Tag: gun control

Boulder Colorado Supermarket Shooting – Sitting Ducks

One trained, good guy with a gun could have stopped the one bad guy with a gun.

FACTS – What is known . . .

  • Incident duration: >58 minutes
  • Fatalities: 10
  • Victims:
    • Ages: 20 – 65
    • Genders:
      • Male: 4
      • Female: 6
    • First victims: 2 victims (1st victim – Neven Stanisic and 2nd victim – Kevin Mahoney) shot in parking lot outside King Soopers
  • Gun used: Ruger AR-556 pistol
  • First shots fired: 2:30 PM 
  • 911 calls received: 2:33 PM
  • Scene secured: 3:28 PM

Suspect Assailant:

Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa

  • Age: 21
  • Marital status: Single
  • Nationality: Syrian
  • Immigrated to the U.S. in 2002
  • Residence: Arvada, Colorado

The assailant went on a 9 minute, unopposed shooting spree.

Officer Eric Talley was the last fatality.

The terrifying hour as employees and shoppers hid when a gunman went on a shooting spree at a Colorado grocery store

BOULDER, Colo. — A gunman opened fire at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo., on Monday afternoon, killing 10 people, including a police officer, the authorities in Boulder said.

The police said that they had taken a suspect into custody after the shooting. That person was injured, the authorities said. Videos showed a handcuffed man being escorted from the building by officers, shirtless and with his right leg appearing to be covered in blood.

People inside the grocery, King Soopers, described a harrowing and chaotic scene inside the store.

“I thought I was going to die,” said Alex Arellano, 35, who was working in the meat department at King Soopers, in the South Boulder area, when he heard a series of gunshots, then saw people running toward an exit near his department.

The authorities identified the officer who died as Eric Talley, a 51-year-old who joined the department in 2010. Officer Talley was the first to respond to the scene when reports of a gunman came in, the police said.

“He was, by all accounts, one of the outstanding officers at the Boulder Police Department and his life was cut far too short,” said the Boulder County district attorney, Michael Dougherty.

Dean Schiller, who posted a live video from the scene shortly after the shooting began, said he heard about a dozen shots and saw three people who appeared to be wounded — two in the parking lot and one inside the supermarket.

As officers secured the building, more than a dozen people were led out of the supermarket, a King Soopers in a residential area a couple of miles south of the campus of the University of Colorado. The grocery store usually draws a mix of families and college students.

In Mr. Schiller’s video, gunshots could be heard coming from inside the store, with officers gathering at the entrance.

Over a loudspeaker, police officers called to the scene could be heard saying, “The entire building is surrounded, you need to surrender.”

“Come out with your hands up,” the officers said. Dozens of police officers and dozens of vehicles descended on the scene.

Newlyweds Quinlyn and Neven Sloan, both 21, had stopped into the store to pick up supplies for beef stroganoff when they heard the shooting. Ms. Sloan, a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said that at first she didn’t know what the noise was.

The couple had split up in the store — he was in produce, she said, and she was standing in front of the dairy case — when customers began running.

“It was muffled at first,” she said, “and I thought maybe someone had dropped something, but then it went again, probably about 15 to 20 shots, really fast. My husband came up and shoved me out the door, and yelled, ‘Call 911!’ Then he ran back in to make sure a couple of older ladies who were in the aisles got out OK.”

Sprinting across the parking lot, she said, she took cover behind a building, to be joined minutes later by her husband. Only then, she added, did they look down and realize that, because they hadn’t bothered to use a cart, they had fled with their arms full of the meat, noodles and sherry they had intended to buy.

“These were people going about their day, doing their food shopping, and their lives were cut abruptly and tragically short,” Mr. Dougherty said. “I promise the victims and the people of the state of Colorado that we will secure justice.”

— Bryan Pietsch, Will Wright, Neil Vigdor, Erik Vance and Shawn Hubler
‘The shots are getting closer.’ Witnesses recounted moments of terror, inside and outside the store.

Alex Arellano, 35, was working in the meat department at King Soopers when he heard a series of gunshots, and then saw people running toward an exit near his department.

“The shots are getting closer,” he recalled. “I’m thinking of my parents, and I was freaking out.” For a while, Mr. Arellano said he and two other men hid in the department. He did not see the assailant but could hear the gunfire.

“We were scared cause, you know, there’s entry points where that individual could show up,” he said. “I thought I was going to die.”

Mr. Arellano and the other men eventually escaped through an exit in the back of the building, he said.

Sarah Moonshadow was at the checkout with her son, when she, too, heard shots fired.

“We ducked and I just started counting in between shots, and by the fourth shot I told my son, we have to run,” she said. As they were running, two shots were fired in their direction, she said.

When they made it outside, they saw a body lying in the road.

“I can tell that he wasn’t moving,” she said. “And so, I’m pretty sure he was gone. And I just broke down across the street. I just couldn’t believe we were able to make it across.”

Ms. Moonshadow moved back to Boulder, her hometown, from Denver after she became concerned about Denver becoming unsafe. “This isn’t how Boulder is, you know,” she said. “This isn’t what happens here.”

Taylor Shaver, who works at Art Cleaners, a dry cleaning and laundry business near the supermarket, said that she heard at least 10 gunshots and saw people running from the grocery store.

