“These a**holes... They always get away.”

On February 26th, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was an invited guest staying with his stepmother in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. During halftime of the NBA all-star game that evening, Martin walked to a local convenience store to get some snacks. Little did he know he was being followed by George Zimmerman, 28, the self-appointed “captain” of the neighborhood watch program. Zimmerman, who is white, had been tailing the young African-American in his car because he felt Martin was “a suspicious person.” At some point, Zimmerman called 911. He told a dispatcher, "This guy looks like he is up to no good. He is on drugs or something," and said that he was going to detain Martin because “These a**holes... They always get away.” The dispatcher told Zimmerman that a unit was being dispatched to the scene and asked Zimmerman to refrain from approaching Martin.

Zimmerman ignored this direction. He got out of his car and pursued Martin between two rows of townhouses. A fistfight broke out. When police arrived on the scene minutes later, they found Martin dying face down in the grass. In his hands were a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea. He had been shot in the chest by Zimmerman, a concealed handgun permit holder who was armed that night, with a 9mm pistol.

If Zimmerman saw anything “suspicious” that night beyond an African-American walking through a gated community in a hooded sweatshirt, he never said. He was detained by the police, but after he claimed he acted in self-defense in killing the unarmed Martin (who he outweighed by 20 pounds), Zimmerman was released without charge. Martin’s family and their attorney were told by Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee that Zimmerman avoided arrest because he had a “squeaky clean” criminal record.

That statement was fraudulent. It has since been revealed that Zimmerman was arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. The case was dismissed after Zimmerman attended a pre-trial diversion program and a deal was made with his attorney to get the case dropped. In addition, police have fielded complaints from members of Zimmerman’s gated community about his aggressive conduct in the neighborhood. According to Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, “[The Sanford Police Department] just lied to the family. They just couldn’t see why [Zimmerman] would do anything wrong or be violent. But not only do you know the guy killed this kid, because he admitted to it, you knew that he has a propensity for violence because of his past record.”

Martin, on the other hand, was squeaky clean. An avid sports fan and horseback rider, he dreamed of attending college and becoming an aviation mechanic. His family still recalls the boy’s heroics at age nine, when he dragged his father from a burning kitchen. After the shooting, his father described his son as “a dear friend.”

The reluctance of the Sanford Police Department to arrest Zimmerman probably has something to do with Florida’s outrageous “Stand Your Ground” law. The law removes the duty of individuals to retreat from a confrontation and allows them to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that it is necessary to prevent death or “great bodily harm.” “Stand Your Ground” legislation was enacted in 2005 after being championed in the Florida state legislature by National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer. In support of the law, Hammer said, “Through time, in this country, what I like to call bleeding heart criminal coddlers want you to give a criminal an even break, so that when you're attacked, you're supposed to turn around and run, rather than standing your ground and protecting yourself and your family and your property.” But critics in Florida’s legal community dubbed it the “Shoot First” law and said that it “encourages people to stand their ground ... when they could just as easily walk away.” It has also been pointed out that the law “give[s] citizens more rights to use deadly force than we give police officers, and with less review.” A report by the South Florida Sun Sentinel vindicated these complaints, concluding, “several...accused murderers have successfully used [Florida’s] 2005 ‘Stand Your Ground’ law to prove they were the real victims.”

Three things are obvious to everyone: 1) Trayvon Martin was not a criminal; 2) George Zimmerman was not protecting either his property or family on the evening of February 26th, and; 3) Not only could Zimmerman have walked away that night; he actively sought out this conflict when told not to do so by law enforcement. No civilian gun-toter has a right to stand above the rule of law and serve as another human being’s judge, jury and executioner.

As of today, George Zimmerman remains a free man, with carte blanche to carry a loaded gun in public. Meanwhile, Trayvon’s family continues to mourn. "That was my baby, my youngest son," his mother Sybrina Fulton told ABC News. "He meant a lot to me, I don't think the police department really understands that ... I need justice for my family, I just want justice for my son."

If you’d like to help the Martin family, please do so by signing this online petition that calls on Florida’s 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute George Zimmerman for this murder.

[Audio clips of 911 calls made on the night of the murder can be heard here.]

Michigan's Rubber Stamp

Ten years after Michigan made it easier for residents to obtain concealed handgun permits, an investigation by the Center for Statistical Consultation and Research (CSCAR) has revealed numerous problems regarding the implementation of the law. Of particular concern is the inconsistent manner in which permit applicants and permit holders are screened for public safety.

Michigan’s “Shall-Issue” concealed carry law went into effect on July 1, 2001. It established “gun boards” in each of Michigan’s 83 counties “to issue, deny, revoke, or suspend a license to carry a concealed pistol.” The boards are required to issue a concealed handgun permit to any applicant who is at least 21 years of age, completes an eight-hour safety course (with three hours on the firing range), and meets a basic set of criteria in terms of criminal and mental health background.

Michigan residents are having few problems in meeting these criteria. The CSCAR investigation found that “the number of permit holders [in Michigan] is skyrocketing,” with more than 270,000 Michiganders holding permits today—twice as many as just five years ago.

