Another Racist Arizona Militia Member Becomes A Mass Murderer

Well, it’s happened again.  An extremist gun nut has lost it and shot down those closest to him and himself, including a child.  A little over a month ago, pro-gun blogger, shooting instructor, and gun forum visitor Landon S. Jorgensen shot to death his girlfriend and her 5-year old daughter before killing himself.

Child murderer, racist neo-Nazi, militia leader J.T. Ready "on patrol."

Then, yesterday, extremist J.T. Ready shot and killed four people, including a toddler, before shooting himself to death at a home in Gilbert, Arizona, where he lived with his girlfriend, who was among the dead. 

Police identified the others killed as 15-month-old Lily Lynn Mederos; 23-year-old Amber Nieve Mederos; 47-year-old Lisa Lynn Mederos and 24-year-old Jim Franklin Hiott.

Balafas has said that all the evidence points to the shooting being related to domestic violence. But he said investigators aren't sure what triggered the shooting.

Officers have recovered two handguns and a shotgun.

The shootings occurred in a subdivision filled with stucco homes with red-tile roofs.

Members of the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force and FBI agents removed what Balafas said were military-grade ordnance, munitions and two barrels of chemicals found behind the home.

Ready and Hiott were found dead outside the home, and the bodies of two women were inside. The toddler was found inside the home showing signs of life, but later died at a hospital.

A teenager in the house heard arguing followed by gunshots, Balafas said. She came out of a back room and found the bodies.

Ready was infamous for leading a “border militia” of like-minded neo-Nazi racists on “patrols” for illegal immigrants and drug runners along the Arizona/Mexico border, carrying assault rifles, wearing Ghillie suits, and posting snipers on the lookout.  They lived their gun fetish fantasy of “helping” law enforcement.  As Ready said in one news interview:

"We're going to go all night and shut down the drug corridor that comes directly into Phoenix.  We have guys that are going to be doing some covert stuff and we have some snipers coming out.  If we wait any longer we’re going to have to lower the American flag and call it northern Mexico.”

Paranoia at its worst.

Ready’s home had been the scene of previous police visits, for domestic dispute reports.

According to various sources, including the Wikipedia.org entry for him, Ready was also running for Sherriff, and had close ties to the Republican party, as he was a precinct committee person for them, had served as president of the Mesa Community College Republican Party Club, and was a guest speaker at Tea Party rallies.  No surprise, really, given the way the ultra-right feeds into such paranoid thinking.

He and his gun nut pals were also extremely racist against latinos and jews, and likely others.  Consider this TV interview, for instance, where he said:

The one excluded race from any kind of scrutiny is the jews.  They are the true racial supremicists … They believe in world domination…. We want to provide for the security of our people and a future for white children.

Apparently he didn’t care for the security and future of the white toddler he shot and killed yesterday, though.  He goes on and on:

Only whites don’t have one stretch of land on this Earth that is for our people.  We’re going to change that. ….

White America used to be 100% White, now we’re about 60%.  That was all part of the plan through legal immigration alone.  …  It is White people going extinct on this planet, right now, in every city across this world.

Apparently Native Americans and black people weren’t part of historical America, to Ready.

There are lots and lots of videos and articles about this lunatic and his pals.  Here’s a link to a bunch of them and further commentary.

But Ready wasn’t the first of his militia pals to suffer a brutal shooting death.  His fellow white supremacist and “border patrol” organizer, Jeffrey Hall, was shot to death last year by his 10-year old son.

It would seem that these militia guys should be fearing each other and themselves more than the big, bad Mexican boogeymen that they trump up as the enemy.

This case certainly conjures up memories of the last violent militia shooting crime in Arizona:  The 2009 shooting of the Flores family by “border patrol” Minutemen American Defense militia members, namely mastermind and former prostitute Shawna Forde.  She and her minions, Gunny Bush and Albert Gaxiola, were also white supremacists and claimed to be patrolling the border on behalf of Arizona.  Of course, these people who considered themselves the best kind of patriots (as Ready had), turned out to be lowlife, violent criminals.  The invaded the home of the Flores family, all of whom were legal U.S. citizens, and robbed the place.  They shot and killed 9-year old Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul “Junior” Flores, and critically injured the mother, Gina Marie Gonzalez.  Forde is now on death row, along with Bush, and Gaxiola will probably die in prison of old age.

