656 mass shootings! Congressional Action Needed!

Breaking news: From Iowa Thursday (Jan 4, 2024) morning: 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that “our hearts break” for the families of the victims in the shooting at Perry High School in Iowa, also calling on Congress to pass legislation to combat gun violence.

Jean-Pierre also urged Congress to act in the wake of this school shooting, saying that “we cannot allow these tragedies to continue.”

"Congress must act to enact universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, (and) require safe storage of firearms," she said, adding that "the gun industry's immunity from liability" must stop and a national "red flag" law should be passed. "We cannot allow these tragedies to continue," Jean-Pierre said.

 We are grateful for the brave first responders who are on the scene,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during Thursday’s press briefing at the White House.

The president is tracking the shooting, and senior White House staff has been in touch with the Iowa governor’s office, she added.

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In order to be prepared for the stressors of 2024, I'm looking carefully at how I feel about my 3 things I decided to focus on, and find the coals of my anger still are alive. Gun Control is today's topic. I have many posts about the environment, but feel my acting locally is moving along, keeping that coal very alive. For Women's Rights, yesterday I shared a bit of Jeff Teidrich's rather firm and flaring report on that and LBGTQ+ rights.

A firm and flaring use of my anger, to share here with you, and others, these topics.

 Year end notes from all the non-profits where I donate some of my little bit of income...they all wanted more. But I can only give them a bit of time here on this page of my blog.

 GIFFORDS PAC.

This year, we celebrated ten years of our organization, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without committed supporters like you.

It's hard to believe Gabby Giffords has been fighting for gun control for 10 years now.

 It's even harder when I see on the 6 o'clock news that 

2023 had over 656 mass shootings!

That's a whole lot of people who died, not to mention an even bigger lot of people who were injured and all of them traumatized by these senseless acts of violence.

The CBS feature on Gun Violence last Tues. evening (Jan 2) interviewed a trauma center doctor who said:

It's the biggest killer of young people, we don't even know how big it is, but we think it's bigger than cancer, cardiovascular disease, smoking, obesity, things that as a society actively work on. I think that the impact of gun violence is greater than those diseases. We see very severe injuries, from high impact weapons, that actually mimic the ones that are seen in war. 

Dr. Gabriel Ruiz

This is an issue that is close to home in it's destructiveness. We don't know which neighborhood might be affected next. 

So this is a turn around for my usual way of approaching issues, where I usually say "Think Globally, Act Locally."

We do need local laws to limit the purchase of the guns that are most damaging to people. There's not a real hunter in the world who needs an automatic weapon that is the kind used by soldiers against an enemy.

But we also need representatives elected who will not kowtow to the NRA's many dollars of influence...the people who can stand up like Gabby Giffords and say we need to change on a national level as well as local!

So maybe you know a person that has these same justice ideals...and is willing to serve to represent the majority of Americans who want gun control. Don't believe for a moment that we are in a minority here. 

Many folks have guns, and I don't want to take them away (which is the usual first argument against gun control measures!) (if they are kept safely away from children)

I want restrictions!

Another non-profit I support:

Everytown, Moms Demand Action, and Students Demand Action are ready to get to work in 2024. As a grassroots movement with millions of supporters, we are up for the challenge of making meaningful change.

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a grassroots volunteer network of Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund. As a movement of Americans fighting for common-sense gun policies, we depend on contributions from supporters like you to fund important work to reduce gun violence.

Contributions to Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund are not tax-deductible as a charitable contribution or as a business expense under IRC Section 162(e). A gift may qualify you for annual membership in the Action Fund.

Today's quote:

The mystic is not a special human being – every human being is a special kind of mystic.

BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST