Washington Ceasefire launches "Know the Facts" campaign

Personal Responsibility. It's always amazing to me to see the NRA opposing it. But mention the term in reference to firearms and you'll get a pack of lunatics screaming (literally) that socialist politicians, Washington Ceasefire, or any number of other totalitarian threats want to take your guns away. Don't believe me? Try Googling "Adam Kline firearms".
In response to the tragedy and shock of a little boy bringing a gun to school and accidentally shooting his classmate as she sat at her desk, State Senator Adam Kline began talking about a bill mandating proper and safe firearm storage. The response was swift and predictable. I watched another legislator, acting as a mouthpiece for the NRA, say in to the newscamera "You just can't legislate personal responsibility". What? Of course you can. We do it all the time. Laws involving automobiles, alcohol, medications, the list goes on. If someone is hurt or killed in part because of your own blatant negligence then you bear some responsibility.
And that brings me to what Washington Ceasefire stands for. Responsibility. Accurate information. Reasoned and reasonable discussion. We're not trying to "take people's guns away". But we also object to the sheer volume of bullets flying through the air, to the dangers posed by people blindly believing that handguns make them safer, to the open sale of firearms to people who cannot pass a criminal background check. "Know the Facts". Join the discussion. Make yourself heard. Join us.

3/6/2012    Washington Ceasefire launches "Know the Facts" public health campaign. Gun-rights advocates don't care for it. Gee, who could have seen that coming??

3/8/2012    Setback for Seattle's gun ban in public parks and community centers.

2/29/2012 Gun found in backpack at school. Again?

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vetoed a "shoot first" bill saying citizens already have the legal authority to defend themselves and the expanded bill could but police at risk.  In related news, an Indiana House committee worked to expand the state's "shoot first" to include situations involving police, saying citizens could resist police entry into their homes if the police are acting illegally.

In other legislative actions:

Colorado - The Colorado Supreme Court ruled against the Board of Regents ban on guns on campus, saying the ban was not approved by the Legislature.

Illinois - The House Executive Committee has approved a bill that would require statewide registration for handguns and place a tax on ammunition.  The revenue would be given to trauma care centers in high crime areas.

Iowa - The House approved a "shoot first" bill and a bill to write gun rights into the Iowa Constitution.  Calling the constitution bill "very, very extreme.  It would eliminate all gun laws" 40 Democrats walked out on the debate, in an effort to delay the vote.

Oregon - The Oregon State Board of Higher Education unanimously adopted a policy to ban guns from the state's seven campuses.  The vote came a day after the Oregon Senate voted down a bill to prohibit guns on campus while also voting to hide the identities of Oregonians with concealed weapons permits.

Texas - The TX Parks and Wildlife Commission is considering a proposal that will let hunters use a silencer when hunting deer, birds, and alligators. "Some neighbors don't want to hear gunshots," said the Assistant Chief of Wildlife Enforcement.

Virginia - Gov. McDonnell signed into law a bill that repeals VA's 19-year-old purchasing limit of one handgun a month. Noting that Virginia is the number one out-of-state source of crime guns into New York, Mayor Bloomberg strongly criticized the decision.

A federal judge in Maryland ruled that the "right to bear arms is not limited to the home" and declared a key provision of the state's gun-control laws unconstitutional.

Dina Parmertor, whose son Danny was one of 3 students shot and killed at Chardon High School in Ohio, "What is that, picking out a casket for your son? We're supposed to go and pick out colleges." 17-year-old TJ Lane has been charged with shooting and killing 3 students and wounding 2 others. But with no Ohio Child Access Prevention laws the gun owner probably won't be held accountable.

Reports indicate that the 9-year-old Washington state boy who brought a handgun to school has had a "tumultuous" life.  The gun unintentionally discharged, striking an 8-year-old girl. Charges are pending against the boy's mother for leaving firearms unsecured around her house.

Security checkpoints at Tampa International Airport report a 200 percent increase in people being caught bringing guns through security.  The most common response is from people who are clueless as to the location of their guns, "I forgot the gun was in the bag."

Actress and singer Jennifer Hudson has been placed on the witness list for the trial of the man accused of shooting and killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

Paul Waldman, Think Progress & The American Prospect, multi-part series on the NRA's exaggerated role in American politics.  Part II: Overrated Endorsements.  Part III: Two Elections (1994 & 2000) the NRA Did Not Win.  Part IV: The Declining Role of Guns in American Society.

Cliff Schecter, Happiness: Not A Warm Gun,asks "At what point does this senseless violence (not to mention man-on-gun love) become simply unacceptable?" And notes that "a combination of activism by survivors, reports like Waldman's and demographics will not be kind to the gun industry in the coming years."

James Alan Fox, Pistols and Paranoia, writes that it's not necessarily concealed weapons but "strangers with concealed weapons beneath their coats and paranoid ideas floating around their brains" that is scary.

Dava Castillo, Violence and American's Children: Why?,  looks at research from Dr. Bruce Perry, Child Trauma Academy, who has developed a set of factors contributing to violent, aggressive behavior along with proposed solutions.

Spocko, My Firedoglake, School Shooting in Ohio Leads to Call for More Guns in Schools, imagines a conversation between Mr. Conceal Carry Guns Everywhere and one of the spouses of the four armed police officers shot and killed while sitting at a coffee shop in Washington.

New York Daily News, Just Look At Him, writes about an 8-year-old boy hit by a stray bullet fired from an illegal gun. "To those who have blocked action, to the NRA and congressional gun zealots, we say, look at Armando's face, look at Armando's wound.  He is your victim."

Reminding viewers that There Are Many Ways to Protect Yourself Without Using A Gun, a South Carolina television station runs a report on A Different Defense.

Media Matters, Exclusive: A Veteran Confronts NRA's Keene Over Law That Endangers Troops.  An Air Force veteran speaks with the president of  the NRA at last month's CPAC about a law that prohibits base commanders from questioning their troops about privately owned guns.

The Iowa Gun Owners is trying to remove Republican Clel Baudler as chairman of the Public Safety Committee because he didn't support a bill to allow people to carry guns without a permit.

Georgia Rep. Ann Purcell (R), chair of the Public Safety Committee, has received death threats because a bill to eliminate the requirement for a permit in order to carry a loaded, hidden gun in public isn't moving fast enough through her committee.