After the shooting in Uvalde, TX

"UVALDE — The U.S. Justice Department has released its long-awaited report into the worst school shooting in Texas history, calling the delayed response by law enforcement a "failure" with no one taking full command to stop the gunman who was slaughtering 19 students and their two teachers..."

"Law enforcement response and Robb elementary school on May 24 and in the hours and days after was a failure that should not have happened," Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters and Uvalde community members at a news conference explaining the department's findings in the town's civic center. "We hope to honor the victims and survivors by working together to try to prevent anything like this from ever happening here or anywhere..."

"In its exhaustive analysis of the top-to-bottom failures by law enforcement that combined to make the shooting one of the worst in history, the report aims not only to help prevent further shootings, but also to guide, unflinchingly, the next American community to face a similar tragedy on how to best respond..."

"The Uvalde victims' families were first provided a copy of the report ahead of its official release Thursday morning, a DOJ official confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network.

“The goal is that this report provides answers to those directly impacted, while also conveying recommendations and lessons learned to the nation," the report states."

Go to the link below to see more of this report.

SOURCE: Microsoft START Daily

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Well they just review the evidence and make the report. The families who lost their loved ones probably don't feel any better.

Blaming the lack of speed in trying to secure the gunman, might make a family member say, well train them better, give them better weapons.

But none of the report that I've read, mentions that gun laws in Texas are just still out of the old west. The cowboy mentality supports open carry. I am not in a position to review their laws, but I sure do know the attitude. When children are killed by guns, these people say it's the fault entirely of the man, nothing to do with how he got the gun, what kind it was, whether he was ever evaluated for mental stability, etc.

I continue to hold a place in my heart for all the mass shooting victims...from whenever the hell they started in our sad country. I think a movie theatre in Colorado was the first I heard of.

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Today's quote (on another subject, please!)

The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same. -Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), novelist (1783-1842)

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.

-------------------------

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

Sustainability vs mining cost, and art, and gun violence measures

 From this article by PBS "How Mining affects people and the planet" - on 

PBS NewsHour follow@newshour.org via mcc.mcsv.net

Before a solar panel can be installed on a roof or an electric bus can hit the streets, manufacturers first have to get their hands on key metals and minerals.

But to meet the demands of the transition away from fossil fuels, experts say more sustainable approaches are needed to minimize the effects the mining industry can have on the planet, people and their communities.

The question of how to pull off this balancing act is one of the many topics that world leaders, policymakers, researchers and others will discuss at the ongoing COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

Experts say it’s crucial to figure out how we can mine more responsibly and efficiently to meet the needs of the clean energy transition, and some note that part of the answer also requires consumers to think more critically about their energy demands.

----------------------

A link to an artist's miniature landscapes: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/12/house-of-wonders-miniatures/ by Caroline Dewison.

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And for those who [still] hope to curb gun violence in America...

The only thing that students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas should have been worried about yesterday was studying for their final exams.

Instead, a day of studies turned into a day of terror when a shooter opened fire on campus—just hours after extreme members of the U.S. Senate blocked votes on key gun safety legislation.

I am heartbroken. I am devastated. I am angry. How many more innocent lives must be stolen until our elected officials decide that enough is enough?

My heart aches for the Las Vegas community—a city that is already all too familiar with the devastating impacts of gun violence. In 2017, we grieved alongside them when 60 people were killed and over 800 others wounded when a gunman opened fire at a music festival. Today, we must stand with them in mourning once again.

Our young people deserve so much better. That’s why I will not rest until we see a future where we can all live freely without the threat of gun violence.

Please, keep standing with me in this fight.

Sincerely,
Gabby Giffords

Yes, I've not posted about all the gun violence lately, because until we get a better body to represent the American public in state legislatures and Congress, it's a moot point.

Today's quote:

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.