“I’m in the bathroom hiding,” Ms. Shaver said. “I heard this loud boom. I instantly knew. There was a ton of shots. My stomach dropped.”

Ms. Shaver, 18, added that it was particularly unnerving because it was her first day working alone at the dry cleaning business. She said she had left the bathroom to see what was going outside the business.

“Oh my gosh, you can see all these people walking with their hands up,” she said. “I’ve never seen this many police officers in my life.”

Jordan Crumby, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, was about to get a tattoo with the word “warning” on her hip at Auspicious Tattoo, a shop across from the grocery store, when the shooting began.

Ms. Crumby, 31, said she stepped outside to record a video of the scene for her Instagram feed, when the police waved her away. Officers with tactical gear and rifles could be seen swarming the shopping center. People from the grocery store, she said, were being evacuated.

“They had their hands over their heads and they’re getting escorted out,” she said. “I said, ‘We should probably go inside.’”

Kevin Daly, who owns a restaurant and brewery in the shopping center, said he was inside, readying his business for reopening after the pandemic when his manager, in a bank across the parking lot, heard the gunshots.

“Someone saw the livestream, so we pulled it up and locked ourselves in the office,” he said, the start of an hourslong ordeal in which he and his employees periodically opened the door to shelter traumatized witnesses to the shooting.

“The guy just went in there and started shooting,” he said. “People were just in shock. A lot of them had seen bodies and carnage.”

Mr. Daly said he didn’t know who the victims were “and I don’t know what happened in the grocery store, but I do know that it is easier to get a gun in this state than it is to get a driver’s license or to vote.”

The Surge Continues – January 2021 Gun Sales Up Nearly 80 Percent

January 2021 now holds the record for most NICS checks conducted by the FBI in any single month.

Shooting Illustrated – Guy J. Sagi : Thursday, February 4, 2021

More than 2.2 million firearms were sold in the United States in January, according to an estimate from Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (SAAF). The number, which represents a 79-percent increase when compared to the same period last year, is based on the volume of records processed through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Purchases made by people with a valid carry permit in regions that do not require the duplicative check, and some private transactions, are not reflected in the federal figures.

The news comes on the heels of 2020 shattering all previous high-water marks for gun purchases in the nation. SAAF estimates that of the 39,695,315 NICS checks conducted last year, roughly 23 million were firearm-sale related. Administrative use of the system, which includes concealed-carry permit application and renewal, account for the rest of the volume.

January 2021 now holds the record for most NICS checks conducted by the FBI in any single month. A total of 4,317,804 were processed. The system began operation in 1998, but until last month failed to reach the 4 million mark, despite December and June of 2020 coming in at 3,937,066 and 3,931,607, respectively.

Most experts agree last year’s upswing was fueled largely by home- and self-defense concerns due to the ongoing pandemic and periods of civil unrest, although politics contributed significantly to January’s spike, according to SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer.

“January 2021 certainly started off with a sales ‘bang’ due to the turmoil surrounding the confirmation and inauguration of Mr. Biden as the new U.S. President,” he said. “The 79-percent year-over-year increase, however, was not unprecedented—an even higher increase, of just over 100 percent, was experienced in January 2013, the month Mr. Obama’s second presidential term began.”

By comparison, the total number of NICS checks performed in January 2013 came in at only 2,495,440, roughly 1.8 million fewer than last month.

New House Bill Takes Aim At Second Amendment Rights

H.R. 127 – Hannibal is at the gates

FEB 10, 2021 – https://www.larslarson.com/a-new-house-bill-could-take-aim-at-your-second-amendment-rights/

H.R. 127 sponsored by Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee

H.R. 127 sponsored by Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX), released on 1/28/21 could be a major threat to your second amendment rights if it makes its way to law. This awful infringement on your rights would do the following:

  • Impose Licensing of Firearms and Ammunition for Possession of any firearm or ammunition.
  • Impose an additional license to DISPLAY  an Antique Firearm in the HOME.
  • Impose an additional license for Possession of  “Military Style Weapons.”
  • Impose mandated Firearm Liability INSURANCE with a yearly fee of $800 payable to the US Attorney General.
  • Impose a detailed Federal Firearm Registration System to which THE PUBLIC, all Federal, State and Local law enforcement, all governments, and all branches of the US Armed Forces has complete access.

Lars Larson’s interview with Dr. John Lott of the Crime Research Prevention Center below . . .

Lars Larson’s interview with Dr. John Lott of the Crime Research Prevention Center – FEB 10, 2021

Biden Calls for Gun Reform On Anniversary of Parkland Shooting

“Biden may become the most antigun president in American history.”

Joe Biden calls for tighter laws governing guns.

By VOA News
February 14, 2021

“Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”

Joe Biden

On the third anniversary of a school shooting that left 17 people dead, U.S. President Joe Biden called for tighter laws governing guns.

Sunday marks the third anniversary of a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that killed 14 students and three staff members. Another 17 people were injured. The tragedy turned some survivors into household names across America as they fought for safer schools and stronger gun control laws.

“Our hearts are with everyone in the community today and every day,” March for Our Lives, the organization started by student survivors of the 2018 attack, wrote on Twitter.