J.T. Ready, by the way, idolized the Minutemen American Defense militia.

All I can say about these violent gun nuts, is this:  “You live by the gun, you die by the gun.”

And what is the state of Arizona’s stance on these violent, racist militia groups?  They decided it was such a good idea that they set up a state-sponsorship of them, and now they are actually considering funding them to the tune of $1.9 million!  But then, this IS Arizona, home of the most relaxed gun laws in the nation, paranoid and discriminatory laws against latinos, where they respond to mass shootings by holding gun shows and making a gun a symbol of the state.

The J.T. Ready shooting and the Flores murders are just two examples of why I consider “citizen’s militias” to be would-be terrorist groups.  They breed hate and spew violence.   Just in case you doubt my opinion on this, my next post will be a timeline of these and other militia member crimes.

UPDATES (5/8/12):  
J.T. Ready committed his horrible act while wearing body armor, showing that the attack was pre-meditated and that he might have thought one of those he attacked might have been willing to shoot back.  The article also says more about his ties to local politics, particularly Senator Russell Pearce.

Ready's extremist militia pals are vowing to continue their nefarious mission, despite his death.

In searching Ready's home after the attack, authorities found, among the weapons and ammo, six live military grenades, which are illegal for civilians to possess or purchase.

Ready was, of course, a devout NRA member.

Naturally, Ready's neo-Nazi pals are already claiming that Ready is innocent of his crime, and that it MUST have been some sort of plot by the U.S. government or Mexican drug cartels.  Says one commenter at the forum, calling himself "MaxKrieger":

Suddenly the story does not mesh, so you bring in feds to examine water barrels? And buy some time?

I have no doubt the "official story" will be that JT did all this, I just doubt the official story.

I spoke with JT on a few occasions, sadly never in Person, but I am not buying any of this garbage about him.

UPDATE (5/18/12):  From a follow-up article: 

J.T. Ready had 13 encounters with Gilbert police since 2008, and corresponding police reports depict an armed vigilante with a short temper, racially charged motives and a history of domestic-violence accusations.

And yet, despite all the encounters and domestic violence, our lax gun laws allowed this racist baby-killer to keep his arsenal of weapons and continue with his racist and violent agenda.

Where Is The Safest Place To Avoid Gun Accidents? Shooting Ranges?

Those of us who fight gun violence are always pointing out the one, irrefutable truth about firearms:  guns are designed to fire with deadly force, quickly and easily.  Because of this, where guns go, gun violence follows.  The same is true of unintentional shootings  (note that I'm distinguishing between "accidents" and unintentional shootings, since the term "accident" suggests that an incident is somehow unavoidable).  Literally every day I read about unintentional shootings, often with children, but there's no shortage of these shootings involving adults, too.  Here is a sampling of them.  Most of these are by previously law-abiding citizens, some with conceal carry permits, like this guy (who just two days ago was a newly trained security guard showing off his gun to a friend.  He wound up shooting her in the head and killing her.)

To the gun guys, these daily accidents are just another cost of their "freedom."  To me, it's a disgraceful and avoidable shame.

When these unintentional shootings occur, the most common statement from pro-gun extremists is that the person who fired the gun just hadn't had sufficient training in the four rules of gun safety.  I say that's bullshit.  It's true that in most states, including here in Oregon, you don't need a moment of gun safety training to purchase a gun for your home, not a single shot fired.  But this is a lethal weapon.  Anyone with any common sense should realize it is deadly -- the reason it is purchased -- and should be treated as such at all times.  Here in Oregon you have to take a class for an hour or two, no live fire required by the state (although many programs do so anyway).  It's the same in many other states, such as Arizona (where THIS young lady wasn't even asked if she had fired a gun, much less had to do so for her conceal carry certification class).  I don't feel that a couple hours sitting at a desk or firing off a few dozen rounds at the shooting range is sufficient to render someone "safe" with their weapon, but at least they should have had someone drill the idea into their head for an hour.  Better than nothing, I guess.

