Reaction to Senate Dem Press Confetence

Dan Gross, full remarks

WASHINGTON – Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, delivered the following remarks during a press call this afternoon, reacting to the Senate Democrats' press conference on gun violence.

"Senate Democrats said all the right things at their press conference this morning. Now we want to see those words followed by action. It can’t stop by simply launching a campaign to build public support and, as they put it, 'ramp up pressure on Congress.' They ARE Congress!

"First, let’s talk about the public support they are aiming to build – they already have it! A Quinnipiac poll conducted before the Oregon shooting found that 93 percent of Americans support background checks on all gun sales – only six percent opposed! In fact, 90 percent of GOP voters asked in this poll said they support expanding Brady background checks. So how much more public support do they think they are going to get?

"Second, this notion about about 'ramping up pressure on Congress' is an interesting one. The Senate is part of the Congress. And if a senator wants to force a vote on a bill they can find a way.

"We need a bill NOW and a vote NOW. Although I realize that they won't be back in until Monday, October 19.

"Last night Politico reported that Senate Democrats said 'the package is intended to show that Democrats are serious about reducing gun deaths but can’t make headway in a Republican Senate.'

"They said a lot of good things at the press conference today – we want to make sure they act on them because the American people have had enough.

"With 89 people dying every day from guns we don’t need more press conferences and impassioned floor speeches complaining that “we really want a vote but the Republicans won’t let us.” We need a bill and a vote.

"The Senators at the press conference today were right. The Republican leadership won’t agree to a vote on sensible gun reforms, so they need to force it – especially in the Senate where there are rules and procedures in place to protect the minority in exactly this type of situation. Things like amendments and filibusters.

"Is it hard? Yes. No one knows that more than former Senator Tom Coburn who earned the nickname 'Dr. No' because he wasn’t afraid to gum up the works to fight for what he believed in – even though he would certainly be on the wrong side of this issue.

"Our elected leaders need to be bold. We appreciate their vocal support on this issue, now they need to take action that goes beyond talking points, proposals and political posturing. The American people have had enough. It’s time for our elected leaders to rise to the occasion finish the job." 

Annual CA Brady Conference

Our Orange County Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was pleased to host the 2015 Annual California Brady Chapters Conference this year!

It was great to see leaders from our 27 Chapters from all across California.  We had a terrific program highlighted with an inspiring luncheon keynote speaker LA City Attorney and former Assemblymember Mike Feuer.

Brady Campaign Supports Strong Federal Background Check Bill

Orange County Chapter, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is pleased that we will be supporting this strong federal bill whose provisions would not weaken current federal laws or weaken any state gun laws!  This is a key factor for California as we want to protect and keep our strongest gun laws in the nation.  We know that California needs to have a strong federal law to protect Californians from guns from our neighboring states.  

August 31, 2015  Press Release

Brady Campaign Announces Support for H.R. 3411

Strongest Gun Violence Prevention Bill in Congress

Expands Brady Background Checks, Strengthens National Instant Check System

WASHINGTON – The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence announced its strong support of H.R. 3411, a bill introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., to reduce gun violence. H.R. 3411 would expand Brady background checks to all gun sales and urge states to submit more records of prohibited purchasers to the National Instant Check System (NICS).

“The Brady Campaign’s goal is to cut gun deaths in half by 2025. While there are other good bills that have been introduced in Congress, H.R. 3411 stands out as the strongest,” said Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Of course, proposals alone won't get us anywhere if Congress continues to sit on its hands. Expanding Brady background checks enjoys strong support in Congress and among the American public. If members of Congress listened to the people who elected them instead of the gun lobby and took a vote, we are confident we would win this battle and start saving lives. Any member of Congress who is serious about keeping guns out of dangerous hands should cosponsor this legislation and demand a vote.”

Brady background checks have blocked 2.4 million gun sales to dangerous people including felons, domestic abusers, and fugitives. However, The Brady Law went into effect in 1994 - before gun shows became big business and before the internet took off. Now as many as 40 percent of all gun sales go unchecked, many of which are made at gun shows and online.

Gross continued, “We look forward to working with allies in Congress who are committed to putting an end to gun violence and call on congressional leaders to stop stalling and take a vote so we can Finish the Job the Brady Law started.”

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California leads the way to prevent gun deaths. Here are the stats!

Congratulations to California as our work for common sense gun laws are preventing gun deaths.

Please check out this report by Griffen Dix on the stats!

Click here

VICTORY! COURT DISMISSES CASE AGAINST MICROSTAMPING

BREAKING NEWS!

Amanda Wilcox, CA Legislation and Policy Chair, just reported that a Fresno Court dismissed a case against our “ microstamping” requirement for handguns sold in California!