In a statement released Sunday, Biden lauded the efforts of survivors and activists from Parkland to call for better gun laws.

“This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call,” the statement read.

“Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”

Despite a history of mental health problems and threatening behavior, Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old shooter in Parkland, was able to buy an AR-15-style, semi-automatic rifle, which he used to open fire on students and teachers at the school, police say.

Now 22, Cruz awaits trial, which has been delayed in part because of the coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors have stated they would seek the death penalty. Cruz confessed to the crimes and his lawyers have said he would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Support for stricter gun laws typically breaks down along political party lines with Republicans advocating for gun rights and Democrats seeking more gun control measures. Public support for new regulation waxes and wanes. In a Gallup poll conducted in the fall of 2020, 57% of Americans said they supported stricter gun laws, down 7 percentage points from the prior year and down 10 percentage points from 2018, the year of the Parkland shooting.

In 2019, legislation that had bipartisan support in the House to increase background checks for gun purchases stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Many Republicans and some Democrats have been reluctant to support measures that would make it more difficult to purchase firearms or outlaw some types of guns, citing the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which says in part that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

But on Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hopes to try again.

“We will enact these and other life-saving bills and deliver the progress that the Parkland community and the American people deserve and demand,” she said in a statement.

National Rifle Association spokeswoman Amy Hunter told the Wall Street Journal that Biden “may become the most antigun president in American history.”

Meanwhile in Parkland, parents of victims continue to work to pressure Congress to pass gun control reforms.

Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the 2018 shooting, is organizing the sending of “shame cards” to members of Congress, which highlight how gun violence has continued to affect communities across the United States.

Unprecedented Number of Americans Exercise 2A Rights in 2020

40% were first-time gun buyers

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 – NRA-ILA

Millions of Americans exercised their Second Amendment rights for the first time in 2020. And, it’s easy to understand why.

Bare shelves at local grocery stores fueled fears that the breakdown in supply chains would lead to a breakdown in our social order. Inmates released early to stem the spread of the virus within prisons and rising unemployment led to fears of a crime wave. Americans watching this unfold in real time realized that they may be able to rely on only themselves. 

Americans didn’t wait for tragedy; they acted to make sure they were not part of the tragic tale of 2020. They applied for permits to obtain or carry a firearm. They purchased handguns and long guns at a rate no one could have imagined, and did so at a time when some states were trying to shut down permit offices and gun shops. The spike in demand led to inventory shortages that likely reduced sales.  

The FBI conducted 39,695,315 total NICS background checks last year. That is the annual record, beating the year 2019 by more than 11.3 million background checks.

The difference in background checks between 2020 and 2019 was more than the number of checks run in any of the first nine years NICS existed. This record was expected given what we saw all year: month after month of record-setting numbers. March was the busiest month ever for the NICS office, until June reset the record. June only held the record until December.

There were 3,937,066 total NICS checks run last month. The number of NICS checks had broken three million in a single month a single time before 2020. It happened eight times last year. Those eight months were among the nine busiest months ever. Nine individual weeks in 2020 rate among the ten highest weeks of all-time, including two weeks in December (third and sixth all-time). That list includes every full week in June, and two consecutive weeks in November.

We know from retailer reports that about 40% of buyers were first-time gun buyers, and that there were significant increases in the percentage and number of female and minority gun buyers. Forty-percent of those first-time gun buyers were women. The 2nd Amendment is not bound by race, gender, or socio-economic status.

It is about giving Americans a fighting chance to defend themselves and their families. 

Millions of Americans gave themselves that chance last year. A significant majority of those purchasing handguns, shotguns, or semi-automatic rifles indicated they were doing so to protect themselves. The FBI ran 11,897,521 handgun-related NICS checks last year and 7,132,864 checks related to long guns. Both are records; those numbers represent a 47% increase in the number of handgun-related checks and about a 0.1% increase in the number of long-gun related checks.

This reality is something no ivory tower academic would have ever predicted. Gun controllers, desperate for attention during 2020, tried to make every crisis about so-called gun violence while running away from the issue during the election.  Maybe they got the hint after months of record-setting background check numbers, but elitist gun controllers have already shown how far they’ll go to create a false narrative about the gun buyers of 2020. They’ve been working behind the scenes to advance their agenda without legislative input, and you can expect that strategy to continue under the next administration.

Those who write for academic journals, magazines, and textbooks will focus considerable energy to the issues and impact of 2020, and they’ll be encouraged to overlook or downplay the significance of the gun-buying surge of 2020. You can expect gun grabbers holding political office and professional anti-gun activists to try to control the narrative.  

You can also expect the NRA to continue our mission of safeguarding the fundamental right of every American to defend themselves and their families. 

We – through the will of our members and supporters – have been doing it for 150 years.

