighboring Walmart store and started shooting at the ceiling, trying to scare out customers.  It is clear that their intended targets were police, not customers.

 Joseph Wilcox (source)

At this point, a citizen with a concealed handgun, Joseph Wilcox, decided to intervene.  Wilcox, who aspired to be a police officer, pulled his handgun and confronted one of the shooters.  The other shooter, however, came up behind him and shot him to death.  From an article:

Joseph Robert Wilcox, 31, was at Walmart with a friend returning a modem when a gun-toting couple who had just murdered two police officers at a pizza shop came into the store. Instead of running away, Wilcox, told his friend he was going to confront the one gunman he could see. 

Wilcox pulled out the handgun for which he had a concealed weapons permit but that his family says he rarely carried. He approached Jerad Miller, a 31-year-old ex-convict who investigators say walked into Walmart, fired off one round, and told shoppers, "This is a revolution." His wife, Amanda Miller, 22, was trailing behind, authorities said. 

"[Wilcox] immediately and heroically moved towards the position of Jerad Miller," Las Vegas Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a briefing Monday. "As soon as he began to confront Jerad Miller with his firearm, Amanda Miller removed her firearm and shot him one time in the ribs area, where he immediately collapsed."

Why did Wilcox decide to arm himself?  From an article:

“He was very protective of other people. The reason he got that gun was because he got tired of people like that,” people who would pick on others, Debra Wilcox said. 

Joseph Wilcox’s uncle John Wilson, during a phone interview, described his nephew as someone who wasn’t political. “But he definitely believed in the right to bear arms and the right to defend yourself and others,” Wilson said.

Wilcox was living out what the NRA and other pro-gun forces have advocated for a long time:  to be the "good guy with a gun" when freedom is endangered, standing his ground instead of retreating and awaiting police.  And now he leaves behind a young wife and a small child who will never know his daddy.

After shooting Wilcox and clearing out the store of other people, the shooters barricaded themselves in the Walmart store, preparing for a long siege and getting additional ammo from the store's display cases.  A 15-minute shootout ensued with police.

Walmart allows concealed weapons and thus is not a "gun free zone."

Three victims were killed, including Wilcox.  The shooting ended when one shooter committed suicide and the other was shot to death by police ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.


Clackamas Town Center Mall, Clackamas, Oregon (December, 2012)

When an aimless, suicidal drifter armed himself with an assault rifle and started shooting up the food court of the Clackamas Town Center, there was an off-duty security guard in the mall who "always carries" a loaded handgun.  Nick Meli took cover when the shooting began and urged those around him, including his girlfriend and a child, to take cover and escape the scene.  He also pulled his gun.  According to police reports, it was only when the shooter's gun had jammed and he was attempting to fix the jam and reload it, that Meli aimed at the suspect.  From a Sheriff's report:

The armed citizen at the Clackamas shooting, Nick Meli,
who didn't change the outcome (screenshot source)

Mr. Meli told me that he had seen the suspect armed with a rifle. ... He said he directed his girlfriend and child to leave the mall as he stood and watched the suspect attempting to either reload or fix the rifle. He said, "He was trying to reload it, however I think it jammed."

And from a police detective's report:   

Mr. Meli told me that he "handed the baby off" and then he heard about eight more rapid fire shots. Mr. Meli told me that he peered around the corner and saw a man wearing a white "Jason ski mask", a black sweater, black pants and he had an AR-15 assault rifle. Mr. Meli told me that the shooter came running towards where Mr. Meli was. Mr. Meli told me that he took cover behind a support pillar. Mr. Meli told me that he was not sure where the shooter was going. Mr. Meli told me that he then noticed that the shooter had stopped because his rifle had malfunctioned and he was pulling the charging handle. Mr. meli told me that that is when he stepped out and drew his own weapon and "placed it on his head." Mr. Meli told me that as he was going to pull the trigger he saw someone move inside the Charlotte Rouge store. Mr. Meli told me that he knew that if he was to shoot and miss he could hit someone in the store, so he decided not to shoot. Mr. Meli told me that that is when the shooter got his rifle clear. Mr. Meli told me that the shooter turned and looked at him, so Mr. Meli backed up inside Macy's Home.