The problems lie in the oversight of the permitting system. Each year, gun boards are supposed to submit a report to state police detailing permit applications (issued, pending and denied) and detailing any criminal charges against existing permit holders. But since the law was enacted, 43 of Michigan’s 83 counties have yet to file a single report. This has prohibited the Michigan State Police from discharging their duty to provide a complete annual report with these statistics to the state legislature. For example, during one recent year in Genessee County, the following incidents went unreported to the State Police: “a fatal shooting, a federal drug indictment, reckless use of a firearm and 61 other crimes.”

Other serious problems with the permitting system have been identified. Permits are given to applicants before criminal and/or mental health disqualifications expire; permit holders are mistakenly given exemptions to carry handguns in sensitive gun-free zones; and permits that have been properly denied are suddenly approved without any clear reason.

The CSCAR investigation has revealed several alarming cases in which concealed handgun permit holders committed horrific acts of gun violence:

• Jamar Pickney Sr., a 39-year-old from Detroit, was “convicted for killing his son with a bullet to the head in November 2009…after the teen told him he had sex with his 3-year-old half-sister.” The Wayne County clerk, however, never filed a report with the State Police.
  
  
• In May 2010, Edward Bell, a 66-year-old man from Detroit, “fired a .45-caliber handgun at an alleged carjacker.” But a stray bullet from his gun found its way into Geraldine Jackson’s apartment, killing the 69 year-old woman. Once again, because the gun board did not notify State Police, “the state’s public data does not reflect a concealed pistol license holder was charged with manslaughter.”
  
  
• Michael Alan Hettiger, now 53, fatally shot his son, Matthew Alan Hettiger, 28, in 2009. The shooting occurred after a fight between the victim and one of his brothers, while the victim was high on cocaine and drunk.” Michael Hettiger was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter and felony firearm use. His concealed handgun permit was suspended several days after his arrest, but as of the end of last month, “the imprisoned Hettiger’s long-suspended license hadn’t been permanently revoked.”

This blatant abuse of the law should have lawmakers worried. But when former state Senator Mike Green (R-Mayville)—the original sponsor of Michigan’s “Shall-Issue” law—was told some of the non-reporting counties are from his area, he responded, “I’m glad you told me that. I know those guys,” and laughed.

Prosecutors in Michigan have taken a different tone. Juris Kaps, a prosecutor in Van Buren County, refused to sit on his gun board, saying, “I have a lot of things to do and I’ve got better things to do than be a rubber stamp.” Kaps expressed concern about “the absence of a true check on [an applicant’s] mental health” and didn’t want to “get into a situation where [his] stamp of approval is on someone who is mentally deranged.”

We are constantly told by the National Rifle Association and its gun lobby partners that concealed handgun permit holders are the most “law-abiding citizens” in America. It’s now abundantly clear that such a guarantee holds little or no weight in Michigan.

Portrait of a "Responsible Citizen"

By now, most Americans are familiar with the extreme controversy that surrounds fundamentalist Christian pastor Terry Jones. What few realized until very recently is that Jones has been authorized to carry a loaded gun in 35 states across the country.

Rev. Jones runs the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. He first made national headlines in July 2010 when he announced plans to burn 200 copies of the Quran—the Muslim holy book—on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. “We must send a send a clear message to radical Islam,” Jones explained. “We will not be controlled by their fear, we will not be dominated. We feel it is time for America to be America.” He punctuated this message by posting signs along the church’s property that shouted, “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL.”

Jones was aware of how offensive the book burning would be. "We are definitely probably insulting all Muslims," he stated. "The fact that we offend them is the lesser of two evils."

It wasn’t long before a massive public outcry erupted that cut across party and ideological lines. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin called Jones’ plans “mean-spirited religious intolerance” and an “unnecessary provocation.” More alarmingly, General David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO Commander in Afghanistan, warned that “images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan—and around the world—to inflame public opinion and incite violence.”

Jones, under intense pressure, cancelled his event, but only temporarily. On March 20, 2011, he supervised the burning of a single Quran at his Dove World Outreach Center following an “Islam trial.” In a video, Jones can be heard commenting, “It actually burns very good."

The burning did not go unnoticed in the Middle East. On April 1, approximately 2,000 protesters gathered outside the United Nations office in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Violence erupted when protesters grabbed guns from UN guards and opened fire on them. The compound was stormed and when the smoke cleared 12 people lay dead, including seven UN workers.

Jones was sanguine in response. “We must hold these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities,” he said. The Pentagon saw it differently, speaking of the “tragic, deadly consequences” of Jones’ actions.

Just three weeks later, on April 21, Jones was endangering lives again, this time in Southfield, Michigan. The fundamentalist pastor was in town to appear on the Detroit FOX channel’s "Let it Rip” show. After his interview, Jones was escorted by police to his vehicle with his assistant pastor, Wayne Sapp (it was Sapp who physically burned the Quran on March 20).