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Joe Biden Doubles Down, Pledges to ‘Defeat the NRA’

By now you may have heard that Joe Biden has pledged to “Defeat the NRA.”   There is plenty of documentation to confirm this – some of which is below. 
 Stories:

  • Joe Biden Doubles Down, Pledges to ‘Defeat the NRA’ (Breitbart)
  • Joe Biden Vows to ‘Defeat the NRA’ (Newsmax)
  • Biden declares that he’ll ‘defeat the NRA’ under his term in office (BizPac Review)
  • Joe Biden Vows to ‘Defeat the NRA’ (KOH AM 780 Reno)

Joe Biden Doubles Down, Pledges to ‘Defeat the NRA’  By AWR HAWKINS  Breitbart  January 10, 2021  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/01/10/joe-biden-doubles-down-pledges-defeat-nra/   In a January 8, 2021, statement recognizing the tenth anniversary of the shooting that wounded Gabby Giffords, President-elect Joe Biden pledged to “defeat the NRA.”  Biden’s full statement recounted the January 8, 2011, attack, which killed six and left Giffords and others wounded, then transitioned to praising Giffords for the gun control work she undertook after the incident.  The statement concluded: “As President, I pledge to continue to work together with Congresswoman Giffords, and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country, to defeat the NRA and end the epidemic of gun violence in America.”  Biden campaigned for the presidency on a platform of defeating the NRA. In fact, when he released an overview of his gun control proposals, they included a reference to his opposition to the NRA…  

Joe Biden Vows to ‘Defeat the NRA’  

By Eric Mack  Newsmax  January 10, 2021 | 9:33 pm  https://www.newsmax.com/politics/nra-gabby-giffords-lobbyist-second-amendment/2021/01/10/id/1005017/   Joe Biden will set his sights on destroying one of the most staunch Republican lobbyist organizations, the National Rifle Association.  Joe Biden’s Twitter account tweeted Friday:  “.@GabbyGiffords — Your perseverance and immeasurable courage continue to inspire me and millions of others. I pledge to continue to work with you — and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country — to defeat the NRA and end our epidemic of gun violence.”  Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was a victim of a mass shooting, sending out a tweet Biden’s account was responding, too.  “Ten years ago, my life and my community changed forever. I was shot in the head, six people were killed, 12 others injured. But the attack did not break me—or the people I represented in Congress. We came together, turned pain into purpose, and found hope in each other.”…  

Biden declares that he’ll ‘defeat the NRA’ under his term in office  

By Jon Dougherty   BizPac Review  January 10, 2021   https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/01/10/biden-declares-that-hell-defeat-the-nra-under-his-term-in-office-1014702/  
In a declaration that is certain to upset throngs of gun owners, President-elect Joe Biden has declared that he’ll “defeat” the National Rifle Association during his term.  In response to a tweet from former Rep. Gabby Gifford (D-Ariz.), who was one of 14 people shot in January 2011 during an event in Tucson and whose husband, Democrat Mark Kelly, just won a U.S. Senate seat, Biden’s official account pledged to “defeat the NRA.”  “Ten years ago, my life and my community changed forever. I was shot in the head, six people were killed, 12 others injured. But the attack did not break me—or the people I represented in Congress. We came together, turned pain into purpose, and found hope in each other,” Giffords wrote on the anniversary of the attack by shooter Jared Lee Loughner…  

Joe Biden Vows to ‘Defeat the NRA’  

KOH AM 780 Reno  January 10, 2021  https://www.kkoh.com/news/joe-biden-vows-to-defeat-the-nra/   Joe Biden will set his sights on destroying one of the most staunch Republican lobbyist organizations, the National Rifle Association.  Joe Biden’s Twitter account tweeted Friday:  “.@GabbyGiffords — Your perseverance and immeasurable courage continue to inspire me and millions of others. I pledge to continue to work with you — and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country — to defeat the NRA and end our epidemic of gun violence.”  Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was a victim of a mass shooting, sending out a tweet Biden’s account was responding, too.  

“Ten years ago, my life and my community changed forever. I was shot in the head, six people were killed, 12 others injured. But the attack did not break me—or the people I represented in Congress. We came together, turned pain into purpose, and found hope in each other.” 

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TAKE BIDEN ON HIS WORD WITH GUN CONTROL

Biden’s gun control plan would criminalize private firearm sales

By Larry Keane – National Firearms Industry Trade Association

Former Vice President Joe Biden declared election victory, even as President Donald Trump continues to challenge results in several states. Runoffs are slated for both U.S. Senate seats from Georgia, which could decide the balance of power in Washington, D.C. and whether agendas get an unquestioned green light or hit roadblocks.

The Biden camp is already forming the presidential transition team and increased gun control is on the table. While everyone is trying to read the political tea leaves to predict what will happen, the firearm industry is taking a pragmatic approach.

When it comes to gun control, take Biden at his word.

He’s given plenty of public comment to know exactly what he wants to do if he’s unchecked. It’s nothing short of ending Second Amendment rights and reducing them to a nanny-state privilege that’s closely monitored and meted out piecemeal to a select few. It also means the firearm industry would be decimated through harassing litigation, overburdening regulation and a bevy of laws that won’t improve public safety but would render law-abiding Americans vulnerable to criminals.

‘The Enemy’

Biden made it crystal clear his thoughts on firearm manufacturers at the onset of the Democratic presidential primary race in July 2019.

“Our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA, the gun manufacturers,” Biden said.