After this point Meli fled and took cover.  He never fired.

Pro-gun advocates and Conservative websites (example) starting lauding Meli as having "stopped" the gunman by scaring him into submission with his concealed handgun, saving "untold number of lives," but there's no reason to believe this is the case.  All they did was look at each other.  PolitiFact investigated by calling the Clackamas Sheriff's Office and asking if they felt Meli had made a difference in the shooter's actions:

"It’s inconclusive on our end," said Lt. Robert Wurpes, office spokesman. "We can’t say either way whether he did or did not make a difference. It would only be speculation."

Clackamas Town Center is a "gun free zone," so Meli was going against the mall's policy.

Two people were killed and a third was wounded.  The shooting ended when the suspect shot himself to death ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.



IHOP in Carson City, Nevada (September, 2011)

A gunman with an AK-47 assault rifle pulled into a busy retail parking lot, shot a woman by a motorcycle, then went into an IHOP restuarant and gunned down patrons, including a table with National Guard members. He then went back out of the restaurant and opened fire on a number of other businesses.

Ralph Swagler (source)

There was at least one gun owner, Ralph Swagler, with a concealed handgun, who saw the shooter gun down the first woman and thought about returning fire.  From an article:

Ralph Swagler said he grabbed his own weapon, but said it was too late to stop the shooter, who charged into the IHOP through the front doors. 

“I wish I had shot at him when he was going in the IHOP,” said Swagler, who owns Locals BBQ & Grill. “But when he came at me, when somebody is pointing an automatic weapon at you—you can’t believe the firepower, the kind of rounds coming out of that weapon.”

Swagler is the owner of a BBQ restaurant next door, which was shot up by the shooter.  According to an article, "Swagler stared directly into the eyes of [the shooter]" and yet "He had a weapon in his restaurant but forgot about it in the panic."

It's unclear if IHOP allows guns in its restaurants. A pro-gun discussion board suggests not, but that open carry is often tolerated anyway.

Five people were shot to death. Seven were wounded. The shooter shot himself to death ... ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.


Gabby Giffords Public Meeting In Tucson, Arizona (January, 2011)

U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords was holding a constituent meeting in the parking lot of a supermarket when a lone, deranged gunman opened fire.  Giffords was shot point-blank in the head.  The shooter then turned his gun on others at the meeting, including a federal district judge and a 9-year old girl, both of whom died.  It was only when he was re-loading his weapon that members of the audience were able to subdue the shooter.

The armed citizen in Tucson, Joe Zamudio,
who didn't change the outcome (screenshot source)

When the shooting started, there was a man with a loaded, concealed handgun, named Joe Zamudio, in the supermarket adjacent to the stage.  He reacted immediately, moving toward the scene, gun ready.  Did he save the day?  No.  In fact, he almost killed an innocent man whom he, at first, thought was the shooter.  From an article:

"I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready," he explained on Fox and Friends. "I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this." Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. "And that's who I at first thought was the shooter," Zamudio recalled. "I told him to 'Drop it, drop it!' " 

But the man with the gun wasn't the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter. "Had you shot that guy, it would have been a big, fat mess," the interviewer pointed out. 

Zamudio agreed:

I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds. Two, maybe three seconds between when I came through the doorway and when I was laying on top of [the real shooter], holding him down. So, I mean, in that short amount of time I made a lot of really big decisions really fast. … I was really lucky.

The Arizona Daily Star, based on its interview with Zamudio, adds two details to the story. First, upon seeing the man with the gun, Zamudio "grabbed his arm and shoved him into a wall" before realizing he wasn't the shooter. And second, one reason why Zamudio didn't pull out his own weapon was that "he didn't want to be confused as a second gunman."

This was not a "gun free zone."