Okay, so if there is any one place a person could go to avoid an accident, it would be with close supervision by an experienced firearms instructor, well-versed in teaching safety for a wide range of firearms and diverse clients of all ages, right?  Like a shooting range.  The four rules of gun safety should be prominent in everything that happens there, posted on the walls, and evident with every step in the process of picking up, loading, firing, and setting down the gun.  I've been to a few shooting ranges and shot handguns and rifles at them, from my old Boy Scout camp in the woods of Arkansas to an indoor police range here in Oregon.  They all featured the four rules in one form or another and apparently competent instructors.

So I would say that shooting ranges and firearms safety classes should be pretty foolproof for safety.  Wouldn't you agree?

Except they aren't.

(Note: Additional updated incidents will be added as they occur.  See below.) 

1/24/12 -- Eastlake, Ohio:  A man attempts to clear his weapon and unintentionally sends a .357 round through the stall wall, hitting his friend on the other side.  The friend dies from the wound.

1/28/12 -- Rowlett, Texas:  After numerous stray bullets hit homes over a couple years, most recently flying through a wall and nearly hitting a 5-year old boy, the town moves to shut down the shooting range.

"It's just a parent's worst nightmare," she said. "The idea of a child getting hurt or killed, especially in a house -- it shouldn't happen in a house."

Police said the bullets were from a high powered rifle that could have traveled a distance.

"It's just scary," Bowman said. "Had they been playing in here, they would have been in the path of the bullet, and who knows what would have happened."

2/7/12 -- Sitka, Alaska:  A man at a shooting range was re-holstering his weapon when it fired, killing him.

3/20/12 -- Custer, South Dakota:  Residents call for the shutting down of a shooting range after reports of bullets flying through residential neighborhoods.

"You go outside and you don't really feel safe when they're shooting. I've had two bullets, heard them ricochet up and come towards over in that area across the highway," neighbor Quinten Arp said.

"It's right next to the highway, right next to the houses and it's not a place for a gun range," Arp said.

3/10/12 -- San Antonio, Texas:  A court halts rifle fire at a shooting range after a nearby golfer was struck by a stray bullet.

3/23/12 -- Boise, Idaho:  25-year-old Kevin Kuhn died of a self-inflicted wound to the forehead at an indoor range run by Impact Guns in Boise.  Despite being a forehead wound, police believe it likely wasn't a suicide due to the fact that the gun was at an intermediate range and not directly against the skin when it fired.

3/26/12 -- Charleston, North Carolina:  60-year-old Benny Patterson was shooting at the range in the Trader World Gun Shot when he stopped to inspect his weapon, but he discharged it unintentionally, hitting himself in the chest and dying from the wound.

4/14/12 -- Fayetteville, North Carolina:  a man at an indoor shooting range tries to clear his gun, but it discharges, sending a round through his leg.

4/16/12 -- Texas City, Texas:  The rangemaster at a city municipal shooting range tried to unjam a handgun when it fires, sending a  round through his hand.

4/18/12 -- Paulden, Arizona:  A man who was attending a basic pistol class at the Gunsite Academy went to holster his weapon and sent a round through his leg.

4/24/12 -- Roanoke, Virginia:  A man and woman were taking a firearms safety class when he unintentionally fired his .45-caliber handgun through his hand in into his wife's leg.  The man who shot himself said the shooting was a "stupid accident."

4/26/12 -- Galveston, Indiana:  A gun store and shooting range was having a "shooting event" which featured a .308-caliber Russian-made machine gun.  Unfortunately, they also rained bullets downon the surrounding residential neighborhood, nearly hitting a mother and her 5-yearold daughter as they sat for lunch.

At first she thought someone was throwing rocks, but when she heard a popping noise she realized it was gunfire and called 911.

“I just didn’t know where to go,” Stout said. “I had to go get my phone and I thought, ‘What if they start shooting again?’ ”

Police found a bullet lodged in a wooden door frame inside the home and another bullet in the drywall upstairs. The first bullet nearly hit the mother and daughter, a police report said.

“If the round would have traveled three inches to the right, there is a high probability chance that Lori and/or her daughter could have been struck,” the report said.

(see below for additional shooting incidents added since the initial posting)

And that's just the instances I've heard of this year.  I didn't search back through last year or prior.