Biden’s gun control plan would criminalize private firearm sales, requiring every firearm transfer to be conducted through licensed firearm retailers. He’d also crack down on those retailers, using the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as an anvil by which to crush businesses for even minor clerical errors in inspections. He argued for the same failed so-called mandatory “smart gun” technology for which he led a task force in the Obama administration. It wasn’t ready for testing then and it’s still not ready today.

That was the beginning of the Biden gun control agenda. That’s now burgeoned to include every radical gun control wish list item. It starts at a national state-by-state licensing scheme and rationing gun rights to just one sale per month for every law-abiding American.

That’s not all. He’d destroy the firearm industry by pushing to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, exposing manufacturers to harassing lawsuits by activist lawyers that long to bankrupt manufacturers for political means and use the courts to advance an agenda that doesn’t survive legislative scrutiny.

‘Bingo’

Biden unequivocally admitted to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a 2019 interview that he would pursue an unconstitutional firearm confiscation agenda.

“To gun owners out there who say a Biden administration means they’re going to come for my guns…” Cooper said.

“Bingo,” Biden interrupted. “You’re right, if you have an assault weapon,” which the former vice president deridingly refers to when he speaks of MSRs. “The fact of the matter is they should be illegal. Period.”

That goes much further than reenacting the failed 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, to which in the same interview, Biden agreed it didn’t reduce crime. That means he’d go after the more nearly 20 million MSRs in circulation today.

“What I would do is institute a national buyback program,” Biden explained. He admitted then that outright confiscation of MSRs for lawful ownership was a Constitutional hurdle.

“Right now, there’s no legal way that I’m aware of where you could deny the right if they had legally purchased them,” Biden told CNN of his confiscation plans. “But we can, in fact, make a major effort to get them off the street and out of the possession of people.”

That was 2019. Today, he’s looking for the loopholes. One way Biden’s trying to achieve his agenda is by reclassifying the MSR to fall under the 1934 National Firearms Act so the more than century-old technology would be treated in the same fashion as short-barrel rifles and machine guns. That would require owners to be put on federal lists, submit fingerprints, photos, inform chief law enforcement officers, endure duplicitous background checks, wait more than nine months for approval and pay a $200 tax for the privilege to continue to own what they already legally purchased.

Those who don’t would see their firearms confiscated by a Biden administration.

‘I Don’t Work for You’

A Biden administration would be quickly hounded by gun control cronies like billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his gun control groups Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. They’ll be joined by others including Brady and Giffords. Both groups issued press releases on their laundry list of action items to limit and deny Second Amendment rights.

That’s who a Biden administration would work for and not every day, law-abiding Americans who want to exercise their rights. Biden made that clear when he told Detroit union worker Jerry Wayne, “You’re full of sh*t.” Biden later added, “I’m not working for you. Don’t be such a horse’s ass.”

Biden, who claims blue-collar roots, doesn’t think much of the “everyday” individual carrying a lunch pail to the factory floor and wants to exercise Second Amendment rights during free time. He’s much more attuned to the far-left radical agenda his running mate U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) brought to the ticket, wanting to bring California-style gun control to the rest of the country.

The firearm industry believes him. There’s no reason to doubt or to equivocate with calls to unite. Taking Biden at anything less than his word is malfeasance.

It Has Begun: Biden declares gun violence a ‘national health crisis’

There is only one organization that is protecting your 2nd Amendment right. That organization is the NRA.

by Michael Lee | The Washington Examiner – December 16, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden released a statement remembering the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting while saying that “gun violence is a national health crisis” in need of being addressed.

“But in this collective pain, you’ve helped usher in a collective and growing purpose,” Biden said on Monday. “You’ve helped us forge a consensus that gun violence is a national health crisis, and we need to address its total cost to fully heal families, communities, and our nation.”

The comments came on the eighth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, which claimed the lives of 26 students and staff members and was one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

Biden said the shooting was the “saddest day” of his Obama administration years but that he “remains in awe” of the surviving victims and how many of them have “turned their pain into purpose” in attempts to change America’s gun laws.

“I know it can feel like an impossible task,” Biden said, adding that since Sandy Hook, there have been more such tragedies across the country.

“Every year, more than 30,000 people die from gun violence across America — a statistic we would associate with war in a far-off place,” Biden continued, echoing a statistic cited by former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that includes suicides in its tally.

Biden went on to lament that “eight years later, there have been plenty of thoughts and prayer, but that is not enough.” Instead, Biden said the public should “fight to end this scourge on our society and enact common sense reforms.”

Biden concluded by saying that such reforms “are supported by a majority of Americans” and claimed they could “save countless lives.”

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GUNS and the BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: ‘THE BIDEN PLAN TO END OUR GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC’

“Biden will enact legislation to prohibit all online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts.”

THE BIDEN PLAN TO END OUR GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC

https://joebiden.com/gunsafety/

Joe Biden knows that gun violence is a public health epidemic. Almost 40,000 people die as a result of firearm injuries every year in the United States, and many more are wounded. Some of these deaths and injuries are the result of mass shootings that make national headlines. Others are the result of daily acts of gun violence or suicides that may not make national headlines, but are just as devastating to the families and communities left behind.

Joe Biden has taken on the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the national stage and won – twice. In 1993, he shepherded through Congress the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which established the background check system that has since kept more than 3 million firearms out of dangerous hands. In 1994, Biden – along with Senator Dianne Feinstein – secured the passage of 10-year bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. As president, Joe Biden will defeat the NRA again.

