Tyranny of the Gun Toting 34%

Posted on March 12, 2013 by N J Barnes

In the wake of the mass shooting of primary school children in Newtown, Connecticut, we were told that legislative reforms of our gun laws would be hard given the 47% of households with firearms.

It turns out that this number was inaccurate and that the correct figure is 34%. Interestingly the percentage has declined from 50% in the 1970s and has been particularly marked in southern and western states where the gun culture is strongest.

This means that 66% of households in America don’t have a gun of any sort, yet their voice in the gun-control debate is all too often drowned out by the screams, squawks and histrionics of the gun zealots.

Now it’s true that not all of the 34% are as unreasonable as the NRA leadership and the more fanatical elements of the gun lobby, and are open to some new restrictions. Similarly, there are undoubtedly some among the 66% who do not own firearms who nonetheless oppose government regulation.

Nonetheless, we hear way too much about the rights of the 34% and too little about the effect of lax regulation of firearms on the lives of the 66%. The Second Amendment is not an absolute right, and the gun lobby will be sorely disappointed if they believe even this conservative Supreme Court will set aside laws aimed at curbing the firepower of deranged gunmen or criminals and making it more difficult for them to arm in the first place.

We should applaud the political courage of legislators in New York who passed tough new common-sense restrictions, and the continuing efforts of legislators, in Connecticut, Colorado, Oregon and Washington State. We should also salute the ongoing efforts in the United States Senate. In all cases, it is Democrats who are striving to bring at least some sanity to this issue and Republicans providing the head wind as lapdogs of the NRA gun-zealots.

But when the next mass-shooting massacre happens as it surely will, which side will be able to look in the mirror and honestly say they did their best to prevent it?

NRA wants to make America the stupid country

Posted on February 11, 2013 by N J Barnes

Listening to the leaders of the NRA and their congressional lapdogs spouting nonsense in their opposition to changing the legislative status quo regarding curbs on guns in America is a truly surreal experience.

Here we are living in a country awash in guns and with the highest murder rate in the industrialized world; where Americans are twenty times more likely to be shot to death than their contemporaries in other advanced countries; where mass shootings are a common occurrence and where you can’t turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper without learning of a new tragedy involving firearms: a child abducted from a school bus after a deranged gunman shoots the bus driver; a teen in New Mexico shoots his parents and two sisters to death for who knows what reason; another teen who marched in a band at President Obama’s inauguration gunned down as she’s standing under a shelter in Chicago. And of course just a short time ago, we had the massacre of twenty Kindergarten and 1st grade children at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.

And yet the country’s legislators listen with respectful solemnity to the insane ravings of the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre as if he actually has something serious to say on the subject of gun violence in America; a man who would be the subject of ridicule and derision if he tried to peddle his drivel anywhere else but Somalia.

The gun lobby’s position can be boiled down to this: gun laws already on the books don’t work or are not enforced and, anyway, only inconvenience law-abiding citizens and are useless against criminals. It’s an incredibly weak argument for inaction that flies in the face of the experience of other countries, as any international comparison of murder rates and gun violence shows conclusively.

Yet unbelievably the prospect of a meaningful strengthening of national gun control laws grows dimmer by the day. Republicans embrace the power of the gun lobby while Democrats continue to fear it.

Thanks to a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that have made a mockery of the Constitution by making it perform pirouettes, hand stands, triple axels and all manner of gymnastic contortions to make it fit their ideological predilections, we have a deeply misguided 5-4 ruling that upholds the right to private ownership of firearms. One day perhaps they’ll explain how the right of the Newtown killer’s mother to amass an arsenal of weapons relates to the need for a well-regulated militia but I won’t hold my breath.

The gun fanatics and their GOP allies have tried to deflect attention from guns by focusing on violent video games and people with mental health issues, as though America has a monopoly on either (which is not to say we shouldn’t work hard to improve services to the mentally ill). The sole factor that sets America apart from all other industrialized nations in explaining our elevated levels of serious violence and murder, however, is our obsession with firearms and anyone who argues to the contrary is either ignorant or delusional.

Guns and people are like the parts of a binary weapon system. It is only when they combine that they have the capacity to become quickly lethal to multiple targets and with little or no risk to the shooter. That is what sets the gunman apart from, for example, the knife wielder.

With its ties to gun manufacturers, the fanatics who lead the NRA have a valuable stake in making America the stupid country. In the wake of the tragedy at Newtown and as witnesses to the ongoing gun violence that afflicts our country daily, it’s up to us to make sure they don’t succeed.

