THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS THE PROBLEM:
Why the United States has a gun related death rate
ten times higher than similar industrial democracies; and
how we can end this mayhem.
Clark Moeller
April 4, 2014
˜ Synopsis ˜
Gun violence in the United States will not stop until the Second Amendment is repealed.
This assessment is based on the failed efforts over 90 years to enact effective gun control laws at
the state and federal levels, an increase in permissive gun laws such as ‘stand your ground’ and
‘concealed weapons,’ increased private acquisition of automatic military weapons, and the ongoing level of gun mayhem.
Over 332,000 people were shot to death between 2000 and 2010 in the United States. Of
these 511were police officers. Since the Newtown school shooting in Dec. 2012, an estimated
37,269 Americans have been killed with guns. Americans are shooting and killing each other at
rates of 10 times that of people in industrial democracies similar to the United States. The
majority of Americans want the gun mayhem to stop.
Our gun violence is the result of a domestic arms race that has been promoted by gun
manufacturers and the National Rifle Association and facilitated by elected legislators who block
or vote against gun control legislation. As a result, there are approximately 300 million guns
privately owned in the United States, more per capita than any other nation on earth. Less than
16% of these guns are used for hunting and recreational shooting and competition.
This report provides a brief background on the Second Amendment, a summary of the
research on gun violence, an analysis of the strategies used by the gun manufacturers and
National Rifle Association to increase gun sales and block gun safety laws, the data showing that
there is a growing sentiment for gun control among Americans, and a strategy citizens can
employ that should lead to effective gun controls.
Recommendation: The Second Amendment should be repealed. We have amended the
Constitution 17 times, once every 13 years on average, since the first Ten Amendments were
ratified on Dec. 15, 1791. It’s time to do it again.
In 1775 just three million farmers, townsmen and their families clustered along the edge
of the Atlantic, while British man-of-war ships prowled along our coast. Indian wars blended
into the American Revolutionary War while we had no standing army or navy. In that context, a
militia and the Second Amendment made sense.
In contrast, the United States today has the strongest army in the world, and professional
police forces to protect us in all states and cities. Nevertheless, ghosts of our forebears haunt us
with an obsolete gun narrative of fear. We frighten ourselves into believing we aren’t safe unless
armed. Meanwhile, capital punishment, corporal punishment of children, domestic violence,
rape, inter-racial conflict are all on the decline and have been for years. The outlier is our high
rates of gun related murder and suicides. It has been over a year since the massacre in Newtown,
CT; still no national gun legislation has been passed and the gun violence has not declined. The
time has come to make legislators accountable for voting against gun control.
Although repealing the Second Amendment will not make 300 million guns disappear
overnight, repealing it will decisively change the gun narrative that has sustained the excuses
used to block effective gun control legislation that most Americans want.
˜
2
Table of Contents
Synopsis ........................................... 2
Table of Contents ............................. 3
Historical Overview ......................... 4
In The Beginning
Second Amendment
Legislation
Culture
Gun Mayhem .................................... 6
International Comparisons
States
Mentally Ill
Women & Children
Everyday in the USA
Business of Guns ............................. 9
The Market
Marketing Message
NRA’s Strategy
Amending The Constitution ............ 14
Backdoor Amendments
Heller Decision
The Gun Narrative ........................... 15
An Assumption
Narrative in Practice
The Tide is Turning ........................ 17
NRA Out of Sync
The General Public
The Challenge ................................... 18
The Facts
Changing the Narrative
Defining the Issue
Recommendations......................... ... 21
Table of Contents for Appendices/Endnotes
Appendices ...................................... 22
A. Weekend Gun Report ....... 22
B. Banished for Questioning ..28
C. Mass Killings Proliferate.. 29
Acknowledgments .......................... 30
Author ........................................... . 30
Endnotes ......................................... 30 - 46
(Endnotes followed by an asterisk* include more information than just source citations.)
3
Historical Overview
When American hostilities with Britain started on April 19, 1775, the Continental
Congress had no standing army, no stores of weapons and munitions, no navy, no naval ships.
The Continental Congress begged volunteers to join the fight against the British. Farmers and
tradesmen with their own muskets formed a militia along the road from Boston to Concord,
Massachusetts, fired the first shot of the Revolution, and fought again on Bunker Hill in
Charlestown on June 17.
Subsequently, the Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1787 on the condition
that a Bill of Rights would be added. The first Ten Amendments to the Constitution, including
the Second Amendment, were ratified by Congress on December 15, 1791. The Second
Amendment states:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (December 1791)
The language and adoption of the Second Amendment reflected Congress’s experience of
the militia’s defense against the British under the leadership of George Washington that secured
the independence of the United States. Militia were used again to some degree on the AmericanCanadian frontier during the War of 1812.1
Since then, the United States has been involved in over 350 domestic and international
military operations.2* Except in the very early years, few of these 350 military operations
depended on the assistance of privately owned guns of a “well regulated militia.’ However, the
term “militia’ remains familiar because it is embedded in the Second Amendment.
The quality and availability of firearms increased slowly during the 1800s. Large scale
manufacturing of lower cost rifles with interchangeable parts began by Colt and Smith & Wesson
before the Civil War.3
Today, the United States is ‘exceptional’ among nations: it has the largest standing, best
equipped, professional army in the world. We have military boots on the ground in 75% of the
world’s countries.4
The United States is also exceptional for another reason. There are over 300 million guns
in private hands in the United States,5* far more per capita than in any other nation.6
The Second Amendment: The Constitution of the United States designates the Supreme
Court of the United States (SCOTUS) as the final authority for interpreting the meaning of our
Constitution and whether state and local laws and government actions are consistent with the
Constitution.
In the 216 years between 1791 and 2007, SCOTUS rendered two defining Second
Amendment decisions. In United States v. Miller (1938) SCOTUS affirmed (9 - 0) that the
Second Amendment,
“...as originally adopted granted to the Congress power- 'To provide for calling forth the
Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To
provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part
of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States
respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia
4
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.' U.S.C.A.Const. art. 1, 8. With
obvious purpose to assure the continuation and render possible the effectiveness of such
forces the declaration and guarantee of the Second Amendment were made. It must be
interpreted and applied with that end in view.”
Before that, in Presser v. Illinois (1885), SCOTUS’ (9 - 0) vote “sustained an Illinois
statute prohibiting parading with arms by groups other than the organized militia.”
Commentators noted that SCOTUS was not interested in encouraging the development of
separate militia outside the control of government.7
“The ACLU agrees with the Supreme Court’s long-standing interpretation of the Second
Amendment,” states ACLU’s policy#47,
“that the individual’s right to bear arms applies only to the preservation or efficiency of
a well-regulated militia. ... there is no constitutional impediment to the regulation of
firearms.”8
The American Bar Association agreed. The ABA, which represents more than 400,000
lawyers, stated in 1999,
“The argument the Second Amendment prohibits all State and Federal regulations of
citizens’ ownership of firearms has no validity whatsoever.”9
Both the 1885 and 1939 decisions of SCOTUS contradict those who claim Americans
have had a ‘right’ to own guns because Englishmen had such a right in the 1600s based on
England’s 1689 Bill of Rights and English Common law. Even less relevant are the romantic
references to Socrates and Aristotle who approved the arming of Greek citizens with the îßöïò, a
short, double-edged sword used by Greek troops in the 3rd and 4th Centuries BC.
The purpose of the Second Amendment, as interpreted by the SCOTUS in 1885 and
1939, became obsolete long ago as Congress created the United States Army, Navy, Marine
Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
Legislation: Between 1880 and 1968, there were numerous efforts by Congress to
regulate privately owned guns, according to the study of gun laws in 1975 by Franklin Zimring,
Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Law, University of
Chicago.10 Most of the legislation that was passed in 1927, 1934, 1938, and 1968 was rendered
largely ineffective because of the loopholes and congressional lack of understanding of how
regulations work in practice. For example, in 1927 Congress prohibited using the United States
Postal Service to transport ‘concealable firearms’ in order to stop “mail order murder.” However,
interstate commerce of guns continued unrestrained via commercial transport. “In the mid-1960s
it was estimated that 87% of all firearms used in Massachusetts crime had been purchased in
other states.”11 Record keeping requirements essential to monitoring the effectiveness of laws
were not included in various Acts. Funding sufficient to staff government agencies was not
appropriated. Waiting periods, such as 48 hours, required to purchase a gun were too short in the
era before computerized data bases. Proposed provisions such as handgun registration were
deleted before bills were passed. The focus on classes of people for regulation such as
5
“machine-gun-toting interstate gangsters” like John Dillinger created legislative tunnel vision
that missed the big picture. Similarly, the mentally ill are wrongly blamed for today’s gun
mayhem.12* After reviewing Congress’s failed efforts at gun control Professor Zimring noted,
“If Congress is supposed to be the policy-setting institution, the Gun Control Act of 1968
may stand as an example of the blind leading the halt.”13
In 2013, after the Newtown, CT, massacre of children, Congress again failed to enact a
gun control law that would restrict military type assault weapons, a restriction which the majority
of Americans supported.
Culture: These failures are a reflection, in part, of the mythology about gun ownership in
America that was born in the struggles of the Pilgrims to survive using their flintlocks; the
patriots’ first shots in Lexington on April 19th, 1775; the westward expansion of settlers such as
the storied David Crockett and his rifle; and the western style of law enforcement that emerged
from the end of Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp’s blazing six guns in the OK Corral. This narrative
of the individual heroically defending himself or being the judge and jury of the bad guy are
fantasies sustained by hundreds of cowboy and western movies14 featuring scores of gun toting
heroes such as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood’s vigilante who barked “Make my Day!”15
Today, guns are featured in law & order TV programs every evening and are marketed in
a score of glossy gun magazines16* that promote the romance of manly independence backed up
by the dangerous power of a gun.
But it’s no longer the wild west of 1881 in Tombstone, AZ, when the impulse to survive
glued your finger to the trigger. Today, the initial romance of manly independence backed up by
a gun can evaporate into mundane inattention; even professionally trained Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms agents get absent minded about their guns. “The newly released ATF reports show that
between 2009 and 2013, agents lost their guns or had them stolen in at least 45 incidents ... .”
For example, “In June 11, 2012, an [ATF] agent was dropping off his children at a soccer game
in Plainfield, Ill., when he put his government-issued Smith & Wesson revolver on his car's roof,
forgot about it and drove away, ... The gun was found [by someone, but not the agent] on an
off-ramp of I-55. 17*
Gun Mayhem
International Comparisons: The murder and suicide rate in the United States is 3 to 10
times higher than in other democratic industrialized nations similar to the United States. In
addition, when ‘apples to apples’18 comparisons are made among these countries, there is a
consistent correlation between gun ownership per 100 population and the number of gun related
murders and suicides; the more guns the more murders and suicides.19
The sample data in the table below illustrates that gun related deaths are lower in
countries with gun control laws, where fewer individuals per capita own guns, and fewer
households as a percent of all households contain guns.
6
U.S
France
Canada
Germany
Norway
Sweden
Australia
Israel
England &
Wales
Influence of Gun Control Laws & Gun Ownership
on Gun Related Deaths
Gun Control Laws
+
Gun Ownership
Safe
Hand Gun
Percentage of
Gun
Storage Ownership
Gun
Households
Licensing Gun
Permitted for Ownership with
Laws20
Laws21 Protection22 Per 100 pop.23 Guns24
NO
NO
YES
89.026
48.0
Yes
31.2
25.0
Yes
Yes
No
30.0
26.0
Yes
Yes
Yes
30.0
9.0
Yes
Yes
Yes
30.0
31.0
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
15.0
16.0
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
6.2
4.0
Correlation
Gun Related
Deaths per
100,000
Population25
10.3
3.01
2.28
1.24
1.78
1.47
0.04
1.87
0.25
In the last column in the above table, the “10.3" per capita rate of gun related deaths in the United
States is a statistical expression of a national gun pathology. In contrast, the rates of non-gun
related violence such as rape, assault, domestic violence, and robbery are similar among U.S.,
Canada, France, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Israel. This suggests that the
citizens of the United States are not intrinsically more violent than people in these other
countries. But the United States is the outlier in gun violence because it has more guns.27
States in the USA: The correlation between the rates of gun ownership and gun related
murders and suicides found internationally was also found within the United States when our 50
states were compared. A“... study, [2013] covering 30 years (1981-2010) in all 50 states, found
a ‘robust correlation’ between estimated levels of gun ownership and actual gun homicides at
the state level, even when controlling for factors typically associated with homicides. For each 1
percentage point increase in the prevalence of gun ownership, the state firearm homicide rate
increases by 0.9 percent,...”28* For example, in 2007, Missouri repealed its laws requiring
background checks and licenses for handguns. Subsequently, there was a 23 % increase in gun
related murders between 2008 and 2012, an additional 55 to 63 murders per year, according to a
study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research (JHCGPR). “This
study provides compelling confirmation that weaknesses in firearm laws lead to deaths from gun
violence,” said Daniel Webster, director of JHCGPR.29
The mentally Ill: In an effort to explain away the high gun related killings in the United
States, there has been a blame-the-mentally-ill reaction. Blaming the mentally ill is an excuse to
avoid the overwhelming statistical evidence that the number of guns and the lack of gun
regulations in the United States are the problems. Furthermore, countries with low gun violence
also have their share of mentally ill citizens.30* In the big picture the mentally ill as a group are
7
not the problem in gun related violence.31*
Ž “[O]nly 3%-5% of violent acts are attributable to serious mental illness, and most do
not involve guns.”32
We have no way to identify who among those suspected of being mentally ill might be the next
mass murderer. Therefore, declaring that all we have to do is ‘keep guns out of the wrong hands’
without data based criteria for reliably determining which “hand” those might be is a prescription
for rudimentary unfairness, civil rights violations, and an unproductive path for ending gun
violence.
