OMNI
NEWSLETTER #8 ON VIOLENCE USA
Compiled by Dick Bennett, OMNI BUILDING
(#1 Feb. 25, 2008; #2 August 20, 2011; #3
April 8, 2012; #4 July 26, 2012; #5 Aug. 22, 2012; #6 June 8, 2013; #7 Nov. 7,
2013)
See OMNI Newsletters
on International DAY to End Violence Against Women, part of OMNI’s National/International DAYS
Project.
“Violence
has become the nation’s leading industry….”
J. William Fulbright, The Crippled
Giant (1972).
Here is the link to all OMNI newsletters:
http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletter-archive/ Here is the link to the
Index: http://www.omnicenter.org/omni-newsletter-general-index/ Many of OMNI’s topical newsletters confront
different kinds of violence:
assassinations, battering, bullying, causes of wars, consequences of
wars, death penalty, drones, empire, extra-judicial killing, hatred, individual wars, International DAY to End
Violence Against Women, militarism, torture, women, etc. Also see the newsletters on resistance to
violence: Gandhi, MLK,Jr., Peace Churches
Nos. 6-7 at end.
Contents: Violence USA
Murder
Victims’ Families in Arkansas
NRA
Totten, Epidemic of Gun Violence
Burris,
Gunsense, More on Open-carry: http://bit.ly/OCcamus
Powell, Anarchist
Cookbook’s Violent Premise Flawed
Levintova, Pro-Gun Groups Challenge Fire Arms Laws
Moyers and Winship, After Newtown
Strasser,
2014 Violence Continues
Burris,
Gunsense, Meditation on Samsara
Google
Search: Violence USA
??Reports
in the Arkansas
 |
MVFR
News & Updates
Dear Friend,
This is a quick reminder that the March meeting of the Central
Arkansas Chapter of MVFR will be held this Tuesday, March 25th,
in the Fribourgh Room of the Main Library,
The Central Arkansas Chapter is open to both MVFR Members and
Supporters in
Please share this information with others you know who may be
interested in participating.
For more information about this chapter please contact Judith
Elane at judithelane@gmail.com.
Warmly,
Marcelle Clowes, Member Engagement Coordinator
|
How the Gun Lobby Became a Threat to Public Safety
|
|
 Joshua Holland, Op-Ed,
NationofChange, March 9, 2014: Just a generation ago, the NRA was a
nonpartisan and relatively non-ideological organization that advocated for
responsible and safe gun ownership in addition to defending gun rights. But
in its twenty years under the leadership of chief executive Wayne LaPierre
the organization has become another cog in the broader conservative advocacy
machine. At the same time, with gun ownership declining, the organization has
come to rely less on its members’ dues and more on firearm manufacturers,
which now account for over half of the NRA’s revenues according to Walter
Hickey at Business Insider. |
TOTTEN'S EDITORIAL RE EPIDEMIC OF GUN VIOLENCE IN US -- BALTIMORE SUN
|
2:19 PM (22 minutes ago)
 |
|
|
|
|
||||
Dear
All,
Here's an editorial I had published in theBaltimore
I am pleased the Sun published it, I am not happy that the editors
interjected some of their own comments (i.e., about Gabby Gifford) as
that changed the focus of my piece significantly. They also added the
info about the recent shooting inMaryland
appreciate, but that meant that they cut even more of my original
submission).
Those of you who kindly provided me with feedback re my initial draft
(Michael, Jim Randi, and Jill), a huge thank you! I actually
addressed/incorporated many of your concerns in the final piece, some
of which made it through the Sun's editorial/cutting process, some of
which did not.
I realize that not everyone will agree with me but that is to be
expected. Even if that is the case, I do hope there is at least some
food worthy of thought here by each of you.
All the best,
sam
BALTIMORE SUN
Congress capitulates to the NRA [Commentary]
Do members need to experience tragedy firsthand to act?
By Samuel Totten
3:03 p.m. EST, January 28, 2014
"Guns don't kill, people do." What a flip response to the horrific
epidemic of gun violence in theUnited
States
inMaryland , three young people, including the
gunman, were shot to
death in a mall inColumbia , and others were
fatally shot in separate
incidents inAnne Arundel County
and Baltimore City
On average, 32 Americans are killed with guns every day (not counting
suicides, which add another 56 daily deaths), and 140 are treated for
gun assaults. TheU.S.
firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than
the combined rates of 22 peer countries, and mass killings occur in
theUnited States
If this country were experiencing a cholera or typhus epidemic, the
medical, public health and social welfare communities, along with
various arms of local, state and national government, would band
together immediately to stanch the havoc it was wreaking.