Rushing to the sound of gunfire

Posted on December 31, 2012 by N J Barnes

Whenever I think of the events of 9/11, the image that always comes to mind, in addition to the horrific crash of the planes into the twin towers, is that of New York’s first responders stoically filing into the burning and doomed buildings from which most would never emerge. For me, their singular devotion to duty at enormous personal risk is the light in what was otherwise a dark moment in our history.

And so it is that when thoughts turn to the Newtown, Connecticut, mass shooting on December 14th and the horror that occurred that day, I will always remember the unbelievable heroism of the principal, teachers and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary as they sought to save their children from the evil of a deranged gunman.

Of how when the shots first rang out the teachers and staff protected the children by hiding them as best they could from the gunman or leading them to relative safety. Of the staff member who used the intercom to sound the alarm and the janitor who ran down corridors shouting a warning. These acts and many more displayed a courage that placed the lives of the students before any instinct to flee for safety. Uncommon valor was, indeed, a common virtue and if those words were coined in a different place and time*, they are no less appropriate to the actions of the staff at Sandy Hook Elementary on that terror-filled morning. After all, while we ask much of our children’s teachers, courage in the face of gunfire has never been part of the job description.

Those who made the ultimate sacrifice included 27-year-old Victoria Soto who hid as many of the children in her class as she could and then lied to the gunman telling him they were in the gym. She was shot standing between him and her children. Special education teacher’s aide Anne-Marie Murphy’s body was found covering those of a group of her students. And Principal Dawn Hochsprung who, along with school psychologist, Mary Sherlach, rushed to confront the gunman and, reportedly, lunging for him before being gunned down.

Some have lamented the fact that none of the staff were armed but this is insane and merely serves to trivialize the magnitude of their courage.

It seems unimaginable that any light can come from so much darkness. Yet even as the world saw us at our depressing worst with yet another unbalanced individual with access to an arsenal of lethal firepower murdering innocents, the actions of the principal and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary also showed us our best – the very best, in fact, we have to offer. And that at least is surely some comfort to a community and nation in grief.

And we as a nation, as a society can and must ensure that something worthwhile comes from this unspeakable tragedy that honors the memory of those who died at Newtown and ensures it will not be in vain. We, the sane majority, must take on the mindless fanatics who lead the NRA and their political enablers in congress, and steel the spines of our politicians to force through meaningful legislation that will ban the weapon that killed the children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary and all weapons like it, ban high capacity ammunition clips and strengthen background checks on all who want to purchase firearms, particularly semi-automatic ones. To fail in this will be to dishonor the dead of Newtown as well as the daily victims of gun violence in America, most of whom do not make the headlines, but above all, ourselves.

It won’t be easy and the NRA will rely on time and a fading memory of the horrific events of December 14th to blunt the intensity of the call for action on guns and weaken the resolve of our politicians, as they have so many times before. But if the courage of our legislators begins to falter, and they place their political future ahead of the welfare of the nation, then they should be reminded what bravery really looks like: of Victoria Soto, shielding her 1st grade students with her body, of Anne-Marie Murphy, giving comfort to her special education kids in their last moments on earth, and of Dawn Hochsprung rushing to save the children of her school and towards the sound of gunfire.

The roll call of Victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School:

Charlotte Bacon, 6
Rachel D’avino, 29
Daniel Barden, 7
Dawn Hochsprung, 47
Olivia Engel, 6
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Josephine Gay, 7
Lauren Rousseau, 30
Ana-Marquez-Greene, 6
Mary Sherlach, 56
Madeline Hsu, 6
Victoria Soto, 27
Dylan Hockley, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emile Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison Wyatt, 6

*By Admiral Chester B Nimitz in characterizing the sailors and marines who fought on Iwo Jima, 1944, in World War II.

Bitter irony in Newtown, Connecticut elementary school massacre

Posted on December 15, 2012 by N J Barnes

The indescribable agony of the people Newtown, Connecticut, in the wake of the horrible events of Friday are compounded by the knowledge that theirs is a community characterized by most as at once bucolic and safe. A place where violent crime is non-existent and criminal wrongdoing of any sort is rare.

Why then did the mother of Adam Lanza, the alleged perpetrator, have an arsenal of firearms? According to the latest reports, in addition to two semi-automatic handguns and a semi-automatic rifle recovered at the scene of the slaughter of young innocents, the police found other weapons in the Lanza home.

Which begs the question: if Newtown is as safe and secure as seems to be the case, a wonderful place to raise children in fact, why then did Lanza’s mother purchase an arsenal of firearms? Was she an avid fan of recreational shooting who visited gun ranges? Or did she simply feel safer with a bunch of handguns and rifles about the place? And how well were these weapons secured in the home – if at all?

