Tag Archives: gun violence

Gun Violence Archive, Mass shootings, Stephen Golub

Stephen Golub: Guns: Here We Go Again… and again…and again…

Unhappy New Year

A Promised Land, by Stephen Golub, January 25, 2023

Benicia author Stephen Golub, Benicia CA, A Promised Land

California has kicked off 2023 with a bang: two mass shootings in 72 hours. (Mass shootings constitute events in which four or more people are injured or killed, not including the murderer.) This has probably been the country’s most massacre-intensive January ever – and certainly since the Gun Violence Archive started tracking this data in 2014. Only a small fraction of these nearly twice-daily horrors (647 in 2022) gets much media coverage. Still, this seems like a nightmarish Groundhog Day.

Over the course of nearly nine years, the satirical, fake news outlet the Onion has regularly summarized such slaughters 30 times with the same headline,  “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”

I won’t regurgitate most of the grisly statistics you’ve heard before. But it’s worth noting a few:

Family Values

Here’s one more statistical nugget: America is the only wealthy country in which gun violence is the top cause of death for children and teens.

The comparative data leaves other rich nations buried (so to speak) in the dust. Firearms killed 4,357 young people here in 2020. The next highest nations, based on a recent research review of selected similar societies: Canada and France, with 48 each. Correcting for Canada’s far smaller population, its gun mortality rate for folks aged one to 19 is still less than 10 percent of ours.

Even that shameful ratio under-represents how bad our relative situation is. Canada and France themselves have much higher rates than other wealthy nations. The next highest number on the list is that of Germany, where only 14 young people died due to guns in 2020. Given that its population is one-quarter of ours, that figure would extrapolate to just 56 if we were the same size.

Why?

Now, this is not to say that most gun-owners are fanatics about their weapons. Many are responsible, or support at least some gun safety measures, or legitimately use firearms for protection or hunting.

Still, why are so many Americans (though by no means the majority ) so dedicated to deadly weapons, including assault rifles?

Pick your poison. The National Rifle Association. Our distorted democracy. The self-perpetuating cycle of easy access and ease of use making for a way of life. The legacy of racial animus. The fear of guns being taken away, which drives the purchase of yet more. The related conviction that more guns equal more protection from more guns. Gun collection as a hobby. Americans loving (ahem) Freedom, as long as it’s that of a gun owner and not a gun victim. The reliance on a Second Amendment adopted at a time of muskets and citizen militias. Or maybe all of the above.

There’s yet another view of what drives our gun culture and gun deaths, courtesy of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film Terminator 2. Though the context for this clip was the threat of nuclear holocaust, it works equally well for a different kind of self-destruction:

Another answer is even simpler and better than the one Ahnold offers. It’s asserted by the Australian comic Jim Jefferies, in mimicing a hypothetical American gun devotee:

“I like guns!”

Here are the two parts of Jeffries’ brilliant commentary on Americans’ penchant for firearms – though be forewarned, he’s very profane, is politically incorrect, and employs a word that’s apparently much more commonly accepted in Australia than here:

A Shot at Success?

Is there any light at the end of the gun barrel? There are glimmers of hope.

In 2022, the United States adopted the first national gun control law in decades, with even a bit of Republican buy-in. It looks like legislators voting for the bill suffered few if any negative electoral consequences. Though an increasing number of states have adopted “open carry” laws – which allow gun owners to carry firearms in public without the need for permits – last year also saw a range of state-level victories for gun safety.

As I’ve noted, loads of evidence indicates that countries and states with stronger gun laws have lower rates of gun deaths; maybe someday such data will mean something for our nation’s public policy.

In fact, we’ve seen instances of public opinion or legislation shifting on other issues more than previously thought possible. The examples range from acceptance of gay and lesbian marriage to last year’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which for all of its flaws was an unprecedented environmental step forward.

Still, manyof us have remained politically unmoved by the Sandy Hook and Uvalde school massacres, by a lone Las Vegas gunman murdering 60 concert-goers and injuring over 400 others, and by so many other atrocities that we lose count.

Now, the sure way to lose the fight is to lose hope. But for now, Americans face the reality of constantly shooting ourselves in the foot, the head, and everywhere in-between.

Stephen Golub, Benicia – A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.

Benicia resident Stephen Golub offers excellent perspective on his blog, A Promised Land:  Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.

To access his other posts or subscribe, please go to his blog site, A Promised Land.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Gun violence

Gavin Newsom’s plan to save the US Constitution by trolling the Supreme Court

A new California gun law should force the Supreme Court to confront the enormity of its worst decision in decades.