Six people died and thirteen were injured.  The shooter was stopped and held by unarmed citizens ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.



Tacoma Mall Shooting, Tacoma, Washington (November, 2005)

A disgruntled mall employ entered the Tacoma Mall with an assault rifle and started shooting at store patrons. After shooting a number of patrons, he ducked into a store and held others hostage.

Dan McKown
(source, Martin Kaste/NPR)

As the event unfolded, there was at least one conceal carry permit holder who was armed, a comedian named Dan McKown.  From an article:

Gun drawn, McKown scanned for the shooter. But the gunshots stopped. Unsure what had happened, McKown tucked his pistol back under his coat — just as the shooter walked right in front of him. 

"So anyway, I'm standing there like Napoleon Bonaparte, with his hand, you know, in his jacket," he recalls. "So I said, 'Young man, I think you need to put your weapon down.' " 

That moment of vulnerability gave the other guy just enough time to shoot McKown. The bullet hit his spine, and he found himself unable to aim his own gun.

From another article:  

As he felt the bullets enter his body, “I felt like an idiot,” McKown said. “I carried a gun to protect my fellow man,” but it hadn’t worked out that way.

He was shot five times but survived. He is now in a wheelchair.

Six people were injured. The shooter was arrested when he gave himself up to a SWAT team ... ... not at the hands of an armed citizen.

In each of the above examples, the armed citizen was hailed by pro-gun forces as "heroes" even though it is clear that none of them made any bit of a difference in stopping the crimes they witnessed, even if they tried to intervene.  In some of these, the armed citizen understood, at the last moment, that they did not have the training necessary to engage.  

And that's the real point of this posting.  The vast majority of everyday citizens who get conceal carry licenses are simply not trained to engage shooters like this (such as this person).  They are not police, after all.  None of these people were trained in police tactics, legal intervention, negotiation skills, or live fire evaluations to make sure they can stay cool-headed during a shootout.  They could be mistaken for the shooters themselves.  And, as Wilcox discovered, they might insert themselves into a life-threatening situation without being fully prepared for the consequences.  Here in Oregon, to get a conceal carry license, you don't even need to fire a single shot or even hold a gun.  You can get the license online and take a very simple test, pay a fee, and get a background check, and it's yours.  There are some states, such as Arizona, which don't even require that.

Little wonder, then, that day in and day out, I see reports of conceal carry owners having accidents with their weapons in public places, like this one, shooting people for minor crimes like shoplifting, like this one, or even getting involved in a criminal incident and shooting the wrong guy, like this one.  And let's not forget that conceal carry owners have been convicted of their own homicidal shootings, like the hundreds of examples you can find HERE.

Tactical training experts understand that a conceal carry vigilante is not even close to comparable to trained law enforcement.  From an article:

Tactical officers typically receive training in “judgmental shooting,” which includes knowing when it’s prudent to hold their fire, and “blue-on-blue awareness,” which drills into them the importance of considering whether other cops are present, including officers who aren’t in uniform. They’re trained to overcome tunnel vision by looking not only at their target but also maintaining an awareness of who or what is behind it. 

“The notion that you have a seal of approval just because you’re not a criminal—that you walk into a gun store and you’re ready for game-day—is ridiculous,” says [former ATF agent] Chipman.

The NRA's gunslinger mentality is wrongheaded and dangerous.  The dangers of vigilante justice are real.  It's time they stopped feeding this fantasy into the minds of their followers.  


ADDENDUM (12/11/15):  HERE is an opinion piece, where a seasoned combat veteran, who has been in live firefights and been wounded, calls into question the myth that a typical citizen with a concealed handgun will be able to make correct judgement calls in the heat of the moment.

ADDENDUM (6/15/16): HERE is a great piece about the absurdity of the "good guy with a gun" myth, with input from a forensic scientist on the issue.

ADDENDUM (10/8/17):  HERE is a related article and list of other mass shootings that don't fit the NRA's model of a common citizen stopping a mass shooting.