Related
Glorifying guns gave us the Columbia Mall shooting [Letter]
Howard police prove their mettle [Letter]
Columbia's tragedy [Commentary]
Mall violence surprising but gun control no remedy [Letter]
Equal measures grief and remorse [Commentary]
See more stories »
In comparison, the epidemic of gun deaths has been met with a lot of
hand-wringing and public condemnation by political leaders but not
much else. That's not leadership, that's capitulation.
Those who have not experienced firsthand the shooting death (or
serious wounding) of a loved one or close friend by an individual
wielding a firearm are not likely to suffer the same severe and
perdurable sadness of those who have. In fact, many only begin to
address a specific social ill after being impacted by it directly, be
it drunk driving, breast cancer or AIDS.
Tellingly, numerous members (and former members) of Congress have
initiated and founded their own programs and foundations to combat a
major social problem or disease only after having experienced a family
tragedy. The late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who had prostate cancer,
told a reporter: "There is no question that we [members of Congress]
are motivated by what we know and what's been our experience with our
families."
More specifically, Stevens asserted that he had lost count of the
times lawmakers asked for money for various diseases or medical
conditions directly affecting themselves or their family members.
(Full disclosure: I too have a personal interest in this topic. When I
was 18, my volatile father, a former cop, held my mother, brother and
me hostage at gunpoint one evening, threatening to blow our heads
off.)
I fear, really fear, that little to no real movement regarding the
epidemic of violence perpetrated by individuals with firearms in this
country will ever be made (at least not in a way that truly
ameliorates this epidemic) until members of Congress, or their close
family members, are victims of such violence, though I hope that never
comes to pass.
Then again, even that may not be enough to make Congress act. The 2011
attack on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded
from a gunshot to the head, did not spur much action from her
Congressional colleagues, despite her impassioned pleas.
Far too many Congress members seem too beholden to large private and
corporate donors and/or too fearful of the National Rifle Association
to act in the common good. They will do anything to avoid the
possibility of losing votes, including doing little to nothing of
consequence when their nation's own citizens continue to be cut down
like so many figures in a video game.
We can't trust politicians to solve this matter on their own.
We, the people, of the United States who care deeply about the
horrific carnage enveloping our nation perpetrated by young hoodlums,
impressionable and mentally and morally immature teenagers, repeat
violent offenders, and the mentally ill need to rise up and carry out
a loud, aggressive and sustained onslaught against those members of
Congress who fail to address this epidemic in a serious and
efficacious manner. Either that, or we must accept the fact that the
mass killings will occur regularly just as surely as the seasons of
the year.
Samuel Totten, professor emeritus at theUniversity
of Arkansas ,
Fayetteville
samstertotten@gmail.com.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-congress-guns-20140128,0,7142355.sto
Here's an editorial I had published in the
I am pleased the Sun published it, I am not happy that the editors
interjected some of their own comments (i.e., about Gabby Gifford) as
that changed the focus of my piece significantly. They also added the
info about the recent shooting in
appreciate, but that meant that they cut even more of my original
submission).
Those of you who kindly provided me with feedback re my initial draft
(Michael, Jim Randi, and Jill), a huge thank you! I actually
addressed/incorporated many of your concerns in the final piece, some
of which made it through the Sun's editorial/cutting process, some of
which did not.
I realize that not everyone will agree with me but that is to be
expected. Even if that is the case, I do hope there is at least some
food worthy of thought here by each of you.
All the best,
sam
BALTIMORE SUN
Congress capitulates to the NRA [Commentary]
Do members need to experience tragedy firsthand to act?
By Samuel Totten
3:03 p.m. EST, January 28, 2014
"Guns don't kill, people do." What a flip response to the horrific
epidemic of gun violence in the
in
death in a mall in
incidents in
On average, 32 Americans are killed with guns every day (not counting
suicides, which add another 56 daily deaths), and 140 are treated for
gun assaults. The
the combined rates of 22 peer countries, and mass killings occur in
the
If this country were experiencing a cholera or typhus epidemic, the
medical, public health and social welfare communities, along with
various arms of local, state and national government, would band
together immediately to stanch the havoc it was wreaking.
