After North Carolina Nursing Home Massacre That Killed 8, Arming Nurses Is NOT the Answer

When Robert Stewart barged into a North Carolina nursing home and started shooting elderly Alzheimer patients, local police officer Justin Garner went to work.  Garner confronted the well-armed intruder and told him to put his weapons down.  Stewart responded by shooting at Garner, hitting him with buckshot pellets in the leg and foot.  Despite his injury, Officer Garner managed to fire one round, hitting Stewart in the chest and ending the shooting spree that left eight people dead. 

Now that’s police work and we should all be grateful for the long hours Officer Garner put in training to do his job.  

But good police work is apparently not good enough for Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC), a local gun extremist group.  GRNC wants to arm nurses.

Armed nurses in an Alzheimer unit?  Really?

GRNC, and gun fanatics across the country, are seriously out of touch with reality.  The reality is shootings happen quickly.  They can start and end before anyone even realizes what is going on.  

The reality is that even highly trained police officers hit their intended targets less than 20% of the time.

The reality is that these highly stressful situations set off an array of involuntary physiological responses, including trembling hands, tunnel vision, loss of hearing and even loss of bowel control.  

The reality is that adding more guns to a shooting incident will lead to more chaos, more chance for innocent people to be hit and greater confusion for law enforcement in sorting out who the criminal is.

But GRNC doesn’t just want to arm nurses, they want to override the ability of private companies in North Carolina to regulate firearms as they see fit on their private property.  GRNC is currently supporting legislation that would force privately owned bars and restaurants to allow hidden, loaded guns.  

All across the country gun extremists are pushing this extreme agenda.  The goal of the gun lobby is to eliminate any restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons.  Current legislation includes: 

•          a Montana bill to do away with the need to obtain a concealed weapons permit
  
•      a New Mexico bill to allow concealed weapons in bars;
  
•      an Arizona bill to force privately owned business to let workers keep guns in their cars; 
  
•      a Texas bill that would give permission for college students to keep guns in their dorm and carry guns into the classroom. 

This is just a partial listing of bills being considered in state legislatures.  Unfortunately, there is no lack of legislators willing to sponsor and vote for these dangerous bills, despite the fact that the majority of Americans want tougher, not weaker, gun laws.  But as long as legislators continue to be bullied by gun extremists while the majority of Americans remain quiet, these laws will continue to be introduced and even passed. 

Do we really want to be so dependent upon the judgment of ordinary citizens as to when and where is the right time to use a concealed gun?

 

For His 18th Birthday He Bought Himself Two Assault Rifles, Several High Capacity Ammunition Clips, and More

Last week, in the middle of the night, Massachusetts police pulled over a driver on 495.   The truck was allegedly swerving in and out of lanes.  Luke Huizinga, the 18-year-old behind the wheel,  said he was headed from his home in Danbury, Connecticut to a wedding in Maine.  After spotting a gun case the police searched the vehicle.  They found:

-         a 16-inch Bushmaster assault rifle with a night scope

-         a 12-guage shotgun with a pistol grip

-         7 30-round high capacity ammunition clips

-         several boxes of additional ammunition

-         six knives

-         brass knuckles

-         a bullet-proof vest with an armor plate

According to police, both guns had been modified.  

Huizinga told police he bought the guns to celebrate his 18^th birthday.  His mother describes him as a “sportsman and gun enthusiast” and said that he just wanted to show off his new guns to his friends in Maine. 

She told the Danbury News-Times that Luke “did something stupid.  I hope he does not get two years in jail.  I’m sure it will be all right, because I’m not in control, God is in control.”

God help a mother who gives her blessing for her son to buy himself a mini-arsenal, complete with bullet-proof vest, for his 18^th birthday.  He may never “have been in trouble of any kind before” but he’s certainly heading down a dangerous road.  And the sad part is, he purchased all these guns legally.   

Two Killed, Seven Others Injured in Weekend Shooting

“Two killed, seven others injured in weekend shooting,” read the headline in papers across the country. 

But the articles were not about the same incident.  “Two killed, seven others injured,” is a story that took place in three separate cities last weekend. 

            Two killed, seven others injured in a shooting outside a neighborhood store in northwest Miami, Florida.  A gunman, using an assault rifle, opened fire on a group of teenagers playing dice.  Two killed, ages 16 and 18, seven others injured.  Police have no suspects in custody.