Guns in the Home: If you have a gun in your house, you or members of your family are
far more likely to be shot than those in families who have no guns in their home according to an
Emory University study that documented:
Ž “In domestic violence situations, the risk of homicide for women increased eightfold
when the abuser had access to firearms,” - The American Journal of Public Health in
2003. ...
Ž “females living with a gun in the home were 2.7 times more likely to be murdered than
females with no gun at home.” - 2005 study, University of Pennsylvania. ...
Ž “For every instance in which a gun in the home was shot in self-defense, there were
seven criminal assaults or homicides, four accidental shootings, and 11 attempted or
successful suicides.” .... 33
Ž “guns in the home greatly increase the risk of youth suicides. That is why the American
Academy of Pediatrics has long urged parents to remove guns from their homes.”34 For
example, “A 4-year-old accidentally shot her 4-year old cousin to death [in January
2014] with a rifle that she found under a bed at their grandfather’s Detroit home, ...”35*
Ž A 14 year old shoots his 9 year old brother dead in Mattapan on February 2, 2014, but
no one knew where the gun came from.36
Ž “there is no credible evidence of a deterrent effect of firearms or that a gun in the
home reduces the likelihood or severity of injury during an altercation or break-in.”37
Statistically, the evidence proves that owning a gun or being in a home with a gun
exposes you and your family to an increased risk of being shot. The risks to small children is
dramatically documented in an NBC video accessible using the information in endnote38*.
Everyday in the USA: Over 332,000 Americans died in gun related deaths between
2000 and 2010. 39
40
Ž In the same decade, 511 police officers were shot dead.
Ž “In 2010, alone, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and
unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and
more than three deaths each hour,” according to Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. In
addition, LCPGV noted,
Ž “73,505 Americans were treated in hospitals for non-fatal gunshot wounds in 2010.”
Ž An estimated 37,269 Americans have been killed with guns in the 13 months since the
8
Newtown school shooting on Dec. 14, 2012, according to the Centers for Disease
Control.41*
To put this gun related carnage in perspective,
Ž 58,000 American soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War in the 11 years between
1964 and 1975. That 58,000 is less than the number of civilians killed with guns in the
United States in an average 2 year period.
Ž Over 4,400 American soldiers were killed in the Iraq War in the first 7 years. However,
every 7 weeks on average about 4,000 civilians are gunned down in the United States. 42
Ž To read about gun carnage on a typical American weekend see Appendix A.
The massacres at Virginia Tech, Columbine high school, the movie theater in Aurora ,
Colorado, and Newtown, CT, elementary school are just the most recent large mass shootings.
Less well known is that
Ž “[a]bout every two weeks in the United States, four or more people (not including the
killer) die in a mass killing.”43
If shooting people in so-called self-defense, as in ‘stand-your-ground,’ provokes shooting
people in revenge as is now becoming more likely, you might find yourself in the line of fire
between the Hatfields and McCoys in Boston on any given day:
Ž January 8, 2014
- “Three shooting deaths within six hours late Sunday and early
Monday brought the total ... so far this year to nine. ...These episodes were followed
Monday ... by yet another shooting... . ‘Retaliatory gang violence has been happening for
the last 30 years,’ Rufus Faulk of the Boston TenPoint Coalition, said, “We’re still on the
same cycle ... this is a continuation of that pattern.” 44
Ž
“January 9, at 11p.m - One person fatally shot on Rowe St. in Roslindale
Ž
January 15, at 8 a.m - One person fatally shot on Esmond St. in Dorchester
According to the Mayor Against Illegal Guns, “Every year, tens of thousands of guns
make their way into the hands of criminals through illegal trafficking channels. These firearms
contribute to the more than 12,000 gun murders in the United States each year. ... [t]here is a
strong association between a state’s gun laws and that state’s propensity to export crime guns.
There is also a strong association between a state’s gun laws and that state’s propensity to be a
source of short TTC [time to crime] crime guns.”45
So, who is benefitting from this carnage?
The Business of Guns
The Market: The Second Amendment in conjunction with the narrative of our robust
gun culture is the arena within which the National Rifle Association (NRA) has created a
lucrative domestic gun market for the 5,400 firearms manufacturers.46 In 2010 alone, they added
over 8.7 million new guns47 to the estimated 300 million guns already in private hands. Of these
300 million guns, it is estimated that 114 million are handguns, 110 million are rifles, and 86
9
million are shotguns.48 Together these firearms constitute the highest per capita gun ownership
rate in the world.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun manufacturers’ trade
association, claims on the one hand that its ‘mission’ is “To promote, protect and preserve
hunting and the shooting sports, ...” However, this is a very small fraction of the gun market as
already pointed out; only 4.9 % of our population were licensed hunters as of 2013,49* and many
of these hunters are likely part of the 11.4 % of our population who claim they are involved in
recreational sport shooting.50
The big market for gun sales includes individuals who already own guns. Most of these
guns are concentrated in 48%51 of American households of 2.61 individuals on average.52
Obviously, those who own guns often own many guns; which is, on average, about 4 guns
per gun owner.53 But the upper end of the ownership rate can be high: “Mark Russo of
Middletown, CT, had 18 rifles and shotguns when he threatened to shoot his mother.” The New
York Times, Dec. 22, 201354
To preserve this large gun market, the NSSF asserts it “stands in defense of every segment
of our [firearms] industry on Capitol Hill and in state capitols nationwide. Over the past 10
years, the association has grown its government-relations efforts immensely, resulting in many
key legislative successes for our industry.”55 These “successes” are the result of the NRA’s
political campaigns56 which take credit for defeating candidates who favor gun regulations. The
NRA has also been successful in defeating proposed interstate commerce laws that would protect
Massachusetts residents from the flow of guns into the Commonwealth from other states.57* The
NRA’s website instructs its members on how to transport guns across state lines without having
their guns discovered during legitimate police stops such as for driving infractions.58*
Marketing Plan: The NRA’s primary marketing message is that you need to own a gun
for self defense. That message is tightly linked to its business plan that has given that message
credibility. That plan includes aggressive lobbying to block Congress from passing legislation
that would generate the data needed by government agencies to regulate guns. These lobbying
efforts have defeated federal and state levels initiatives to require background checks, gun
registration, pre-licensing training, licensing, safe gun-storage requirements, gun identification
numbers inscribed by manufacturers, reporting gun sales between private individuals, and
controls on interstate commerce of guns.
As a result, few effective gun controls exist and gun violence is unchecked compared to
other modern democracies. Many people feel insecure and buy a gun to feel safer. That is the
effect of the NRA’s successful messaging.
Insecurity is also stimulated by the glossy gun magazine pictures of a vulnerable woman
threatened by an armed, masked predator. The same magazine sells security in advertisements
showing a confident woman wearing specially designed underwear with built in pockets for her
concealed pistol. Consistent with this marketing plan, the gun manufacturers block publication
about any defects or design mistakes in the guns they sell. (See Appendix B) The NRA’s
messaging has been a big success for gun manufacturers59* and a health disaster for children and
families, as more concealed guns enter neighbors’ homes, food stores, churches, theaters, and
schools.
10
NRA’s Strategy: The NRA’s business plan and messaging depends on four arguments; a
misleading claim about ‘fundamental’ gun rights, our government is not capable of protecting
citizens, a radical form of libertarianism; and “guns don’t kill people, people do.”
Ž The NRA’s philosophic position on gun rights is that the Constitution of the United
States is the fundamental law of the land. Because the Second Amendment is part of the
Constitution, it too is fundamental law. It follows, according to the NRA, that the ‘right’ to keep
guns is fundamental because it is granted by the Second Amendment. This line of reasoning is
flawed.
Although the Constitution is the ultimate law of the land, not all parts of the Constitution
have been fundamental; there have been 17 amendments since 1791 that removed, revised, or
added to the Constitution. Not all aspects of the current Constitution are of equal importance.
For example, is the constitutionally defined minium age of 3560 to be president fundamental?
That age could just as well be 34 or 40 years old. Finally, after Congress established our Navy
and Army, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Second Amendment, as interpreted by
SCOTUS in 1885 and 1939, became obsolete. Even in 2008, SCOTUS did not grant a blank
check for gun ownership in its 5-4 Heller decision.
If owning a gun has been a ‘fundamental’ constitutional right as argued by the NRA, by
now that right would be widely recognized as a cornerstone supporting of the ideals the founders
expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence (7/4/1776) states in part:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed,...” (underlining added)
The Preamble (1787) states:
“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for a common Defense,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.” (underlining added)
The Second Amendment in its original 1791 interpretation and as redefined by the
SCOTUS in 2008, has not been a cornerstone of the founders’ aspirations for our country.
The Second Amendment has NOT:
- advanced a “more perfect Union as the Civil War and Congress’s current gridlock
continues to demonstrate.
- “established Justice” in any discernable way. ‘Stand your ground’ and ‘right to carry
concealed weapons’ laws have made it more difficult to determine justice as the Trayvon
Martin murder case in Florida demonstrated.
11
- insured “domestic Tranquilty” as our rate of gun related murders and suicides prove.
- promoted the “general Welfare” with the nation’s budget.61*
- provided for the defense of the nation for well over 200 years.
- secured people’s right to life, as more than 30,000 people are shot dead annually.
- secured many citizens’ liberty to live in safe communities, as entire sections of major
cities are now so dangerous that parents don’t let their kids out of their homes after
school.
- contributed to citizens’ happiness, as thousands of friends have been shot dead.
- promoted the consent of the governed as reflected in national polls which indicate most
Americans favor effective gun control in order to achieve a safer society.62*
The NRA’s promotion of gun ‘rights’ and gun sales has diminished the benefits of our
democracy as envisioned by the Founders.
Ž
Second, the NRA’s business strategy assumes that our form of government is not
capable of protecting our citizens. The NRA’s lobbying efforts are aimed at proving that
assumption. To do that the NRA’s awards legislators an ‘A’ rating if they vote against gun
control legislation, and the NRA also helps fund those legislators’ campaigns.63* Behind those
pay offs is the unspoken raw calculus of the NRA:
‘The electoral success of our ‘A’ listed politicians is worth the annual cost of having
30,000 people in the nation shot dead with the weapons the gun manufacturers pump
into the market year after year. And no one can lay a finger on our A list legislators:
they haven’t killed anyone personally, and haven’t broken the law.
This calculus is now so commonly understood that it was satirized by John Oliver in two
TV segments on Jon Stewart’s The DailyShow in April 2013. You can watch these using the
hyperlinks in footnote64. The same point was made in the Boston Globe’s editorial of Dec. 31,
2013. See Appendix C.
Politicians who embrace their NRA ‘A’ designation should refer to it as their Arsenic
award for their role in facilitating the annual killings of children, families, friends, and neighbors.
The social climate of gun violence stimulated by the NRA’s activities discourages people
including some elected officials from challenging the NRA’s strategy. “I think it would be a
mistake .... to underestimate the kind of toxic effect that the NRA is having,” said Congressman
Nolan (D-MN). “... We’ve been getting a lot of not very thinly veiled threats and calls into my
office. You know, things like, ‘you tell Nolan he better watch his back.... NRA members are
trying to use the fear that most members of congress must have after the Gabby Giffords
shooting to scare them away from gun control. Deplorable and despicable behavior is nothing
new for NRA, ...”65
12
Besides using fear to discourage efforts to pass gun control laws, the NRA has
successfully lobbied Congress to prevent the Centers for Disease Control from getting research
funds to study gun violence. As a result, the CDC funding for these studies has shrunk by 96%
since the mid 1990s.66 .
Ž
Third, the NRA promotes a form of libertarianism that rejects any role for the United
States government in protecting citizens. “We’re the millions of Americans from all walks of life
who take responsibility for our own safety and protection as a God-given, fundamental right.”67
This perspective is directly linked to NRA’s position on guns. According to Wayne LaPierre,
Executive Vice President of the NRA, Our founding Fathers understood that the guys with the
guns make the rules ... and its no different today. That’s why we own guns.”68 Tony Soprano
couldn’t have said it better. LaPierre’s message surfaced again following the massacre of
children in Newtown, CT. In 2013, the NRA’s lobbied successfully to defeat a congressional bill
intended to require background checks on those seeking to buy a gun. Using this ‘victory’ to his
advantage, LaPierre, claimed ‘the only answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.’
Although LaPierre’s macho ‘every man for himself’ mantra may be intended to appeal to
his base, it also has the effect of undermining trust in your neighbors and in our communities;
every stranger is a potential threat. The NRA’s solution to this free floating anxiety is to own a
gun, the more the better; concealed is best. If there is a question of whether you are carrying a
concealed weapon, you add to the general community anxiety that corrodes our capacity to
cooperate that is essential to democracy. This aspect of the NRA’s strategy is making our society
less safe. Even libertarians who embrace personal freedom as an important value aren’t lobbying
to have automobile safety laws repealed so they can drive any way they want, drunk or sober.
They aren’t insisting that their own medical doctors ought to be practicing medicine without
formal education, testing, and state licensing requirements.
The subtext of the NRA and gun manufacturers’ marketing strategy is that our form of
government doesn’t work; our democracy can’t keep you safe.
In contrast, many other democracies similar to the United States successfully protect their
citizens from being shot and their elected representatives from being harassed because those
countries have robust gun control laws enacted by their elected officials who have subordinated
their reelection concerns to their responsibilities to protect citizens’ safety.
One of the most successful and decisive gun control decisions by a legislature occurred
after the massacre of 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia in 1996. At that time
Australia was awash in guns. In 1997 Australia’s legislature voted for and initiated a mandatory
nationwide buy back of civilian owned weapons that were considered the most frequently used in
suicides and homicides. As a result, gun related suicides dropped 65% and homicide rates
dropped 59%.69*
Ž
Finally, the NRA’s spurious one liner, “guns don’t kill people, people do,” is
presented as an argument, but it’s not an argument; it’s an expression that tries to deflect
attention from the proximate cause of injury. Gun regulations are intended to prevent illegal and
harmful shooting. A shooting is a result of a chain of events. The thought or impulse of the
shooter is the ultimate cause of the shooting. Pulling the trigger of the gun is the intermediate
cause, and the gun and its bullet are the proximate cause of injury. The only aspect of this chain
of events that can be regulated beforehand is the gun and ammunition. Just thinking about
13
shooting someone is protected by the First Amendment which guarantees you complete freedom
of conscience and thought.