When Jones got in the passenger seat of the car he accidentally fired a .40-caliber handgun into the floor of the vehicle. Officers who examined the car found another handgun belonging to Sapp under the driver’s seat. The two men were detained for a short period of time, during which the Southfield Police learned that both Jones and Sapp hold concealed handgun permits in Florida (because of a reciprocity agreement, Florida permit holders can carry their weapons in Michigan). But then, with little explanation, police returned both handguns to the men and allowed them to go on their way without filing any charges. This was despite the fact that, when asked about the discharge of the gun, Jones replied, “I have actually no explanation, no excuse.”

Jones was then free to proceed with a publicly-announced plan to arm himself and his followers during an upcoming Good Friday demonstration in the heavily Muslim Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan—an event which necessitated the involvement of riot police.

Florida is a “shall-issue” state, meaning the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services must issue a concealed handgun permit to any applicant who passes an instant computerized background check and takes a single, 3-hour training course. The permit is accepted in 34 other states and applicants are not required to be Florida residents in order to apply for one. The Florida permit has become popular with individuals of questionable character who cannot obtain permits in their own homes states. Plenty of unsavory characters in Florida are acquiring permits as well, whether it’s Rev. Jones, outlaw motorcycle gang members or individuals with extensive criminal backgrounds.

In commenting about Florida’s concealed handgun permit holders, longtime National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer remarked, “What other group has a better record of responsible citizenship?”

We can think of a few...

Designated Shooters

The January shooting massacre in Tucson reminded America of how easy it is for mentally unstable individuals to legally purchase firearms. With states across the country beginning to liberalize their laws to allow the carrying of firearms in bars at the behest of the National Rifle Association (NRA), it is pertinent to ask who is hanging around in your neighborhood pub, as a recent incident from Ohio demonstrates.

On March 16 at approximately 2:00 a.m., the Summit County Sheriff’s Office in Akron, Ohio got a strange 911 call. A local gas station employee reported a man who was claiming that he was being chased by an individual with a gun.

When officers arrived at the station, however, they discovered a different situation. The man in question, 25-year-old Joseph Deitch, was present, but no pursuer could be found. According to a report filed by sheriff’s deputies: “Deitch was found to have an empty holster in his waistband and ammunition on his person ... Deitch appeared unstable and it was determined that no other subject with a gun was involved. He indicated that he had given several guns to a friend earlier in the evening. Other guns and a large amount of ammunition were discovered in the parking lot inside Deitch’s vehicle.”

Deputies also discovered that Deitch has a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Ohio.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office soon received a call from the friend that Deitch had referred to. It turns out the he and Deitch had been at Brubaker’s Pub (about three miles from the gas station) earlier in the evening, and the friend had witnessed Deitch “make threats to shoot patrons of the bar.” Thankfully, Deitch left the bar before acting on these threats. His friend confirmed that he did indeed take possession of several of Deitch’s firearms as they departed the pub and went their separate ways.

Deputies’ next stop was the house where Deitch lives with his mother. At this location, additional firearms were found. All told, “10 handguns, shotguns, and assault rifles” were tagged and taken into evidence. At the conclusion of the investigation, Deitch was arrested on charges of aggravated menacing and booked into the Summit County Jail. More charges could be pending as the investigation continues.

Ohio is a “shall-issue” state where law enforcement has no discretion whatsoever in the issuance of concealed handgun permits. They must issue a permit to any individual who passes a computerized background check and undergoes the required 12 hours of training, including two hours shooting on a shooting range. Only permit holders who fail to renew their permits within six years need to retake this class—otherwise, it’s good for a lifetime.

Unfortunately, the background check for permit holders offers little in the way of mental health screening. Applicants who have been adjudicated by a court as a mental incompetent or involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution are disqualified from obtaining permits in Ohio. If Deitch fell under either of these two narrow categories (most individuals with mental health issues do not), his records were not found in any database.

On a positive note, under current Ohio law it is illegal for anyone to possess a firearm on the premises of a location that has a liquor license (it is unclear at this point if Deitch and his friend actually brought their guns inside Brubaker’s Pub). But that could change soon.

HB 45, which would allow Ohio’s concealed handgun permit holders to bring loaded guns into bars, was passed by a state House committee on March 16, the same day that Joseph Deitch threatened the lives of patrons in Brubaker’s Pub. Those carrying firearms into bars would be restricted from drinking alcohol, although the legislation does not specify any enforcement mechanism for this provision. Theoretically, a bartender would have to ascertain whether a customer has a gun every time he/she serves a drink. HB 45 would also allow concealed handgun permit holders to transport loaded handguns in their vehicles without having them secured in a holster, case, bag, or box.

Guns in bars legislation has not won any accolades with Ohio law enforcement. Cleveland Police Department Detective Stephen Loomis stated, “I have spent a career dealing with problems in bars, nightclubs, entertainment-district restaurants and men's clubs, and I can tell you without doubt or hesitation the introduction of firearms...will result in the senseless loss of human life … We're going to go from bar fights with bottles and fists to someone who pulls a gun and starts shooting the place up."

Mark Drum of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio added that he is concerned that the idea of a “designated driver would be replaced with a designated shooter.”