Related
Glorifying guns gave us the Columbia Mall shooting [Letter]
Howard police prove their mettle [Letter]
Columbia's tragedy [Commentary]
Mall violence surprising but gun control no remedy [Letter]
Equal measures grief and remorse [Commentary]
See more stories »
In comparison, the epidemic of gun deaths has been met with a lot of
hand-wringing and public condemnation by political leaders but not
much else. That's not leadership, that's capitulation.
Those who have not experienced firsthand the shooting death (or
serious wounding) of a loved one or close friend by an individual
wielding a firearm are not likely to suffer the same severe and
perdurable sadness of those who have. In fact, many only begin to
address a specific social ill after being impacted by it directly, be
it drunk driving, breast cancer or AIDS.
Tellingly, numerous members (and former members) of Congress have
initiated and founded their own programs and foundations to combat a
major social problem or disease only after having experienced a family
tragedy. The late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who had prostate cancer,
told a reporter: "There is no question that we [members of Congress]
are motivated by what we know and what's been our experience with our
families."
More specifically, Stevens asserted that he had lost count of the
times lawmakers asked for money for various diseases or medical
conditions directly affecting themselves or their family members.
(Full disclosure: I too have a personal interest in this topic. When I
was 18, my volatile father, a former cop, held my mother, brother and
me hostage at gunpoint one evening, threatening to blow our heads
off.)
I fear, really fear, that little to no real movement regarding the
epidemic of violence perpetrated by individuals with firearms in this
country will ever be made (at least not in a way that truly
ameliorates this epidemic) until members of Congress, or their close
family members, are victims of such violence, though I hope that never
comes to pass.
Then again, even that may not be enough to make Congress act. The 2011
attack on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded
from a gunshot to the head, did not spur much action from her
Congressional colleagues, despite her impassioned pleas.
Far too many Congress members seem too beholden to large private and
corporate donors and/or too fearful of the National Rifle Association
to act in the common good. They will do anything to avoid the
possibility of losing votes, including doing little to nothing of
consequence when their nation's own citizens continue to be cut down
like so many figures in a video game.
We can't trust politicians to solve this matter on their own.
We, the people, of the United States who care deeply about the
horrific carnage enveloping our nation perpetrated by young hoodlums,
impressionable and mentally and morally immature teenagers, repeat
violent offenders, and the mentally ill need to rise up and carry out
a loud, aggressive and sustained onslaught against those members of
Congress who fail to address this epidemic in a serious and
efficacious manner. Either that, or we must accept the fact that the
mass killings will occur regularly just as surely as the seasons of
the year.
Samuel Totten, professor emeritus at the
samstertotten@gmail.com.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-congress-guns-20140128,0,7142355.sto
Burris, Gunsense, More
on Open-carry:
http://bit.ly/OCcamus
20 December 13 PM
William Powell, I Wrote the Anarchist
Cookbook in 1969. Now I See Its Premise As Flawed
William Powell, GuardianUK
Powell writes: "The anger that motivated the writing of the Cookbook blinded me to the illogical notion that violence can be used to prevent violence. I had fallen for the same irrational pattern of thought that led to US military involvement in both Vietnam and Iraq."
READ MORE
William Powell, Guardian
Powell writes: "The anger that motivated the writing of the Cookbook blinded me to the illogical notion that violence can be used to prevent violence. I had fallen for the same irrational pattern of thought that led to US military involvement in both Vietnam and Iraq."
