July, 17 2009, 12:49pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Peter Hamm, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 202-898-0792, phamm@bradymail.org or Ladd Everitt, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, 202-701-7171, leveritt@csgv.org
National Gun Violence Prevention Groups Express Outrage That in Wake of Shootings, U.S. Senate Is Poised to Consider Amendment to Dramatically Weaken State Concealed Handgun Laws
WASHINGTON
America's major gun violence prevention organizations-the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, and Violence Policy Center-today issued the following joint statement expressing their outrage that an amendment is scheduled to be considered on Monday, July 20, in the U.S. Senate that would dramatically weaken state regulations concerning the carrying of concealed handguns in public:
"Amendment No. 1618 to the defense authorization bill (S. 1390), introduced by Senator John Thune (R-SD), would create a national system for the carrying of concealed handguns, commonly referred to as CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon) licenses. The amendment would allow individuals with state-issued CCW licenses to carry their handguns in any state that issues concealed handgun licenses-today the vast majority of states.
"It is an outrage that in a year thus far defined by gun violence-from massacres, to the murder of police, to hate crimes-the U.S. Senate is preparing to consider an amendment that would dramatically weaken federal and state gun laws. The practical effect of the amendment would be to reduce concealed carry permit regulations to the lowest common denominator. Currently, many states have weak laws and issue residents permits after only a simple computerized background check.
"This year, there have already been three confirmed mass shootings committed by concealed carry permit holders. In April, Richard Poplawski ambushed four Pittsburgh police officers, fatally shooting three and injuring one. In March, CCW holder Michael McLendon killed 11 people, including the wife of a deputy sheriff, before taking his own life following a gun battle with police in Alabama. In February, CCW holder Frank Garcia killed four people in a shooting rampage in upstate New York.
"Concealed carry laws do not, as their proponents argue, aid police and enhance public safety. Instead, they threaten law enforcement and arm criminals. States should be acting to repeal these laws instead of Congress moving to expand their deadly reach.
"Research by the Violence Policy Center found that from 1996 to 2000, Texas concealed handgun license holders were arrested for weapon-related offenses at a rate 81 percent higher than that of the general population of Texas, aged 21 and older.
"In 2007, the 'Florida Sun-Sentinel' conducted an exhaustive review of the operation of Florida's concealed carry law-the model for most permissive state concealed handgun laws. The paper found more than 1,400 people who had pleaded guilty or no contest to felony charges yet qualified for concealed carry licenses because of a loophole in the law.
"In December of last year, authorities in Tennessee reported that 200 state residents who have permits to carry concealed handguns could have their permits revoked or suspended because they have active restraining orders against them.
"Under the Thune Amendment, people who obtain a CCW permit under such flawed systems would be free to carry their guns in any state that issues concealed carry licenses.
"In the midst of an epidemic of gun violence, the American people require serious efforts to reform our weak gun laws, not misguided attempts to appease the powerful gun lobby. The Senate Judiciary Committee should commit today to holding a hearing on real measures to reduce gun violence-like closing the gun show loophole in the Brady background check system, which allows criminals to buy guns from private sellers at gun shows."
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'Racist POS' Mike Collins Cheers Video of Ole Miss Mob Attack on Black Student
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Collins—or whoever's in charge of his social media accounts—sparred with Black leaders who called out his racism. When former Democratic Ohio state senator Nina Turner said the video showed "anti-Blackness," the congressman shot back, "*Anti-terroristness."
When Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) accused Collins of "fueling white supremacy," the Republican retorted, "Don't take down any more signs at our workplace, please" along with a photo of the Democrat triggering a fire alarm in a House of Representatives office building last year.
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The counter-protesters also sang the "Star-Spangled Banner." Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves shared a separate video of the singing students on social media, captioning his post, "Warms my heart" and "I love Mississippi."
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The Daily Mississippianreports the demonstrators were escorted off the Quad after counter-protesters threw water bottles at them.
Collins is no stranger to accusations of racism. Earlier this year, he suggested murdering migrants by throwing them from helicopters into the sea, in the manner of U.S.-backed South American dictators in the 1970s.
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The Ole Miss incident comes amid rapidly spreading campus protests across the U.S. and around the world in response to Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, which has killed, maimed, or left missing around 5% of the embattled strip's 2.3 million people, most of them civilians, while forcibly displacing nearly 9 in 10 people and driving hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.
While numerous Ole Miss students said they did not understand what the pro-Palestine protesters hoped to accomplish, others voiced support for the demonstrators—and for Palestine.
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One Palestinian American Ole Miss student was teary-eyed as she thanked the protesters.
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according toMississippi Today. "This wasn't going to happen... without all of you guys. Palestine was being heard. And I just want to thank you guys so much."
"I know that was such a big risk, but this is the most that people have ever thought for us, so don't give up," she added. "I know that was really hard, but we need to keep fighting. This was just the start of it, okay?"
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Webb's victory represented a 26% swing in favor of Labour.
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