She noted that many CA Brady chapter members, including our Orange County Brady Chapter, worked hard on our microstamping bill in 2007.  Under the bill,  new models of handguns must have “microstamping” technology,  whereby internal parts of a gun stamp intentional marks onto the bullet casings, which may be the only evidence left at a crime scene.  Law enforcement can use these marks to solve gun crimes and find armed criminals before they do more harm.

Aside from attending our lobby day and press events - and writing many letters – our chapter leaders did a tremendous job getting 65 local police chiefs and sheriffs to endorse the bill.  We were very pleased that many OC Chiefs signed on in support of microstamping.  The CA Brady Chapters were instrumental in getting the bill passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.     

This court decision is a big development as the litigation was keeping us in limbo and hindering efforts and strategies to get microstamping implemented.  

Our Orange County Brady Chapter congratulates Amanda and all our chapters in this major victory!

(If you would like a copy of the Judgment, please email us for a FDF file.)

National Gun Violence Awareness Day is June 2nd

Gun Violence Prevention Awareness Month was created in 2013 as an effort to raise awareness surrounding the issue of needless and senseless gun violence in New York’s communities. The focus of this effort is to lead a bipartisan charge to concentrate annual heightened attention to gun violence and gun safety each June.  New York made history by becoming the first state in the nation to designate an entire month to the issue of gun violence.  

Next month, all GVP groups have teamed up to promote orange as the color of our cause.  The idea was inspired by a group of Chicago teens who asked their classmates to commemorate the life of a slain friend by wearing orange.  They chose the color because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods.  Their friend — Hadiya Pendleton, a 15 year old high school student — marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade and was tragically shot and killed back in Chicago just a week later.  This June 2nd would have been Hadiya’s 18th birthday; First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver the commencement address at what would have been Hadiya’s graduation ceremony on June 9th.  

Learn more here.  

Please consider putting the above orange banner on your Facebook and Tweeter accounts.  Lets show support for common sense gun violence on this special day and month!

IN MEMORY OF ISLA VISTA

IN MEMORY OF ISLA VISTA

May 23rd will mark one year since the tragic shooting in Isla Vista and UC Santa Barbara.  This is a great time to write letters to the editor in memory of the victims and survivors, but also to get the word out that we responded to the shooting by working together to pass a law that will prevent further tragedies.  We need letters to the editor so that people know that this law will go into effect January 1, 2016.  Please let me know when you send one in.  You can go to any newspaper website and submit online.

Charlie Blek wrote an Op-Ed in the Orange County Register.  Please read it here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/violence-662244-law-gun.html  or see below.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WRITING A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, PLEASE SEE BELOW AND ATTACHED FOR TALKING POINTS.

ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF ISLA VISTA

Talking Points for Op-eds/Letters to the Editor

• One year ago, California lost six innocent lives – and 14 others were wounded – when a man loved ones knew was dangerous, opened fire on the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Elliot Rodger should never have had a gun. He had previously been identified by family members to authorities as potentially dangerous.
• But rather than suffer in silence, California took action. Under the leadership of Assembly Members Nancy Skinner and Das Williams and State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, and with the support of Gov. Jerry Brown, California crafted and passed the first state law establishing a gun violence restraining order.
• Californians now have a critical tool giving family members and law enforcement a way to protect loved ones – and the community – from individuals in crisis, irrespective of a mental illness diagnosis. Family members and law enforcement now have the capacity to speak up so that guns will be temporarily removed from loved ones who are at elevated risk of violence – and those same loved ones won’t be able to purchase guns until the courts deem they are no longer dangerous.
• Survivors/victims of gun violence, legislators, prosecutors, mental health practitioners /consumer groups, public health researchers, law enforcement and community leaders are working together to educate the public on this new mechanism so we can prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.
• California has set a national model in evidence-based policy changes in gun violence prevention legislation.
• Individuals at high risk of committing gun violence should be disqualified, at least temporarily, from purchasing and possessing firearms, and families need tools to ensure the safety of their loved ones and others.
• The GVRO is supported by empirical research from mental and public health experts, that focusing on people with an elevated risk of dangerous behavior, rather than a diagnosis of mental illness, is a better approach to gun violence prevention policy.
• After each mass shooting, questions of mental health are raised in the ensuing policy discussions aimed at preventing future tragedies. However, since the vast majority of people with mental illness will never be violent, looking only at mental health is both too narrow and potentially stigmatizing. We should be focused on keeping guns out of the hands of people who are at an increased risk of dangerous behavior. That includes people in a mental health crises, or who have a history of violence or addiction to drugs and/or alcohol.
• In the last decade, our nation has seen a host of tragic mass shootings, many at the hands of people who, based on their history, you would think it’d be impossible that they could legally buy a gun.
• It is not, however, only mass shootings that can be prevented by implementing policies that look at the risk of dangerousness. Suicides make up the largest proportion of gun deaths – deaths that can be largely prevented by making it harder for individuals known to be a danger to themselves to access firearms.
• Though we now have a law on the books in California, it’s important to think about why we need such a law, right here in our state. 2013 data from the CDC indicate there were more than 3,000 firearm related deaths in California – more than half were suicides

Letters: New tool against shootings like UCSB rampage

May 18, 2015 

Updated 5:00 p.m.

By ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER            

 Sorority members mourn at a public memorial service May 27, 2014, for the victims of a killing spree at UC Santa Barbara.  , DAVID MCNEW, GETTY IMAGES 

All too often when a mass shooting takes place, we lament the tragic losses, but lack the political will to take the steps necessary to prevent such shootings. One year ago, California lost six innocent lives – and 14 others were wounded – when a man whose loved ones knew to be dangerous opened fire near the UC Santa Barbara campus.

Elliot Rodger should never have had a gun.

Fortunately, times are changing in California. Jan. 1, 2016, will be a historic date in California as Assembly Bill 1014 – the “Gun Violence Restraining Order” law – takes effect. Californians will have a critical tool giving family members and law enforcement a way to protect loved ones – and our communities – from individuals in crisis, whether or not there is a mental illness diagnosis. Family members and law enforcement now have redress through our courts so that guns will be temporarily removed from those who are at an elevated risk of violence, who will then be unable to purchase or possess guns until the courts deem them to be no longer dangerous.

It is important to understand that this new law is supported by empirical research from mental and public health experts, which focuses on elevated risk of dangerous behaviors, rather than on mental illness. This focus is a better approach to gun violence prevention policies. After each mass shooting, questions of mental health are raised in the ensuing policy discussions aimed at preventing future tragedies. However, as the vast majority of people with mental illness will never be violent, looking only at mental health is both too narrow and potentially stigmatizing. We should be focused on keeping guns out of the hands of people who are at an increased risk of dangerous behavior. This law focuses on people experiencing a crisis, or who have a history of violence or addiction to drugs and/or alcohol.

Our state judicial council is currently creating guidelines and preparing forms in order to implement this life-saving law. Now it is our task to create awareness within the general public on how to properly utilize the gun violence restraining order. Individuals at high risk of committing gun violence should be disqualified, at least temporarily, from purchasing and possessing firearms, and this law gives families the needed tools and access to our courts to ensure the safety of their loved ones and others.

We can think of no better way to honor those needlessly lost to gun violence one year ago in Isla Vista, than to fully implement this new law next January. Prevention is the key to our success in ending gun violence. Please help spread the word about this life-saving tool to all who work with families in crises and save a life.

Charles L. Blek, J.D.

Laguna Hills

Orange County Chapter president, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Great American Write-In Saturday, March 7th

The Orange County Brady Campaign Chapter will have an exhibit again this year.  

Please read the announcement below and we hope to see you there!

Women For: Orange County

working for a better world presents

30th Annual GREAT AMERICAN WRITE-IN

 Saturday, March 7   9:30 am - 1:30 pm

 Delhi Community Center 

505 E. Central Ave., Santa Ana 92707

(between the 55 Freeway & Main St., just north of Dyer)

"The Pen is Mightier than the Sword!"

This free event is offered to the public every year to provide attendees with the means to influence policy decisions by writing letters to their legislators. It's also a great opportunity for participants - and especially students - to experience first-hand what informed citizen involvement in government is all about.  

Fifty different organizations and advocacy groups will be represented with information regarding some of today’s most vital issues, including education, health care, human and civil rights and the environment. Attendees are invited to visit the various tables and then voice their opinions by writing letters to government and corporate decision-makers in the hopes of bringing about constructive change. Last year, nearly 2,000 pieces of mail were generated! Women For: Orange County will supply the post cards, stationery, postage, refreshments and parking; however, it's a good idea to bring your own return address labels.

PLUS: This year we are honored to present an incredible panel display created by OC Human Relations - "Orange County Civil Rights: A History of an Enduring Struggle for Equality". Don't miss it!                

For more information, contact Felicity Figueroa at felicitynf@aol.com or 949-733-0850.

See you at the Write-In!!
 (..and please bring your favorite young people along!)

Free and open to the public. Men are cordially invited.
Women For: is a volunteer, non-partisan, feminist organization dedicated to advancing Human & Civil Rights, Peace, Social Justice, Education, Health Care and the Environment.
womenforoc@aol.com   http://www.womenfororangecounty.org