This blog has advocated stronger gun controls in the past and believes we could benefit greatly from adopting more stringent Canadian-style regulations governing the ownership and storage of firearms.

The NRA is lying low at the moment as they always do in the immediate aftermath of mass shootings such as the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary. They will bide their time until emotions have cooled and then will launch their counterattack to the calls for stronger gun controls. The organization’s trained political lapdogs, mostly but not necessarily all Republicans, will be sent forth to mournfully express their sorrow at the events in Newtown but will opine that what we don’t need is more gun laws. They’ll be joined at the right moment by the NRA’s leading mouthpiece, Wayne LaPierre, who will yap on endlessly about how more gun laws would not have prevented this tragedy and what we really need is more armed citizens (maybe we should now lower the minimum age to five for owning a handgun?) to stop these events in their tracks. After all, if only the janitor had been packing a .357 magnum…

In this particular case, a Canadian-style requirement for firearms to be stored securely might have prevented this awful massacre. If Lanza’s mother had owned a secure safe for the storage of her weapons and if she knew that her son was struggling with anger or similar issues, she could have saved all those lives by simply locking her weapons away and hiding the key or combination from him. Best of all, of course, was if she had never purchased the guns in the first place.

And herein lays the great irony of this tragic event. The shooter’s mother had an arsenal of weapons that she clearly did not need for her safety, because Newtown is a safe community where people know one another, look out for each other. And now thanks to her son’s access to deadly weaponry, the name will be forever linked with one of the greatest, most heinous crimes in American history.

On the issue of guns, America has lost its perspective, its senses and its sanity – and now, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, a precious group of its children and their courageous principal and teachers. May God give us the wisdom, the strength and the courage so that something good can still come from so much pain and anguish.

Mitt Romney’s Statements about President Obama and the Murder of US Ambassador Stevens show he is Not Ready for Prime Time

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Brad

The TV, Radio, and internet news sites were all a twitter today about Mitt Romney’s false claim that President Obama’s first response to the killing of Ambassador J. Christopher Stephens and three other Americans was, “to sympathize with those who waged the attacks” and then to deliver “an apology for America’s values.”

Of course President Obama did no such thing. After gathering the facts and sorting out what was done and said in Cairo from the protest and violent assault that occurred in Benghazi, he said quite the opposite:

I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.

I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

The Atlantic has a timeline of all the events leading up to the murders and a complete quote of the statement issued by the American Embassy in Cairo. Please go there and read it.

Mitt Romney, who plays his hand close to the vest when talking about his budget plan, threw his cards on the table and grabbed all the chips before Obama showed his hand. Turns out Romney had nothing but Jokers. His bluff was made of more lies about Obama apologizing for America, and today he stood away from the table and alone as no other Republicans joined him by stupidly attacking the president. They instead offered their condolences and their support for America’s goals of promoting religious freedom and bringing those responsible for the murders to justice.

Obama responded to Romney’s outrageous allegations in a polite but pointed way:

There’s a broader lesson to be learned here, and I — you know, Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later. And as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that. That, you know, it’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts. And that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make ‘em.

He then asked Romney to put the chips back on the table.

If anyone needs to apologize to someone, it’s Mitt Romney. He should apologize to Obama for making shit up about what he says, and he should apologize to his supporters for acting so unpresidential. Never mind… His radical Obama-hating supporters were his intended audience (they ate it up). Anyone on the Left already knew Romney was a serial liar and was unfit for office. Anyone in the middle has to know by now that he’s not ready for prime time.

Gun Laws Work if they’re Tough Enough

Posted on July 29, 2012 by N J Barnes

In the wake of the latest shooting outrage in Colorado, we’ve been treated to the usual nonsense from the gun nuts and right-wing punditry. Washington Post columnist E J Dionne wrote two excellent columns (here and here) on the subject in which he eviscerated the arguments of the NRA and its allies on why sensible restrictions on guns are both necessary and potentially effective and on their efforts to stifle even the semblance of a debate. He also bemoaned the cowardice of those who support such laws but meekly accept their powerlessness in the face of the gun lobby’s political and financial muscle.

A particularly absurd assertion by opponents of gun control is that gun laws don’t work. If that were the case, the murder rate from shootings in the United Kingdom, which essentially bans the sale and possession of hand guns, would be no different from ours (there is little difference in rates for other types of crime between the two countries). Instead, the United States has the highest murder rate of any advanced nation and the gap is much greater when shooting deaths alone are counted.