VOX, By Ian Millhiser Jul 25, 2022

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference where he signed SB 1327 into law, in Los Angeles on July 22. David McNew/Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law on Friday modeled after Texas’s anti-abortion law SB 8 — the Texas law which uses private lawsuits to target abortion providers. But there’s one important difference between the two state laws: California’s new law sends these litigious bounty hunters against gun dealers who sell certain guns, including assault weapons and weapons with no serial number.

It’s a high-stakes gambit that will test whether the Supreme Court actually meant what it said in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson (2021), which held that because of SB 8’s unique style of enforcement, it was immune from meaningful judicial review — and thus would take effect despite very strong arguments that the law was unconstitutional at the time.

Shortly after Jackson was decided last December, Newsom announced that he disagrees with the Supreme Court’s conclusion that states can dodge judicial review of unconstitutional laws. But Newsom also said that, if the Court’s Republican-appointed majority would give this power to states, then he would use it to limit access to firearms.

Indeed, California’s new gun law, known as SB 1327, is explicit that the new law’s fate is tied to SB 8’s. SB 1327 provides that its SB 8-like provisions “shall become inoperative” if SB 8 is struck down “in its entirety by a final decision of the United States Supreme Court or Texas Supreme Court.”

The state of California, in other words, appears to be trolling the Supreme Court. SB 1327 should force the justices to either overrule Jackson and admit that they were wrong to let states evade the Constitution, or give California’s new gun ban the same immunity from judicial scrutiny that five justices gave SB 8.

That is, of course, assuming that this increasingly political Supreme Court cares about consistency. Continue reading Gavin Newsom’s plan to save the US Constitution by trolling the Supreme Court →

Gun Violence Archive

At least one mass shooting every day so far in July

Yesterday: Four more mass shootings in US, four dead, sixteen injured

Gun Violence Archive, mass shootings on Sunday, July 10, 2022

Date State City Or County Address # Killed # Injured
10-Jul-22 California Downey 8100 block of Leeds St 3 2
10-Jul-22 Missouri Kansas City 4128 Broadway Blvd 1 5
10-Jul-22 Illinois Chicago 448 N State St 0 4
10-Jul-22 New York Brooklyn Boardwalk and W 21st St 0 5
Sunday in Downey, California – 3 dead, 2 injured

[BenIndy editor: apologies for the 15-second commercial…]

Gun Violence Archive definition  of “mass shootings”
Mass Shooting Methodology and Reasoning

Mass Shootings are, for the most part an American phenomenon. While they are generally grouped together as one type of incident they are several with the foundation definition being that they have a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.

Gun control, Gun violence, March For Our Lives

300 gather in Benicia to protest gun violence and call on congress to DO SOMETHING!

March For Our Lives crowd is inspired by Benicia High School Youth and Community Leaders

Benicia March for Our Lives 2, June 11, 2022. Photos by Constance Beutel (video  below)

By Roger Straw, June 11, 2022

Benicia moms and high school youth organized a local rally and march on Saturday, June 11, to call attention to the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S., and to call for sensible legislation to make our schools – and our communities – safer.

A crowd of around 300 rallied at Benicia’s First Street Green overlooking the Carquinez Strait.  Attendees received free blue t-shirts with white lettering, “MARCH FOR OUR LIVES” and the colorful crowd heard inspiring speeches before taking to the sidewalks and marching up First Street and back to the Green.

Organizer Alicia Brewster served as MC, welcoming the crowd and thanking everyone, including co-organizers Becca Cannon, Jacquie McCue and others.

Leadoff speaker was Terry Scott, chair of Benicia’s Arts and Culture Commission.  Scott shared his experience at Kent State University in 1970 when he witnessed the killing of 4 students and injuring of 9 others. Then he turned to our current epidemic of gun violence, asking, “How high are we willing to set the price to defend an amendment that has been outpaced by technology? How is being shot at schools, malls, churches, grocery stores an expression of freedom? Is it time to agree that the original intent of an antiquated amendment has been co-opted?”

Benicia School Board President Sheri Zada recalled the horrific 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland Florida. That AK-47 massacre triggered the March For Our Lives movement, and Zada was one of the organizers of Benicia’s 2018 March. Zada recalled, “I was with my husband Alan, at lunch one day, crying… and I said, ‘You know what, I can’t just sit by and do nothing.'”  She offered sobering statistics, “More than 170 school shootings have happened since Parkland, Florida.  170!  Over 950 school shootings have happened since Sandy Hook in 2012…. You’ve got to realize that it’s an epidemic in our country. Guns are the leading cause of death in American children and teens.”  Zada got enthusiastic applause as she wondered what can be done, “Well, the first thing I did when I got into office is that I made sure there is a resolution passed in our School Board that would not allow our teachers to be armed, ever.”