The Ohio House is likely to vote on HB 45 this week. The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence has issued an Action Alert encouraging Ohio residents to contact their state representatives to tell them to vote ‘No.’ For those who aren’t eager to share a drink (or meal) with the likes of Joseph Deitch and similar “law-abiding citizens,” your call can’t come too soon.

“How do you shoot someone eight times in self-defense?”

On February 10, National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. and declared, “Throughout history, one simple truth rings as loud and clear as a bell—the presence of a gun in the hand of a good person makes us all safer.” But a recent tragedy from Florida suggest that perhaps an earlier LaPierre quote—“The guys with the guns make the rules”—more accurately reflects the reality of contemporary America, in a “might makes right” kind of way.

On November 24, 2010, Thomas Baker, a 28-year-old resident of Town ‘n’ Country, Florida, decided to go for a jog. It wasn’t your typical run, however. Baker headed out at approximately 1:00 AM with $950 in cash and a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun.

18-year-old Carlos Mustelier and his 16-year-old friend saw Baker as they headed to a Beverage King in the neighborhood. Mustelier told his friend he was going to rob Baker. After leaving the store, which was closed, they saw Baker passing them again. “I'm going to bam him. I'm gonna knock him out,” Mustelier announced.

The two teens, clad in dark-hooded sweatshirts, confronted Baker. Mustelier closed in and punched Baker in the face, cutting his lip. "You wanna play games? You wanna play games?" Baker said to Mustelier. He immediately pulled out his handgun, centered his laser sight on Mustelier’s chest, and fired eight hollow-point bullets at point-blank range at the unarmed teen. Four bullets hit Mustelier: one in the chest, one in the buttocks, and two in the back. He was dead by the time paramedics arrived (Mustelier’s friend John Martinez rushed to the scene but was unable to revive him). Mustelier’s 16-year-old friend ran for his life, returning later when police arrived. Authorities searched both teens and found no weapons of any kind. Both had clean criminal records.

Detectives interviewed Baker and asked him, "When you go running at night in the neighborhood, do you normally arm yourself with a firearm?" "I always have it on me, unless I'm going to the courthouse,” Baker replied. As for the $950, Baker told detectives he was unemployed and made money fixing friends’ cars. He had just done some work for a friend and that’s why he had that amount of money in his pocket, he claimed. Finally, Baker said he shot Mustelier in self-defense because he thought the teen had a gun on him.

The story worked. Florida prosecutors determined that no charges will be filed against Baker.

The reason for that is Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” (aka “Shoot First”) law, which was drafted by the NRA and enacted in 2005. The law eliminates the common law duty to use every reasonable means available to retreat prior to using deadly force, which the Florida Supreme Court had legitimized by explaining, “Human life is precious, and deadly combat should be avoided if at all possible when imminent danger to oneself can be avoided.” The “Stand Your Ground” law states that any individual who is in a place where he/she has a legal right to be, and who is “not engaged in an unlawful activity...has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.” Individuals using lethal force in this manner are immune from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.

The law has been invoked in at least 93 cases in Florida involving 65 deaths, a recent St. Petersburg Times review found. "Whether it's trick-or-treaters or kids playing in the yard of someone who doesn't want them there or some drunk guy stumbling into the wrong house, you're encouraging people to possibly use deadly physical force where it shouldn't be used,” says Miami Police Chief John Timoney. The numbers bear that out—“Justifiable homicides” in Florida have increased from 43 the year the law was enacted to 105 in 2009.

The NRA couldn’t be happier with the results, calling its law “common-sense.” To the NRA, Thomas Baker was another “Armed Citizen” to be celebrated, and that is exactly what the lobby did, proudly announcing on the NRA News Twitter feed: “Florida: Jogger won't be charged in fatal Town 'N Country shooting.”

The family and friends who loved Carlos Mustelier feel differently. Vasilisa Akishina, a classmate and friend of Mustelier, laid flowers at the intersection where he was killed and reminisced about how, "he always made everybody smile." “He was just so generous with everything,” she recalled. Some speculated that there might have been an ulterior motive in the shooting, and referred to an earlier altercation Mustelier had with Baker's younger brother. But perhaps Dianela Gonzaez, Mustelier’s sister, summed up the absurdity of the incident best: "I know that he thought my brother had a gun. But I mean, it was eight shots fired. How do you shoot someone eight times in self-defense? That makes no sense."

No one should paint Carlos Mustelier as a hero in this incident—he was wrong to confront and attack Baker that night. On the flip side, Baker is no hero either. It’s hard to pinpoint the definition of “Looking for Trouble,” but leaving one’s house after midnight with $950 in cash and a loaded handgun must be close. And to fire repeatedly on an unarmed teenager—including three times in the back after he had turned to flee—is murder plain and simple, no matter what the NRA-drafted law in Florida now calls it.

What should have been a fistfight became a tragedy. A young man with his entire life ahead of him has been taken from his loved ones prematurely and unnecessarily. To the NRA, this is “good law” and “good order.” To those of us with a conscience who believe in the notion of a civilized society, it is anathema, and we must stand against it.