Joe Biden also knows how to make progress on reducing gun violence using executive action. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, President Obama tasked Vice President Biden with developing both legislative proposals and executive actions to make our communities safer. As a result of this effort, the Obama-Biden Administration took more than two dozen actions, including narrowing the so-called “gun show loophole,” increasing the number of records in the background check system, and expanding funding for mental health services.

It’s within our grasp to end our gun violence epidemic and respect the Second Amendment, which is limited. As president, Biden will pursue constitutional, common-sense gun safety policies. Biden will:

Hold gun manufacturers accountable.  In 2005, then-Senator Biden voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but gun manufacturers successfully lobbied Congress to secure its passage. This law protects these manufacturers from being held civilly liable for their products – a protection granted to no other industry. Biden will prioritize repealing this protection.

Get weapons of war off our streets.  The bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that Biden, along with Senator Feinstein, secured in 1994 reduced the lethality of mass shootings. But, in order to secure the passage of the bans, they had to agree to a 10-year sunset provision and when the time came, the Bush Administration failed to extend them. As president, Biden will:

  • Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Federal law prevents hunters from hunting migratory game birds with more than three shells in their shotgun. That means our federal law does more to protect ducks than children. It’s wrong. Joe Biden will enact legislation to once again ban assault weapons. This time, the bans will be designed based on lessons learned from the 1994 bans. For example, the ban on assault weapons will be designed to prevent manufacturers from circumventing the law by making minor changes that don’t limit the weapon’s lethality. While working to pass this legislation, Biden will also use his executive authority to ban the importation of assault weapons. 
  • Regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. Currently, the National Firearms Act requires individuals possessing machine-guns, silencers, and short-barreled rifles to undergo a background check and register those weapons with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Due to these requirements, such weapons are rarely used in crimes. As president, Biden will pursue legislation to regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. 
  • Buy back the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in our communities. Biden will also institute a program to buy back weapons of war currently on our streets. This will give individuals who now possess assault weapons or high-capacity magazines two options: sell the weapons to the government, or register them under the National Firearms Act.
  • Reduce stockpiling of weapons. In order to reduce the stockpiling of firearms, Biden supports legislation restricting the number of firearms an individual may purchase per month to one.

Keep guns out of dangerous hands. The federal background check system (the National Instant Criminal Background Check System) is one of the best tools we have to prevent gun violence, but it’s only effective when it’s used. Biden will enact universal background check legislation and close other loopholes that allow people who should be prohibited from purchasing firearms from making those purchases. Specifically, he will:

  • Require background checks for all gun sales.  Today, an estimated 1 in 5 firearms are sold or transferred without a background check. Biden will enact universal background check legislation, requiring a background check for all gun sales with very limited exceptions, such as gifts between close family members. This will close the so-called “gun show and online sales loophole” that the Obama-Biden Administration narrowed, but which cannot be fully closed by executive action alone.
  • Close other loopholes in the federal background check system. In addition to closing the “boyfriend loophole” highlighted below, Biden will:
  • Reinstate the Obama-Biden policy to keep guns out of the hands of certain people unable to manage their affairs for mental reasons, which President Trump reversed. In 2016, the Obama-Biden Administration finalized a rule to make sure the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends to the background check system records that it holds of individuals who are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms because they have been adjudicated by the SSA as unable to manage their affairs for mental reasons. But one of the first actions Donald Trump took as president was to reverse this rule. President Biden will enact legislation to codify this policy.
  • Close the “hate crime loophole.”  Biden will enact legislation prohibiting an individual “who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor because of hate or bias in its commission” from purchasing or possessing a firearm.
  • Close the “Charleston loophole.”  The Charleston loophole allows people to complete a firearms purchase if their background check is not completed within three business days. Biden supports the proposal in the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, which extends the timeline from three to 10 business days. Biden will also direct the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to put on his desk within his first 100 days as president a report detailing the cases in which background checks are not completed within 10 business days and steps the federal government can take to reduce or eliminate this occurrence.
  • Close the “fugitive from justice” loophole created by the Trump Administration. Because of actions by the Trump Administration, records of almost 500,000 fugitives from justice who are prohibited from purchasing firearms were deleted from the background check system. The Biden Administration will restore these records, and enact legislation to make clear that people facing arrest warrants are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms.

End the online sale of firearms and ammunitions.  Biden will enact legislation to prohibit all online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts.

Create an effective program to ensure individuals who become prohibited from possessing firearms relinquish their weapons. Federal law defines categories of individuals who are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms, and the federal background check system is an effective tool for ensuring prohibited persons cannot purchase firearms. But we lack any serious tool to ensure that when someone becomes newly prohibited – for example, because they commit a violent crime – they relinquish possession of their firearms. There are some promising models for how this could be enforced. For example, California has a mandatory process for ensuring relinquishment by any individual newly subject to a domestic violence restraining order. As president, Biden will direct the FBI and ATF to outline a model relinquishment process, enact any necessary legislation to ensure relinquishment when individuals newly fall under one of the federal prohibitions, and then provide technical and financial assistance to state and local governments to establish effective relinquishment processes on their own.

