Tag: Common-sense Gun Laws

Learn About Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism · Uncategorized

Learn About Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership

otycd

This OTYCD post originally went live in February 2018.

 

Learn about Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership (GOFRO), an Oregon-based gun safety group.

 

Paul Kemp, a gun owner who grew up with guns, launched the group after losing a brother-in-law in a December 2012 attack on a Portland, Oregon mall. The 22-year-old shooter used a semi-automatic rifle to kill two people and injure a third.

 

GOFRO supports common-sense gun laws. It asks its members to take the following pledge:

 

“I will practice safe storage.  I will keep my firearms and ammunition locked and separate.

I will support universal background check requirements.  I will not sell or buy a firearm without a background check.

I will support the rights of my fellow citizens to be free from intimidation by the open display of firearms in public.  I will avoid the unnecessary carrying of firearms in public, particularly in places where children are present.

I will always make gun safety a priority in my home, in the field or on the range.”

 

 

 

 

Visit the GOFRO website:

http://www.responsibleownership.org

 

 

Take the GOFRO pledge:

http://www.responsibleownership.org/take_the_pledge

 

 

See its ‘Research/Read More’ page:

http://www.responsibleownership.org/research_read_more

 

 

Donate to Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership:

https://oregongunsafety.nationbuilder.com/donate

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Volunteer for GOFRO:

http://www.responsibleownership.org/volunteer

 

 

Like its Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/GunOwnersForResponsibleOwnership/

 

 

Read a transcript of a January 2018 PBS Newshour interview with the founder of GOFRO (you can also watch the video, which is above the transcript):

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gun-owning-group-in-oregon-advocates-for-firearm-safety

 

A Note: OTYCD has devoted several posts to common-sense gun laws and gun safety, and will continue to do so.

 

That does not mean, however, that we want to ban all guns. We don’t, and we never have. We are pro-responsible gun ownership. We support people who fully understand the responsibilities of gun ownership, and who show a healthy respect for guns, and whose actions consistently show that understanding and respect.

 

As of February 2018, it’s obvious to most Americans that its gun culture is horrifically, grievously, and unconscionably borked, and its gun laws need to improve ASAP. Here’s hoping the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas provide the push we need to truly fix things at last.

Support Students for Changes, an Advocacy Group Started by Marjory Stoneman Douglas Students
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism · Health Care · Public Education · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Support Students for Changes, an Advocacy Group Started by Marjory Stoneman Douglas Students

otycd

This OTYCD post originally appeared in April 2018.

 

Support Students for Changes, a nonprofit advocacy group started by students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, site of the deadly shooting on February 14, 2018.

 

Cofounded by three survivors of the attack that killed 17 of their peers and teachers, Students for Changes focuses on three things: gun safety, mental health, and school safety. The ultimate goal is to create a world where deadly school shootings are memories and not ever-present threats.

 

 

The pinned tweet on its Twitter page as of early March 2018 stated:

This Nonprofit Organization is started and led by Marjory Stoneman Douglas students. We’ve made this for the express purpose of connecting and consolidating the efforts of students nationwide to change our current policies and societal notions.

 

 

During the same period, its Twitter feed thanked Delta Airlines for rescinding the group discount it had offered to National Rifle Association (NRA) members, thanked Kroger, Walmart, and L.L. Bean for raising their minimum customer age for gun sales to 21, and promised to keep fighting after the Florida state senate passed, then quickly revoked, a two-year ban on the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

 

 

The founders intend this to be a student-led movement, and they encourage the creation of chapters in schools across America. As of March 4, 2018, SSC is filing to become a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit.

 

 

Visit the Students for Changes webpage:

https://www.studentsforchanges.org

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Donate to Students for Changes:

https://www.studentsforchanges.org/copy-of-make-a-donation

 

 

Like it on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/studentsforchanges/

 

 

Follow it on Twitter:

@students4c

Wear Orange On June 7 For National Gun Violence Awareness Day
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism · Marches and Protests · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Wear Orange On June 7 For National Gun Violence Awareness Day

otycd

This OTYCD piece originally ran in May 2018. It has been updated for 2019.

 

Plan to wear orange on June 7 to support National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and see if there’s a Wear Orange Weekend event near you.

 

The Wear Orange movement is an effort championed by Everytown for Gun Safety, but not started by it. The movement began with those who mourned the death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was killed in Chicago in 2013 one week after she participated in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. They donned orange in her honor, and orange became the color of the anti-gun violence movement.