Not surprisingly, most societies have chosen to regulate the manufacture, distribution,
and use of guns, drugs, and automobiles, the intermediate causes of injury, that predictably harm
people. However, the NRA doesn’t want guns regulated so they muddy the water with “Guns
don’t kill people, people do” which deflects attention to the people and away from guns.
The NRA’s one liner also ignores the simple fact that on a per capita basis Americans kill
10 times more of their fellow citizens than do people in other democracies with far fewer guns,
The number of guns is the variable: the more guns the more gun related murders. This is also the
case within the United States as already point out; see endnote 28.
Amending the Constitution
Backdoor Amendments: Parts of our Constitution have stood the test of time since
1787, and others have not. Congress has amended the Constitution 17 times since the first Ten
Amendments were ratified in 1791, about once every 13 years. Recently, SCOTUS radically
reinterpreted the meaning of the First and Second Amendments; these decisions might as well be
considered backdoor amendments that legally by-passed the due process of congressional
ratification. After all, if the meaning of words and terms in the Constitution are officially
changed by SCOTUS, but the printed word or phrase on the page remains unchanged, is the
Constitution also unchanged? Obviously not; it has a new meaning that may have profoundly
different consequences than flowed from the original meaning.
In order to illustrate that SCOTUS’s reinterpretation of the Second Amendment is not an
isolated example, it’s instructive see how SCOTUS reinterpreted the First Amendment’s
‘freedom of speech’ clause in 2010.
The First Amendment states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.” 1791 (emphasis added)
For 219 years, the term “speech” has been interpreted to mean the words expressed or
written by naturally born people who are citizens and eventually voters. In 2010, that
interpretation was turned on its head by SCOTUS’s Citizens United70 5 -4 decision which
declared that corporations have the free speech rights of naturally born persons, and that, for all
practical purposes, money is speech because money facilitates communications.71* In Citizens
United the Court declared, by a one person majority, that the First Amendment now prohibited
governments from restricting political, independent expenditures by corporations, associations,
or labor unions.72*
This reinterpretation resulted in campaign donations reaching astronomical levels in the
2012 presidential campaigns. As a result, many people believe the SCOTUS’s reinterpretation
has put our elections on the block to the highest bidder, the super wealthy and big corporations.73*
14
Pew Research Center’s 2010 polling documented that 85% of Democrats, 80% of Independents,
and 75% of Republicans objected to the decision in Citizens United. Subsequently numerous
proposed constitutional amendments have been submitted to Congress to overturn the Citizens
United decision.
Both the Citzens United and Heller decisions were 5-4 votes. If one person had changed
his or her vote, the result would have been radically different. Now, let’s look at how SCOTUS
also changed the meaning of the Second Amendment by the same one vote margin.
Heller Decision: In 2008, for the first time in the history of the United States, SCOTUS
decided (5 to 4) in District of Columbia v. Heller74 that the Second Amendment included an
individual’s ‘right’ to own guns for self protection:
“The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected
with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as
self-defense within the home.”75
The Heller decision overruled the “Washington D.C.’s Firearms Control Regulations Act
of 1975." This banned residents from owning handguns and required safety features on those
guns that were permitted.76 The purpose of the Act of 1975 was to reduce the homicide rate in
D.C. that was 16.5 per 100,000 residents, the highest in any city or state in our country.
Maryland is the second highest with 5.1 per 100,000 population. Massachusetts’s is about 1.8.77
SOCTUS did it again in 2010. In McDonald v. Chicago78 the Court determined that its
2008 Heller decision applied to all states, and, as part of the McDonald decision the Court
overturned Chicago’s gun restrictions, a city struggling with a gun related homicide rate of 11.4
per 100 000 among youth ages 15 to 19 in 2009,79 the highest among big cities.
Richard Posner, Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit,
declared that in Heller SCOTUS had created a new constitutional right that had not existed
before. He said,
“The text of the [Second] amendment, whether viewed alone or in light of the concerns
that actuated its adoption, creates no right to the private possession of guns for hunting
or other sport, or for the defense of person or property.80* (Emphasis added)
In summary, the purpose of the Second Amendment had been changed by SCOTUS from one of
common defense for the nation to one of self interest for the individual. In the process, SCOTUS
overturned two important gun controls laws in cities with very high gun related murder rates
leaving citizens more exposed to gun violence than before. As the Editor of the Chicago Tribune
wrote on June 27, 2008, “.... the court curtailed the power of the legislatures and the city
councils to protect their citizens.”81
The Gun Narrative
An Erroneous Assumption: A disturbing aspect of the gun narrative is that about 65%
of American adults assume that the purpose of the Second Amendment gives them the right to
arm themselves for self defense, and also against an oppressive government,82 a fear fanned by
the NRA.83* However, there is no legal ‘right’ to own guns for the purpose of fighting against
15
our governments whether at the national, state, or local level to be found in the Constitution, the
Second Amendment adopted in 1791, or as re-interpreted by SCOTUS in 2008. When the
Southern states tried to separate from the United States to create the Confederacy, starting with
the bombardment of Fort Sumpter, the United States raised an army and won the Civil War
between 1861 and 1865. The United States also put down the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794,84*
hung John Brown for his raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, and at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992
federal agents killed Ruby Weaver’s wife, son, dog, and put Weaver in jail.85* In 1993, during a
51 day stand off at the Branch Davidians’ compound in Waco, Texas, 76 men, women, and
children died as a result of their refusal to give in to United States Government.86
The myth of a right to own guns to oppose an overreaching United States government
may result from a confusion about The Declaration of Independence, 1776, which said, “...
whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people
to alter or abolish it,... .” That was written to justify rebelling against Britain. The same
individuals approved the Constitution which, not surprisingly, included no justification what-soover for rebelling against the government they created. The Declaration of Independence was a
personal promise between and among the signers that “...we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” It never had any legal authority that could have
been enforced, it conferred no ‘right’ to take up arms against the United States.
Narrative in Practice: Since the Newtown massacre, I have attended several local
citizen meetings organized to discuss gun control. Fewer people are now attending these local
meetings. Although, it is common for interest to fade on most issues in due time, there are
several other reasons that could well be effecting declining attendance at citizens’ gun meetings.
One is a recurring theme expressed in those meetings by locally elected officials and others,
“I am for gun control, and I believe in the Second Amendment.”
This is an oxymoron, an attempt to have it both ways. That is not a creditable formula for
changing the gun dynamics in the United States, and most people probably sense that. This
oxymoron does not speak to the emerging readiness of many people to undertake efforts to
reduce the threat of having their children shot. Second, some of the elected officials at the
meetings were there to be seen; their lack of commitment to any gun control effort was apparent
in their participation and responses. Third, this vacuum of leadership was filled with inane
discussions such as limiting the number of bullets permitted in the clips of an AR-15
Bushmaster. One invited speaker blithely claimed she owned five guns. That was immediately
followed by an elected official who confidently enumerated his gun collection, thus declaring his
allegiance to the Second Amendment. When they finished speaking any energy for gun control
that may have been there at the start of the meeting had been quietly drained away.
For years the NRA has been hammering the erroneous message that you have a
fundamental right to own a gun. Although that message is correct today as a result of the Heller
decision, it’s not an unqualified right.87* Nevertheless, by permitting guns for self defense, Heller
has made life in the United States less secure.
16
The Tide is Turning
NRA Out of Sync: The rapid fire opposition to gun control by gun manufacturers and
their NRA lobbyists has seemed formidable. However, our common impression is based more on
the NRA’s propaganda rather than on the facts. The NRA no longer enjoys the full support of its
members and even less so that of the general public.
In July of 2012, opinion polls of the general membership of the NRA indicated they did
not agree with the NRA leadership’s implacable opposition to gun control laws:
Ž “87 percent ... agree that support for Second Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with
keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. ....
74 percent of NRA members and 87 percent of non-NRA gun owners support requiring
criminal background checks of anyone purchasing a gun. ...
Ž
74 percent of NRA members believe permits should only be granted to applicants who
have completed gun safety training. ....
Ž
68 percent ... believe permits should only be granted to applicants who have no prior
arrests for domestic violence ...”88
Ž
The NRA’s leadership strongly objected to the accuracy of these opinion polls.89
Nevertheless, more polls in 2013 confirmed that the NRA is out of sync with its members.
Ž
“Several polls conducted this year — from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg
School of Public Health, Quinnipiac University and Pew — all found that at least 84
percent of gun owners (or in Quinnipiac’s case, “households with a gun”) support
universal background checks”90
UC Davis Health System reported “A scientific survey of gun dealers and pawnbrokers
in 43 U.S. states has found nearly unanimous support for denying gun purchases based
on prior convictions and for serious mental illness with a history of violence or alcohol
or drug abuse – conditions that might have prevented Washington Navy Yard shooter
Aaron Alexis from legally purchasing a firearm.”91*
Ž
It appears that a majority of gun owners and gun dealers do not believe there is or should
be an unqualified right or a “God-given, fundamental right”92 to own guns as claimed by the
NRA.
The General Public: The facts suggest that Americans are more ready for effective gun
control than many people realize:
Ž In the last year, editorials in America, the National Catholic Review, Vanity Fair, and
other media have called for the repeal of the Second Amendment.93*
“Data from the General Social Survey94* show that rates of gun ownership have been
decreasing steadily for three decades. In 1977, 54 percent of American adults lived in a
Ž
17
household that contained a gun. By 2010, that figure had declined a full 22 percentage
points to 32 percent.”95
“Contrary to the NRA’s claim of having 5 million members, independent research finds
that the membership is actually closer to 3.1 million and its membership has been
declining.”96
Ž
“92 percent of Americans favored universal background checks”... “according to CBS
and News/ New York Times polls taken in middle January 2013, following the Newtown
massacre.”97 The majority of the public is ready for meaningful gun control laws.
Ž
The NRA claims it has great political clout. However, the NRA endorses political
candidates that are almost guaranteed to win because they are in ‘safe’ districts or have
weak opponents. When they win, the NRA uses those wins to project an image that it’s a
political heavyweight, not just a cautious gambler, which is closer to the truth.98*
Ž
The Challenge:
The Facts: A well organized small organization with a sharply focused agenda win
conflicts with poorly organized larger organizations or coalitions of groups with different
primary agendas. The NRA has a relatively small membership of 3- 4 million gun owners
compared to the population without guns, and the NRA has a clear agenda for promoting gun
ownership that is sharply focused. Although, most Americans want effective gun controls, they
are not organized effectively to advance that goal. Those organizations that do promote gun
control are fragmented and have not developed an effective lobbying capability to match that of
the NRA.99*
This fragmentation is a classic challenge of democracy: consensus must be found among
those who differ in order for democracy to move forward.100* An important step toward
consensus is defining a contested issue narrowly. Security is the core purpose101* of the Second
Amendment. Originally the purpose of a “well regulated militia” in the Second Amendment was
national defense. When Congress established the Army and Navy, the purpose of the militia
became obsolete as did the Second Amendment. In 2008, SCOTUS changed the purpose of the
Second Amendment to one of self defense in its Heller decision.
So, how well has the ‘new’ Second Amendment fulfilled its purpose of providing security
to individuals? In the last 6 years since the Supreme Court’s Heller decision the murder and
suicide rates have not declined in the United States. Statistically, we have a gun related death rate
similar to Mexico’s 11.1% per 100,000 population.102 Mexico has a weak central government,
uncontrolled drug cartel wars, and local police forces corrupted by the cartels.
Except for a few brief years during the American Revolution and shortly afterward, the
Second Amendment has not been a factor in securing Americas’ defense. Given this record, it is
astonishing that during the 20th and 21st Centuries many in Congress used the Second
Amendment as a justification for voting against gun control regulation. Some state legislatures
are also complicit in the gun violence. “In 2009, just ten states supplied nearly half - 49% - of
18
the crime guns that crossed state lines before recovered in crimes. Together, these states
accounted for nearly 21,000 interstate crime guns recovered in 2009" ... “and 12,000
murders.”103
More guns have not made Americas safer. Nevertheless, the NRA wants a more fully
weaponized society: armed teachers in every class room, concealed weapons legal in all public
places, and ‘stand your ground’ laws throughout the land.104* The effect of ‘stand your ground’
laws will increase shootings and compromise justice; if there is no witness to a shooting all the
shooter needs to do is declare that he was afraid for his own safety to justify the shooting.
We would be far safer if we repealed the Second Amendment and adopted gun control
legislation similar to the laws in other countries that have low rates of gun-related killing and
have democracies as robust as ours in the United States.105*
Changing the Narrative: So how do we get there from here? We need a realistic
perspective about what is achievable and when. For example, even if Congress could repeal the
Second Amendment immediately, that would not make 300 million privately owned guns
evaporate. On the other hand, there are social dynamics underway that will contribute to
reducing gun violence. By every measurement of violence, societies around the world, including
our society, are becoming less violent.106 Capital punishment by states107* and corporal
punishment of children in public schools have declined.108* The decline of corporal punishment
may be one of the most important advances towards a less violent society because how children
are disciplined informs their conflict resolution skills which they will teach their own children.
Ending the corporal punishment of children is one of the most positive and long lasting feedback
loops underway toward a less violent society. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, and rape have
been declining for years, as mandated reporters and related agencies increase in number and
training.
We are also living in a time when other values are changing at warp speed. In 1964 the
Surgeon General reported that smoking was dangerous for your health; within 20 years smoking
had plummeted, and it is now outlawed in many public places and places of work. In 2002 no
states allowed gay marriage. Today 17 states permit same sex marriage. In 2008, we elected our
first black President. All of these changes were preceded by incremental modifications to the
cultural narratives people had used to justify their actions, to explain themselves to themselves.