Incentivize state “extreme risk” laws. Extreme risk laws, also called “red flag” laws, enable family members or law enforcement officials to temporarily remove an individual’s access to firearms when that individual is in crisis and poses a danger to themselves or others. Biden will incentivize the adoption of these laws by giving states funds to implement them. And, he’ll direct the U.S. Department of Justice to issue best practices and offer technical assistance to states interested in enacting an extreme risk law.

Give states incentives to set up gun licensing programs. Biden will enact legislation to give states and local governments grants to require individuals to obtain a license prior to purchasing a gun.

Adequately fund the background check system. President Obama and Vice President Biden expanded incentives for states to submit records of prohibited persons into the background checks system. As president, Biden will continue to prioritize that funding and ensure that the FBI is adequately funded to accurately and efficiently handle the NICS system.

ADDRESSING THE DEADLY COMBINATION OF GUNS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The statistics tell a devastating and overwhelming story. The likelihood that a woman in a domestic violence situation will be killed increases by a factor of five if a gun is nearby. Half of mass shootings involve an individual shooting a family member or former intimate partner. This deadly connection tragically impacts children as well: 86% of children killed in shootings with four or more victims were involved in domestic or family violence. Biden recognizes that the gun violence and domestic violence epidemics are linked and cannot be solved in isolation. Addressing the interconnectedness of these challenges will be a core focus of Biden’s anti-violence work as president. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, which Leader McConnell refuses to bring to the floor for a vote, includes a number of reforms to keep firearms out of the hands of abusers. Senator McConnell should ensure this legislation gets passed long before President Biden would take the oath of office. But if McConnell refuses to act, Biden will enact legislation to close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” and “stalking loophole” by prohibiting all individuals convicted of assault, battery, or stalking from purchasing or possessing firearms, regardless of their connection to the victim. This proposal is modeled after existing laws in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, and Pennsylvania. Biden also supports enacting the proposal to prohibit anyone under a temporary restraining order from purchasing or possessing a firearm before their hearing. In addition, President Biden will: Establish a new Task Force on Online Harassment and Abuse to focus on the connection between mass shootings, online harassment, extremism, and violence against women.  As President, Joe Biden will convene a national Task Force with federal agencies, state leaders, advocates, law enforcement, and technology experts to study rampant online sexual harassment, stalking, and threats, including revenge porn and deepfakes — and the connection between this harassment, mass shootings, extremism and violence against women. The Task Force will be charged with developing cutting-edge strategies and recommendations for how federal and state governments, social media companies, schools, and other public and private entities can tackle this unique challenge. The Task Force will consider platform accountability, transparent reporting requirements for incidents of harassment and response, and best practices.  Expand the use of evidence-based lethality assessments by law enforcement in cases of domestic violence. Lethality assessments, sometimes called “risk” or “danger” assessments, are a proven strategy to help law enforcement officers identify domestic violence survivors who are at high risk of being killed by their abusers. These survivors are then connected with social service programs that can offer services and safety planning. An evaluation of the Lethality Assessment Program (LEP) created by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence showed promising results. Increased federal funding will incentivize jurisdictions to take advantage of implementing these programs more widely.

Make sure firearm owners take on the responsibility of ensuring their weapons are used safely.

  • Put America on the path to ensuring that 100% of firearms sold in America are smart guns. Today, we have the technology to allow only authorized users to fire a gun. For example, existing smart gun technology requires a fingerprint match before use. Biden believes we should work to eventually require that 100% of firearms sold in the U.S. are smart guns. But, right now the NRA and gun manufacturers are bullying firearms dealers who try to sell these guns. Biden will stand up against these bullying tactics and issue a call to action for gun manufacturers, dealers, and other public and private entities to take steps to accelerate our transition to smart guns.
  • Hold adults accountable for giving minors access to firearms. Biden supports legislation holding adults criminally and civilly liable for directly or negligently giving a minor access to a firearm, regardless of whether the minor actually gains possession of the firearm.
  • Require gun owners to safely store their weapons. Biden will pass legislation requiring firearm owners to store weapons safely in their homes.

Empower law enforcement to effectively enforce our gun laws.