No wonder cities all over the country are trying to shut down shooting ranges or prevent them from being built.  Some say the issue is noise from the guns.  But let's face it: no one is comfortable with the idea of bullets whizzing around their neighborhoods.  In the words of the owner of that shooting range in Custer, South Dakota, that's being attacked for its poor safety:

" I will not and cannot guarantee that a round will never escape this premises. You just can't do it."

And that's the problem.  All it takes is one bullet with an unfortunate trajectory to kill someone.

Citizens in Chickamauga, Georgia, for instance, are objecting to the building of a shooting range there, only 400 feet from a daycare and school.

Here's a Chicago neighborhood who objected to the building of a police shooting range near them.  Using an environmental argument, they succeeded in blocking the plan.

Increasingly ostracized, it's harder all the time to find a location far enough away from civilized areas to build a shooting range.  Here's one in West Virginia that is getting opposition to build near a cemetery (in an ironic way, maybe the only suitable landmark to be near a shooting range).  And here's one in Maine which was evicted from their old location and has to settle on an old sludge pit!

So if shooting ranges with instructors aren't safe enough, then where can you possibly go without fear of being shot by some idiot who isn't mindful of his weapon?

Anywhere there isn't a gun, obviously.

UPDATES:

More gun range shootings since posting this entry:

4/27/12 -- Gas City, Indiana:  A Muncie man unintentionally fires his SKS military-style semi-auto assault rifle at a shooting range, hitting himself twice in the abdomen.  He is expected to survive.

5/7/12 -- Onalaska, Washington:  A woman being trained in drawing and re-holstering her 9mm handgun unintentionally shot herself while re-holstering it into her concealed hoster.  The wound was non-life-threatening.

5/8/12 -- Scottsdale, Arizona:  A 52-year old man accidentally shot himself in the chest at the Scottsdale Gun Club.

5/11/12 -- Lincoln County, Idaho:  A police officer, training during an NRA officer training course, accidentally shoots himself at a gun range.

5/28/12 -- Laguna Hills, California:  32-year old Kenneth Matthew Wells wrote a suicide note, went to a shooting range, rented a gun, stepped into the shooting range, and shot himself dead with one round to the head. 

6/12 -- Brighton, Michigan:  Charles Kimball and his friend Jessce Stearn were at the Livingston Conservation and Sports Association gun range when Stearn shot Kimball in the head with a replica AK-47, killing him.  The shooting was later determined to be intentional murder.

6/15/12 -- West Palm Beach, Florida:  A patron at the Shoot Straight shooting range was unintentionally hit and wounded by a ricochet bullet.

6/21/12 -- Galeton, Colorado:  A 71-year old man, Wayne Harrison of Greeley, unintentionally fired his .357-caliber revolver while trying to holster it, while at a gun club, shooting himself in the stomach.  He was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition (related article).

6/21/12 -- Wichita, Kansas:  A law-enforcement recruit was struck by a ricochet bullet while practicing, and had minor injuries, at a firing range near Lake Afton.

6/23/12 -- Utah Lake, Utah:  A wildfire was started after a person at a shooting range shot at and hit an exploding target.  (So far there have been at least 20 wildfires started by exploding targets in Utah alone, so far this year).

7/2/12 -- Brighton Township, Michigan:  Four friends, three males aged 19 and a 16-year old female, went to a gun range to fire an AK-47.  The gun jammed, as it had in the past.  In trying to clear the jam, it discharged, hitting and killing one of the 19 year olds.

7/4/12 -- West Palm Beach, Florida:  A woman accidentally shoots her boyfriend in the ankle at Gator Guns and Archery Center. 

7/7/12 -- Green Garden Township, Illinois:  Bullets pepper a nearby home, including a round that nearly hit two teen boys inside, shot from a private home shooting range, where a party with 25-30 shooters were firing weapons under the supervision of an ex-Marine tactical firearms trainer.

7/17/12 -- Houston, Texas:  A police officer was at the Houston Police Department Academy firing range, cleaning his weapon, thinking it was unloaded.  He accidentally fired the weapon, hitting the floor. A bullet fragment wounded him above his eyebrow.  