THICH NHAT HANH hAPPY SECOND NIGHT OF HANUKKAH

New White House office for Gun Violence Prevention

Sorry I didn't end up posting this last week when it was hot news...

President Biden is creating a new office for gun violence prevention to coordinate his administration's efforts to reduce gun violence and elevate an issue that — while stalled in Congress — remains important to Democratic activists and young voters.

Biden will formally make the announcement at the White House on (probably last) Friday. Vice President Harris will oversee the office, and White House staff secretary Stefanie Feldman will direct its work.

"This office will dig deep to find additional life-saving actions that this administration can take," Feldman told reporters, explaining that it will aim to coordinate support for communities hurt by gun violence.

Gun-control activists have been privately advocating for such an office for years and it comes as hopes of additional gun reform legislation seem unlikely. Two activists are joining the new White House office: Greg Jackson, a survivor of gun violence who has led the Community Justice Action Fund, and Rob Wilcox, who has worked at the groups Everytown for Gun Safety and Brady.

Activists hope the office will enable Biden to make more use of his presidential bully pulpit to push for more gun safety measures.

[ Robb Elementary School shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas, United States, when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos,^[5][6] a former student at the school, fatally shot 19 students and two teachers, while 17 others were injured but survived.]

"We need a White House team to focus on this issue on a daily basis," said Po Murray, chair of the Newtown Action Alliance, a grassroots organization started after a 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school killed 20 children and six adults.

"It is a national crisis," Murray said.

Murray argued that public opinion is on Biden's side. In a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, a majority of Americans said it's more important to curb gun violence than protect gun rights.

"I do believe that the president is aware that this is a winning issue for him, and it is the high political ground. And obviously it's a high moral ground," she said.

Gun violence is a top-of-mind issue for Gen Z voters

The president has called for "common sense" regulations and a ban on assault-style weapons. Republicans and a small number of Democrats oppose the measures.

Advocates say Biden's new announcement helps show he is willing to act unilaterally on an issue important to young voters — at a time when he needs to energize this crucial voting bloc ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

During the 2018 midterm elections, addressing gun violence became a major part of the national Democratic campaign playbook. That was the first time gun control groups spent more money than gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association.

"There's been a paradigm shift, I think, in American politics around guns," said David Hogg, who co-founded March For Our Lives after a mass shooting at his high school in Parkland, Fla., five years ago.

"[Democrats are] no longer running from this issue. They're running on it and proudly," he added.

Hogg said Biden needs young voters to win reelection. "That's not even my opinion. That's just objectively true. He needs young voters to win again, he especially needs younger voters of color that were critical to his election in 2020," he told NPR.

SOURCE:
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/20/1200712487/biden-is-creating-a-new-white-house-office-focused-on-gun-violence-prevention?ft=nprml&f=1002 by By Asma Khalid,and Elena Moore Sept 21, 2023

---------------------------------------

AND from info@everytown.org

"...we're making critical progress in the movement to end gun violence.

For decades, gun sellers have exploited loopholes in federal law that let them sell guns online and at gun shows without conducting background checks—and now we have a chance to change that. In a newly proposed regulation, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) under the Biden Administration's leadership is setting a clear and common-sense standard for when gun sellers must become licensed dealers and run background checks. It's the next step in building on the life-saving Bipartisan Safer Communities Act we helped pass last summer. Closing this loophole would be a huge victory for gun safety.

And we're celebrating more big news from the White House! Just last week, the Biden-Harris Administration unveiled a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention that will be based in the White House and advance the Administration's ambitious gun violence prevention agenda.

At the same time, we're making important progress at the state level: so far this year, state legislatures have passed more than 80 new gun safety policies and blocked more than 95% of the gun lobby's agenda.

"... fighting for gun safety at all levels of government would be impossible without our thousands of incredible Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers.

Then they ask for donations...to combat the gun lobby. Probably needed!

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I also receive news from :

Gabby Giffords organization to control gun violence.

