Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Urges Candidates to Adopt Kerry Gun Stance

[DJcairo]

CSGV Commends John Kerry for Highlighting Gun Violence Prevention
9/9/2003

Press Release
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
1023 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20005


CSGV urges other candidates to adopt platforms to reduce gun violence in America

Scores of Americans 8 of them young people die each day

Washington, DC - The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence today (September 4th) commended Senator John Kerry (D-MA) for recognizing the need for strong gun laws to reduce gun violence in America. During his September 2 speech in which he formally announced his campaign, Senator Kerry said "ourage means standing up for gun safety, not retreating from the issue out of political fear or trying to have it both ways."

"We applaud Senator Kerry for standing up for the thousands of gun violence victims who have felt left out of the political process recently," said Joshua Horwitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "We call on other candidates to show similar courage and publicly endorse strong gun violence prevention measures."

More than 26,000 Americans die each year at the barrel of a gun; eight young people each day --far more than any other industrialized nation in the world. Gun violence costs the American economy approximately $100 billion annually.

In his announcement speech, Kerry went on to say that " party will never be the choice of the NRA, and I am not looking to be the candidate of the NRA." Last month, Robert Ricker, a former high-ranking NRA official made a similar assertion in a Los Angeles Times commentary entitled "Democrats Are Playing NRA Roulette." In the piece, Ricker argued that the NRA has become "a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party."

Mr. Ricker's op-ed can be found at www.CandidatesOnGuns.org, a website maintained by CSGV to track the presidential candidates' positions on the gun violence prevention issue.


Date of Release: September 4, 2003

[bluestateguy]

1. Oh, these folks will be helpful in the general election

If we want to listen to these ninnies we might as well just write off the south, the mountain west and New Hampshire now and save ourselves the trouble.

Even if these people get the laws they want, someday it will be a Republican conservative administering them, and I don't trust a Republican government with the power to disarm the citizenry.

No dice!

[lcordero]

2. Amen

It's pretty enlightening to know that the Gun Control Act of 1968 came after the "Hot Summers".

The JPFO ( http://www.jpfo.org/GCA_68.htm ) claims that it was modeled after Nazi legislation (Nazi Weapons Law) and the founder of National Black Sportsman's Association, General Laney, is quoted as saying that "gun control is really race control".

NYC is really bad for civil rights violations, especially under Giuliani. This is what happens when a population is disarmed.

Gun Control made the streets safe for criminals during the late 80s and early 90s in NYC.

[lastliberalintexas]

3. I really wish Kerry would

redirect the debate so that for once we could actually talk about the root causes of violence- poverty, lack of education, lack of jobs, and the drug war. We must do something about the symptoms that lead to violence, rather than simply focusing on what weapon is used when the violence erupts.

Even if it were possible to confiscate every single gun on earth so that not even law enforcement or military types had guns, we would still have a violent society in the US. There is so much more to the problem, and a superficial response of more gun control is like trying to use a bandaid to treat a heart attack.

and on edit- I actually wish ALL of the candidates would try to redirect this debate. I didn't mean to simply criticize Kerry for this.

[killbotfactory]

4. Yep

Dean does this to some extent, when he talks about the success by six program, but the candidates need to link how poverty, drugs, unemployment, gangs, etc, are related to gun violence.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. Kerry has fought those causes his whole career.

He's just pointing to the distinction between his record and Dean's on this issue. And of course 'confiscating guns' has absolutely nothing to do with Kerry's gun stance.

Increased Gun Safety: John Kerry is a gun owner and hunter, and he believes that law-abiding American adults have the right to own guns. But like all of our rights, gun rights come with responsibilities, and those rights allow for reasonable restrictions to keep guns out of the wrong hands. John Kerry strongly supports all of the federal gun laws on the books, and he would take steps to ensure that they are vigorously enforced, cracking down hard on the gun runners, corrupt dealers, straw buyers, and thieves that are putting guns into the hands of criminals in the first place. He will also close the gun show loophole, which is allowing criminals to get access to guns at gun shows without background checks, fix the background check system, which is in a serious state of disrepair, and require that all handguns be sold with a child safety lock.
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/crime.html

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/education.html
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/restoring_jobs.html
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/workers_position.html
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/civilrights.html

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=S0421103

[Romulus]

6. didn't you get the memo

CSGV is all about confiscating firearms as "the" solution to "stopping gun violence."

http://www.csgv.org/content/coalition/frame_coal_intro.html
CSGV supports a ban on the importation, manufacture, sale and transfer of handguns and assault weapons, with reasonable exceptions for police, military, security personnel, gun clubs, and antique and collectable firearms stored in inoperable condition. Hunting weapons, such as shotguns and rifles, would be unaffected by these bans.