With all of this progress underway why do we still tolerate 30,000 gun related killings
year after year that are largely avoidable with sensible gun regulations? The killings of the
children in Newtown in 2012 did not result in legislation to stop the gun mayhem in 2013.
Are we like the neighbors of "Kitty" Genovese in Brooklyn, NY, who was murdered in
1964 while 38 neighbors heard her constant screams but did nothing, did not want “to get
involved”? Is that happening today in community after community, incident after incident across
our nation? More likely, our legislators are trapped in an unreflective trance of an ancient cult,
one that demands blood sacrifices. Certainly, a gun cult’s intensity feeds off the drama of people
being shot dead; the more senseless, random, and close to home, the greater the assault on our
sense of security.
Defining the Issue: The national discussion about gun violence lacks agreement about
19
the status of the Second Amendment. This Amendment has an iconic status among gun
advocates because of the bravery and patriotism of the militia in 1775 that was enshrined in the
second clause of Second Amendment in 1791, but they ignore the meaning 109* of the first clause:
(1st clause:) “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
(2nd clause) the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The power of an icon is its capacity to stimulate myths which eclipse documented history
as well as its capacity to bend logic as in, “I believe in the Second Amendment, and I want gun
control.” The utility of the Second Amendment as an icon for the NRA is the patriotic aura it
imparts to enhance the NRA’s image among its members. Because of the emotional freight
invested in the Second Amendment by gun advocates, it can be tricky to have a rational
discussion with them about either the purpose of the Second Amendment or gun control. As a
result, the Second Amendment has been off the table in many discussions of gun related
violence.
If effective gun control is ever going to be realized, the Second Amendment cannot be
side stepped; it is the central issue for several reasons. First, the Second Amendment is the only
law related to guns that most Americans would recognize and many will know that it is part of
the Constitution. This name recognition helps frame the seriousness of a call to repeal the Second
Amendment. The public needs to have a better understanding that the Second Amendment
became obsolete for 200 years when it replaced by the establishment of the armed forces, and
since the Heller decision in 2008, it now undermines public safety.
Second, from that public safety perspective, the Second Amendment is now a moral issue
as well as a legal one; you, one of your children, or someone else will be one of the 30,000
people shot to death this year by one of the 300 million largely unregulated guns. It is it
irresponsible for those who oppose gun controls to turn a blind eye on the gun mayhem. Their
indifference and active opposition to gun controls has contributed to many gun related deaths.
Calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment will need strong resolve because such a
suggestion challenges a gun culture110* that is deeply meaningful to some people. Such a call will
likely be rejected by many folks as ‘wrong headed,’ ‘ignorant,’ ‘unAmerican,’ or worse.111*
Those are the initial reactions to be expected if you challenge any entrenched cultural norm.
Nevertheless, this challenge- response dynamic often evolves into better public policy, but it’s
seldom a smooth or quick process.
We are more likely to be successful sooner if we
Ž stick to the facts of history,
Ž
remind people of the aspirations our founders had for our democracy,
Ž
cite the statistics of our gun mayhem compared to those of other democracies,
Ž
explain how the NRA’s marketing plan works, and
Ž
why the NRA’s claim of a “fundamental” right to own guns is rhetorical rubbish.
As the human cost of gun violence becomes increasingly unacceptable, more parents will
not allow their 4 year old to have a play date in homes containing guns. Hosts of parties will
20
request ‘no guns in attendance please.’ Churches, theaters, libraries, and bars will begin posting
‘no gun’ policies. As gun ownership becomes less tolerated buy-back programs will begin to
reduce gun ownership. As citizens begin to feel safer, gun sales will decline.
As the public’s attitude change, the narrative changes. Then legislators will sense the
wind is changing. Although some states will probably refused to adopt meaningful gun-control
laws similar to Massachusetts, these states will become a minority making the repeal of the
Second Amendment increasingly plausible as well as making possible the passage of needed
federal gun-control laws to stop interstate traffic of illegal guns.
This scenario of how gun violence can be reduced is not novel; it traces an incremental
path for reducing gun violence that is similar to how other forms of violence are declining.
Like other social changes the reduction in gun violence may happen much faster than
most people expect. That speed will be influenced by how many people want it to happen. There
is an active role in this scenario, as suggested below, for everyone who wants a safer society.
Recommendations:
The Second Amendment should be repealed.112*
Ž Religious organizations, non-profits, citizens’ organizations, and local and state elected
officials should approve resolutions calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment and
forward these resolutions to their representatives in Congress.
Citizens throughout our country should write letters to their Representatives and
Senators in Congress asking them to vote to repeal the Second Amendment;
Ž
Leaders of organizations that are working for gun safety should also support the repeal
of the Second Amendment.
Ž
Representatives and Senators in Congress need to start the process for repealing the
Second Amendment.
Ž
Finally, everyone needs to follow up with their congressional representatives regularly
to see what progress they are making toward initiating and supporting a constitutional
amendment to repeal the Second Amendment.
Ž
9
21
Table of Contents for Appendices/Endnotes
Appendices
Page
A. Weekend Gun Report .......... 23
B. Banished for Questioning .... 28
C. Mass killings proliferate....... 29
Acknowledgments ............................... 30
Author ................................................... 30
End notes:
# 1 ............................................. 30
20 ............................................. 32
40 . ........................................... 34
60 ............................................. 35
80 ..............................................39
100 ..............................................43
110 ............................................. 46
22
Appendix A: Joe Nocera’s “Weekend Gun Report,” New York Times, 2/18/14113
“Friday: A 4-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the chest and wounded in Aransas Pass, Tex., Friday night. An
8-year-old girl accidentally shot herself with an unsecured revolver at her grandparents’ house in Fayetteville, N.C.,
Friday afternoon. Makayla Darden, 8, was shot in the chest and critically wounded while walking home from her
aunt’s apartment in Southeast W ashington, D.C., Friday afternoon.
Ž
-Three men in their 20s were found shot to death execution-style in a Philadelphia, Pa., home Thursday afternoon. A
13-year-old boy was shot in the head in front of a home in Watsonville, Calif., Friday night. A 16-year-old boy was
shot in the leg by a homeowner while allegedly breaking into a home in Lexington, Ky., Friday night. An intruder
was shot to death by a homeowner in west Pasco, W ash., early Friday.
-A 16-year-old boy was shot in the thigh following an altercation in front of a W endy’s in Orange City, Fla., early
Friday, and police are searching for a 17-year-old suspect. A 17-year-old girl was accidentally shot and wounded in
front of a library in Gaithersburg, Md., Friday afternoon. A 17-year-old boy was found shot in the head and seriously
wounded in a roadway in Muskegon Heights, Mich., Friday night.
-A 76-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man were found shot to death in a murder-suicide in a retirement
community in Bloomington, Ind., Friday morning. Fabian Sebastian Romero, 22, was shot in the torso and critically
wounded in El Paso, Tex., Friday afternoon, and police are investigating whether the wound was self-inflicted. A
man was grazed in the head during an argument with another man in a gas station parking lot in Nashville, Tenn.,
late Thursday.
-A man was shot in the leg when an argument broke out at Military Circle Mall in Norfolk, Va., Friday afternoon.
Johnnie Nottingham, 21, was shot in Norfolk early Friday and died two days later. Aleksander “Lenny” W ysocki, 74,
was found shot to death in his front yard in Cary, N.C., Friday morning, and the suspect, Eric Paul Engel, 43, a
University of New Hampshire lecturer, later killed himself.
-A 31-year-old man was shot three times and killed in the Juniata Park neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., Friday
night. A 21-year-old man was found shot to death between two parked cars in the Feltonville neighborhood of
Philadelphia Friday night.A woman was shot in the hip on the east side of Indianapolis, Ind., Friday morning, and her
boyfriend is a suspect.
- A man was shot in the head and killed on a street in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans, La., late
Thursday. A 31-year-old man was shot several times and killed in the 7th W ard of New Orleans Friday evening. A
21-year-old man was shot in the leg when a man appeared in his home as he slept in the W ilbur section of Trenton,
N.J., Thursday afternoon.
- A man was shot in the groin during an attempted robbery in Immokalee, Fla., Friday night, and a 16-year-old and a
17-year-old were arrested. A 33-year-old man was shot in the leg at a recreation center in Cleveland, Ohio, Friday.
Jeffrey W illiams Jr. was shot twice and wounded while leaving the Oakland Park Grill in north Columbus, Ohio,
Friday morning. A man was shot in the Evanston neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday night.
- Michael Boone, 32, shot and killed himself in a home following a police chase in Steubenville, Ohio, early Friday.
Two men were shot and critically wounded while standing outside a public housing building in the 3rd W ard of
Paterson, N.J., Thursday night. Delawrence Andrew Thomas, 19, was shot and killed in northwest Huntsville, Ala.,
Thursday night, and a 17-year-old was arrested.
- A man was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in north Houston, Tex., Friday evening. A man was shot in the leg
at a motel in Brunswick, Ga., Friday morning. One person was shot in the back and wounded in Pahokee, Fla.,
Thursday night. Darrell Lee Thompson, 24, was found shot to death in the front yard of a home after giving his
girlfriend a Valentine’s gift in Lumberton, N.C., Friday afternoon, and police suspect the woman’s ex-boyfriend.
23
- Anthony W isdom was shot and seriously wounded following a verbal altercation in Lawrenceville, Kan., early
Friday. A man was shot and wounded following an altercation at a home in Iredell County, N.C., late Thursday. A
man was shot in the head after an altercation with four men in a car on Interstate 10 northwest of San Antonio, Tex.,
late Thursday.
- Two men, 20 and 34, were shot at the Ruggles T-Station in the Roxbury section of Boston, Mass., Friday evening.
Edward Harris, 37, was shot and wounded in Edwards, Miss., late Friday. A 41-year-old man was found shot and
seriously injured on a sidewalk in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago Friday night. Eric Darnell Noel, 29, was shot
and killed in Port Arthur, Tex., early Friday.
- A man was shot and killed during a robbery at a business in Downey, Calif., Friday afternoon. Bob Pera, 35, a
game warden, was shot and seriously wounded while conducting a compliance check on two hunters in El Dorado
County, Calif., Friday evening. A man was shot in the foot while waiting for a bus in Flint, Mich., Friday night. A
40-year-old man was shot in the foot while standing on the street in Columbus, Ga., Friday night.
Saturday: An off-duty corrections officer reaching into his pocket for a valet ticket accidentally triggered his
concealed handgun, firing a round that sent ricocheting shrapnel into at least six people in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
Saturday evening. Adrian Broadway, 15, was shot and killed by a homeowner after she and her friends egged his
house in Little Rock, Ark., early Saturday.
Ž
- Briana Valle, 15, who was shot along with her mother, allegedly by a former boyfriend, in Romeoville, Ill.,
Thursday, died Saturday afternoon. A 13-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the elbow as a friend showed him a
.22-caliber rifle in South Daytona, Fla., Saturday, and the shooter’s family may face charges. Shamarcus James, 16,
was shot in the leg while visiting family at an apartment complex in Macon, Ga., Saturday afternoon.
- A 16-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded after walking up to a vehicle in Phoenix, Ariz., Saturday night.
James Hudgins, 67, was shot to death and dismembered in Sumner County, Tenn., Friday afternoon, and his
son-in-law, 42-year-old Sandie Calvert, was arrested. Several people were shot and wounded during an argument at a
wedding party in Las Vegas, Nev., late Saturday.
- Two people were wounded when a man accidentally discharged a handgun at a south W ichita, Kan., bar early
Saturday. Michael W alton, 43, was shot and killed by a tenant while breaking into an apartment in Tulsa, Okla.,
Saturday evening. A man in his 30s was shot on the street in the Garland District of Spokane, W ash., Saturday
afternoon.
- Naomy Rojas, 16, was found shot to death between a set of railroad tracks in Fairfield, Calif., early Saturday. A few
hours later in Fairfield, a man was shot and killed. A man was shot and wounded at a home in South Valley, N.M.,
Saturday afternoon. A man was killed and two people were wounded in a shooting in Rio Rancho, N.M., Saturday
afternoon.
- A police officer was shot three times and wounded while responding to a disturbance call in Dallas, Tex., Saturday
afternoon. Donelle McCray Jr., 22, was shot and killed in Norman, Okla., Saturday night, and his neighbor was
arrested. Andrea Hollis was killed and a man and a woman were wounded when someone discharged 12 to 15 rounds
from a high-powered rifle in Tecumseh, Okla., Saturday afternoon.
- A man was killed and a 44-year-old police officer was shot in the head and wounded during an exchange of gunfire
in Hamilton, Ohio, Saturday morning. A man was wounded when an argument led to gunfire in Jacksonville, Fla.,
early Saturday. James Jeremy Owens, 31, was shot in the shoulder with a shotgun at a mobile home in Stevenson,
Ala., Saturday afternoon.
- A 23-year-old man shot and killed himself while detained by police at a traffic stop in Murray County, Ga.,
Saturday afternoon. A man shot and killed himself during a police traffic stop in the Strathmoor Manor area of
24
Louisville, Ky., Saturday night. A woman was shot and wounded during an altercation at a Valentine’s Day dance in
Louisville late Saturday.
- Devante Hill, 20, was shot and killed on the southeast side of Colorado Springs, Colo., early Saturday. A man was
shot and wounded at a gun range in Lake W orth, Fla., Saturday afternoon. Two men were found shot to death in the
street in Newark, N.J., early Saturday. A man drove himself to the hospital after he was shot and seriously wounded
in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday afternoon.
- Thomas Eugene Edwards, 71, was shot in the chest and killed in Hungry Horse, Mont., Friday night, and Pamela
Ruth Haines, 55, is in custody. A 22-year-old man was accidentally shot and seriously wounded by an acquaintance
at a home in Rockville, Md., early Saturday. One person died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in W aterloo, Ind.,
Saturday evening.