Obviously, a total ban never was on the cards for the United States and is now impossible thanks to the interpretation of the Second Amendment by the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court. But there is another more realistic model we could follow: Canada.

Canada is an example of a country with a thriving but stringently regulated gun culture. The result is a country where there are plenty of gun owners but the homicide rate is a fraction of our own.

Requirements imposed on Canadians include mandatory firearms training and an approved method of safe storage. Even the conveyance of firearms is strictly regulated. The key, however, to Canada’s lower rate of gun violence is the focus on ensuring as far as humanly possible that the wrong person is not issued with a license to possess a firearm. For example, in addition to the usual background checks, an applicant must provide references from individuals who know the applicant and can attest to the fact that they know of no reason why he or she should not be issued with a license to own a firearm. That requirement alone would prevent many dangerous individuals from legally obtaining a gun; the alleged shooter in Colorado, for example, would have had a tough time coming up with such references judging by his isolated life style (one mirrored in the Virginia Tech shooter and many other perpetrators of mass shootings).

The folks at the NRA love to point to the myriad gun laws on the books in America. The problem, as they well know, is that most of these are local and state laws which vary greatly in reach and effectiveness. What we need are more effective and stringent national laws such as closing the gun show loophole and banning assault rifles. States also need to pull back on the whole idea of concealed weapon permits. Add to that wish list some ideas from Canada such as imposing safe weapons storage requirements and, most important of all, establishing a more rigorous screening system for all potential gun buyers.

We don’t have to nor should we live in fear of our movie theatres, shopping malls, work places or schools becoming war zones. Common sense laws can be highly effective but we need to start standing up to the gun zealots in this country and rewarding politicians who do likewise. Is that really asking too much?

Aurora Colorado Mass Murder at Batman Movie will have No Effect on Gun Control because of People like George Will

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Brad

I don’t usually watch the Sunday morning political talk shows because I can’t stand all the cross-talk when there isn’t somebody funny like Bill Maher to interrupt them with a good joke. (Needless to say, I am a huge fan of Real Time.) But, this morning I watched the whole hour of This Week with George Stephanopoulos about “The Tragedy in Colorado” that unfortunately includes George Will as a regluar roundtable guest.

George Will, like every “good” conservative following the script, argues throughout the show that there’s no reason to push for stricter gun control laws because James Holmes, although very smart, was crazy, so there are no laws that could have prevented him from doing what he did.

Jennifer Rubin, when she could get some words in between others and “he who must be treated with great deference” a.k.a. George Will, was attempting to make a connection between gun laws and mental health, but could never quite tie it all together by suggesting that some sort of psychological screenings for buyers of guns might be a good step in keeping guns out of the hands of psychopaths. (If you’ve read The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson, you know there are some tests that are pretty accurate in identifying them).

There are millions and millioins of conservatives that adore George Will and think like George Will, and it’s because of them that absolutely nothing about gun laws in this country will change because of the mass murder committed in Colorado by a psychopath that was able to legally purchase several handguns and an assault rifle that he easily equipped with a hundred-round ammo clip.

To them, it’s the same as it ever was: “He was crazy! There’s nothing we can do to stop it, so why try?” Yes, why try to stop people from legally purchasing guns designed for the sole purpose of killing othe people in the most efficient ways? Having millions of assault rifles scattered throughout America so that we can all kill each other isn’t a big deal is it? No… Let’s make more of them! Let’s arm all Americans with assault rifles and hundred-round clips so that at the next major movie premiere we can have a good old-fashioned American shootout. Just think how of many more people could be killed if everyone in attendance had assault rifles strapped over their shoulders and semi-automatic pistols holstered at their sides. The more Jokers that can get guns, the better.

Chaos! It’s our destiny, so why try to stop it?

Ask George Will.

Concealed-Carry Combined with Stand-Your-Ground Means Big Trouble

Posted on April 9, 2012 by N J Barnes

Earlier this year in Bremerton, Washington, an elementary school student was seriously wounded when a gun in her classmate’s backpack discharged. Just two weeks later in Marysville, Washington, a 7-year girl was sitting in the parked family car while her dad and mum were outside the vehicle when she was shot by one of her three younger siblings who had found their father’s gun. She later died. Her father is a police officer for Marysville, Washington. And within days, in Tacoma, Washington, an unsupervised 3-year old boy found his father’s gun in the family car and killed himself with it.

Meanwhile, across the country in Sanford, Florida, an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, was shot dead by the now infamous neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman.

The death of Trayvon Martin has, at least, stimulated a debate on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which has been emulated entirely or in part by more than 30 states. However, what’s really needed is for that debate to extend to the whole concept of allowing firearms to be conveyed outside the home without any restrictions.