Kerry keeps touting CSGV's support for him, so WTF are we supposed to think about Kerry's future agenda?

Besides, I thought Kerry's supposed "Stand" on the issue was the same as Dean's anyway: background checks for all firearms sales, and extending the current gun laws (including the retarded cosmetic-based rifle ban).

Edited to add:
Any candidite embracing the ban-them-all crowd (like the CSGC) will have to contend with the opposition from people like DU'er Xithras, who knows firsthand that guns save lives:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=623990#624597

Xithras (482 posts)
It's one of the reasons I refuse to support any candidate that opposes gun rights. In 1996 a burglar/attempted rapist broke into my house in broad daylight and attacked my wife. He pinned her down with a knife to her throat and was pulling down her shorts with the obvious intention of raping her...with my 1 year old daughter watching (he actually told my wife that he'd "kill the kid" if she didn't cooperate). Unfortunatly for the burglar, I was UPSTAIRS at the time. I heard my wife scream "Help!" and then "Get out of my house", and then heard the low voice of an angry man and realized that something was very wrong. I grabbed my gun, charged down the stairs, and was presented with the sight of this guy (his "tool" already out and ready) standing over my wife (draped over our couch), with a knife to her neck and her shorts almost completely off.

I never warned him off, announced my presence, or threatened him...I just fired a single round into his back.

My wife was physically unharmed, but it took her several years to mentally get past what had happened...we even had to move because she was terrified to be in the house alone. The burglar/attempted rapist survived, and will be released from prison in 2007 (he was sentenced to ten years). I, in that instant, became a permanent advocate of gun ownership

(end)

I actually agree with Kerry on a lot of issues, especially after hearing him on NPR. But this whole firearms thing is the killer.

[George_Bonanza]

7. I tend to agree with Dean's stance on guns, & Kerry's position is similar

Crime rates are high in America. Disarming the citizens suddenly does no good for them. Criminals, who have no respect for the law in the first place, will be unaffected by these laws targeting civilian gun ownership. John Kerry and Howard Dean both support the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Bill. They both want to close the gunshow loophole, whether it exists or not. They both believe that Americans deserve the right to protect themselves in a dangerous society. JK has clearly stated that and is a gun-owner himself. Their difference is that HD touts his NRA-friendly image while JK wants nothing to do with it. HD panders to the pro-gun crowd while Kerry panders to the gun control crowd. It's all politics. Everybody's a scheming politician. But the important thing are their stances. I agree with their stances. HD is not a gun-toting redneck and JK is not a Mass. liberal who wants to take away everybody's guns.

Personally, I think our goal as a society to progress to be better. A better world is a world where people don't have to make the decision to be judge, jury, and executioner to strangers, in an instant. That's why my primary vision for guns is for them to be phased out by tasers as a self-defense weapon. Even if criminals have guns, hopefully we'll have a device that's just as effective, but not as deadly. I mean, we're supposed to be the compassionate ones on the political spectrum. We want to rehabilitate criminals. Perhaps the home invader is a junkie who's out of his mind. Does he deserve to be shot and maybe killed? I realize the absolute right to self-defense, but not all self-defense has to be potentially lethal.

[Pez]

8. kerry refers to GUN SAFETY

he has a well documented policy involving education programs for early education and after school programs to address the main problem a lot of kids who eventually enter into criminal behavior-- the time when working parents can't supervise their children.

gun safety can be increased-- mandatory child safety locks (major issue) and closing the gun-show loophole are only two examples. the NRA is a powerful lobbyist and a special interest group that should be fought. they are on a par with the oil barons we all despise. they do not have the well-being of the american public in mind and all they care about is revenue from weapons sale and gun manufacturures. any other product that is directly linked to death is scrutinized and forced off the market. why not guns? and why pander to special interests?

gun safety is an issue that we can deal with; there will always be those intent on breaking the law and those that would push products that are directly linked to death; we don't always have to embrace them though. and there are steps we can take to ensure that accidental deaths don't happen. why this would be an issue some supposedly representing the democratic party would choose to shy away from is beyond me.

[Romulus]

9. see post #6

for answers to your "Kerry only wants gun safety" argument, your "firearms are only linked to unlawful death and should be banned" argument, and your "REAL Democrats are supposed to seek to ban all firearms" argument.

Have a good night - I'm going to bed.