 

Several #WearOrange events have been planned across the country to raise awareness about gun violence and demand a safer world. They include parades, barbecues, rallies, marches, and more.

 

To find an event near you, enter your zip code into the search engine at this link:

https://wearorange.org

 

 

 

And of course you can follow the #WearOrange hashtag on social media.

 

 

See the Wear Orange homepage:

https://wearorange.org

 

 

See the Wear Orange About page:

https://wearorange.org/about/

 

 

Buy merch in the Wear Orange shop:

Wear Orange Collection

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

Ask Your State Legislators to Require Gun Owners to Report Lost or Stolen Guns
Call Your State Legislators · Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism

Ask Your State Legislators to Require Gun Owners to Report Lost or Stolen Guns

otycd

This OTYCD post originally appeared in May 2018.

 

Ask your state legislators to require gun owners to promptly report lost or stolen guns.

 

It seems ridiculous on its face, but it’s true. More than 36 states do not currently require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns.

 

It makes sense to require gun owners to formally report losses and thefts. Timely reporting makes it harder for firearms to fall into dangerous hands. It can also help them get their guns back.

 

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has comprehensive information on how things are now.

 

According to the center, the only states that broadly require gun-owning residents to report losses or thefts to local law enforcement authorities are:

 

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Illinois

Massachusetts

New Jersey

New York

Ohio

Rhode Island

The District of Columbia also has this requirement.

 

A few states have more limited laws.

 

Michigan specifically requires owners to report thefts, but says nothing about losses.

 

Maryland requires reporting losses and thefts, but only for handguns and assault weapons, not other types of firearms.

 

New Jersey is alone in imposing civil liability on owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns that are later used in a crime, and its law focuses on assault weapons only.

 

 

If your state is not listed above, or has laws that could be improved, please call or email your state legislators and ask them to write a bill to address this problem.

 

To find your state legislators, plug your address and zip code into this web site:

https://whoaremyrepresentatives.org

 

Once you have the two names you need, go to the web site for your state legislature and find the contact information for your state senator and state house rep.

 

 

Contacting your state house rep and state senator is different from contacting your federal-level reps. Calls and emails are equally effective, and you’re far more likely to get through to the actual elected official, rather than a staffer.

 

 

While cautioning that jurisdictions should consult lawyers when approaching this issue, the Giffords center cites several aspects that make for a good common-sense state law regarding lost or stolen firearms:

 

The owners should be required to raise the alarm as soon as possible once they learn their guns are lost or stolen.

 

The legal duty to report starts once the owner knew, or should have known, about the loss or the theft.

 

Those who lost guns or suffered thefts before the law took effect should be given a reasonable deadline for reporting those losses and thefts.

 

The law on reporting losses and thefts should apply to all firearms, not just assault weapons or handguns.

 

Owners should face civil liabilities for not reporting the loss or theft of a gun that is later used in a crime.

 

Requiring owners to report losses and thefts swiftly should be a condition of receiving a state gun license or registration, and failure to report losses and thefts soon after discovery should be enough to justify yanking those permissions.

 

 

FWIW, federal law does not require individual gun owners to report–but it does require firearms dealers who suffer thefts or losses from their inventories to speak up. Right now, we at OTYCD feel it best to ask you to focus on getting state-level laws passed to fix this problem.

 

 

 

Visit the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence:

lawcenter.giffords.org

 

 

Donate to the center:

https://giffordslawcenter.networkforgood.com/projects/38759-giffords-law-center-to-prevent-gun-violence

 

 

Like it on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/giffords/

 

 

Follow it on Twitter:

@GiffordsCourage

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

See a January 2018 PBS Newshour transcript that notes in passing that 39 states do not require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns (scroll down a little):

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gun-owning-group-in-oregon-advocates-for-firearm-safety

 

 

A note: We at OTYCD intend to nurture and encourage the movement sparked by the Margory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting by devoting one post at least every other week to gun safety-related issues.

 

The reason that the NRA has a death grip on Congress, and in particular, GOP Congressfolk, is that NRA members get off their asses and call if there’s a whisper of a muttering of a hint that a law might pass that could impose even the slightest imposition on ownership of guns in America.