- Eun Kim, an owner of the Dry River Store near Clover Hill, Va., was shot and killed during a robbery Saturday
afternoon, and her husband was wounded. Donald Lee Battle Jr., 26, was shot and killed across the street from the
Branch House Tavern in Flowery Branch, Ga., early Saturday. Brison Bea, 19, shot himself during a disturbance
outside an apartment complex in Rock Island, Ill., late Saturday, and he was arrested.
- One person was shot and wounded in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Oakland, Calif., Saturday afternoon. A man
shot and killed himself after shooting his girlfriend in the arm in Jonesport, Me., Saturday night. Alex Serrano Jr., 25,
who sustained a gunshot wound in Santa Ana, Calif., late Saturday, was driven by a friend to an emergency room,
where he died.
- A 32-year-old man was found shot several times in the head and killed on a sidewalk in the Gert Town
neighborhood of New Orleans Saturday night. George A. Lewis, 36, was shot and killed outside his home in
Bridgeton, N.J., late Saturday. A 30-year-old man was shot in the leg in Calumet City, Ill., Saturday night.
- Christopher Allen, 43, and Erica Casto, 41, were found shot to death in a murder-suicide in Erie, Pa., Saturday
night. A man was shot in the leg at a bar in Erie early Saturday, and the victim is not cooperating with police. One
person was shot and wounded in Hemet, Calif., Saturday evening.
Sunday: Lily Anna Valent, 2, and Neveah Oliva, 6, were killed when bullets tore through their home during a
family birthday party in Corpus Christi, Tex., late Sunday. Terrance Carroll, 21, was killed and six others were
wounded in a gang-related shooting at CLUB B-N-H in Dallas, Tex., early Sunday. One person was killed and four
people were injured in a shooting at a nightclub in Jacksonville, Fla., early Sunday.
Ž
- Okeem Jarvis, 24, was killed and six others were injured when gunfire erupted at a party in Orlando, Fla., Sunday
morning. Five men were wounded in a gun battle that spanned three locations in Fort W ayne, Ind., early Sunday.
One woman and three men were shot and wounded outside a club in Saginaw, Mich., early Sunday. A 16-year-old
boy was shot in the leg on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, Sunday morning.
- Kriston Charles Belinte Chee, 36, was shot and killed after a fight at the service counter of a W almart in Chandler,
Ariz., Sunday afternoon, and the suspect, Kyle W ayne Quadlin, 25, was not arrested because he said he acted in
self-defense. A man was shot several times and wounded in front of the W estfield San Francisco Centre in the heart
of the city’s shopping district Sunday evening.
- A man was shot to death at a home in La Mirada, Calif., early Sunday. A man in his early 20s was shot in the neck
during a fight in the parking lot of Club Haze in Tulsa, Okla., early Sunday. Melvin Connors III, 21, was shot while
talking to his girlfriend in the parking lot of the Nathan Health Care Center in East St. Louis, Ill., early Sunday. A
man was shot and wounded in downtown Richmond, Va., early Sunday.
- A man was shot and wounded at a pizzeria in the East New York section of Brooklyn, N.Y., Sunday afternoon.
25
Keith Atkinson, 31, was fatally shot in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, La., Sunday morning. Kevin
Banner, 41, was found shot and killed on a sidewalk in W ilmington, Del., Sunday afternoon. Robert J. Harris, 56,
was shot and killed while visiting an apartment in west Columbus, Ohio, Sunday morning.
- A woman was shot in the knee during a home invasion in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday evening, and police found
marijuana and cash at the scene. A woman was shot during a bungled robbery attempt at the restaurant where she
worked in north San Antonio, Tex., early Sunday. Jamel Forbes, 30, was shot and killed in Albany, N.Y., early
Sunday.
- Amanda Turner, 35, was wounded when bullets came through the window of a home in Albany, Ga., early Sunday.
A 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were wounded in a shooting in Albany, N.Y., early Sunday. Lonnie
Flemming, 31, was shot in the chest near a high school in east Knoxville, Tenn., Sunday morning. One person was
shot multiple times and wounded during an altercation in a parking lot Columbia, S.C., early Sunday.
- Two men were wounded in separate shootings in Anderson, S.C., Sunday afternoon. Two men were shot in the
neck and critically wounded in north Philadelphia, Pa., early Sunday. Jordan W ells, 20, was shot several times in the
back at an apartment complex on the southeast side of Indianapolis, Ind., early Sunday. A bystander was shot twice
in the leg and wounded at an apartment complex in Crowley, La., Sunday afternoon.
- Clint Galentine was shot twice and nearly killed by hunters while practicing turkey calls with a friend at the Lower
Hillsborough W ildlife Management Area in Tampa, Fla., Sunday night. Irais Acosta, 19, was shot and killed inside
her boyfriend’s home in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday morning. A man was shot in the neck and a woman was shot in the
arm on Camano Island, W ash., Sunday afternoon.
- A man was shot in the face and critically wounded following a possibly gang-related shooting in the Koreatown
section of Los Angeles early Sunday; he is the third person killed in gang-related gunfire in the neighborhood so far
this year. A woman and a man were shot and wounded in a crowded shopping center in East San Jose, Calif., Sunday
afternoon.
- A student at Old Dominion University was shot and critically wounded at an off-campus residence in Norfolk, Va.,
early Sunday. A 16-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the foot while trying to defend himself during a robbery
in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago late Sunday. Edward Kelly Spangler, 43, was shot and killed
while driving, sending his car crashing into a tree, in Grants Pass, Ore., early Sunday.
- Thomas Jacob “T.J.” Bowman, 33, was shot and killed and Kenneth Joe W ray Jr., 73, was wounded in a home
invasion in Rural Hall, N.C., Sunday. A man was wounded in a shooting outside a strip club in eastern Travis
County, Tex., early Sunday. Lamar R. Booker, 23, was found shot to death in the parking lot of a nightclub in south
Toledo, Ohio, early Sunday. A 26-year-old man was shot and critically wounded on the east side of Buffalo, N.Y.,
Sunday evening.
- Paul Samaniego, 33, was shot to death in Little Rock, Ark., early Sunday, and his roommate was arrested. W endy
Hall-Onkle, 40, was shot and killed, possibly by her niece, during an argument in south St. Louis County, Mo., early
Sunday. Jordan W ells, 20, was shot several times on the near south side of Indianapolis early Sunday.
- One person was shot and wounded during a brawl between neighbors in east Paragould, Ark., Sunday night. A
29-year-old man was shot and wounded in an alley in York City, Pa., Sunday afternoon. A man was shot several
times and wounded in the Canal area of San Rafael, Calif., early Sunday. A 25 year-old man was shot three times and
wounded after he answered a knock at the door in Edinburg, Tex., Sunday night, and he is not cooperating with
police.
- Sylvia Salazar, 56, was killed and four people were wounded in a shooting at a bar on the north side of Fort W orth,
Tex., early Sunday. Two people, ages 22 and 25, were shot and wounded at an apartment complex in Salinas, Calif.,
26
Sunday night. Two men, 25 and 29, were shot in the neck and wounded in the Kensington neighborhood of
Philadelphia, Pa., early Sunday.
- Terra Blanford was wounded when her husband accidentally shot her while cleaning a .40-caliber pistol in
Owensboro, Ky., Sunday. Brandon Michael Mende, 16, was shot and killed at a house party in M oses Lake, W ash.,
early Sunday. Jeffrey Lewandowski, 44, shot himself in the leg at a motel in Wilmington, Del., late Sunday, and he
was charged with reckless endangering and possession of a firearm by a felon.
- One person was shot across the street from a roller rink in south Hazel Crest, Ill., Sunday evening. A 22-year-old
man shot his way into a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, home to attack an ex-girlfriend, and then fatally shot himself in the
head when police confronted him late Sunday.
- A woman was wounded when a gun belonging to her companion discharged under a table at an ale house in
Orlando, Fla., Sunday night; the shooter had a concealed weapon license and won’t be charged. Rick “Ricky”
Roberts, 49, a police volunteer, was shot to death in his garage in downtown Sonora, Calif., Sunday morning.
M onday: Three people were shot and wounded at Lava nightclub in Jacksonville, Fla., early Monday; it was the
second nightclub shooting in the city in as many days. An 8-year-old girl was injured by broken glass during a
drive-by shooting in Raytown, Mo., Monday afternoon. Jeremiah Rivera, 16, died and Julio Cartagena, 18, was
hospitalized in a shooting in East Chicago, Ind., early Monday.
Ž
- A man was shot several times in the buttocks in the Leonidas neighborhood of New Orleans Monday afternoon. A
few hours later, a 20-year-old man was shot in the arm and hip in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. A man
was shot in the neck and chest and critically wounded in the City Park neighborhood of New Orleans Monday
afternoon.
- A 21-year-old man was shot and wounded in North Charleston, S.C., Monday afternoon. Aaron Jones, 19, was shot
several times and wounded at an apartment in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday afternoon. A woman was shot in the arm
at a home in the Crafton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pa., early Monday, and her partner, Judith W hite, 27,
was arrested.
- A man was shot in the arm and wounded in his ex-girlfriend’s home in Chesapeake, Va., Monday evening, and the
woman is in custody. Chrishawn Grice, 17, was shot twice and wounded while walking home from a friend’s house
in southwest Atlanta, Ga., early Monday. A man breaking into a home was shot and wounded by the homeowner in
Bell County, Tex., early Monday.
- A 28-year-old man was hospitalized after a family dispute ended in gunfire in Phoenix early Monday. A
22-year-old man was shot during a fight at a nightclub in Horry County, S.C., early Monday. A man was shot and
killed when two people broke into his home in northwest Houston Monday morning. A man was shot in the leg in the
South Fairmount neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, Monday afternoon.
- Jaime Velez, 34, was shot and critically wounded in a chiropractor’s office in Holiday, Fla., and the doctor who
owns the office is a person of interest. Donovan W ebster, 16, was shot and killed in Merced, Calif., early Monday.
Marvin M cClinton, 21, was shot in the face with a shotgun and killed in Camden, N.J., early Monday. A 39-year-old
man was killed and a 12-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting at an unlicensed tattoo shop in Camden, N.J.,
Monday afternoon.
- A suspected gang member was shot in the thigh by rival gang members in Los Angeles Monday. A 34-year-old man
was shot and wounded at an apartment complex in northwest Oklahoma City, Okla., Monday morning. A man shot
himself in the leg during a gang-related brawl at a nightclub in Corpus Christi, Tex., early Monday. A 47-year-old
man was shot and killed at a mobile home in Port Deposit, Md., early Monday. ....” ##
27
Appendix B: “Banished for Questioning the Gospel of Guns,”
The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2014, p. 1. By Ravi SOMAIYA
BARRY, Ill. — The byline of Dick Metcalf, one of the country’s pre-eminent gun journalists, has gone missing. It
has been removed from Guns & Ammo magazine, where his widely-read column once ran on the back page. He no
longer stars on a popular television show about firearms. Gun companies have stopped flying him around the world
and sending him the latest weapons to review.
In late October, M r. M etcalf wrote a column that the magazine titled “Let’s Talk Limits,” which
debated gun laws. “The fact is,” wrote M r. M etcalf, who has taught history at Cornell and Yale, “all
constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be.”
The backlash was swift, and fierce. Readers threatened to cancel their subscriptions. Death threats poured in
by email. His television program was pulled from the air.
Just days after the column appeared, M r. M etcalf said, his editor called to tell him that two major
gun manufacturers had said “in no uncertain terms” that they could no longer do business with InterM edia
Outdoors, the company that publishes Guns & Ammo and co-produces his TV show , if he continued to work
there. He was let go immediately.
“I’ve been vanished, disappeared,” Mr. Metcalf, 67, said in an interview last month on his gun range
here, about 100 miles north of St. Louis, surrounded by snow-blanketed fields and towering grain elevators. “Now
you see him. Now you don’t.”
He is unsure of his next move, but fears he has become a pariah in the gun industry, to which, he said, he
has devoted nearly his entire adult life.
His experience sheds light on the close-knit world of gun journalism, where editors and reporters say there
is little room for nuance in the debate over gun laws. Moderate voices that might broaden the discussion from within
are silenced. W hen writers stray from the party line promoting an absolutist view of an unfettered right to bear arms,
their publications — often under pressure from advertisers — excommunicate them.
“We are locked in a struggle with powerful forces in this country who will do anything to destroy the
Second Amendment,” said Richard Venola, a former editor of Guns & Ammo. “The time for ceding some rational
points is gone.”
There have been other cases like M r. M etcalf’s. In 2012, Jerry Tsai, the editor of Recoil magazine,
wrote that the Heckler & Koch M P7A1 gun, designed for law enforcement, was “unavailable to civilians and
for good reason.” He was pressured to step down, and despite apologizing, has not written since. In 2007, Jim
Zumbo, by then the author of 23 hunting books, wrote a blog post for Outdoor Life’s website suggesting that
military-style rifles were “terrorist” weapons, best avoided by hunters. His writing, television and
endorsement deals were quickly put on hiatus.
Garry James, a senior editor at Guns & Ammo, said in a phone interview several weeks ago that its readers
were the magazine’s main concern and its editorial independence was not at risk. But, he added, “advertisers
obviously always have power, and you always feel some pressure.” He declined to discuss Mr. Metcalf’s matter
specifically, and the company did not respond to further phone calls and emails seeking comment on other aspects of
the operation.
Mr. Metcalf said he was told that advertisers feared customers would boycott their products if they
continued to advertise on TV shows and magazines featuring his work. Two major advertisers with InterMedia are
the gun companies Ruger and the Remington Arms Company. Ruger’s general counsel, Kevin B. Reid Sr., said in an
email that it did have a conference call with InterMedia to discuss the column, but that it was informed “that the
decision had already been made to part ways with Mr. Metcalf.” He denied Ruger pressured InterMedia to fire Mr.