Four horrible incidents in a matter of a few weeks stand as testimony to the fact that too many Americans do not treat firearms with the care, respect and just plain seriousness they warrant. That fact when combined with the ease with which virtually anyone without a criminal record can purchase a firearm and, in most states, obtain a permit to carry (where a permit is even required) potentially endangers all of us. The “Stand Your Ground” nonsense is the icing on the cake. And if all this wasn’t bad enough, Congress is considering a law that would make it possible for the likes of George Zimmerman to legally take their guns anywhere in the country, even to states with restrictive concealed weapon and carry permit laws.

The Trayvon Martin case has focused, mistakenly in my view, on his race as the reason Zimmerman allegedly followed and then shot him during a struggle. I’m not convinced that racism was the primary culprit, even though there’s little doubt that black youths are more at risk than whites in situations similar to the one Martin encountered.

Yet the rest of us should take no comfort in the thought that our kids or husbands or fathers or brothers are safer from the George Zimmerman’s of the world. Instead, we should ask ourselves what gave Zimmerman the courage (for want of a better word) to follow the six-foot-plus Martin, instead of staying in his vehicle and letting the police do their job? The answer is his handgun and the knowledge that he could use it if he found himself overmatched; and the law or rather the lack of sensible ones that facilitated the confrontation.

Someone like George Zimmerman should never have been allowed outside his home with a firearm, and he should not now be able to legally cite self-defense as his justification for shooting Martin. The fact that he was and can should be a cause of deep concern to all of us. How can any of us feel safe when a confrontation between acquaintances or strangers over something quite trivial, can escalate into a shooting which can then be justified on the grounds that the shooter felt his life threatened – even when the threat came from someone who was unarmed.

In Florida shootings where self-defense was used as the justifications have spiked. The fact is there was a time when we could only imagine having our head blown off if we were dumb enough to break into someone’s home. Now it can happen in a public place if we exchange harsh words with someone who gets pissed off enough and has his gun with him. In addition to divisions between rich and poor and left and right, we have a new one developing between the armed and the unarmed. And which one do you think has the power?

It’s an issue that needs a healthy public debate and far more research on the effect of concealed weapon and Stand Your Ground laws. So far the NRA have had it all their own way in pushing the expansion of gun rights beyond what is sane and prudent because ordinary Americans have let them. It’s high time to take another look.

One of the more specious arguments advanced by the gun lobby is that the individual right to own a firearm is our protection against governmental tyranny. But tyranny comes in many forms. Just ask the parents of Trayvon Martin.

So Many Reasons to be a Bitter American

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Brad

I’ve been feeling bitter about all the bad things happening during the last couple of weeks.

Paul Ryan introduces his budget that cuts programs for the needy and gives more huge tax cuts to the rich.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia builds a straw man out of broccoli and then chews it up and spits it out during the Obamacare arguments.

Republicans blame Obama for the rising cost of gasoline.

George Zimmerman, the murderer of Trayvon Martin, still hasn’t been charged for his crime.

So what do I do? Well not much blogging. Just drinking. And what better beer to drink during these times than 21st Amendment Brewery’s latest seasonal brew, a session IPA they call Bitter American.

This IPA has about half the alcohol content of their other ones. That means you can savor a few cans before your legs get all wobbly.

So get off your monkey ass and go buy some while you can – then find your deep space.

Totem Pole Raised in Honor of Slain Woodcarver John T. Williams

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Brad

John T. Williams, a seventh-generation woodcarver from the Ditidaht tribe, was murdered by Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk on August 30, 2010.

photo by David Entrikin

Williams was fifty years old, an alcoholic, deaf in one ear, and was walking at Boren and Howell carrying a piece of wood and his three-inch carving blade. Birk observed Williams crossing the street holding the knife, so he got out of his patrol car and commanded him to drop the knife. Williams didn’t drop the knife, so Birk drew his weapon and shot him four times. Williams died at the scene.

An internal investigation concluded that the police shooting was unjustified, but no charges were filed aganst Birk. He did resign from the force.

tribe member gives instructions for raising the pole

Tribe member in yellow shirt gives instructions for raising the pole.

There was a totem pole raised in his honor by his family near the trees on the Broad Street Green at Seattle Center today. The pole was carved by his family and friends and raised into position by dozens of people pulling on five ropes tied around the top of the pole.

Tribe member yells as the totem pole is raised into position.

The family says the pole is a symbol of calm and healing.

HariKari

Cutting through the fat of this world

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