Colorado's Criminal Betrayer

In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, the National Rifle Association (NRA) continues to claim that those who carry concealed handguns in our communities are among most responsible and law-abiding Americans to be found. A recent story from Colorado, however, illustrates the disturbing actions of a high-profile permit holder who has shown little respect for his peers, his community, the philosophy of nonviolence, and the law.

Brett Reese, a Greeley-Evans School District 6 Board of Education member and owner of KELS Radio, has been in the media spotlight—both in Colorado and nationally—since the beginning of 2011. The attention he has been receiving, however, has not made for a positive start to his New Year.

On his radio program, “Pirate Radio,” Reese ran a segment at least twice per day from early January until Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 17. In the segment, Reese read comments on air about Dr. King from an “anonymous letter” he received three years ago. Reese called King a “plastic god,” a “sexual degenerate,” and an “America hating communist” and said that he was “a criminal betrayer of even the interest of his own people.” Internet browsers soon found the “anonymous letter” that Reese was reading from on the website martinlutherking.org, which is hosted by the white supremacist/neo-Nazi Internet forum Stormfront. When Reese was confronted about the fact that martinlutherking.org was designed by a white supremacist who pled guilty to a count of possessing child pornography in 2008, he stated, “I’m trying to explain the truth. Facts are facts, and truth is truth, whether it came from a white supremacist website or a Black Panther website.”

Meanwhile, Reese’s behavior took an even more bizarre turn on January 12. At a Greeley-Evans School District 6 board meeting, Reese told his fellow board members that he needed to carry his .45 caliber Kimber handgun on him at all times to protect himself because of “serious” threats he received over his continued radio broadcasts attacking the moral character and legacy of Dr. King. When asked if he would comply with a policy that prevents board members from carrying loaded handguns to the board’s meetings, Reese replied, “No, I won’t. I will protect myself.” The other board members were unanimous in their view that there were alternate steps that could be taken to ensure Reese’s well-being. The board then voted to hold future meetings at local schools. Colorado law specifically prohibits the carrying of firearms in elementary, middle, and high school buildings.

Reese’s odd behavior during the meeting was captured by the Greeley Tribute: “Reese was fidgety and nervous throughout the meeting, constantly checking the door. Before the meeting started, he questioned whether people were watching the entrances to the school. John Gates, director of safety and security for the district, told Reese that the only door open was the front door and anyone coming into the meeting room could only come through a door Gates was watching.”

But Reese wasn’t done yet. On January 21, Justin Sasso, a rival radio station owner, was granted a permanent restraining order against Reese. The order was issued in response to threatening voicemails that Reese left Sasso, in which he complained about sales representatives from Sasso’s KFKA contacting advertisers on KELS. Reese threatened a “shootout” to resolve the matter.

Sasso was asked if he would have taken the threat seriously if Reese wasn’t surrounded in controversy. “I couldn’t say if I would or would not have,” Sasso said. “ But we just came off the [shooting in Arizona of a United States Congresswoman], so to threaten a shootout not once, but twice, and never retract it or define it ... It immediately instilled fear in me.”

Under state law, anyone with an active restraining order is prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon in Colorado. Reese’s concealed handgun permit was initially suspended and then permanently revoked on January 21. The judge who revoked the permit, Charles S. Unfug, decided, “Shootout is a loaded word ... When someone says there will be a shootout, it is an implied threat of violence. There is going to be ongoing competition between the two men. I believe [Reese] would continue to commit acts unless restrained.”

Weld Sheriff's Deputy Bureau Chief Steve Reams has informed Reese that he can still continue to carry his loaded handgun in public, but only if he carries it openly. Reese has now changed his tune, however, saying that he will not carry his gun at all without a permit.

If the NRA and other gun rights advocates would have us believe that concealed handgun permit holders are well-vetted and among the most responsible gun owners in America, how do they explain the moral turpitude of Brett Reese?

Cold as Ice

In 2009, there were six confirmed mass shootings by concealed handgun permit holders in the United States (mass shootings are shootings that involve three or more deaths). 2010 has seen this disturbing trend continue, with deranged and dangerous individuals gaining easy access to firearms and carry permits. In a recent tragedy, a Connecticut gun owner who was supposed to be an upstanding, law-abiding citizen revealed himself to be a soulless, cold-blooded killer.

According to his girlfriend, Omar Thornton went to work at Hartford Distributors on August 3 as if it was any other day. When he was called into his supervisors’ office he seemed calm and collected. After his bosses showed him and a union official a video of Thornton stealing more than $400 worth of beer and empty kegs from a truck he was driving for the company, he was given the choice of being fired or resigning. Thornton quietly signed his letter of resignation.

While being escorted out of the room, Thornton asked for a drink of water. Seconds later, he retrieved a handgun from a lunch bag and shot his two escorts, initiating a deadly rampage. Company Vice President Steve Hollander recalled that, “[Thornton] didn't yell. He was cold as ice. He didn't protest when we were meeting with him to show him the video of him stealing. He didn't contest it. He didn't complain. He didn't argue. He didn't admit or deny anything. He just agreed to resign. And then he just unexplainably pulled out his gun and started blasting.”