 

That’s what the politicians are afraid of. It’s not just that some of them get metric buttloads of money for their campaigns from the NRA. Those who embrace the NRA’s outlook pounce on their phones and berate their representatives the instant they think their beloved guns are under threat.

 

So, yes, it’s on us to shout back.

 

We have to adopt the tactics of those who support the NRA.

 

We have to call our representatives often to make it damn clear that the status quo is unacceptable, and we want common-sense gun safety laws.

 

OTYCD will start out with one weekday post every two weeks, at minimum, that has to do with improving gun safety and pushing back against the NRA.

 

We do this in honor of the Parkland victims, and all victims of mass shootings in America, and everyone who has been fighting to change our laws on firearms all along.

 

If Trump finally bows to the will of Congress and imposes the sanctions against Russia for messing with the 2016 election, we will switch to devoting one post per week to these issues.

 

Honor the victims of the Parkland shooting, and all other shootings, by stepping up and calling your reps about common-sense gun safety laws, and by supporting politicians who have low grades from the NRA, and voting out those who do the NRA’s bidding.

 

#NeverAgain. For the love of all that is right and good, Never Again.

Support Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism

Support Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

otycd

Support Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization along the lines of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which seeks to change our country’s gun laws and gun culture. 

 

Moms Demand Action came into being the day after the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. It quickly evolved from a Facebook page to a grassroots movements to change things for the better. It also became part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in America.

 

The nonpartisan organization supports the Second Amendment and common-sense gun laws.

 

See a list of its accomplishments:

https://momsdemandaction.org/our-victories/

 

 

Join your local chapter of Moms Demand Action:

https://act.everytown.org/signup/Join-Moms/?source=mdmo_MomsTakeAction&utm_source=md_m_&utm_medium=_o&utm_campaign=MomsTakeAction

 

 

Donate to Moms Demand Action:

https://wordpress.com/post/onethingyoucando.com/17302

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Like it on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MomsDemandAction/?source=mdmo_MomsSidebar&utm_source=md_m_&utm_medium=_o&utm_campaign=MomsSidebar

 

 

Follow it on Twitter:

@MomsDemand

 

 

Follow founder Shannon Watts on Twitter:

@shannonrwatts

 

 

Buy Moms Demand Action merch:

https://store.everytown.org/?source=mdmo_moms_website_link&utm_source=md_m_&utm_medium=_o&utm_campaign=moms_website_link

Learn About Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism

Learn About Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership

otycd

Learn about Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership (GOFRO), an Oregon-based gun safety group.

 

Paul Kemp, a gun owner who grew up with guns, launched the group after losing a brother-in-law in a December 2012 attack on a Portland, Oregon mall. The 22-year-old shooter used a semi-automatic rifle to kill two people and injure a third.

 

GOFRO supports common-sense gun laws. It asks its members to take the following pledge:

 

“I will practice safe storage.  I will keep my firearms and ammunition locked and separate.

I will support universal background check requirements.  I will not sell or buy a firearm without a background check.

I will support the rights of my fellow citizens to be free from intimidation by the open display of firearms in public.  I will avoid the unnecessary carrying of firearms in public, particularly in places where children are present.

I will always make gun safety a priority in my home, in the field or on the range.”

 

 

 

 

Visit the GOFRO website:

http://www.responsibleownership.org

 

 

Take the GOFRO pledge:

http://www.responsibleownership.org/take_the_pledge

 

 

See its ‘Research/Read More’ page:

http://www.responsibleownership.org/research_read_more

 

 

Donate to Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership:

https://oregongunsafety.nationbuilder.com/donate

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Volunteer for GOFRO:

http://www.responsibleownership.org/volunteer

 

 

Like its Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/GunOwnersForResponsibleOwnership/

 

 

Read a transcript of a January 2018 PBS Newshour interview with the founder of GOFRO (you can also watch the video, which is above the transcript):

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gun-owning-group-in-oregon-advocates-for-firearm-safety

 

A Note: OTYCD has devoted several posts to common-sense gun laws and gun safety, and will continue to do so.

 

That does not mean, however, that we want to ban all guns. We don’t, and we never have. We are pro-responsible gun ownership. We support people who fully understand the responsibilities of gun ownership, and who show a healthy respect for guns, and whose actions consistently show that understanding and respect.

 

As of February 2018, it’s obvious to most Americans that its gun culture is horrifically, grievously, and unconscionably borked, and its gun laws need to improve ASAP. Here’s hoping the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas provide the push we need to truly fix things at last.

