Tag: gun violence

Statement from Majority Leader Winkler on committee hearings on gun violence prevention

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Tonight, the Minnesota House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division announced that it would be holding its committee hearing on gun violence prevention legislation at the State Capitol. House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler released the following statement:

“We wanted to hold a committee hearing on gun violence prevention in a school to offer students and parents an easier opportunity to offer their thoughts on an issue that has caused so much fear and stress for families. Instead of welcoming that discussion, the gun lobby directed their activists to badger local school district officials, including asking for gun carry requests because schools are gun-free zones. The gun lobby knows that the public isn’t on their side, so they have to resort to these tactics.

“Despite the loud voices of a few extremists, Minnesotans have been clear that they want us to address gun violence. House DFLers will pass gun violence prevention legislation this session.”

This list of lives lost in mass shootings grows longer. Here are their names.

Mourners at a vigil Thursday in Westlake Village, Calif., not far from where the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting happened. Credit: Barbara Davidson, Getty Images

THREE YEARS ago, after nine people were gunned down at a community college in Roseburg, Ore., we published a list of some of the other victims of mass shootings in the United States. “Our hope,’’ we wrote, “is that we never become numb to these terrible, preventable events, but instead honor these victims by acting to prevent future shootings.”

Sadly — maddeningly — Congress has failed to do that. And the list has only gotten longer. Since its last appearance, in February, after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, there have been mass shootings at a newspaper office in Maryland, a Texas high school, a Waffle House in Tennessee, a drugstore distribution center in Maryland, a synagogue in Pittsburgh and, most recently, a bar in Southern California.

The Nov. 7 shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks was the 307th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive showing that, in all, 328 people died. Killed at the Borderline Bar were Sean Adler, 48; Cody Coffman, 22; Blake Dingman, 21; Jake Dunham, 21; Ron Helus, 54; Alaina Housley, 18; Dan Manrique, 33; Justin Meek, 23; Kristina Morisette, 20; Mark Meza Jr., 20; Telemachus Orfanos, 27; and Noel Sparks, 21.

View the complete November 16 editorial by The Washington Post on their website here.

Voters all over America finally said no to the NRA

Credit: Mark Humphrey, AP Photo

The NRA has been a powerful force in elections. But on Tuesday, NRA-backed candidates who have refused to support gun safety went down in humiliating defeat.

Voters soundly rejected the NRA and the candidates carrying water for its anti-gun-safety agenda in 2018. The gun extremists refused to change course even after mass shootings claimed the lives of dozens of innocent Americans, and their candidates suffered because of it.

The NRA was already in something of a retreat before Election Day. They significantly reduced spending on the midterm elections, cutting their donations to Republican candidates.

It did not help the NRA that the FBI, the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), and Senate investigators have opened up probes looking at the flow of Russian money to their bank accounts during the 2016 election. In that contest, the NRA gave $54 million to Republicans, with $32 million backing Trump.

View the complete November 9 article by Oliver Willis on the ShareBlue.com website here.

Wardlow Shows True Colors on Gun Safety, Reverses Support for Background Checks and Accepts NRA Donations

Ellison has been a longtime advocate for common sense gun safety reforms, and will support efforts to reduce gun violence as Attorney General

MINNESOTA – Congressman Keith Ellison and gun safety advocates today called out Republican Attorney General Candidate Doug Wardlow for flip-flopping in his support for criminal background checks on all gun sales in Minnesota. Not only has Wardlow lied about his support for this common sense provision, his latest campaign finance report reveals that he did so while accepting campaign donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA).

“While 90 percent of Minnesotans rightly support common sense gun safety measures like criminal background checks, Doug Wardlow backed down as soon as the gun lobby came calling,” said Ellison. “After the tragic events of this last weekend, Minnesotans understand better than ever the need to elect a strong advocate who will protect the safety of all Minnesotans as Attorney General.”

During the KSTP Attorney General debate last Sunday, Wardlow was asked whether he would support criminal background checks on all gun sales, to which he replied: “Yes I would.” Then, this past Saturday, on the same day as a tragic and deadly act of gun violence, Wardlow backed away from this position, saying that he “absolutely [does] not support background checks for private sales” and he “[does not] support any new gun laws.” Continue reading “Wardlow Shows True Colors on Gun Safety, Reverses Support for Background Checks and Accepts NRA Donations”

America’s Youth Under Fire

The following article by Chelsea Parsons, Maggie Thompson, Eugenio Weigend Vargas and Giovanni Rocco was posted on the Center for American Progress website May 4, 2018:

The Devastating Impact of Gun Violence on Young People

Introduction and summary

Credit: MConnor, Morguefile.com

On February 14, 2018, 14 students and three staff members were murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, by a single shooter armed with an assault rifle. This horrific massacre galvanized the nation’s attention to the issue of gun violence, particularly as it affects young people in this country. However, the scope of gun violence as it affects America’s youth is much vaster than this most recent mass shooting. Gunfire has officially overtaken car accidents as one of the leading killers of young people in the United States.1 As of publication time, since the beginning of 2018, 820 teens ages 12 to 17 have been killed or injured with a gun.2 As mass shootings become more common and more deadly, a staggering 57 percent of teenagers now fear a school shooting.3 Continue reading “America’s Youth Under Fire”

GOP in crisis as more major donors pull money over guns

The following article by Alison Parker was posted on the ShareBlue.com website March 24, 2018:

Republicans’ intransigence on gun violence is being tested as more big-money donors are joining Al Hoffman Jr. and putting away their checkbooks.

Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Even in the wake of tragedy upon tragedy, Republicans have governed under the thumb of the NRA. But more funders are joining mega-donor Al Hoffman Jr. to demand action on gun safety. Consequently, the GOP may finally realize the need to make a change.

Days after the mass shooting at a high school in Florida, Hoffman made his stance clear to the party.

“I will not write another check unless they all support a ban on assault weapons,” Hoffman wrote to GOP leaders. “Enough is enough!” Continue reading “GOP in crisis as more major donors pull money over guns”

‘I can’t do this again’: Why a congressman walked out of moment of silence for Texas victims

The following article by Cleve Wootson, Jr., was posted on the Washington Post website November 7, 2017:

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said he walked out of a moment of silence in the House of Representatives for the victims of the Sutherland Springs shooting because he had “been to too many moments of silence.” (Ted Lieu)

Rep. Ted Lieu’s national profile skyrocketed as he became the acerbic foil to the nation’s tweeter in chief, blasting President Trump with incessant and sharply worded responses to presidential posts.

But the California Democrat’s recent foray into social media took aim at other legislators who he said were not doing enough to beef up the nation’s gun control laws in the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting at a Texas church. Continue reading “‘I can’t do this again’: Why a congressman walked out of moment of silence for Texas victims”

Local residents meet with Rep. Erik Paulsen on gun violence

To the Editor:

On Tuesday, May 16, I had the opportunity to meet with my congressman, Erik Paulsen.

Five Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense members met with him to discuss legislation to reduce gun violence, specifically, universal background checks. We each shared stories of the impact of gun violence on our suburban lives. Continue reading “Local residents meet with Rep. Erik Paulsen on gun violence”