Posts Tagged ‘Arizona’

Today marks another dark anniversary in our country’s history. Two years ago, our nation mourned a horrific act in Tucson, Arizona – where a beloved congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head by a dangerously mentally ill man and barely survived. Six Americans in the crowd were killed and thirteen were gravely wounded alongside her. Since then, we, as a nation, have witnessed shooting after shooting – in our theatres, shopping malls, and houses of worship – yet have done next to nothing to stop them.

We cannot let this violence continue.

Gabby Giffords is not willing to stand by and do nothing. The horrific event that changed her life two years ago today has made her more resilient and determined than ever. Earlier today, she announced that she and her husband Mark Kelly will fight to find responsible solutions to the massive loss of life that we experience on a daily basis.

“We have experienced too much death and hurt to remain idle. Our response to the Newtown massacre must consist of more than regret, sorrow and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve fellow citizens and leaders who have the will to prevent gun violence in the future.”

That means all of us. Help us thank Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly for their bravery and tenacity by joining them. Your voice is needed to tell your legislators that you support them and will continue to support them in the fight to end these tragedies.

Vice President Biden’s task force is in meetings this week to discuss the next steps. Please call your legislators and tell them that you want them to support the following smart and effective solutions to the end the bloodshed:

1) A background check with all gun sales
2) A ban on military-style assault weapons
3) A ban on large capacity ammunition magazines – some of which can hold 100 rounds of ammunition

Tell them that they must take action today – because the safety of our loved ones depends on it.

Find your legislators now and call: http://bit.ly/myrepresentative

On April 14, 2012, Arizona Governor Janice Brewer vetoed a bill, for the second year in a row, that would have weakened restrictions on carrying a loaded firearm in public buildings and on public property.  Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vetoed a bill on March 5, 2012 that would have created reciprocity with concealed weapons permits from all other states and expanded current stand your ground provisions outside of the home. In South Dakota on March 19, 2012, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill that would have allowed the carrying of concealed weapons without a permit.

Want to see more success stories? You can find them here.

Gabrielle Giffords has announced that she is resigning her seat to focus on recovering from the severe injuries she sustained in the tragic shooting in Arizona last January. She has displayed such grace, strength, and perseverance in her fight to recuperate from her gunshot wound to the head, and yet the President and Congress have still done nothing to support basic improvements to our national background checks system – changes that would prevent countless acts of violence across the country. Furthermore, we agree:

..it would be a disservice to her life and that of the others directly affected by this, and tragedies like it, to ignore the factors that precipitated the violence: the easy access to guns; the availability of accessories such as extended clips that make deadly weapons all the more lethal; and a porous and shoddy regulatory system that too often fails to keep these weapons out of the hands of dangerous or dangerously unstable individuals.

~ Washington Post editorial

We stand united with our allies in the fight to have this issue recognized as an epidemic in our country. Our partners, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said it best in their letter to President Obama (read the full letter below):

Last year, 12,000 Americans were murdered with guns. To put the death toll in perspective, imagine the entire population of a town being murdered over the course of a year. Or a university losing its entire student body, each day bringing 34 new murders. Surely, these events would shock Washington into action. But the grim fact that guns are used to murder 34 people a day is barely discussed in Washington – even though the tragic reality is that many of those lives could have been saved if the federal government had fixed its broken background check system.

We will continue to work tirelessly – with the law on our side – to promote smart guns laws that can, and do, save lives.

On January 8, 2012, LCPGV joined Americans nationwide to remember victims and survivors of gun violence on the one-year anniversary of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona.  At a candlelight vigil in Yerba Buena Gardens, survivors, legislators, and activists from across the Bay Area gathered to reflect on the terrible toll of gun violence and the need for renewed efforts to keep our communities safe.