It was 7:00 AM—shift change time—when 50-70 employees were entering and exiting the building. Thornton walked through the building methodically, firing on his co-workers. He killed eight and wounded two before taking his own life.

911 dispatchers received a phone call from Thornton just before he committed suicide. “This is a racist place,” he said. “They treat me bad over here. They treat all other black employees bad over here, too ... I wish I could’ve gotten more of the people.” Secretary/Treasurer of Teamsters Local 1035 Chris Roos reported that, “There is nothing on record of any complaints from Omar [regarding racism at Hartford Distributors] and there had been no disciplinary actions with him prior to this.” No formal complaints have ever been made against Hartford employees or management for being racist.

Police reported that Thornton brought two 9mm handguns to work that day in his lunch bag, including a SR9 Ruger semiautomatic handgun, which he told dispatchers was one of his “favorites.” Police also found a shotgun in Thornton’s car in the company parking lot. The handguns were registered (along with three other handguns that Thornton had at home) and all the firearms were legally purchased. According to Thornton’s girlfriend’s mother, Joanne Hannah, Thornton possessed a concealed handgun permit in Connecticut and was planning to teach her daughter how to use a handgun. Thornton listed Hoffman’s Gun Center & Indoor Range in Newington, Connecticut, as one of his Likes on his Facebook page.

Almost immediately after the shooting, commenters at the Connecticut Gun Talk Forum were blaming the tragedy on a “gun-free zone.” “You know someone had to say this, but if someone there [at Hartford Distributors] had been carrying there would probably have been fewer people shot,” said “Gun Techie.” He failed to note that Omar Thornton himself held a valid concealed handgun permit under Connecticut’s “May-Issue” law, and would have been one of the individuals authorized to bring a gun to work to “defend” his co-workers under such a plan.

“Rich_B” went even further than “Gun Techie,” placing the blaming directly on Hartford Distributors: “It should be illegal to make a workplace a 'gun free zone' (otherwise known as a 'victim rich zone') for employees unless the company is willing to take on the burden and liability of providing an adequate defense against bad things happening to its employees while they are on the premises.” He then suggested that the concealed handgun permitting process be eliminated altogether in Connecticut because, “All it does is make a hurdle for people to exercise their right to defend themselves.”

Then “Rich_B” added something truly interesting. “You cannot prevent bad people from getting a permit or a gun because bad people haven't always been caught or shown signs of being bad yet,” he pointed out.

No clear distinctions between “good guys” and “bad guys”? It makes one wonder how arming more people under our current laws could possibly make our society safer...

"A Coarsening of Society"

A fascinating story was featured this month on the cover of Harper’s Magazine. Entitled “Happiness is a Worn Gun: My Concealed Weapon and Me,” the article was written by author Dan Baum, a “fairly typical liberal Democrat” who recently obtained a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Colorado. Baum’s article provides a balanced and insightful perspective on the culture that surrounds the gun rights community.

In the piece, Baum traces his 49-year love affair with firearms, which dates back to the summers he spent at camp firing a .22 caliber rifle as an overweight child. As an adult gun owner, Baum readily admits that, “The sensual pleasure of handling guns is a big part of the habit ... They are deeply satisfying to manipulate, even without shooting.” After deciding that hunting and range-shooting was not allowing him to be close enough to his firearms (Baum wanted to “live the gun life”), he decided to apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon in his home state of Colorado.

A Right to Instant Gratification
In Colorado, just as in 37 other “Shall-Issue” states, the state must issue a permit to carry a concealed handgun to any citizen that passes an instant computer background check and meets a basic set of requirements. One of those requirements is to complete just three hours of training through an approved handgun safety course. This course need be taken only once—no additional training is required when a permit holder renews his/her permit every five years.

Baum, to his credit, went beyond the required three hours of training and took two separate handgun safety courses over the course of five days. He hoped to receive serious instruction as he took on the weighty and dangerous responsibility of carrying a weapon in public. In practice however, Baum found that his two classes “taught [him] almost nothing about how to defend [himself] with a gun” and “were less about self-defense than about recruiting [applicants] into a culture animated by fear of violent crime.”

At his first training class in Boulder, Baum’s instructor “packed about twenty minutes of useful instruction into four long evenings of platitudes, Obama jokes, and belligerent posturing.” He also openly admitted to breaking the law, saying he refused to get a carry permit because “I don’t think I have to get the government’s permission to exercise my right to bear arms.” A police officer taught the class a “legal implications” segment and encouraged the applicants to lie to police if stopped while wearing their guns. He then told the class that even though it is illegal to shoot a fleeing criminal, “If your aim is good enough, you have time to get your story straight before I get there.” The class was shown “lurid films of men in ski masks breaking into homes occupied by terrified women” and spent time examining pictures of a man that had been “slashed open with a knife.” In the course of four evenings, the applicants only handled their firearms once—shooting about 50 rounds at targets approximately 15 feet away.