Metcalf.
A spokesman for Remington did not respond to messages seeking comment.” ....
“Reporters and editors say that reviews are often written in close consultation with manufacturers. If a gun
is judged to be of poor quality, magazines will quietly send it back for improvements rather than writing a
negative review. The system is broadly accepted at these publications, gun writers say. ... .”
[Emphasis added. For the balance of the article see
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/business/media/banished-for-questioning-the-gospel-of-guns.html?_r=0&pagew
anted=print ]
28
Appendix C: “Mass killings proliferate as Congress fails to control guns”
Editorial, Boston Globe, Tuesday, 12/31/13. [ Emphasis added below]
“When 17-year-old Claire Davis died, after being shot Dec. 13 by a classmate at their Colorado high school, there
were expressions of sorrow from local and national politicians. Davis’s murder got a measure of attention because it
occurred only 8 miles from the site of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and one day before the anniversary
of last year’s Newtown, Conn., slayings. But as her family and classmates confronted their grief, there was no serious
outcry for new gun laws. America has been there, tried that, and run up against an impenetrable wall: the National
Rifle Association, which controls politicians through lavish campaign contributions, mainly, but also a relative
handful of diehard supporters who oppose even the puniest efforts to control guns.
In 2013, the failure to pass gun legislation stood as the strongest example of how money and special
interests can influence the country’s political system, and how Congress is incapable of responding pragmatically to
matters of urgent national concern. Confronted with Congress’s inexplicable failure to pass a background-check bill
that was supported by more than 80 percent of the people, many Americans simply gave up. They risk becoming
inured to the fact that another 32,000 to 33,000 people will likely die from a bullet in suicides and homicides in the
United States in 2014.
Instead, Americans should be indignant. There were a whopping 24 additional mass killings — defined as
the murders of more than four people in one spree — using guns in the year after Newtown. They appear like regular
marks on the calendar:
Jan. 7: Tulsa, Okla. Robbery, four victims, all women.
Jan. 19: Albuquerque. Boy, 15, shoots his parents and three siblings to death.
M ar. 13: Herkimer, N.Y. Man kills four people in a barbershop and car-care shop rampage.
Apr. 18: Akron, Ohio. Robbery, four victims.
Apr. 22: Federal W ay, Wash. Gunman kills girlfriend, three others.
Apr. 24: Manchester, Ill. Man in custody dispute kills five people, including a pregnant woman, a child, and a great
grandmother.
Apr. 28: Ottawa, Kan. Man accused of killing lifelong friend and three others.
M ay 11: W aynesville, Ind. Man accused of killing four in possible drug-related slaying.
M ay 13: Fernley, Nev. Man accused of killing couple married for 60 years, stealing their car, and killing three others
afterwards.
June 7: Santa Monica, Calif. Man kills his father, brother, and three others at Santa Monica College.
July 26: Clarksburg, W .Va. Ex-Marine kills two people over possible drug debt, then kills 70-year-old newspaper
delivery man and son in street.
July 26: Hialeah, Fla. Enraged man kills six throughout an apartment building.
Aug. 7: Dallas. Man accused of killing estranged wife and three others.
Aug. 14: Oklahoma City. Mentally ill man kills mother, sister, niece, and nephew.
Sept. 11: Crab Orchard, Tenn. Man and woman kill four in attempted drug robbery.
Sept. 16: W ashington, D.C. Defense contractor kills 12 at Navy Yard.
Sept. 20: Rice, Texas. W oman kills husband and three sons.
Oct. 9: Paris, Texas. Four men shot dead.
Oct. 26: Phoenix. Depressed man kills four neighbors, including 17-year-old autistic boy.
Oct. 28: Terrell, Texas. Man kills mother, aunt, and three others.
Oct. 29: Callison, S.C. Man kills girlfriend, her parents, and two of the parents’ grandchildren.
Nov. 7: Jacksonville, Fla. Four people shot dead in a home.
Nov. 23: Tulsa, Okla. Four shot dead in second quadruple homicide of the year in that city. Three victims were
women.
Dec. 1: Topeka, Kan. W oman found shot to death behind restaurant. Bodies of her ex-husband, brother, and another
woman found at the first woman’s home. Meanwhile, even in Massachusetts, new measures to tighten up loopholes
in gun-purchase limits and increase mental health reporting are still being slowly studied in the Legislature. The extra
Many legislators are simply afraid of the money the gun
lobby will spend targeting their seats. They should think of Claire Davis, and the Newtown children, and,
deliberation isn’t out of ordinary caution.
most chillingly, the thousands of victims yet to come.”
29
Acknowledgments
This paper has benefitted from the reviews, suggestions, and corrections of Jane Moeller,
Ethan Moeller, Martin Charwat, Julie Heagney, and David Hemenway.
Author
Clark Moeller has been involved in civil rights activities for years. Most recently he
served on the Boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and before that on
the Board of the Pennsylvania ACLU. He was a founder and President of the Pennsylvania
Alliance for Democracy, a state-wide coalition of organizations concerned with the erosion of
church-state separation in Pennsylvania. He and several others were the successful plaintiffs in
Moeller v. Bradford County, Pennsylvania a federal First Amendment case.
He has been engaged in organizational development and board governance for
corporations, non-profits, and community organizations at the local, regional, and state levels
since 1967. He was president of Big Brother/Big Sister of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and
Moeller Associates, a management consulting firm. He served on the Boards of Kendal at Ithaca,
a continuing care retirement community; Noville Inc., an international corporation, and numerous
other community organizations such as the Community Foundation of The Twin Tiers (of NY &
PA), the Bradford County Taskforce to End Corporal Punishment in Public Schools; the
Bradford County Alliance for Democracy, and the Barclay Friends School. He was the executive
director of county and regional planning commissions in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the late
1960s and 1970s.
End Notes:
1.“An American army under the command of William Hull invaded Canada on July 12, with his
forces chiefly composed of untrained and ill-disciplined militiamen.”
Source: Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812#Invasions_of_Upper_and_Lower_Canada.2C_1812
2. In addition to the major wars such as War of 1812, Civil War, WW I & II, Korea,
Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, Iraq (1 & 2) and Afghanistan, the United States government has
authorized well over 250 military international operations. In addition, 134 domestic military
operations within the United States, big and small, have been authorized since 1792, after the
Second Amendment was ratified. These include 81 campaigns against American Indians, 15
dealing with slave rebellions, 9 “range wars,” 8 domestic paramilitary guerrilla groups, 6 labor
strikes, 7 armed efforts at secession from the U.S., 4 urban riots such as Watts, 2 actions against
the Latter Day Saints, and 2 against Texan rebellions. See “Timeline of United States military
operations,” Wikipedia (printed pages: 2- 29)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_
operations#1810.E2.80.931819
3. History: Interchangeable Part: http://www.history.com/topics/interchangeable-parts
30
4. “Currently, the United States has military personnel deployed in about 150 Countries... This
covers 75% of The World's Nations.” Source: US Deployment Facts-How Many US Troops are
Overseas: http://www.vetfriends.com/US-deployments-overseas/
5. (a) GUNFAQ “There’s no perfect estimate of firearms in the United States because creating a
national registry of firearms is prohibited by federal law,” noted Alex Katz, a spokesman for
Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “But academics and interest groups across the political spectrum
broadly agree on the 300 million figure.”
- “The number of privately owned guns in the United States is at an all-time high, upwards of
300 million, and now rises by about 10 million per year,” said the NRA’s Institute for
Legislative Action in a firearms safety fact sheet released Jan. 17, 2013.”
Source: http://www.gunfaq.org/2013/03/how-many-guns-in-the-united-states/
(b) Wikipedia: 281 million guns at 89%* of an estimated population of 316 million in 2013 by
the United States Census Buearu.
* Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country
7. Robert Control, “Presser v. Illinois (1885), ” in Kermit L. Hall, The Oxford Companion to the
Supreme Court of the United States, Second Edition, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press,
2005) p. 773.
8. Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 159
9. Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 159.
10. Frankline Zimring, “Firearms and Federal Law: The Gun Control Act of 1968,” Journal of
Legal Studies, 4 (1975): 133., pp. 1 - 63. Frankline Zimring, Professor of Law and Co-Director
of the Center for Studies in Criminal Law, University of Chicago.
http://www.saf.org/lawreviews/zimring68.htm
11. Ibid:Zimring, p. 30
12. Ibid: Zimring,
The following very incomplete summary is based on Zimring’s thorough study of the gun
control efforts by Congress published in 1975. Between 1880 and the end of WWI there were
some failed Congressional efforts to ban interstate commerce in handguns. By 1924, there were
more than a dozen federal firearms control bills before Congress which were not adopted. In
1927, Congress prohibited using the United States mail to transport ‘concealable firearms’ to
stop “mail order murder.” Numerous ideas to constrain gun availability were proposed, but not
enacted during the 1920's, e.g. the Uniform Firearms Act, 1927, which would have required a 48
hour waiting period for handgun deals before sale. The National Firearms Act of 1934 included
numerous provisions for dealing with a “machine-gun-toting interstate gangster” like John
31
Dillinger.
In the 1950s, foreign made guns were flooding the United States. As a result, proposals
to both restrict trade and set standards for the quality of imported guns were discussed. In 1968,
Congress enacted Title IV of the Omibus Crime Control Act. This Act was the product of
numerous compromises that weakened the Act, but it included “mandatory prison sentences for
violent crimes committed with guns.”
13. Ibid: Zimring, p.51.
14. “List of Western films,” Wikepedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Western_films
15. “100 Best Cowboy Movies,” Wikipedia: http://www.imdb.com/list/k-gnJV0oHFg/
16. There are at least 27 gun magazines sold promoting the latest technology for killing. I briefly
reviewed eight of these magazines* collected at random from a newsstand. Only
two advertized storage equipment to keep guns safe. Most feature police and military using guns.
The threat of home invasion by bad guys and women at risk in those situations is a theme.
Several pictured men’s and women’s underwear designed to conceal pistols. Guns for hunting,
competition shooting, and collecting as a hobby were themes in most magazines.
* (Combat Handguns - Issue: Jan. 14, 2014; Home Defender - Issue Winter 2013;
Guns&Weapons - Feb. 2014; Book of The AR-15 - Display until 2/17,2014; Guns - Issue:
Display until 2/13/2014; Gun World - Issue: Jan. 2014; Gun Collector - Dec. 2013; and ShotGun
News - Issue Dec. 9, 2013.)
17. “ATF agents have lost track of dozens of government-issued guns, after stashing them under
the front seats in their cars, in glove compartments or simply leaving them on top of their
vehicles and driving away, according to internal reports from the past five years obtained by the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Agents left their guns behind in bathroom stalls, at a hospital, outside a movie theater
and on a plane, according to the records, obtained Tuesday by the news organization under the
federal Freedom of Information Act.
In December 2009, two 6-year-old boys spotted an agent's loaded ATF Smith & Wesson
.357 on a storm sewer grate in Bettendorf, Iowa. The agent lived nearby and later said he
couldn't find his gun for days but didn't bother reporting it — until it hit the local newspaper.
In Los Angeles in 2011, an agent went out to a bar drinking with other agents and
friends, reportedly consuming four alcoholic beverages. The next morning he woke up and
realized his ATF-issued Glock was gone. It was not found.” More examples are in the report
cited below.
Source: John Diedrich and Raquel Rutledge, “ATF agents lost track of dozens of their own guns,
reports show.” Journal Sentinel, Feb. 25, 2014.
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/atf-agents-lost-track-of-dozens-of-their-own
-guns-reports-show-b99213499z1-247182581.html#ixzz2ueUmeIVl
32
18. In order to make ‘apple to apple’ comparisons of gun ownership and gun related deaths
between the United States and other countries, the countries selected for comparison in the table
have cultures similar to that of the United States; they are industrialized democracies with
roughly similar legal and legislative processes and similar social traditions. For example,
comparing Norway or France to the United States makes far more sense than comparing the
United States to a war-torn Syria, an impoverished, agrarian Bangladesh, or Communist North
Korea.
19. Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew. Firearm availability and homicide rates across 26 high
income countries. Journal of Trauma, 2000; 49:985-88.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/ (12/18/13)
20.Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 198 (United Nation’s data 1998)
21. Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 198 (United Nation’s data 1998)
22. Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 198 (United Nation’s data 1998)
23. “Number of guns per capita by country,” (2007) Wikipedia
24. Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 197 (data source: “Killias Van Kesteren, and Rindishbacker, 2001)
25.Wikipedia; “List of countries by firearm-related death rate: This is a historical list of countries
by firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population in one year.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate
26. Many gun owners have more than one gun. For example, “Mark Russo of Middletown, CT,
had 18 rifles and shotguns when he threatened to shoot his mother.” Michael Lou and Mike
McIntire, “When the Right to Bear Arms Includes the Mentally Ill,” The New York Times, Dec.
22, 2013, p.28.
27. Hemenway, David, “Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of
Michigan Press, 2004), pp. 1-3.
28. “The study, led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher, examines the
National Rifle Association's (NRA) claim that increased gun ownership does not lead to
increased gun violence. It is the largest study conducted to date into the correlation between gun
ownership and firearms violence, and the first to comprehensively examine the issue since the
tragic shooting last December of 20 children and 7 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Newtown, Connecticut...” Contrary to the NRA’s claims, “....The results of the research are
consistent with previous studies that have demonstrated a correlation between higher levels of
33
gun ownership and higher levels of firearm homicide. ...The regression model predicted that each
1 percentage point increase in gun ownership increases a state's firearm homicide rate by 0.9
percent, translating into a 12.9 percent increase in the gun homicide rate for each one standard
deviation increase in gun ownership.”