Gun deaths so far and action steps

 June 24, 2023

Each of these people had mothers and fathers, sisters or brothers, and friends and many other relationships in their lives. That would probably affect about 20-40 people for each one who died, I'm guessing on average.

So around 500,000 people have been affected by these gun deaths.

Another way to look at it is that we've just had 6 months of 2023 so far, about 26 weeks of this year. That makes about 14 mass shootings a week.

Just pausing to think about that.

NPR posted this on July 5, 2020

Monday night, a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest killed five people in a southwest Philadelphia neighborhood. Two children — ages 2 and 13 — were injured.

Another shooting occurred the same night at a street festival in Fort Worth, Texas, killing three people and wounding eight.

One day earlier, in Baltimore's Brooklyn Homes neighborhood, a shooting at a block party killed two people and left 28 injured.

These are among the 11 mass shootings — defined as acts of gun violence injuring or killing at least four people — that have occurred this month, and 346 mass shootings since the beginning of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Note the progression from June 24 - July 5, That's 11 days.

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This weekend should have been filled with block parties, barbeques, and joyful gatherings of all kinds. But once again, the Fourth of July was marked by devastation and heartbreak. Even as we honored the victims and survivors of one mass shooting, more deadly tragedies unfolded in communities across the country.

Until we take action, these killings will continue. For every family member who has had their life shattered by gun violence, we can and must do more.

The communities and people impacted by this weekend's tragedies will never be the same.

But this reality is not inevitable—we are not helpless in the fight against gun violence. Our lawmakers can and must pass gun safety laws that are proven to save lives. After the deadly shooting in Highland Park, Governor Pritzker set an example of how to respond to these tragedies: He signed a law that banned the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and machine gun conversion devices in Illinois. And we've seen similar life-saving action on gun safety in states across the country this year, from Minnesota to Maryland, among many others.

Our lawmakers on the local, state, and federal levels can and must continue to fight for common-sense gun safety policies that will save lives.

As we honor the victims and survivors of the shooting in Highland Park, and of every shooting that happened this Fourth of July weekend, join me in demanding action. Read my new op-ed with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in Teen Vogue about what we must do to help end this crisis.

Thank you for being a part of this movement.

Angela Ferrell-Zabala
She/Her/Hers
Executive Director
Moms Demand Action

Today's quote:

The past is to be respected and acknowledged, but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we will find our greatness. -Pierre Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (1919-2000)

Gun Deaths reach highest level ever in 2021

There are mentions of gun restrictive laws by some candidates for office. Find out who would support children's lives over campaign contributions from the NRA. Vote for them. 

 "U.S. gun deaths reached an all time high for a second consecutive year in 2021, according to a study from Johns Hopkins University. The study found firearms violence to be the leading cause of death for children and young adults, especially among Black children and teens."

Actually some people yesterday on TV refuted President Biden when he said guns are the leading cause of death for children now. Here're excerpts from the study released June 6, 2023! 

"The annual study, which relies on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported a total of 48,830 Americans lost their lives to gun violence in 2021. The latest data works out to one gun death every 11 minutes, according U.S. Gun Violence in 2021: An Accounting of a Public Health Crisis.

The report found 26,328 suicides involving a firearm took place in 2021 and 20,958 homicides. The gun suicide rate represented an 8.3% increase from 2020 — the largest one-year increase in more than four decades. The gun homicide rate was up 7.6%.

Further, the gun homicide rate rose 45% from 2019 to 2021, while the rate for homicides not involving a gun rose just 7% in the same period. Likewise, while the rate of suicides by firearm increased 10% over the same period, it was down 8% when looking at suicides by other means.

" ...The report outlines alarming increases of gun homicides among racial and ethnic minorities. From 2019 to 2021, the gun homicide rate increased by 49% for African Americans and 44% for Hispanics/Latinos. That figure rose by 55% among American Indians/Alaska Natives.