READ MORE
HANNAH
LEVINTOVA
Hannah
Levintova is a lover of stories—both telling and consuming them—and is an
advocate for public broadcasting, golden delicious apples, the Oxford
The Gun Lobby's Stealth Assault on Small-Town America
Since
Newtown , a
pro-gun group has bullied local governments into repealing firearms ordinances. —By Hannah Levintova
| Wed Dec. 11, 2013
3:00 AM GMT. ]The article I read in MJ
Jan./Feb. 2013 is entitled “Sue First, Ask Questions Later.” --D]
This past spring, strangely similar pieces of
mail started arriving at the offices of city attorneys in 28 Maryland Takoma Park
"Once in a blue moon we get these kinds of
letters from activist organizations," says Ryan Spiegel, vice president of
the Montgomery County
chapter of the Maryland Municipal League and a member of the Gaithersburg Sandy Hook
Elementary School
The letters came from the Second Amendment Foundation,
a prominent pro-gun legal-defense organization, as part of a quiet but mounting
campaign to strike down local gun laws across the country. So far, SAF has sent
out about 425 letters to cities, towns, and counties in Maryland ,
Oregon , Virginia ,
and Washington
Though they may be obscure and not always
enforced, local gun laws have become low-hanging fruit for anti-gun-control
activists since Sandy Hook . The strategy rests
on the legal concept of "preemption," which restricts local
lawmakers' authority to regulate firearms beyond what's in state law. For more
than 30 years, the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups have
successfully lobbied for preemption laws nationwide: In 1979, 7 states had
them, but today, 45 do. Some states, such as Alabama ,
Idaho , and Maine ,
make exceptions for local restrictions on when and where people can shoot; some,
like California
Moyers and Winship, Gunpowder and Blood
on Their Cold, Dead Hands
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Moyers & Company
Moyers and Winship write: "There has been a lot of killing inAmerica since Newtown
READ MORE[lists.readersupportednews.org]
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Moyers & Company
Moyers and Winship write: "There has been a lot of killing in
READ MORE[lists.readersupportednews.org]
Why Cops Pull the Trigger
Nicole Flatow, ThinkProgress , RSN, Dec. 23, 2013
Flatow reports: "While the LAPD incident is still under investigation, a critical look back at several of the other recent incidents through ThinkProgress interviews with former officers, firearms trainers, and academics, reveal that policy and training may be as much to blame as human error."
READ MORE
Nicole Flatow, ThinkProgress , RSN, Dec. 23, 2013
Flatow reports: "While the LAPD incident is still under investigation, a critical look back at several of the other recent incidents through ThinkProgress interviews with former officers, firearms trainers, and academics, reveal that policy and training may be as much to blame as human error."
READ MORE
2014 Kicks Off With Gun Crimes Across the
Country
Annie-Rose Strasser, ThinkProgress 02 January 14 PM
Annie-Rose Strasser, ThinkProgress 02 January 14 PM
Strasser reports: "One thing didn't change at all as the calendar page turned this year: America's gun violence epidemic continued without pause throughmidnight Tuesday."
READ MORE
01/10/2014
GUNSENSE, WITH A SIDE
OF LOVE? REALLY?
Dzigar Kongtrül
So, this morning, I did what I always do
before the sun comes up: I read Tibetan Buddhist literature. Today,
it’s Dzigar Kongtrül, and the book, It’s Up to You. Normally, what
happens is this: one passage sticks, and as the day wears on, I can’t
shake it. The passage sets up shop in my head for a good reason, I
figure, and so most of the time, I try to figure out why. Here’s the
passage for today that keeps returning:
The root cause of suffering is
ignorance. Ignorance is the ground of all actions and experience in
samsara. In the sense that it is universal, we can say that ignorance is
impersonal. We’re all equally subject to the karma and suffering arising
from ignorance. In this respect, we’re all innocents, really. We
don’t need to blame ourselves—or anyone else—for our suffering. Instead
we can blame ignorance.
First, a clarification: samsara is
a big word in Buddhism, which means it’s hard to define. But for Buddhists,
samsara has the ring of reality about it, and we all know the problems with
defining reality. Right?
But typically samsara refers to the cycle
of birth and death, the round of suffering that confronts us each day:
it’s an equal-opportunity suffering that ranges from the subtlest cravings for
the tiniest pleasures—like eating a French-fry we don’t need— to the most
senseless human tragedy—like a two-month old shot dead accidentally by a parent.
We can’t escape samsara until we diminish
the ignorance that keeps us tied to it, and so here’s the kicker: all the
stuff we’re doing to make ourselves happy or create a better world—having a
French-fry or trying to protect a two-month-old from a handgun—can easily mire
us more deeply in samsara, if we don’t know how to eat a fry or stop a
senseless murder without cultivating the very same conditions that made us eat
the fry or allowed the baby to get shot.
Doing the right thing for the right
reason—it’s a balancing act. We’re ignorant—in the Buddhist sense—and
because we often do the right things for the wrong reasons, we never get
exactly what we want. Then we get frustrated; then angry; and the cycle
starts again; and then things go really wrong. Think Newtown
What does this have to do with reasonable
gun control? That's what you're wondering, right?