Source: “A New study from the American Journal of Public Heath shows that U.S. states with
higher estimated rates of gun ownership experience a higher number of firearms-related
homicides.” ScienceDaily, September 12, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912203315.htm
29. Niraj Chokshi, “Study: Repealing Missouri’s background check law associated with a murder
spike,” The Washington Post, February 18, 2014
30. “Mental disorders have been found to be common, with over a third of people in most
countries reporting sufficient criteria to be diagnosed at some point in their life.” Also, the severe
mentally ill are 6 to 23 times more likely to be the victim of crimes than the assailant. Source:
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2001 that about 450 million people
worldwide suffer from some form of mental disorder or brain condition, and that one in four
people meet criteria at some point in their life.
Source: “Prevalence of mental disorders,” Wikimedia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1389236/
31. “More than one quarter of persons with SMI [severe mental illness] had been victims of a
violent crime in the past year, a rate more than 11 times higher than the general population rates
even after controlling for demographic differences between the 2 samples (P<.001). The annual
incidence of violent crime in the SMI sample (168.2 incidents per 1000 persons) is more than 4
times higher than the general population rates (39.9 incidents per 1000 persons) (P<.001).
Depending on the type of violent crime (rape/sexual assault, robbery, assault, and their
subcategories), prevalence was 6 to 23 times greater among persons with SMI than among the
general population.”
Source: Linda A. Teplin, PhD, Gary M. McClelland, PhD, Karen M. Abram, PhD, and Dana A.
Weiner, PhD, “Crime Victimization in Adults With Severe Mental Illness
Comparison With the National Crime Victimization Survey”
NIH Public Access Authors Manuscript
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1389236/
32. Paul S. Appelbaum, M.D.; Jeffrey W. Swanson, Ph.D., “Law & psychiatry: Gun laws and
mental illness: how sensible are the current restrictions?” Psychiatry Services, July 2010.
http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/solr/searchresults.aspx?q=%22Gun%20laws%20and%20mental%2
0illness%22&fd_JournalID=18&f_JournalDisplayName=Psychiatric%20Services&SearchSource
Type=3
33. David Hemenway, “Risks and Benefits of a Gun in the Home,” American Journal of Lifestyle
Medicine, 2011. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/753058
34
34. Editorial | “The Gun Challenge: Dangerous Gun Myths,” Sunday Review, The New York
Times, Feb. 2, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/dangerous-gun-myths.html?_r=0
35.“Girl, 4, accidentally shoots, kill cousin,” Boston Globe, p. A2, Jan. 18, 2014.
36. David Abel, “9 year old killed by brother, 14, playing with gun,” The Boston Globe, 2/8/14,
p. A1
37. David Hemenway, “Risks and Benefits of a Gun in the Home,” American Journal of Lifestyle
Medicine, 2011. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/753058
38. For an unnerving video of children’s reactions to a gun when no parents are around. Either
click
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/videos/video/quot-young-guns-quot-abc-news-report-infuriat
es-the-nra
or search for: “Young Guns: ABC News Report Infuriates the NRA”
39. Future Without Guns:
http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/userfiles/Gun%20Fact%20Sheet_FINAL.pdf
40. Cheryl W. Thompson, “Police officers killed by guns,” Washington Post, Nov. 2010.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/guns/officers-killed-by-guns/
(December 16, 2013)
41. “Using the most recent CDC [Centers for Disease Control] estimates for yearly deaths by
guns in the United States, it is likely that as of today, 1/22/2014, roughly 37,269 people have died
from guns in the U.S. since the Newtown shootings. Compare that number to the number of
deaths reported in the news in our interactive below, and you can see how undertold the story of
gun violence in America actually is.”
Source: Chris Kirk and Dan Kois,“How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since
Newtown?” Slate, Jan. 22, 2014.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_america
n_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html
42. “Gun Violence Statistics,” Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence,
http://smartgunlaws.org/category/gun-studies-statistics/gun-violence-statistics/ (12/20/13)
43. “Mass killings occur in USA once every two weeks,” USA Today, Dec. 2, 2013.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/18/mass-killings-common/1778303/
44. Maria Cramer, “Rate of fatal Shootings sparks alarm in city,” The Boston Globe, 1/28/14, p.
A1 & A8.
35
45. Trace The Guns: The Link Between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking
A Report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, September 2010, pp 1 and 2.
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/trace_the_guns_report.pdf
46. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
http://www.atf.gov/publications/firearms/121611-firearms-commerce-2011.pdf 9
47. “Guns in America, a Statistical Look,” Nation, ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/08/guns-in-america-a-statistical-look/
48. “United States — Gun Facts, Figures and the Law,” Gun Numbers, GunPolicy.org
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states
49. (a)The total number of hunting licenses sold by the 50 states increased by 836,352 licenses
between 1958 and 2013, a mere 0.05%, from 14,138,182 to 14,974,534 . (b)Meanwhile during
those 55 years the population grew by 44%, from 174.8 million to 316 million according to the
estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau. Hence, a lower and lower percent of our growing
population are hunters. Only about 4.9% of our current population are licensed hunters. The per
cent of hunters is slightly higher (6.4%) if calculated on the 76.5% of the 2012 population that is
over 18 years. However, many states sell hunting licenses to those younger than 18 years, and
some sell junior hunting licenses to those quite young. In any case, the percent differences don’t
make a material difference to the arguments in this paper.
(a) Hunting License data for 1958 and 2013 by state: Wildlife & Sport Fish Restoration Program
Home | United States Fish and Wildlife, Department of the Interior:
http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/LicenseInfo/Hunting.htm
http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/LicenseInfo/HuntingLicCertHistory.pdf
Also, state’s hunting licenses are issued annually according to my Google survey of 10 states’
hunting license time limitations in the west, middle, east, north and south of our country (CA,
WA, Il, OH, PA. MD, ME, Fl, MI, AK, and FL).
(b) Wikipedia’s United States Census Bureau data on populations: 1958 population was
174,881,904. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_US_population_in_1958?#slide=2 )l
50. Of the 300 million guns, only about 34.4 million guns, 11.5%, are used for target shooting
according to “Sport Shooting Participation in the United States in 2009,” conducted for the
National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) by Responsive Management, 2010, Harrisonburg,
VA 22801, pp. 10 & 11. The NSSF is the gun manufacturer’s association.
http://nssf.org/PDF/research/NSSF-Shooting-Participation-2010-Report.pdf
51. Hemenway, David, Private Guns, Public Health (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan
Press, 2004), p. 197 (data source: “Killias Van Kesteren, and Rindishbacker, 2001)
52. “State & County QuickFacts,” USCensus Bureau, Department of Commerce
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
36
53. “A New study from the American Journal of Public Health shows that U.S. states with higher
estimated rates of gun ownership experience a higher number of firearms-related homicides.”
ScienceDaily, September 12, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912203315.htm
54. Michael Lou and Mike McIntire, “When the Right to Bear Arms Includes the Mentally Ill,”
The New York Times, Dec. 22, 2013, p.28.
55. National Shooting Sports Foundation:
http://www.nssf.org/members/whyjoin.cfm
56. Tim Dickinson, “The NRA vs. America: How the country’s biggest gun-rights group thwarts
regulation and helps put military-grade weapons in the hands of killers,” Politics, Rolling Stone ,
Jan. 31, 2013 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-nra-vs-america-20130131
57. The NRA successfully weakened the 1986 federal gun law: “The episode was testimony to
the power of the National Rifle Association, one of the best organized and most feared lobbies in
Washington. Dismantling the Gun Control Act of 1968 has long been a top priority. In
accomplishing most of its objectives, the N.R.A. achieved more than a particular legislative
victory. It defined the framework for the debate. Since 1938, the Gallup Poll has shown that a
majority of Americans favor handgun control. Yet during the two days of debate last week, no
Congressman spoke up for tightening the 1968 law.\” .... The N.R.A. dedicated $1.6 million of its
$5 million annual legislative budget to [weaken] the bill; the police coalition spent $15,000 [to
stop the bill from being weakened].”
Source: Linda Greenhouse, “Assembled by the hundreds on Capitol Hill, officers representing 13
national organizations tried to persuade Congress not to gut Federal gun control.” The New
York Times, April 13, 1986.
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/13/weekinreview/the-nra-s-lobbying-is-as-effective-as-ever.ht
ml
58. NRA’s advice to members: “It should also be remembered that you have constitutional
protections both against unreasonable searches and seizures and against compelled
self-incrimination. Although the authorities may search anywhere within your reach without a
search warrant after a valid stop, they may not open and search closed luggage without probable
cause to believe evidence of a crime will be found, particularly when it is in a locked storage area
or trunk of a vehicle, unless you consent. You have a right not to consent. Furthermore, although
you may be required to produce a driver's license, vehicle registration, and, perhaps, proof of
automobile insurance, you have a right to remain silent.” (emphasis added)
“Guide To The Interstate Transportation Of Firearms,” NRA/ILA Institute of Legislative Action,
Dec, 20, 2012.
http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/articles/2010/guide-to-the-interstate-transportation.aspx
and http://www.cjrpc.com/interstate_1.htm
37
59. The NRA has received “between $19.8 and $52.6 million in contributions from corporate
interests” according to a report by the Violence Policy Center in 2005.
Source: “Wayne LaPierre (Executive Vice President and CEO),” page 9.
http://www.meetthenra.org/nra-member/wayneLaPierre
60. A President must be at least 35 years old according to Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the
Constitution.
61. Because the Preamble lists both the “general welfare’ and ‘defense’ as aspirations,
presumably the founders did not intend the term ‘general welfare’ to include ‘defense.’ However,
there is a good deal of uncertainty of how the term ‘general welfare’ was used in 1776.
“In one letter, Thomas Jefferson asserted that “[T]he laying of taxes is the power, and
the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They [Congress] are not
to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the
welfare of the Union. In like manner, they are not to do anything they please to provide for the
general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose.”
In 1824 Chief Justice John Marshall described in obiter dictum a further limit on the
General Welfare Clause in Gibbons v. Ogden: "Congress is authorized to lay and collect taxes,
&c. to pay the debts and provide for the common defence [by 1824 the United States had a navy
and an army] and general welfare of the United States. ... Congress is not empowered to tax for
those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States."
For more on how the term ‘general welfare’ was interpreted see:
“General Welfare clause,” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Welfare_clause
62. “Gun control supporters can point to broad and consistent public support for expanded
background checks. Fully 81% favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to
background checks, little changed since January (85%). The proposal draws nearly equal levels
of support from Democrats (83%), Republicans (81%) and Independents (80%).”
Source: Pew Research, “Broad Support for Renewed Background Checks Bill, Skepticism about
Its Chances,” May 2013
http://www.people-press.org/2013/05/23/broad-support-for-renewed-background-checks-bill-ske
pticism-about-its-chances/ (December 20, 2013)
63. “The nominee [for Surgeon General], Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, an internist and political ally of
the president’s, has come under criticism from the National Rifle Association, and opposition
from the gun-rights group has grown so intense that it has placed Democrats from conservative
states, several of whom are up for re-election this year, in a difficult spot. ... The N.R.A. has said
it will “score” any confirmation vote — meaning that voting yes would negatively affect a
senator’s annual rating from the group. This is not an idle concern for senators like Mr. Begich,
Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and John Walsh of Montana — all
Democrats who represent states where opposition from the N.R.A. could mean the difference in a
close race.”
Jeremy W. Peters, “Senate Balks At Obama Pick For Health Post,” The New York Times, March
38
15, 2014, p. 1
64. (a) Gun Control & Political Suicide, April 23, 2013 Episode #18090.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-23-2013/gun-control---political-suicide
(b) “Australia & Gun Control's Aftermath,” April 25, 2013
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-25-2013/australia---gun-control-s-aftermath
65. Jason Easley “NRA Fueled Loonies Are Now Threatening Democratic Members of
Congress,” Real Politics USA, Janurary 19, 2013.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/01/19/nra-fueled-loonies-threatening-democratic-members-co
ngress.html
66. Walter Hickey, “How The NRA Killed Federal Funding For Gun Violence Research,”
Politics, Insider, Jan. 16, 2013.
http://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-nra-kills-gun-violence-research-2013-1
67. Source: NRA Joint Statement on Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Mind of Tefft,
By Michael Tefft • on July 17, 2009
http://www.themindoftefft.com/blog/2009/07/17/nra-joint-statement-on-supreme-court-nomineesonia-sotomayor/
68. Source: “Wayne LaPierre (Executive Vice President and CEO),” page 11.
http://www.meetthenra.org/nra-member/wayneLaPierre
69. The interpretation of this data is not as simple as it appears. For a detailed analysis of the
complexities involved in evaluating the effects of gun control regulations and buy back programs
on the incidents of suicide and homicides see Andrew Leigh and Christine Neill, “Do Gun
Buybacks Save Lives? Evidence from Panel Data,” American Law and Economics Review,
August 20, 2010, pp. 509 - 557.
http://andrewleigh.org/pdf/GunBuyback_Panel.pdf
70. Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 558 United States 310 (2010)
71. The argument made in Buckley v. Valeo - 424 U.S. 1 (1976) is “that restrictions on both
giving and spending money are tantamount to restrictions on speech, thus can only be sustained
in the service of important or compelling government interests” in short... “money facilitates
speech; money incentivizes speech; and giving and spending money are themselves expressive
activities. Therefore, restrictions on giving and spending constitutes restrictions on speech.”
Source: Deborah Hellmand, “Money Talks But It Isn’t Speech,” Minnesota Law Review,
February 2011.
72. The legal background to the Citizens United decision is complicated. For a brief overview of
the case see Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission
or google the case and read Justice Kennedy’s opinion and Steven’s 90 page dissent.