In 2021, the deadliest year in U.S. history due to the pandemic, guns also outpaced COVID-19, car crashes and cancers as the leading cause of death among children and teens — most notably among Black children and teens. While there were more suicides than homicides for the general population, nearly two-thirds of gun deaths for children and teens were homicides.

The study points out that the rise in gun deaths coincides with record gun sales.

It also notes that "states with the lowest gun death rates in 2021 have some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the country," with someone in Mississippi — with the highest rate of gun violence, according to the study — 10 times more likely to die of gun violence than in Massachusetts, which ranked lowest.

Source: NPR Gun Deaths in US hit the highest level ever in 2021.

National Gun Violence Awareness Day

“Wear Orange”  

on Friday, June 2 in recognition of National Gun Violence Awareness Day and to kick off “Wear Orange” Weekend, the nationwide effort to bring public attention to the issue of gun violence and to advocate for policy changes to address it.

I haven't posted about gun violence for over a week. But do you know how many times it has been reported on the news since then? And there are many occasions not being reported. I am not counting. That is pointless actually.

Even though my local news (as well as the national ones on ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX) are all owned by certain conservative corporations, I do listen to NPR, and have BBC reports to know what is going on all over the world, somewhat. I'm sort of fed up with CNN after they gave Trump an hour to broadcast his silliness stupidity lies the day after he was found guilty of sexual abuse. And I admit to fast forwarding through many redundant reports "...and more about the recent shooting in..." So glad to have a recorded edition of the news to watch and edit at my pleasure.

I'm very glad my family in Ohio is supporting the "Moms Demand Action" group which is against gun violence and has made recent efforts to stop some bills becoming Ohio laws which enable more gun ownership that is more lenient. It's an uphill battle for them.

But the alternative is...

MORE PEOPLE DYING EVERY DAMN DAY!

You know just sitting around bemoaning this problem is not going to solve it. I recently read three ways to confront problems with climate change, and I think they work just as well for the gun violence in the US.

From Caroline Lewis, an educator and environmental activist in Miami FL, "You have the superpowers of your voice, your vote, and your purse." (quoted in "Love Your Mother" by Mallory McDuff.)

As I recently quoted Buckminister Fuller on FaceBook: 

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

My additional comment was:

This is how we're going to be able to deal with climate change. The old guys just don't know their way around this new crisis. And they keep making things worse. No, We don't need to revamp the existing reality...as Bucky said, we need to build a new model! An inclusive, life affirming, non-violent, racially diverse, gender equality, compassionate model where we work together to get things done.

But back to gun violence... The reason I see a connection between these two issues, one killing us more invisibly with storms, fires, floods etc. and the other killing us in small groups day by day...is my own sense of powerlessness they bring to me. And my own anger. This should NOT BE HAPPENING.

Fortunately there are people of sanity and wisdom to talk with, to share these feelings, and to find a common ground where there is something we can do about it. For gun violence...yes groups making themselves heard, and hopefully voting for new representatives, and many petitions will eventually make the laws better. For the climate change, again, looking to legal measures, as well as the responsibilities that have been given by its citizens to the government to take care of us. That's part of their job, isn't it? 

Infrastructure is important! Safe roads, schools, places of business and shopping. Keeping the police, fire fighters and medical personel at their peak performances and funding them adequately!!

Have you seen any bridge repairs lately?

How many roads are left with potholes?

After a power station in North Carolina was crippled by gunfire, what measures have been taken to protect our electrical supply?

Multiply that to global levels...what kind of rescues will the 10th disaster receive, or the 100th? There are just so many people to care for all the rest...when storms, fires, floods take people's homes, livelihoods, families, and even their communities.

We need to now look for a bigger, better answer than what has barely worked before, and can't be simply multiplied by more manpower (think National Guard called to the southern US border). The better answer is to build that new model now.

How? Stay tuned.