7/19/12 -- Petaluma, California:  A man who was an award-winning marksman and lifetime shooter was shooting alone at a shooting range when he went to get his shotgun from the car.  The gun was loaded, and when he pulled it out, barrel pointed toward him, it discharged, striking him in the chest and killing him.  "He was a very, very safe person," said his wife and mother of their two children.

8/26/12 -- Scottsdale, Arizona:  A man commits suicide at the Scottsdale Gun Club.  (In May, a man had accidentally shot himself at the same gun club).

9/28/12 -- Muskogee, Oklahoma:  James Woolard, 44, was doing target practice at a gun range at Camp Gruber shot himself to death in what appears to be an accident. 

10/15/12 -- Fort Myers, Florida:  Richard Arlen Kelley, 75, walked into Fowler Firearms and Gun Range for the second time, rented a gun, and spent 20 minutes shooting before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

10/19/12 -- Gardiner, Maine:  Kennebec County Sheriff, and Iraq War veteran, Randall Liberty was kneeling at a shooting range when he was struck in the back by a .45-caliber round.  Luckily, he was wearing a tactical vest which dissipated the round, and was uninjured other than a large bruise and swelling.

10/29/12 -- Cedar Falls, Iowa:  A man was allowing his 5-year old daughter to shoot a .22 rifle at Black Hawk Park's recreational  range when the girl's 8-year old brother walked across the firing line.  She unintentionally shot him once in the head.  No charges are being filed against the gun owner.

10/30/12 -- Fullerton, California:  A police officer was undergoing monthly qualifications in the police shooting range when he unintentionally shot himself in the leg, with minor injuries.

10/30/12 -- Wyoming, Michigan:  41-year old Mark Sobie (a convicted felon who had in 2009 tried to rob a bank with a toy gun) rented a gun at the Silver Bullet Firearms shooting range and committed suicide with it, due to depression over the death of his son. Though a convicted felon, Sobie did not have to undergo a background check to rent the gun.

11/4/12 -- Ferris, Texas:  Veteran firearms trainer Sonny Puzikas decided to have one last run through a "close combat" shooting range at the Texas Defensive Shooting Academy, where, according to the founder, "allows shooters the ability to shoot the way they want, without the stringent rules imposed like most other ranges."  Unfortunately, the area wasn't clear, and Puzikas unintentionally shot an assistant shooting instructor three times, in the abdomen, hand, and bicep. Luckily he will survive.

11/7/12 -- San Antonio, Texas:  A man rented a gun at the A Place To Shoot gun range and, after firing off a number of rounds, killed himself with a self-inflicted gunshot using the weapon. It was ruled a suicide after two suicide notes were found in his car.

11/13/12 -- Alamance County, North Carolina:  An Alamance County Sheriff's Deputy was in the midst of firearm certification at the Sheriff's Department shooting range when he stumbled while holstering his weapon, unintentionally shooting himself with his .40-caliber handgun.  His wound was non-life-threatening.

11/24/12 -- Cheatham County, Tennessee:  A 13-year old boy was with his family and was retrieving targets.  That's when a woman moved a number of firearms on a nearby bench, discharging a .22-caliber revolver and striking the boy in the abdomen.  Luckily the wound was not life-threatening.

11/29/12 -- Nevada, Texas:  A 5-year old boy was injured by flying glass, and narrowly missed, when a stray bullet went through his car window, shot from the neighboring Armadillo Gun Range, despite the use of dirt berms around the range.

11/30/12 -- West Columbia, South Carolina:  A 62-year old man was taking apart his gun at Shooter's Choice gun range when he unintentionally discharged it, shooting himself in the chest.  He died shortly after.

1/19/13 -- El Paso, Texas:  A woman at the Dragonman's pistol range unintentionally fired her gun while reloading.  The round hit a trash can and the ricochet wounded her on the leg.  Another woman was also slightly hurt.

1/20/13 -- Marshfield, Wisconsin:  53-year-old Stephen Sammartino at the Wood County Rifle Range was attempting to clear his gun when he unintentionally discharged it, hitting his 25-year old son in the back.  His son was flown to the hospital in critical condition.  No charges.

2/2/13 -- Glen Rose, Texas:  Famed, record-holding SEAL team sniper, gun trainer, and pro-gun spokesman Chris Kyle, was shot to death, along with another man, by a suspect who suffered from PTSD and other serious mental illness, at a shooting range at the Rough Creek Lodge.