Call Your Senators and Support S. 2974, Which Would Modernize How the ATF Tracks Guns Used In Crimes
Action Alerts · Call Your Senators · Common-sense Gun Laws · Senate Bills, Federal · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Call Your Senators and Support S. 2974, Which Would Modernize How the ATF Tracks Guns Used In Crimes

otycd

Call your senators and support S. 2974, a new bill that would modernize how the ATF tracks guns used in crimes. 

 

Informally called the Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act, it was introduced in late May by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and Florida Senator Bill Nelson (who, by the way, is up for reelection in 2018 and needs your help).

 

It would allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to build a computerized database of gun records.

 

What we’re going to tell you next will sound too borked to be true, but we assure you that it is.

 

When the ATF needs to trace a gun that was used in a crime, they have to rummage through cardboard boxes and pull paper records by hand.

 

Seriously. In 2018.

 

Do we need to tell you that this is a needlessly antiquated system that only makes it easier for those who commit crimes with guns?

 

Things are the way they are because a segment of American gun owners who are really closer to being gun fetishists fear the notion of the government having an accurate list of who owns guns.

 

You’ll be shocked, SHOCKED to learn that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is against any initiative that would do what S. 2974 promises to do, squawking that it would violate Second Amendment rights.

 

The bill, if passed, would give the ATF three years to build a functional computerized records system.

 

Please call your senators and voice support for this bill. And if Leahy or Nelson represent you? Call to thank them as well.

 

Sample script: “Dear Senator [Lastname,] I am [Firstname Lastname of town, zip code]. I am calling to ask you to support S. 2974, which would modernize the way America keeps and searches records of firearms sales. Right now, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms needs to track the records of a gun used in a crime, they have to rummage through paper records. For real. No joke. That’s nuts. S. 2974 would allow the creation of a computerized database. That, in turn, would help the ATF pin down information faster, help solve crimes faster, and might prevent more crimes from being committed with the same suspect gun. It’s long past time to drag gun-tracking into the 21st century. This bill should make that happen. Please support it. Thanks.”

 

 

See the GovTrack page on S. 2974, which was introduced on May 24, 2018:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s2974

 

 

Read a Sun Sentinel article on Senator Bill Nelson’s co-sponsorship of S.2974:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-gun-database-bill-20180601-story.html

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Read a March 2011 MPR article on how building an accurate electronic database of gun records was seen by some as controversial and sensitive. It references an earlier records modernization bill that ultimately failed:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/03/20/tracing-guns-firearms-part4

 

 

A note: We at OTYCD intend to nurture and encourage the movement sparked by the Margory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting by devoting one post at least every other week to gun safety-related issues.

 

The reason that the NRA has a death grip on Congress, and in particular, GOP Congressfolk, is that NRA members get off their asses and call if there’s a whisper of a muttering of a hint that a law might pass that could impose even the slightest imposition on ownership of guns in America.

 

That’s what the politicians are afraid of. It’s not just that some of them get metric buttloads of money for their campaigns from the NRA. Those who embrace the NRA’s outlook pounce on their phones and berate their representatives the instant they think their beloved guns are under threat.

 

So, yes, it’s on us to shout back.

 

We have to adopt the tactics of those who support the NRA.

 

We have to call our representatives often to make it damn clear that the status quo is unacceptable, and we want common-sense gun safety laws.

 

OTYCD will start out with one weekday post every two weeks, at minimum, that has to do with improving gun safety and pushing back against the NRA.

 

We do this in honor of the Parkland victims, and all victims of mass shootings in America, and everyone who has been fighting to change our laws on firearms all along.

 

If Trump finally bows to the will of Congress and imposes the sanctions against Russia for messing with the 2016 election, we will switch to devoting one post per week to these issues.

 

Honor the victims of the Parkland shooting, and all other shootings, by stepping up and calling your reps about common-sense gun safety laws, and by supporting politicians who have low grades from the NRA, and voting out those who do the NRA’s bidding.

 

#NeverAgain. For the love of all that is right and good, Never Again.

Support Sandy Hook Promise, an Organization Created by Newtown Families
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism

Support Sandy Hook Promise, an Organization Created by Newtown Families

otycd

Support Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a nonprofit created in part by those who lost family members in the December 14, 2012 attack on the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school.

 

SHP is actually two organizations.