            Two killed, seven others injured in a shooting during a wake at a home in southeast Wichita, Kansas.   Two killed, ages 22 and 66, seven others injured as someone fired shots from outside the house.  Police have no suspects in custody.

            Two killed, seven others injured in a shooting outside a nightclub in Portland, Oregon.  Two killed, ages 16 and 17, seven others injured.  The 24-year-old gunman took his own life.  According to news accounts the gunman had displayed troublesome behavior in high school and had been hospitalized for depression and attempted suicide.  In a note to his roommate, the gunman gave information about his special PS3 gaming system, describing possible ways to sell it, but gave no motive for the shooting. 

Six of the victims in the Portland shooting were foreign exchange students.  According to Portland Police Chief the incident “echoes most Europeans’ fear about gun violence” in America.  Six people killed and twenty-one others injured in three separate shootings would have sparked national debates in most other countries but here in the United States the stories barely made out of the local papers.

Why do we passively accept such levels of gun violence?  Why do we sit back and watch quietly as gun violence prevention measures are struck down in state houses across the country?  The National Rifle Association is a big part of the answer.

The NRA is a reactionary, fringe organization.  It just ran an unsuccessful campaign against President Obama that FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, called "one of the worst examples of lying" that "distorted Obama's position on gun control beyond recognition."  

Former NRA lobbyist Richard Feldman has called the NRA a "cynical, mercenary political cult" and admits that the organization "isn't interested in actually solving problems, only in fueling perpetual crisis and controversy." 

The NRA survives by selling fear.  It profits from polarizing.  Legislators that seek and accept the endorsement of the NRA are, in effect, condoning an organization that is fueled by stoking fear in its membership and bullying and threatening legislators who dare to go against it.   

We need a new kind of politics.  In this new “era of responsibility” we need legislators who want to be cooperative, not those who embrace organizations that incite battle and combat.   We need to work together to find ways to end the needless cycle of gun violence in our country.

We should never have to pick up our local paper and read the headline “two killed, seven others injured in weekend shooting.” 

 

Gun Dealers Target of Thieves

Twice in the last four months gun dealers have been robbed on their way home from gun shows at the Valley Forge Convention Center in Pennsylvania.  Thieves have made off with more than 70 high-powered weapons and handguns.  Both robberies occurred when the gun dealers stopped for a meal on the way home and left their trucks unattended.  

In September, a New York gun dealer had 45 handguns stolen from his truck.  In December, aPittsburgh gun dealer had 26 guns stolen from his truck.  14 of these guns were fully automatic machine guns like the ones pictured below. 

Last week a gun dealer in New Hampshire returned home to find his entire inventory of 73 handguns, rifles, and shotguns stolen.  Fortunately, the guns were recovered a few days later at the home of an ex-employee.  

Stolen guns are a major source of firearms used by criminals and the cause of untold gun violence in our country, yet only nine states require gun dealers to use security measures to reduce the risk of firearm theft.  

Gun dealers are a tempting target for thieves and should be held to a strict security standard.  There is no excuse for the theft of 14 machine guns from a pickup truck left unattended outside a restaurant.  

Great Britain vs. United States in Gun Deaths

Last year there were 42 gun-related deaths in Great Britain.  This number includes homicides, suicides and accidental deaths.  

In 2005 (the latest year for which numbers are available) there were 30,364 gun-related deaths in the United States.  This number includes homicides, suicides, and accidental deaths. 

True, the United States has more people than Great Britain so you can’t really compare these two numbers.  Britain has about 61 million, while the United States has about 296 million, which gives the U.S. about five times the population of Great Britain. So, a better comparison of the numbers would be to multiple the British gun deaths by five.   

42 x 5 = 210

Now we can compare the numbers. 

Gun-related deaths for Great Britain (if given a population equal to the United States) = 210

Gun-related deaths in the United States = 30,364. 

210 vs. 30,364   

Wow.

2008 Election Results: NRA is the big loser

The 2008 elections results are in and the National Rifle Association is the big loser. The NRA declared that it intended to spend $40 million on the 2008 elections. Much of this money was specifically targeted toward efforts to defeat Barack Obama. The NRA sent out mailings and ran radio and television ads, warning that Obama would be “the most anti-gun President in American history.” They spent heavily in swing states that, despite their alarms, went decisively for Obama including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, Florida, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

As the New York Times pointed out in their December 1st editorial:

"The gun lobby has long intimidated politicians with its war chest and its trumpeted ability to deliver single-issue voters, especially in tight races. After this year’s election, those politicians should be far less afraid and far more willing to vote for sensible gun-control laws."