2/5/13 -- Hatfield Township, Pennsylvania:   Sgt. Stephen Gillen, a 23-year police veteran, of the Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department was conducting annual firearms training at a police shooting range when he unintentionally fired a round into his left foot while he was removing the weapon from his holster.

2/24/13 -- Dallas, Texas:  A shooter at the DFW Gun Range stupidly decided to use tracer bullets while target shooting. Being a type of small flare, they caught the building on fire. Around 50 people had to be evacuated as the building was engulfed in flames, with multiple small explosions, in this four-alarm fire.  No charges were filed.

2/27/13 -- Dalton, Georgia:  A young girl was allowed to shoot a double-barreled shotgun at the Chestnut Mountain Shooting Range.  The kickback was too strong for the girl after she fired the gun, causing her to drop the weapon, whereupon it discharged again.  The shot hit and injured two people in their legs.  No charges were filed against the girl or whomever allowed her to shoot.

3/3/13 -- Waldorf, Maryland:  61-year-old Patrick Allen Richards of Hughesville, who was target shooting at The St. Charles Sportsman's Club, unintentionally discharged his gun while it was pointed at his upper body, possibly as part of a recoil accident.  The shot killed him.

3/22/13 -- Gaston County, North Carolina: A student at the Gastonia Police Firearms and Tactical Training Center shooting range had problems with his handgun, and while investigating it with a trainer, they discharged it, hitting a deputy from the Gaston County Sheriff's Office in the hip.

TOTAL: 46

Statistics for Crime on College Campuses

Here is a great graphic, showing statistics for crime on U.S. college campuses, via onlinecolleges.net.

As you can see, there has been a marked increase, up 35.6%, in on-campus assaults since the 80's.  54% of those attacks have involved guns.  The largest amount of those have been in dormitories or apartments.  All the more reason to limit guns on campus, where they would be stored in peoples rooms and subject to the whims of people who are in the largest age bracket for deaths from gunfire and gun-related crime.


Presented By: Online Colleges Blog

Two Great Pieces From The New Yorker

How extreme is the gun lobby agenda to get guns everywhere?  They have a clear scheme for more guns, in more places, for more people, no matter how unpopular or dangerous.

As evidence, consider the following blog post from Susannah Griffee at the New Yorker:  "Guns, Everywhere":
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/04/guns-everywhere.html#ixzz1sjm7Gvoa

From the blog post:

The United States has the highest rate of gun ownership by civilians in the world. Depending on the state, guns may be allowed in churches, on college campuses, and even in bars. In this week’s New Yorker, Jill Lepore writes about the powerful gun lobby and the consequences of America’s attachment to deadly weapons. Below, a look at some of the more unusual—and, arguably, more dangerous—gun laws passed in recent years, and the states that passed them first:

Go to the post.  There you will see the extreme nature of the gun lobby.  What states currently allow for, and when did they start to allow for:

• Guns in Bars
• Guns in Churches
• Guns on College Campuses
• Guns at Work

The article gives years, names states, and some "fun facts" about those movements.  Makes me sick.  And now, in my state (Oregon), the gun lobby is pushing for guns in grade schools!

As you see in the excerpt above, Griffee links to an article by Jill Lepore, entitled "The Lost Amendment."

From the article by Lepore:

The debate over the Second Amendment has been fierce and terrible, with bad arguments on both sides, and bad will all around. It began in the nineteen-sixties, when there was a great deal of violence and much concern about it. It took another turn on Friday, when, at the N.R.A.’s annual meeting, in St. Louis, Newt Gingrich said, “The Second Amendment is an amendment for all mankind.”

As I wrote in this week’s New Yorker, no amendment received less attention in the courts in the two centuries following the adoption of the Bill of Rights than the Second, except the Third (which dealt with billeting soldiers in private homes). It used to be known as the “lost amendment,” because hardly anyone ever wrote about it. The assertion that the Second Amendment protects a person’s right to own and carry a gun for self-defense, rather than the people’s right to form militias for the common defense, first became a feature of American political and legal discourse in the wake of the Gun Control Act of 1968, and only gained prominence in the nineteen-seventies. A milestone in its development came when Orrin Hatch, serving on Strom Thurmond’s Senate Judiciary Committee, became chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution. Hatch commissioned a history of the Second Amendment, resulting in a 1982 report, “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms,” which concluded, “What the Subcommittee on the Constitution uncovered was clear—and long lost—proof that the second amendment to our Constitution was intended as an individual right of the American citizen to keep and carry arms in a peaceful manner, for protection of himself, his family, and his freedoms.”