In the campaign to bring this country
toward a more reasonable relationship with firearms, Kongtrül’s teaching shows
me how to move away from personalizing the radical disagreements that often
surface in the gun debate. “In the sense that it is universal,” Kongtrül
writes, “we can say that ignorance is impersonal.” If I can even
momentarily envision my red-faced disagreements as the result of a shared
ignorance, not as the conflict between my opponent’s ignorance and my good
sense, then I believe new solutions will begin to reveal themselves—slowly at
first, but reliably and more regularly. These will then be solutions
based on a sense of community, a feeling of working together toward a common
goal.
Can I really do this? Can I really
move toward a vision of what Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Sister Helen
Prejean recognize as
the blessed community? A place where tolerance and compassion work
hand-in-hand with political action? I don’t know. I've watched the Dalai Lama do it with the Chinese for 35
years. I watched King do it with the American South, and Sister Helen do
it with death-penalty advocates.
And I've seen the Tibetan monk, with whom
I teach here at Arkansas
Works for them. So this year, I’m
going to try it.
I'll take notes and get back to you.
- See more at:
http://readwrite.typepad.com/gunsense/2014/01/tibetan-teaching-guns-violence.html#sthash.9Km9x7Kw.dpuf
GOOGLE SEARCH, VIOLENCE USA
1.
Gun violence in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Gun violence is a regularly debated
political issue in the United States
2.
Crime in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Jump to Violent crime - The burglary rates of
selected industrialized countries as published by the US
3.
Violence Against Women | Amnesty International USA
Amnesty International USA
Amnesty
International fights to stop violence against women and create
a world where women and girls are afforded their basic human rights.
4.
In 2013, the US lost 30 people a
day to gun violence. Obama ...
The Guardian
Jan 31, 2014 - Ana Marie Cox: The
president should be talking about guns (and gun control) a lot more. This goes
way beyond horrific school shootings.
5.
USA Gun Violence Statistics |
heedinggodscall.org
GUN VIOLENCE in the UNITED STATES. Some Indicative Data:
Gun Ownership. TheUS has an estimated 283
million guns in civilian hands; Each year about ...
6.
Violence in the United States - Netwellness.org
Power
and control appear to be the basis for much of the violence that occurs. Firearms
play a large role in violence in the U.S.
7.
Office on Violence Against Women:
USDOJ
Office on Violence Against Women
Principal
Deputy Director. Bea Hanson is the Principal Deputy Director of the United States Department of Justice's
Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
8.
YWCA Week Without Violence™ - YWCA USA
YWCA USA
The
YWCA Week Without Violence, the third week in
October, is a signature initiative created by YWCA USA
9.
Here's how U.S. gun violence compares with the rest of the world
The Washington
Dec 14, 2012 - In the wake of Friday's
deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown , Conn.
10.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline | 24/7
Confidential Support
National Domestic Violence Hotline
If
you're interested in writing for us and becoming part of our
blogging ... About Us
Searches related to Violence USA
Contents #6
2013
Burris, Gunsense, June 5,
2012
Burris, Gunsense, May 28,
2013
Burris, Gunsense, May 4,
2013
Burris, Gunsense, March 13,
2013
Burris, Gunsense, 2 Messages
Shanley, Nonviolent,
Compassionate Apprehension of Dzhokhar
Progressive Secretary,
Reinstate Assault Weapons Ban
Totten, Amnesty
International v. NRA
McArdle, In Devon, PA, Susan
Smith’s Gun Control Ardor
Skinner, Bedford , Mass.
Baum, The AR-15 Can’t Be
Banned?
Contents #7
2013 Look at the good news first
2 Films from PBS Frontline
Brady Campaign
2nd Amendment
Foundation Will Not Celebrate Guns on This Day
Steven Pinker, Violence
Declining
Murder Victims’ Families for
Reconciliation (MVFR)
Burris, Gunsense, Compassion in Action
Killing Blacks, Video
Epps, 2nd
Amendment
Boothroyd, Police Violence
Frank Rich , US
Burris, Gunsense, Vedder, Orwell, Gun Violence
Burris, Gunsense, “Transformation” Nov. 6, 2013
US Regional Violence
END VIOLENCE USA
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