LCPGV Legal Director Juliet Leftwich spoke to the need for action in an op-ed in the Contra Costa Times, urging Congress to enact sensible gun laws to prevent future tragedies:

Remember Republicans and Democrats alike sitting together to express their unified support for their fallen colleague? Sadly, rather than using that moment to actually do something tangible to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future, our leaders let the opportunity pass and simply returned to business as usual.

It’s not too late. If members of Congress truly want to honor the victims and survivors of the Tucson shooting, they should stop pandering to the gun lobby and start protecting public safety.

LCPGV thanks everyone who attended Sunday’s vigil.  You can watch a KTVU news report on the event below and see more photos from the vigil here.

The San Francisco vigil, organized by LCPGV, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Bay Area Chapters, 1000 Mothers to Prevent Violence, and Youth ALIVE!, was one of numerous vigils held on January 8 to remember victims of gun violence nationwide.  Reports from events across the country are being collected at TooManyVictims.org.

Gun violence prevention groups have also released a number of important materials recently.  Mayors Against Illegal Guns released a video of survivors from the Tucson shooting sharing their stories.  The Violence Policy Center also published a new report entitled More Guns, More Shootings, which found that, in 2008, 110,215 people were shot in the United States, a nine-year high.

LCPGV commends the Obama Administration for recently adopting a rule to require firearms dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to report any individual who purchases multiple semiautomatic rifles within a five-day period.

LCPGV submitted comments in support of the rule, which will help identify gun traffickers who buy multiple rifles, including assault weapons, for use by Mexican drug cartels.

While this is an important step, President Obama should urge Congress to fix more fundamental gaps in federal gun laws—which allow individuals to buy assault weapons and other firearms from unlicensed sellers without undergoing background checks—in order to combat gun violence in the U.S. and Mexico.

With shocking disregard for the victims of the January shooting in Tucson, Arizona’s governor signed into law, on April 28th, a bill adding a state gun to the official state emblems.

On Sunday, March 13, two months after the Tucson massacre, President Obama announced a proposal to improve the federal background check system in an Arizona Daily Star op-ed. “[O]ur focus right now should be on sound and effective steps that will actually keep those irresponsible, law-breaking few from getting their hands on a gun in the first place,” the president wrote. “Porous background checks are bad for police officers, for law-abiding citizens and for [firearms] sellers themselves.”

LCPGV commends the president for this first step to address America’s gun violence epidemic. President Obama proposed improving background check recordkeeping, but unfortunately federal law does not even require every gun purchaser to pass a background check. As the president noted in his op-ed, “If we’re serious about keeping guns away from someone who’s made up his mind to kill, then we can’t allow a situation where a responsible seller denies him a weapon at one store, but he effortlessly buys the same gun someplace else.” LCPGV urges the president to support S. 436, Senator Schumer’s bill to require universal background checks.

President Obama called on Americans to begin “a new discussion on how we can keep America safe for all our people.” The American public, however, has already voiced broad support for requiring a background check before every firearm sale. A recent bipartisan poll showed that 86% of Americans and 81% of gun owners nationwide support universal background checks. Additional polls in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio and Virginia indicate that at least 83% of respondents — and over 75% of gun owners — in each of those states support this policy.

LCPGV has long advocated for universal background checks and for the improvement of background check recordkeeping. Despite Congress’ unwillingness to confront gun violence in recent years, and its consistent capitulation to the gun lobby, we are encouraged by the prospect that the president’s recent statement will mark a new beginning in federal firearms legislation.

Following the tragic shootings of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8, 2011, federal legislators have introduced several bills to reduce gun violence. Representative Carolyn McCarthy has authored legislation to prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition magazines, like those used by the Tucson shooter. We encourage you to sign our petition urging Congress to pass H.R. 308 the bill to ban large capacity ammunition magazines, and contact your congressperson to voice your support for this common sense legislation.