  • Prioritize prosecution of straw purchasers. “Straw purchasers” buy a firearm on behalf of an individual who cannot pass a background check. Biden will end those loopholes by enacting a law to make all straw purchases a serious federal crime and ensure the U.S. Justice Department has sufficient resources to prioritize their prosecution.
  • Notify law enforcement when a potential firearms purchaser fails a background check. Too often, when prohibited persons attempting to buy a firearm fail a background check, state and local law enforcement is never informed of the attempt. As president, Biden will direct the FBI to set up a process to ensure timely notification of denials to state and local law enforcement, and he’ll support legislation to codify this process. This empowers law enforcement to follow up and ensure prohibited persons do not attempt to acquire firearms through other means.
  • Require firearms owners to report if their weapon is lost or stolen. Responsible gun owners have a responsibility to inform law enforcement if their weapon is lost or stolen. Biden will enact legislation to make this the law of the land.
  • Stop “ghost guns.” One way people who cannot legally obtain a gun may gain access to a weapon is by assembling a one on their own, either by buying a kit of disassembled gun parts or 3D printing a working firearm. Biden will stop the proliferation of these so-called “ghost guns” by passing legislation requiring that purchasers of gun kits or 3D printing code pass a federal background check. Additionally, Biden will ensure that the authority for firearms exports stays with the State Department, and if needed, reverse a proposed rule by President Trump. This will ensure the State Department continues to block the code used to 3D print firearms from being made available on the Internet.
  • Reform, fund, and empower the U.S. Justice Department to enforce our gun laws. Biden will direct his Attorney General to deliver to him within his first 100 days a set of recommendations for restructuring the ATF and related Justice Department agencies to most effectively enforce our gun laws. Biden will then work to secure sufficient funds for the Justice Department to effectively enforce our existing gun laws, increase the frequency of inspections of firearms dealers, and repeal riders that get in the way of that work.
  • Direct the ATF to issue an annual report on firearms trafficking. This report will provide officials with critical information to better identify strategies for curbing firearms trafficking.
TACKLE URBAN GUN VIOLENCE WITH TARGETED, EVIDENCE-BASED COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONSDaily acts of gun violence in our communities may not make national headlines, but are just as devastating to survivors and victims’ families as gun violence that does make the front page. And, these daily acts of gun violence disproportionately impact communities of color. But there is reason to be optimistic. There are proven strategies for reducing gun violence in urban communities without turning to incarceration. For example, Group Violence Intervention organizes community leaders to work with individuals most likely to commit acts of gun violence, express the community’s demand that the gun violence stop, and connect individuals who may be likely perpetrators with social and economic support services that may deter violent behavior. These types of interventions have reduced homicides by as much as 60%. Hospital-Based Violence Intervention engages young people who have been injured by gun violence while they are still in the hospital, connecting them to social and economic services that may decrease the likelihood they engage in or are victims of gun violence in the future. Biden will create a $900 million, eight-year initiative to fund these and other types of evidence-based interventions in 40 cities across the country – the 20 cities with the highest number of homicides, and 20 cities with the highest number of homicides per capita. This proposal is estimated to save more than 12,000 lives over the eight-year program.

Dedicate the brightest scientific minds to solving the gun violence public health epidemic. In 2013, President Obama issued a memorandum clarifying that a longstanding appropriations rider that prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal scientific agencies from using federal dollars to “advocate or promote gun control” does not prohibit those agencies from researching the causes and prevention of gun violence. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) subsequently embarked on funding some of this research, though Republican leadership in Congress refused to appropriate any funds to the CDC for this work. Biden will call for Congress to appropriate $50 million to accelerate this research at the CDC and NIH. 

Prohibit the use of federal funds to arm or train educators to discharge firearms. We should be passing rational gun laws, not requiring educators who already have too much on their plates to also protect the safety of their students. Biden supports barring states from using federal dollars to arm or train educators to discharge firearms.

Address the epidemic of suicides by firearms. Biden believes any plan to address the gun violence epidemic must address suicides by firearms, which account for 6 in 10 gun-related deaths but are often left out of the conversation. Many of the policies noted above – including safe storage requirements and extreme risk protection orders – will have a serious impact on efforts to reduce gun violence. But there’s so much more we need to do to support people experiencing suicidal ideation. In the months ahead, Biden will put forward a comprehensive plan to improve access to mental health services.

SUPPORTING SURVIVORS OF VIOLENCE AND THEIR COMMUNITIESViolence causes ripples of trauma throughout our communities, impacting not just the victims of violence but also their communities and first responders. Fear of school shootings is having a noticeable impact on the mental health of Gen Z. Intimate partner violence is linked to depression, post-traumatic stress, and other mental health challenges among survivors. And, this trauma can be intergenerational. Science now shows that young children who witness violence – including in their home – literally alters the parts of their brains that affect “reasoning, planning, and behavioral control.”We need to reduce violence to prevent trauma from happening in the first place. But we also must treat the resulting trauma as a serious crisis in its own right.As president, Biden will:Make federal programs more trauma-informed. During his first 100 days, Biden will direct his Cabinet to conduct a review of all federal programs that directly serve communities likely to experience violence and identify reforms to make sure those programs effectively address resulting trauma. Biden will then invest significant federal funds in expanding and improving the federal government’s support for trauma-informed and culturally responsive care.Create a network of trauma care centers. Biden will bring together offices within the federal government to establish specialized trauma care centers for survivors of violence, with a special focus on survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Domestic violence services are focused on meeting the emergency needs of survivors, including safety planning and crisis intervention. As a result, frontline providers lack the resources they need to offer therapeutic services to help survivors heal from trauma. These trauma care centers will be flexible in meeting the needs of communities, and could be housed at rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs, universities, and existing mental health centers.Train health care and other service providers in trauma-centered care. To prevent revictimization and secondary trauma, Biden will align training efforts throughout relevant federal programs to include a focus on understanding the traumatic effects of violence, providing appropriate care to avoid furthering the trauma, linking survivors with evidence-based trauma therapies, and reducing myths about domestic and sexual violence. This will be accomplished through agency directives, policy guidance, and special conditions for grantees and contractors.