Baum’s second class was at the Tanner gun show in Denver (the same place where Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold obtained their firearms). Baum described it as a “fifteen-minute recruiting pitch for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a long-winded, paranoid fantasy about home invasion ... ‘They know where your bedroom is, and they’re there to kill you.’” The irony in this, as Baum states, is that only 87 Americans were murdered during home burglaries in 2008: “Statistically, you had a better chance of being killed by bees.”

While Baum asserts that American citizens should be able to carry concealed weapons in public, he was deeply disturbed by his experience with the permitting process in Colorado, stating that, “It’s a scandal...that people can get a license to carry on the basis of a three hour ‘course’ given at a gun show. State requirements vary, but some don’t even ask students to fire a weapon before getting a carry permit.” Baum recommends that state governments “enforce high standards for instruction, including extensive live firing, role-playing, and serious examination of the legal issues ... States should [also] require a refresher course, the way Texas does, before renewing a carry permit.” Furthermore, “Since people can carry guns state to state, standards should be uniform.” As Baum notes, “The Second Amendment confers a right to keep and bear arms. It does not confer a right to instant gratification.”

A Different Mentality
An obsession with violent crime (“At class, it was hard to discern the line between preparing for something awful to happen and praying for something awful to happen”) is just one element of a gun culture that Baum found himself immersed in once he decided to carry a handgun in public. In Baum’s words, “Anyone who tells you he has no fantasy life constructed around his gun either has been packing it for as long as he’s been watching television or is flat-out lying.”

Another element is paranoia that national “gun confiscation is nigh.” Baum recalled a man selling Yugoslav AK-47s at the Tanner gun show and yelling, “Buy it now! Tomorrow they may not let you!” “You don’t think [Obama’s] waiting for his second term to come and get them?” he asked Baum. “You’re dreaming.” To Baum, such fears seem wildly exaggerated: “For as long as I’ve been voting, I’ve reflexively supported waiting periods, background checks, the assault-rifle ban, and other gun control measures. None interfered with my enjoyment of firearms, and none seemed to me to be the first step toward tyranny.”

Baum recalled another gun show dealer yelling to potential customers, “Liberals want to take away your gun and your McDonald’s both.” Baum discovered a “class-based resentment that permeates modern gun culture,” citing an editorial in the NRA’s America’s First Freedom magazine that characterized their opposition as “those who sip tea and nibble biscuits while musing about how to restrict the rest of us.”

Then there are the color-coded “conditions of readiness” that concealed handgun permit holders govern themselves by. Condition White is “total oblivion to one’s surroundings—sleeping, being drunk or stoned, losing oneself in conversation while walking in city streets, texting while listening to an iPod.” Condition Yellow is “being aware of, and taking an interest in, one’s surroundings—essentially, the mental state we are encouraged to achieve when we are driving.” It requires “being mentally prepared to kill.” Condition Orange is being aware of a possible threat and Condition Red is responding to danger.

Baum notes that “contempt for Condition White unifies the gun-carrying community almost as much as does fealty to the Second Amendment.” He was told by one of his Boulder instructors that “when you’re in Condition White you’re a sheep.” The American Tactical Shooting Association notes that the only time you should be in Condition White is “when in your own home, with the doors locked, the alarm system on, and your dog at your feet.” Gun carriers are instructed to be in Condition Yellow at all times.

After experiencing Condition Yellow for months, however, Baum found it to be “kind of exhausting.” He missed Condition White. “Condition White may make us sheep, but it’s also where art happens,” Baum says. “It’s where we daydream, reminisce and hear music in our heads. Hardcore gun carriers want no part of that.”

Drinking the Kool-Aid
Despite being critical about several aspects of the gun culture, Baum simultaneously seems to endorse some of its most well-worn talking points. In a recent radio interview, he argues that guns laws are “not going to keep guns out of the hands of the people that you don’t want to have them” and therefore “only really apply to the law-abiding.” He also suggests that “Shall-Issue” laws have had no negative effect on public safety. In making these claims, Baum examines long-term trends in violent crime rates in the U.S., but curiously fails to comment on gun death rates or compare America to other industrialized democracies. Gun violence prevention organizations do not argue that guns cause crime, but rather that the presence of guns makes attempted crimes, attempted suicides, and arguments/confrontations of all kinds more lethal.

One recent study found that U.S. homicide rates were 6.9 times higher than rates in 23 other high-income countries, driven by firearm homicide rates that were 19.5 times higher. These 23 nations uniformly have fewer guns per capita than the United States and far tougher gun laws. An examination of gun death rates within the United States finds that states with tough gun laws (including “May-Issue” concealed carry laws) like Hawaii, New York and New Jersey have the lowest gun death rates. States with weak laws (and “Shall-Issue” concealed carry laws) like Louisiana, Alaska and Nevada have the highest. This data provides little support for the notion that “an armed society is a polite society.”