Other significant federal legislation introduced after the Tucson shooting includes a bill by Senator Barbara Boxer to establish minimum standards for states that allow the carrying of concealed firearms, and a bill introduced by Representative Peter King to prohibit the carrying of a firearm near a senior federal official holding a public event, carrying out official duties, or campaigning for federal elective office.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Champions Reform of Federal Gun Laws

Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), a diverse national coalition of more than 500 mayors led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, promotes federal legislation to reduce illegal firearms trafficking and repair gaping loopholes in our nation’s background check system. MAIG’s latest campaign, Fix Gun Checks, encourages Congress to adopt federal laws to ensure mental health and drug abuse information is entered into the databases used to check a prospective firearm transferee’s background, and to close the private sale loophole by requiring a background check prior to every gun transfer. Mayor Bloomberg led a recent undercover investigation of the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix, Arizona, which showed unlicensed sellers willingly selling guns to people who say they probably “couldn’t pass” a background check. LCPGV is pleased to support MAIG’s efforts for critical gun violence prevention legislation nationwide.

In response to the devastating mass shooting in Tucson earlier this month, which left six dead and thirteen wounded, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy has introduced H.R. 308, which would ban large capacity ammunition magazines. Large capacity ammunition magazines are frequently used in mass shootings, including the tragedy in Tucson and those at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, and 101 California Street in San Francisco, because they enable a shooter to kill large numbers of people in a matter of seconds.

LCPGV needs your help to tell Washington how vital this legislation is to the prevention of future mass shootings. Here’s what you can do:

Sign our petition urging Congress to pass H.R. 308, Congresswoman McCarthy’s bill to ban large capacity ammunition magazines. Forward this e-mail to your friends and urge them to sign the petition as well!

Contact your U.S. Representative at (202) 224-3121 and encourage him or her to cosponsor H.R. 308. If you’re not sure who your Representative is, you can find that information at Govtrack.us.

Call President Obama at (202) 456-1111 and urge him to announce his support for H.R. 308.

Large capacity ammunition magazines have no place in civilian hands. As discussed in our updated policy summary, large capacity magazines were banned under a now-expired federal law, and are now only prohibited in California and five other states. Act now to stop the sale of these magazines and help prevent future tragedies!

(San Francisco, CA) Following Saturday’s mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (LCPGV) issued the following statement:

“LCPGV is deeply saddened by the horrific shooting in Arizona. Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and to all of the individuals touched by this tragedy. The Arizona massacre is just one more terrible example of the impact of gun violence in America and the urgent need to act with courage and commitment to achieve sensible gun policies nationwide.

The Arizona shooter used a Glock 19 handgun equipped with a large capacity ammunition magazine. That magazine, capable of holding 33 bullets, enabled the shooter to kill 6 people and injure 14 others in a matter of moments. Large capacity ammunition magazines – those capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition – were banned as part of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban, but were legalized when Congress allowed the law to expire in 2004. Large capacity magazines are now only banned in California and a handful of other states, not including Arizona.

Unfortunately, large capacity ammunition magazines are frequently used in mass shootings, including those which occurred at 101 California St. (the San Francisco assault weapon massacre that led to the formation of LCPGV), Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and Fort Hood.

LCPGV is very pleased that Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy has announced her intent to introduce a new federal large capacity ammunition ban in the wake of this tragedy. We look forward to supporting her efforts and hope that our federal legislators will show their commitment to preventing future tragedies by doing the same. The gaps in federal law regulating guns are a travesty in this country, and one that we demand our government immediately address.

LCPGV’s recent publication, Gun Laws Matter, ranked Arizona’s gun laws as the worst in the country. Among other things, Arizona law requires no permit to carry loaded weapons in public, requires no background check for private gun sales, and allows guns in bars. In addition, Arizona enacted the so-called “Firearms Freedom Act” – declaring federal gun laws inapplicable to guns manufactured, purchased and possessed in the state.

LCPGV will continue to work to educate the public and to support the gun violence prevention laws that can prevent this type of tragedy in the future. We are reminded of the importance of this work, and thank our members and supporters.”