 

The SHP Foundation‘s stated mission is “to prevent gun-related deaths due to crime, suicide and accidental discharge so that no other parent experiences the senseless, horrific loss of their child.” The foundation achieves these goals “by educating and empowering parents, schools and communities on mental health & wellness programs that identify, intervene and help at-risk individuals and gun safety practices that ensure that firearms are kept safe and secure.”

 

Its educational programs include its Know the Signs guide, which teaches how to spot when someone might be at risk of harming themselves or others.

 

The SHP Action Fund is devoted to enacting “sensible gun violence prevention laws, policy and regulations at a state and federal level, in the areas of mental health & wellness and gun safety that result in the reduction of gun-related death and injury.” It does this by “engaging, organizing and mobilizing our national base of Promise Makers and Leaders at a state and federal level.”

 

Among the bills the SHP Action Fund supports is H.R. 4909, the STOP School Violence Act, which would provide grants to implement programs that draw on, and act on, the knowledge reflected in the Know the Signs guide.

 

 

Visit the Sandy Hook Promise homepage:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org

 

 

See its ‘Get the Facts’ page:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/get_educated

 

 

Become a Promise Leader, a committed supporter who upholds and pursues SHP’s goals in your home community:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/promise_leaders

 

 

Donate to Sandy Hook Promise:

https://action.sandyhookpromise.org/donate_page/foundation

 

 

Like Sandy Hook Promise on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/SandyHookPromise

 

 

Follow it on Twitter:

@sandyhook

 

 

Buy Sandy Hook Promise merchandise:

https://store.sandyhookpromise.org

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

Support Orange Ribbons for Jaime, Which Is Dedicated to a Victim of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting
Common-sense Gun Laws · Community Activism · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms · Uncategorized

Support Orange Ribbons for Jaime, Which Is Dedicated to a Victim of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting

otycd

Support Orange Ribbons for Jaime, which is dedicated to Jaime Guttenberg, who died in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February 2018.

 

Founded by Jaime’s father, Fred, Orange Ribbons for Jaime celebrates the 14-year-old’s life and loves. In addition to supporting the world of competitive dance, anti-bullying initiatives, and children who have special needs, it helps organizations that seek to understand and reduce gun violence in public places.

 

Orange was Jaime’s favorite color. It also happens to be the color of the gun safety movement. Her father hopes that the gun safety movement will adopt the orange ribbon as its symbol.

 

 

See the website for Orange Ribbons for Jaime:

https://orangeribbonsforjaime.org/

 

 

See its About Us page:

https://orangeribbonsforjaime.org/about/

 

 

Donate to Orange Ribbons for Jaime:

https://orangeribbonsforjaime.org/donate/

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Like it on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/OrangeRibbonsforJaime/

 

 

Follow Fred Guttenberg on Twitter:

@fred_guttenberg

 

 

A note: We at OTYCD intend to nurture and encourage the movement sparked by the Margory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting by devoting one post at least every other week to gun safety-related issues.

 

The reason that the NRA has a death grip on Congress, and in particular, GOP Congressfolk, is that NRA members get off their asses and call if there’s a whisper of a muttering of a hint that a law might pass that could impose even the slightest imposition on ownership of guns in America.

 

That’s what the politicians are afraid of. It’s not just that some of them get metric buttloads of money for their campaigns from the NRA. Those who embrace the NRA’s outlook pounce on their phones and berate their representatives the instant they think their beloved guns are under threat.

 

So, yes, it’s on us to shout back.

 

We have to adopt the tactics of those who support the NRA.

 

We have to call our representatives often to make it damn clear that the status quo is unacceptable, and we want common-sense gun safety laws.

 

OTYCD will start out with one weekday post every two weeks, at minimum, that has to do with improving gun safety and pushing back against the NRA.

 

We do this in honor of the Parkland victims, and all victims of mass shootings in America, and everyone who has been fighting to change our laws on firearms all along.

 

If Trump finally bows to the will of Congress and imposes the sanctions against Russia for messing with the 2016 election, we will switch to devoting one post per week to these issues.

 

Honor the victims of the Parkland shooting, and all other shootings, by stepping up and calling your reps about common-sense gun safety laws, and by supporting politicians who have low grades from the NRA, and voting out those who do the NRA’s bidding.

 

#NeverAgain. For the love of all that is right and good, Never Again.