The editorial went on to point out:

"In Congressional races, the N.R.A. endorsed candidates in 20 of the 25 races where Democrats picked up seats from Republicans. We will not miss Florida’s Tom Feeney and Ric Keller, Idaho’s Bill Sali, Michigan’s Joe Knollenberg, Ohio’s Steve Chabot, Colorado’s Marilyn Musgrave and Pennsylvania’s Phil English — willing champions of an extreme agenda.
On the Senate side, the N.R.A. spent considerable sums to help Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Bob Schaffer, the Republican Senate candidate in Colorado. Both were defeated."

The NRA also had a very poor showing in New England in both congressional and state house races.

In Massachusetts and Rhode Island every single winning candidate for the U.S. House and Senate received an “F” rating from the NRA. An “F” rating is given to candidates that, according to the NRA, are “true enemies of gun owners’ rights.”

In New Hampshire, “A” rated and NRA endorsed incumbent Republican Senator John Sununu lost to Democratic challenger Jeanne Shaheen. Shaheen is also considered a “true enemy” of the NRA having received an “F” rating. Connecticut appears to be overrun with “true enemies” with 58% of the winning state Senators receiving an “F” rating from the NRA.

In Maine the two seats that the Democrats picked up in the state Senate were both seats where the NRA endorsed the losing Republican incumbent candidate. Five of the seats the Democrats picked up in the state House were also seats where the NRA endorsed the losing incumbent Republican.

The NRA did better in Vermont, endorsing the winning candidates for both Governor and Congress. But even in Vermont, a state where no concealed weapons permit is needed to carry a gun, thirty percent of the winning state house candidates didn’t even bother to return the NRA’s election questionnaire. According to the NRA, failure to answer their questions is “often an indication of indifference, if not outright hostility, to gun owner’s rights.” How important can the endorsement of the NRA be when so many candidates didn’t take the trouble to return the questionnaire?

The NRA likes to scare legislators with the myth that they can turn out a significant block of single-issue, pro-gun voters. In the 2008 elections the NRA failed to deliver. And if you look back to the 2006 mid-term elections you will find that the NRA spent 80% of its money on losing candidates. Again, the NRA failed to deliver.

Americans want stronger gun laws. Survey after survey shows this. The majority of Americans believe it is possible to protect an individual’s right to own a gun while at the same time regulating the purchase, possession and carrying of guns. As President-elect Obama has said, “don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.”

The NRA doesn’t want you to look at how poorly their endorsed candidates did in this election. Instead, they want to continue pushing fear and pushing guns. But it is time for our elected officials to understand that Americans want to move beyond the fear tactics of the NRA. It is time for legislators to take a stand, join us, and support meaningful, common sense gun laws.

Tragedy at Massachusetts Machine Gun Shoot

I think machine gun shoots are pathetic events. Basically, it’s a bunch of guys who get together and blow things up. They are drawn by the chance to shoot a variety of fully automatic weapons at targets like cars (probably some sort of road rage release) and other things that look “cool” when they get shot and blow up. While these gatherings strike me as both sad and silly I understand that they are legal and that there are men who get a thrill from the destructive power of firearms. These events will, no doubt, continue to take place across this county.

This past weekend the Westfield Sportsman’s Club held a machine gun shoot. The event was billed as “Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock” and promised targets that included vehicles, pumpkins and “other fun stuff.” Children under 16 were admitted for free and there was no age limit or license required to shoot a machine gun.

A tragedy occurred when an 8-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the head. The boy was allowed to shoot a fully automatic Uzi machine gun and according to the police statement “the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury.” The child died at the Springfield hospital.

The average 8-year-old stands just a little over four feet tall and weighs a scant 55 pounds. Even with two hands such a child would not have enough strength to control the recoil of an Uzi. While it’s one thing for grown men to get their jollies off shooting big, bad guns, it’s quite another thing to give a fully automatic machine gun to an 8-year-old. That is just irresponsible.

I hope that organizers of these pitiful events take a long hard look at what happened in Massachusetts and stop the foolish, immature, and reckless practice of allowing children to participate in machine gun shoots. If the adults at these events can’t exercise some common sense then policy makers should consider intervention. Next time the guys want to get together and blow things up they would do best to leave the kids at home.