Three students representing Benicia High School followed.

“I am here speaking to you today because I am fifteen, and I am tired,” said Bella Cannon, Sophomore Class President of Benicia High School.  Bella’s litany of “I am tired” statements illustrated the sorry state of so many of our kids in schools these days.  “I am tired of being scared to go to school every day. I am tired of being worried about my 10-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother when we all leave the house every morning….I am tired of worrying if we are all going to make it home.”

Benicia High’s 2022 senior class valedictorian Juhi Yadav followed, and made a profound point, “If you want a gun, the government says that you get to have it, virtually unconditionally. You have a right. But is it right that you have it?”  It  took a minute, but the crowd’s understanding slowly bloomed, as did the applause.  Yadav continued, “In response to tragic and despicable instances of violence, like that in Texas just weeks ago, lobbyists and lawmakers love to enter a fantasy world, where guns are used to protect innocent families from armed gunmen. At every step of the way, they ask, but what if just one of these teachers had been armed – how would the story have changed? The answer is painfully clear. It wouldn’t.”

Benicia High Junior Michael Delgado added a rather stark and shocking perspective. “Three weeks ago, when we heard the news that nineteen children had been murdered in a public school, none of us were surprised,” he began. “These children are the pure among us, the innocent among us, and the most vulnerable among us. They are our future. Time and time again, we watch, and stand idly by, while they are taken from us. A society which allows its future to be slaughtered is a sick society….”

Benicia Poet Laureate Mary Susan Gast concluded the pre-march ceremonies, sharing three poems. Tragically and movingly, the first poem, by former Benicia poet laureate Johanna Ely, was written four years ago, on the occasion of Benicia’s 2018 March For Our Lives, a poem titled, I am tired of waking up to the faces of dead children…. Dr. Gast then read two of her own poems, beginning with One Who Survived Uvalde, describing the heartbreaking story of Miah Cerrillo, who survived the Uvalde massacre by smearing herself with blood of a dead classmate and playing dead.  Gast’s final poem, A Plea to Legislators began, “Deliver us from slaughter,” and ended with the crowd joining in a crescendo of cries, “Do something.  Do SOMETHING.  DO SOMETHING!”

The sidewalks of First Street, Benicia – June 11, 2022

After the March

Marchers returned to the First Street Green for closing remarks and a commemoration of 21 flowers for the 21 who were murdered in Uvalde Texas.

Benicia Mayor Steve Young, file photo

Benicia Mayor Steve Young reported that “There has been a mass shooting every day since Uvalde, and 1500 since Sandy Hook.”  He added, “In 1994, Congress passed an assault weapons ban, and in the next ten years, mass shootings declined by 43%.  Republicans undid the ban in 2004, and mass shootings have increased 239%. Coincidence?” The Mayor’s best line came at the end, and got a big cheer from the crowd: “The only way to stop a bad politician with a vote is with a good citizen with a vote!”

Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown, file photo

Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown added, “Together, we need to elect US senators who believe in our cause. Background checks, a 30 day wait to get a gun…. An example is the recent Tulsa shooting at the hospital. He bought a gun at 2 and by 5pm, 4 were dead plus the shooter. We might say enough is enough, but the effort must be daily until November 7. 2022.”

Mel Orpilla, staff, and US Representative Mike Thompson, file photos

Mel Orpilla, Senior staff for Benicia’s U.S.  representative Mike Thompson, read a message from Thompson, who chairs the House Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce. Thompson has long led an effort to pass universal background checks. “This week,” wrote Thompson, “the House passed two vital bills that join my Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act as gun violence prevention legislation that the House has sent to the Senate.” He continued, “The bills we passed will save lives by raising the age to purchase an assault rifle, restricting large capacity magazines, going after gun traffickers, stopping ghost guns and bump stocks and requiring the safe storage of firearms. The pressure is now on Senate Republicans to do their job and vote for these policies that are overwhelmingly supported by the American people.”

Closing ceremony
ProBonoPhoto.org, photo by Mary Martin DeShaw

The rally concluded with a touching memorial reading of the names of the nineteen children and two teachers murdered in Uvalde, Texas.  As the names were read, March speakers, organizers and supporters were thanked one by one, and presented with one of nineteen individual flowers representing those we lost in Uvalde. 

Video of Highlights by Dr. Constance Beutel (28 minutes)
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