39
73. This argument is strongly rejected by many lawyers: Deborah Hellmand, “Money Talks But It
Isn’t Speech,” Minnesota Law Review, February 2011; Jeffrey Clements, Corporations are not
People: When they have more rights than you do and what you can do about it. (San Francisco,
CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2012); Lawrence Lessig, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts
Congress - and a Plan to Stop it (New York, NY: Hachette Book Group, 2011)
74. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 United States 570 (2008)
75. For an in depth analysis of the permissions, limitations, and ambiguities of the Heller
decision, see Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence at
http://smartgunlaws.org/category/second-amendment/
76. Wikipedia: “Gun violence in the United States,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States [See note 146]
77. Wikipedia: “Gun violence in the United States by state,” based on FBI data.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States_by_state
78. McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 3025 (2010)
79. “Policy Statement: Firearm-Related Injuries Affecting the Pediatric Population.” Pediatrics,
American Academy of Pediatrics, Vol.130 No.5 November 1, 2012
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/130/5/e1416.full
80. Richard Posner continued, “.... It is doubtful that the amendment could even be thought to
require that members of state militias be allowed to keep weapons in their homes, since that
would reduce the militias' effectiveness. Suppose part of a state's militia was engaged in combat
and needed additional weaponry. Would the militia's commander have to collect the weapons
from the homes of militiamen who had not been mobilized, as opposed to obtaining them from a
storage facility? Since the purpose of the Second Amendment, judging from its language and
background, was to assure the effectiveness of state militias, an interpretation that undermined
their effectiveness by preventing states from making efficient arrangements for the storage and
distribution of military weapons would not make sense.”
“District of Columbia v. Heller,” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller#Dissenting_opinions
81. Editorial, “Repeal the 2nd Amendment,” Chicago Tribune, June 27, 2008
82. “Gun Debate Highlights Voter Distrust of Government.” Rasmussen Reports, 1/18/2013,
A Commentary By Scott Rasmussen
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_r
asmussen/gun_debate_highlights_voter_distrust_of_government
83.“LaPierre’s statement about ATF agents involved in the Ruby Ridge and Waco assaults being
“jackbooted thugs” led former President George H.W. Bush, a lifetime member of the NRA, to
40
resign his membership in 1995.”a The NRA News reported on June 12, 2013, that “Game show
legend Chuck Woolery discusses the state of gun control in America and what we can do to
protect the Second Amendment from an overreaching government. "It's time that America
realizes that an attack on any constitutional right is an attack on all of them."b Woolery and the
NRA did not explain how amending the Constitution 27 times since 1778 with additions, repeals,
and reinterpretations has been “an attack on all” civil rights.
a. Biography: “Wayne LaPierre, A Look at the Life and Career of the NRA's Executive
Director,” http://civilliberty.about.com/od/guncontrol/a/Wayne-LaPierre-Biography.htm
b. http://www.nranews.com/resources/video/chuck-woolery-on-saving-thesecond-amendment/list/in-the-news
84. In 1794 in Western Pennsylvania, protesters used violence to prevent federal officials from
collecting the whiskey excise tax. Five hundred armed men attacked the fortified home of the tax
inspector. In response, George Washington let 13,000 militia from various states to suppress the
insurgency.
85. “In August of 1992 Americans tensely watched as events began to unfold on a remote ridge
in Northern Idaho, involving a white separatist family and the FBI. Eleven days after it had
begun, a 14-year-old boy, a 42-year-old mother, a federal marshal, and one yellow Labrador
retriever had all been shot dead.”
Source: David Lohr, “Randy Weaver: Siege at Ruby Ridge,” CrimeLibrary
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/randy_weaver/1.html
86. “Waco siege,” Wikepedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege
87. “...nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the
possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms
in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and
qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” - Justice Scalia in the Heller Decision
88. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, July 24, 2012
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/media-center/pr006-12.shtml
89. David Sherfinski, “ NRA says no way its members back limits on guns,” The Washington
Times, Feb. 18, 2013
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/18/nra-says-no-way-members-back-limits/?pag
e=all
90. David Sherfinski, “ NRA says no way its members back limits on guns,” The Washington
Times, Feb. 18, 2013
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/18/nra-says-no-way-members-back-limits/?pag
e=all
41
91. “Gun retailers strongly support expanded criteria for denying gun purchases, UC Davis
survey finds,” News from UC Davis Health System, UCDavis Health System, Sept. 23, 2013
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/newsroom/8217
92. Testimony of Wayne Lapierre, Executive Vice President, National Rifle Association of
America, before the U.S. Senate Committee on the judiciary hearing on “What should America
do about gun violence?” 216 Hart Senate Office Building, January 30, 2013
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/1-30-13LaPierreTestimony.pdf
93. Calls to repeal the Second Amendment:
-“The Second Amendment impedes the power of the government to regulate the sale or
possession of firearms.” Editorial, “Repeal the Second Amendment,” America, the
National Catholic Review, February 25, 2013.
http://americamagazine.org/issue/repeal-second-amendment
- Mary Margaret (Meg) Penrose, law professor,Texas A&M University School of Law
called for the “..repeal and replacement of the Second Amendment...” Source: Eric
Owens, “CALL TO ARMS: Texas A&M law prof says it’s time to repeal Second
Amendment,” The Daily Caller, November 11, 2013.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/16/call-to-arms-texas-am-law-prof-says-its-time-to-repealsecond-amendment/#ixzz2uuSdhNWW
- “Does the threat of tyranny, a legitimate 18th-century concern but an increasingly
remote, fanciful possibility in the contemporary United States, trump the grisly, daily
reality of gun violence?” Timothy Villareal,“More Solid Arguments for Second
Amendment Repeal,” Tikkundaily, November 20th, 2013
http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2013/11/20/more-solid-arguments-for-second-amend
ment-repeal/
- “It is clear that the Second Amendment as written is an anachronism in today's world,
a part of our constitutional rights that has outlived itself.” Myles Spicer, “It is time to
repeal the Second Amendment,” MINNPOST,
01/08/13
- “... unfortunately, so long as this “Second Amendment” mantra can be thrown into the
gears to stop all reasonable conversation, a real discussion will never take place.” Kurt
Eichenwald, “Kurt Eichenwald: Let’s Repeal the Second Amendment,” Vanity Fair,
January 3, 2013
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/01/kurt-eichenwald-lets-repeal-second-ame
ndment
- Editorial, “Repeal the 2nd Amendment,” Chicago Tribune, June 27, 2008
- Crimson staff writer, “Repeal Second Amendment: Constitution should reflect that
42
gun ownership is a privilege, not a right,” Harvard Crimson, May 15, 2002
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/5/15/repeal-second-amendment-when-two-third
s-of/
94. “The General Social Survey (GSS) conducts basic scientific research on the structure and
development of American society with a data-collection program designed to both monitor
societal change within the United States and to compare the United States to other nations.”
Source: NORC, A Social Science Research Center, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, Illinois
60637 ( http://www3.norc.org/GSS+Website/default.htm )
95. Paul Waldman, “The Myth of the NRA Dominance: Part II,” The American Prospect,
February 9, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/09/421893/the-myth-of-nra-dominance-part-i-the-nras-in
effective-spending/
96. Glenn Kessler, “Does the NRA really have more than 4.5 million members?” The Fact
Checker,02/08/2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/does-the-nra-really-have-more-than-45million-members/2013/02/07/06047c10-7164-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_blog.html
97. Robert Drapper, “Inside The Power of the N.R.A.” The New York Times Magazine, Dec. 15,
2013. p. 53
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/magazine/inside-the-power-of-the-nra.html?_r=0
98. “There are a few critical things to understand about NRA endorsements. First, they are
overwhelmingly given to Republicans, as one might expect. But just as important, they are
overwhelmingly given to incumbents. Over the last four elections, 86 percent of NRA House
endorsements went to incumbents. In fact, not a single Democratic challenger won the group’s
endorsement (though some certainly tried). And if you’re a Republican incumbent, the
endorsement is almost guaranteed: 90 percent of GOP House incumbents got the endorsement in
2004, 91 percent in 2006, 96 percent in 2008, and 97 percent in 2010.”
Source: Paul Waldman, “The Myth of the NRA Dominance: II,“ The American Prospect,
February 9, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/09/421893/the-myth-of-nra-dominance-part-i-the-nras-in
effective-spending/
99. “History has left the gun-control movement with a more fractured nature. The biggest group
is the Brady Campaign, which emerged from a group called Handgun Control Inc., which was
founded in the nineteen-seventies. In 2000, it was renamed in honor of James Brady, the former
press secretary in the Reagan Administration who was partially paralyzed after being shot in a
1981 assassination attempt on the President. According to Gross, the Brady Campaign now has
about a million members and supporters. Then there is the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence,
which brings together almost fifty medical, religious, and community groups. There is also
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an increasingly aggressive and influential organization that
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Michael Bloomberg set up in 2006, and a number of smaller groups, such as the National Gun
Victims Action Council and Stop Handgun Violence. After the Newtown massacre, a new
organization appeared on the scene, Moms Demand Action, which shouldn’t be confused with
Million Mom March. (That’s part of the Brady Campaign.)”
Source: David Espo,“Liberal Groups Mobilizing Against NRA Disclosure Concession,” Politics,
Huff Post 06/15/10
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/16/liberal-groups-mobilizing_n_614013.html
100. It’s a challenge Americans have successfully met numerous times over 227 years.
Sometimes we have failed repeatedly before succeeding. For example, it took many efforts and
72 years for women to win the right to vote.(a) We still have the unfinished business of racism to
resolve. There was the run up to the Civil War, the Civil War, subsequent defacto slavery in
many places, then decades of Jim Crow laws have been replaced today by a system of laws that
never mention race but still have a discriminatory racial impact.(b) We still have a lot of work to
do.
(a) It took 72 years from 1848, when the first women's rights convention was held in Seneca
Falls, NY, until 1920 when Congress ratified the 19th Amendment granting women the right to
vote.
(b) Alexander, Michelle, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
(New York, NY: The New Press, 2012
101. “... the Second Amendment is perhaps one of the worst drafted of all its [the Constitution]
provisions. What is special about the Second Amendment is the inclusion of an opening clause a preamble, if you will - that seems to set out its purpose. No similar clause is part of any other
Amendment, though that does not, of course, mean that we do not ascribe purpose.” (Emphasis
added)
Sanford Levinson, “The Embarrassing Second Amendment,” Yale Law Journal, Volume 99, pp.
637-659 [1989-1990]
102. “List of countries by firearm-related death rate,” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate
103. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, July 24, 2012
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/media-center/pr006-12.shtml
104. “A stand-your-ground law is a type of self-defense law that gives individuals the right to use
deadly force to defend themselves without any requirement to evade or retreat from a dangerous
situation. It is law in certain jurisdictions within the United States. The basis may lie in either
statutory law or common law precedents or both. One key distinction is whether the concept
applies only to defending lawfully occupied locations. Under these legal concepts, a person is
justified in using deadly force in certain situations, and the stand-your-ground law would be a
defense or immunity to criminal charges and civil suit. The difference between immunity and a
defense is that an immunity bars suit, charges, detention, and arrest. A defense, including an
affirmative defense, is a fact or set of facts that may avoid or mitigate the adverse legal
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consequences of the defendant's otherwise unlawful conduct.”
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law
105. All democracies are works in progress. Italy changes its government spring and fall, Greece
hasn’t figured out what proper purpose taxes serve, England and Scotland are discussing a
marital divorce, and France is struggling to preserve the purity of it precious French language
without resorting to cryopreservation. Meanwhile, the United States is in the grip of
congressional gridlock and hasn’t figured out how to manage 300 million guns in private hands
without 30,000 citizens being shot dead every year.
106. For those interested in the history of violence, Pinker’s book is a must read. Steven Pinker,
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined (New York, NY: Viking, Penguin
Group, 2011) 802 pages.
107.Eighteen states have abolished capital punishment, 8 of these in the 42 years between 1957
and 1999. In one third that time, six states abolished capital punishment since 2000.
Death Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty
108. In 1876, New Jersey was the first state to end corporal punishment of children in public
school. Massachusetts became the second in 1971. By 1987 nine states joined the list. Today 31
states have ended corporal punishment of children in public schools.
109. “[i]t cannot be presumed that any clause in the constitution is intended to be without
effect.” Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 174 (1803),” as quoted by Supreme Court Justice
Stevens on page 8 in his dissent to Heller.
110. Cultural understandings fill the gaps between laws, substitute for laws not enforced, are the
‘unwritten law’ when no policy exists, and demonstrates in action who has the power and how it
is exercised regardless of what the policies may proclaim. On a personal level, most of us
understand culture to mean the accepted wisdom about what works in life and what doesn’t; how
success is measured, status is attained, and equality is measured; where the line is drawn between
your rights and mine; which rights will be defended by the government, and which are merely
aspirations of a society.
111. Trying to win over gun advocates to see the harmful effects that guns have had and will
continue to have unless Second Amendment is repealed will be very difficult as Tavris and
Aronson point out. “Many gun advocates have invested a great deal of time and effort in
defending their philosophy of gun ownership. “... all of us share the impluse to justify ourselves
and avoid taking responsibility for any actions that turn out to be harmful, immoral, or stupid. ...
Most people, when directly confronted with proof that they are wrong, do not change their point
of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously.”
Source: Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, Mistakes Were Made (But not by me) (New York,NY:
A Harvest Book, 2007) p. 2.
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112. “Article V of the Constitution prescribes how an amendment can become a part of the
Constitution. While there are two ways, only one has ever been used. All 27 Amendments have
been ratified after two-thirds of the House and Senate approve of the proposal and send it to the
states for a vote. Then, three-fourths of the states [38 state] must affirm the proposed
Amendment.
The other method of passing an amendment requires a Constitutional Convention to be
called by two-thirds of the legislatures of the States. That Convention can propose as many
amendments as it deems necessary. Those amendments must be approved by three-fourths of the
states.”
Source: “The Constitution,” LexisNexis
http://www.lexisnexis.com/constitution/amendments_howitsdone.asp
113. Joe Nocera’s Blog: “Weekend Gun Report: Presidents Day Edition,”Opinion Pages, New
York Times, February 18, 2014, 9:00 am (compiled by Jennifer Mascia)
http://nocera.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/weekend-gun-report-presidents-day-edition/?_php=t
rue&_type=blogs&_r=0
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