Today's quote (other than above)

Stop Being So Damn Hopeless! Physical pain lets us know when our bodies have been damaged. Similarly, despair tells us when our spirits have incurred injury. Both are uncomfortable but necessary prompts to protect us from further damage and they demand a response. These days demand one too.

and... Whether your greatest present burden is a political reality, a relational fracture, a financial challenge, a medical diagnosis, or a personal demon—you still have great agency in the decisions you make, the attitude you approach each day with, the way you use your time and your resources to reflect whatever it is you value.

You’re here and able—and you’re also not alone. 

The first step and the greatest victory today is simply in seeing that yes, good people still inhabit this place and that you are one of them—and that is where the hope is.   Take a look in the mirror, friend. See the grief on your face. Feel the full depth of your sadness and be encouraged by it today. Hear your heartbeat and know that while that is happening, so much is still possible. 

-John Pavlovitz

Uvalde Anniversary Poll

 

Poll: Most Americans say curbing gun violence is more important than gun rights

May 24, 20235:01 AM ET

Heard on Morning Edition

The highest percentage of Americans in a decade say they think it's more important to curb gun violence than protect gun rights, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

The finding comes a year after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the second-deadliest in American history. Multiple other mass shootings that have taken place in the time since that one.

But the survey of almost 1,300 adults also shows Americans' views on guns are mixed, with little consensus on what to do about gun violence.

Fewer Americans say they feel their community's schools are safe from gun violence. And while a significant majority feels the answer to mass shootings is stricter gun laws, the percentage believing the solution is more people needing to carry guns has jumped 10 points in the last four years.

6 in 10 say controlling gun violence is more important than protecting gun rights

That's the highest in 10 years and includes 4 in 10 gun owners.

In 2013, people were split on this. But Democrats and many independents have shifted since.

The survey of 1,286 adults was conducted from May 15-18 with live interviewers using mixed modalities – by phone, cell phone and landlines, text and online. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points, meaning results could be about 3 points higher or lower than reported.

SOURCE: Uvalde Anniversary Poll.

There are many more graphs and data details in the original article.

As I post this (4:45 pm, May 24, 2023) President Biden is speaking of the anniversary, and promoting better gun control.

The gun lobby’s fear mongering is killing our nation’s young people

 Our country’s young people are being traumatized and killed by gun violence.

In Kansas City, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell when trying to pick up his younger siblings. Now, just like our founder Gabby Giffords, he will face a long road of recovery for the rest of his life.

Just days later in upstate New York, 20-year-old Kaylin Gills was shot and killed after she and her friends accidentally turned into the wrong driveway.

These shootings are the product of years and years of gun lobby fear mongering. They’ve peddled their scare tactics and propaganda to promote a worldview in which everyone is the enemy and you have to take up arms against them. Just last week, the NRA held their convention and spread more lies and fear.

We cannot become complacent. This should not and cannot remain the status quo in our country.

Black teens should not have to live with the fear that they will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. Young women should not have to be scared for their lives if they drive up the wrong driveway.

Please, continue to stand with us in our fight against the gun lobby as we work towards a future free from gun violence. Our nation’s children, communities, and future generations are depending on us to break the cycle of senseless violence.

- The team at Giffords

SOURCE: the above information is a quote from Giffords PAC.

GIFFORDS PAC works to end gun violence by empowering voters with information and supporting candidates who will fight for safer gun laws. A contribution to GIFFORDS PAC goes directly towards our work to save lives.

It was started and sponsored by Gabby Giffords, a former US Congresswoman  and victim of gun violence.

"Though a moderate on the issue during her time in Congress, Giffords has since become an ardent advocate for gun control. In January 2013, she and her husband launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, a non-profit organization and Super-PAC which later joined with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to become Giffords. She is married to former Space Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly, a United States senator from Arizona."

Wikipedia

This is one of the organizations that I believe can help make a difference in gun control laws, which may indeed save lives. Eventually!