Today, victims and families of victims of gun violence gathered with Gallardo at the State Capitol to support Sen. Gallardo and his proposal.
Clockwise from top left: Sen. Steve Gallardo, Gerry Hills, Jennifer Longdon, and Jose and Guadalupe Guzman
The numbers presented by Sen. Gallardo and Hildy Saizow, President of Arizonans for Gun Safety, are frightening (AZ is 10th in number of firearms exported to other states that were later used in crimes, and 13th in rate per 100K population; AZ is 7th in gun-related deaths, and 6th in gun related killings).
However, as frightening as the numbers may be, that fright is dwarfed by the heartbreak of the tragedy of gun violence -
Jennifer Longdon told of how she was paralyzed by random gunfire in 2004, during an incident that also left her fiancee with brain damage.
Jose and Guadalupe Guzman told the story of their son, Guillermo Rodriguez, killed in 2005 during a robbery at a Subway in Phoenix.
Gerry Hills, a Republican and a board member of Arizonans for Gun Safety, whose brother, a Michigan police officer, was killed by someone who obtained guns despite a having documented history of mental illness.
James Hinckley, shot and paralyzed during an argument when he was 17 with another teenager.
Erica Sander, Ms. Wheelchair Arizona, shot multiple times and paralyzed in 2003.
I was going to go with one of Sen. Gallardo's quotes as the title of this post, but when one of the reporters present asked the group how they would respond to critics of their position when those critics say that the threat posed by guns is no greater than the threats that are posed by certain ideas, books or even cults, a better option presented itself.
As gun violence survivor Jennifer Longdon pointed out,
"A cult didn't sever my spine."
Arizona Republic coverage, written by Alia Beard Rau, here.
KPHO (Phoenix Channel 5) coverage, from Elizabeth Erwin, here.
KSAZ (Phoenix Channel 10) coverage here (it's a Fox affiliate, and I hate to link to anything Fox, but it's got video, slanted though the story may be)
Pics from the day -
James Hinkley and Erica Sander
5 comments:
As tragic as these stories are, the question still unanswered is the question of how many people who are legitimate gun buyers -- not those who can skirt laws through buying weapons at gun shows -- how many legitimate gun buyers commit gun crimes?
I also want to know about the race and ethnicity of shooters. Inasmuch as murder victims are almost always the same race as their killers, that aspect is well understood. Of course there are the "innocent bystanders" and then there are ALL the victims in the Tucson mass shooting. All innocent victims.
Despite having some of the toughest gun laws in the country, there are an estimated 2 million illegal guns in NY City.
As I've mentioned, very close to 100% of murders in NY City are committed by blacks and hispanics. Based on my knowledge of crime in NY City and other major urban centers, it seems to me a similar pattern exists in Arizona.
Meanwhile, NY City had its own special moment of mass murder on 9/11, when 2,750 people were murdered at the World Trade Center.
Despite the claims made in the title of your post, everyone who died on 9/11 was the victim of a cult -- the cult of Islam.
cult of slappy--there's that hate and ignorance again. Oh and of course insensitivity.
Great choice for the blog title. And great job highlighting Jennifer's powerful story as well as the others. I hope you continue to follow this issue.
"Federal law makes no distiction between sales occuring at gun shows and other sales; there is no gun show loophole."
Wntemute, Hemenway et. al. (e.g. Joyce mouthpieces)
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/vprp/publications/gunshowsAJPH.pdf
A cult didn't separate her spine, but guns didn't kill the victims at Jonestown either.
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