She then goes on to discuss the rise of the flawed "insurrectionist" interpretation of the 2A and the formation of citizen militias.

Wait...   If the Second Amendment is so crucial to the idea of "protecting our freedom," as Orrin Hatch and the NRA would have us believe, then why was it essentially ignored for the first 192 years of our country??  Somehow our country survived nearly two centuries without widespread home ownership of handguns, assault rifles, or anything beyond hunting rifles (and not really all that widespread even for those, in many areas).  Our leaders, including some really liberal ones (whom the ultracons associate with, gasp!, communist tyrants), did not take advantage of all those weaponless masses and form a tyranny.  So why is now any different?  I'll tell you why.  It's because the gun manufacturers have teamed up with the NRA to make more money by expanding gun ownership.  Never mind all the deaths.  Look the other way.  There's money to be made off of people's fears.

Lepore finishes her article as such:

In his remarks before the N.R.A. last week, Gingrich offered a human-rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. “A Gingrich presidency,” he said, “will submit to the United Nations a treaty that extends the right to bear arms as a human right for every person on the planet.”

The United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, twice that of the country with the second highest rate, which is Yemen. The United States also has the highest homicide rate of any affluent democracy, nearly four times higher than France or the United Kingdom, six times higher than Germany. In the United States in 2008, guns were involved in two-thirds of all murders. Of interest to many people concerned about these matters, then, is when the debate over the Second Amendment will yield to a debate about violence.

As she points out, America is far and away the murder capital of the world, for any nation not at war on its territory and, not coincidentally, the undisputed capital of firearms ownership.  If Gingrich and others like him had their way, they would spread that bloodshed worldwide.

We as a country already labor under 110,000 shootings a year.  With increasing gun ownership has come increasing shootings, and the more lax the gun laws in a state, the higher the number of fatal shootings.  These are undisputed facts from the statistics.  The world watches us in horror, wondering when our citizens will stop drinking the Kool-Aid given to us by the NRA, as the NRA pushes for ever more extreme laws (or removal of laws) to expand those horrors.  At some point, American legislators will wake up to the danger.  Already there is vast support (around 80%) for stronger gun regulation, in every poll I've seen.  Soon we will reach a tipping point when people tire of the bloodshed, speak out, and  demand that we return to sane gun regulation.

Remember the Victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre

Today we note the fifth anniversary of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, where gunman Seung-Hui Cho, despite being diagnosed as dangerously mentally ill, was able to legally purchase his firearms and ammo without being caught by a background check, then went on a killing spree at Virginia Tech University.

When the gunpowder has settled, 32 people were shot dead, 25 were injured, and the gunman committed suicide.

HERE is a list of the victims from that day.

HERE is an interactive gallery of the victims, or see below:

• Ross Abdallah Alameddine
• James Christopher Bishop
• Brian Bluhm
• Ryan Clark
• Austin Cloyd
• Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
• Daniel Perez Cueva
• Kevin Granata
• Mathew Gregory Gwaltney
• Caitlin Hammaren
• Jeremy Herbstritt
• Rachael Elizabeth Hill
• Emily Jane Hilscher
• Jarrett Lane
• Matthew Joseph La Porte
• Henry Lee

• Liviu Librescu
• G.V. Loganathan
• Lauren McCain
• Partahi Lumbantoruan
• Daniel O'Neil
• Juan Ramon Ortiz
• Minal Panchal
• Erin Peterson
• Michael Pohle
• Julia Pryde
• Mary Karen Read
• Reema Samaha
• Waleed Mohamed Shaalan
• Leslie Sherman
• Maxine Turner
• Nicole White

One of those who survived the shooting is Colin Goddard, who has become a strong advocate for sensible gun regulation and is the focus of a documentary on the shooting, "Living for 32", which is still showing around the country and which showed in my area last year, with Colin giving a presentation.  It is very moving, and I strongly urge you to attend a viewing if you haven't yet.

Colin and the Brady Campaign to Reduce Gun Violence are having a couple days of activity in Washington, D.C., to convince lawmakers to pass sensible reform to reduce gun violence.

Here is a statement from their website:

As a survivor of the VA Tech shooting, the Brady Campaign’s Colin Goddard will lead other victims on April 16 and 17 to ask Congress: "Since 32 people are murdered with guns EVERY DAY in America, which day would be ‘appropriate’ for you to start talking about it and doing something about it?" 

On the fifth anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting, which claimed the lives of 32 people, 32 victims from around the country will converge on Capitol Hill to hold our elected leaders accountable for policies that led to the worst mass shooting in American history and that keep the death toll rising daily. 

Following news conferences on Capitol Hill, The 32 will visit members to tell their stories and demand they defy the NRA and its deadly "guns everywhere" agenda. 

The 32 include: Columbine Families, Virginia Tech Families,Tucson Families, Police Officers, Parents who have buried their children, Children who have lost their parents, and others who have lost loved ones.

Link to media press release and schedule of activities:  http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/press/view/1484/

Please join me in remembering this sad anniversary, and in helping to advocate for sensible reforms to keep such tragedies from happening again.  I urge you to contact your lawmakers and let them know you want reform now!

Since the 2007 VTU shooting, there have been at least 17 other shootings at colleges, universities, and community colleges in the United States, and that doesn't even touch shootings in high schools or lower grades.

To honor the Virginia Tech victims, please sign our petition to prohibit guns in Oregon schools and universities: go to www.BooksNotBullets.com. Sign today and speak out for an education free from the fear of violence. We do not want loaded handguns in our children's classrooms.

I also urge you to go to the following website petition, sponsored by The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus, to sign your name and call for action:
https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1483/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5862&track=fb

HERE is a video from Omar Samaha, whose sister, Reema, was killed in the shooting.  In it he endorses stronger background checks, particularly for adding to the list those who are dangerously mentally ill, like the shooter.


(source for VTU candlelight vigil image HERE)

Videos on the Second Amendment by Teens

The winners have been announced for the 2012 C-SPAN StudentCam Competition.  In this annual competition, teenagers from around the nation and territories enter self-made videos wherein they explore some aspect of the Constitution.

From the competition's website:

C-SPAN is pleased to announce the 75 winning videos in the 2012 StudentCam competition! Congratulations to each of the winning filmmakers, whose documentaries competed among the record-setting 1,203 films that were received in this year's competition. Over 2,000 students from 43 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico competed, and we would like to acknowledge and thank all of the students and faculty advisors that participated. We hope the experience of creating your documentary was rewarding and, that those students eligible, will consider entering once again in the 2013 StudentCam competition. The film makers of the 75 winning documentaries will share in a total of $50,000 in cash prizes

( I couldn't figure out how to embed the videos directly or link the pictures, so you'll have to click on the text links to view them)

Here's one third prize winner in the middle school division:

 Wilson Ekern and Chris Moran

8th Grade

"An Armed Campus"

Farragut Middle School

Knoxville, TN

Charter Communications

Watch Interview

Here is one honorable mention from the high school division:

Laura Munoz, Tahiez Toro, and Nicole Richardson

12th Grade

"Guns & Coffee"

Sacred Heart High School

Los Angeles, CA

Time Warner Cable

One of the entries that didn't make the final 75 was one by two Oregonian boys, the Reese brothers, Oliver and Aleczander Reese, from Bend, Oregon. Last year, Oliver had been assaulted by another boy, then that boy had gotten hold of his father's gun and ammunition and made a hit list which included the Reese brothers.  They are in 7th and 10th grades.

I was happy to advise them on their video, and even make a brief appearance.

Video link:  http://studentcam.viddler.com/videos/watch.php?id=f0af7573

I applaud these bright boys and girls for their efforts, whether they won or not.  Understanding the Constitution is so important, and the Second Amendment in particular is one which brings out so much passion in Americans.  Clearly it is an amendment which is outdated, too ambiguous in its language, and clearly controversial. 

I look forward to next year's entries.