Baum also erroneously states, “Young black urban men killing each other—that is the gun problem [in the U.S.] right now.” In reality, the claim that gun violence is a “black problem" hardly makes sense when one considers that out of the 31,446 gun deaths that occurred in America in 2005, 21,958 of the victims were whites, and from 1976 to 2005, 86% of white murder victims were killed by whites. Additionally, in 2008 the FBI reported 14,180 gun deaths, only 844 of which were gang related. The ten states with the highest rates of gun death per capita in the U.S. in 2007 were Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska, Alabama, Nevada, Arkansas, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona and West Virginia—predominantly rural states.

Finally, while acknowledging that “a lot of gun rights people are like the Taliban, if you don’t agree with them on absolutely everything you’re a friend of tyranny and a monster,” Baum does not fully grasp the political consequences of the gun rights movement’s agenda. He fails to perceive the “Insurrectionist Idea” that animates the movement—namely, the belief that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to confront “tyrannical” government with force of arms. Insurrectionists will naturally oppose any laws that allow government oversight of firearms ownership because they want to remain anonymous should they one day decide to wage war against our government. As Cato Institute analyst David Kopel puts it, “The tools of political dissent should be privately owned and unregistered.”

Insurrectionism is a far-right-wing ideology that opposes a strong, activist government in nearly all of its forms and, as such, presents a threat to the broader progressive agenda that Baum claims to support. Baum recently got the cold shoulder when his Harper's article was featured at "The Truth About Guns" blog. Author Robert Farago and commenters at the blog called Baum into question over "the obvious conflict of interest between his liberal upbringing and the consequences of his acceptance of gun ownership," with one reader comparing the current Democratic Leadership in Congress to Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Heinrich Himmler.

Not a Prop
Baum has decided that he will probably stop carrying his handgun in public. “It’s uncomfortable, distracting, and freaks out my friends; it’s not worth it,” he says. Baum felt that carrying his gun had “militarized [his] life” and brought out impulses in him that he disliked, including “social pessimism” and “irrational fear” (“You don’t want to contribute to a coarsening of society by preparing to kill at a moment’s notice”). Ultimately, he had to remind himself that his gun “is not a prop, a political statement, or a rhetorical device, but an instrument designed to blow a ragged channel through a human being.”

Shooting Buddies

The National Rifle Association has long perpetuated the myth that Americans are under grave danger from hardened criminals who want to steal their property and exterminate their families. Whether it’s ridiculous pronouncements like, “America, by its free and independent nature, is a breeding ground and safe haven for violent, illegal immigrant criminal gangs,” or morbid declarations such as, “I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em," the NRA rarely misses an opportunity to stoke the paranoia of the gun industry’s customer base.

The truth is, however, that Americans are far more likely to be harmed by people they know in their everyday lives than faceless criminals. Far too often, perpetrators of homicide are family members, friends, significant others, co-workers, and acquaintances of their victims…and even fellow gun owners, as a recent story from Ohio tragically reveals.

On July 5, Mark Valentino was arrested and charged for the murder of his cousin and friend Hershell “Louis” Roberts in Licking County. Valentino admitted to shooting Roberts as well as stealing firearms and money from his home.

Sherriff Randy Thorp stated that Valentino and Roberts shared a love of target practice and often fired guns on a range in Roberts’ backyard. Roberts’ son-in-law, Jake Morgan, said that Valentino often took advantage of Roberts’ hospitality and generosity—Valentino would stay at his home for weeks at a time. Roberts was apparently either unaware of, or unconcerned about, Valentino’s Indiana criminal record, which included probation violations, bad checks, and even domestic violence.

When Roberts was found dead at his home, his 20 year-old son told investigators that Valentino had a long-standing interest in his father’s missing gun collection. Allegedly, Valentino shot Roberts after a dispute regarding two guns that Valentino sought for their value. “He needed the money that bad,” Morgan said. “[Roberts] would have given it to him, if [he] had it.” Morgan described Valentino as a man “with no conscience.”

Police arrested Valentino after a 15-mile pursuit that concluded when Valentino lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a ditch. According to Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt, Roberts’ firearms and the suspected murder weapon were found in the vehicle in the resulting search.

Valentino’s story bears eerie similarity to that of another individual “with no conscience” who preyed on a fellow gun enthusiast: Timothy McVeigh.

McVeigh bombed the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, an act of terrorism which claimed 168 lives and injured more than 680 people. Well before the bombing, McVeigh was a regular on the gun show circuit, where he sold firearms through unregulated private sales (no background checks, no records of sale). While working at gun shows, McVeigh befriended an Arkansas gun dealer named Roger Moore. Moore testified that McVeigh stayed in his home from time to time as he traveled around the country. According to police, in order to fund the Oklahoma City bombing, McVeigh and Terry Nichols—his co-conspirator in the bombing—robbed Moore of his gun collection while holding him at gunpoint. Moore claims that he lost $60,000 worth of guns, jewels, silver bars and gold coins in the robbery.

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, only 87 Americans were murdered during burglaries in 2008, despite the fact that only one out of every three American households now has a firearm. As one author recently noted, “Statistically, you had a better chance of being killed by bees.” There were 7,912 homicides in 2008 for which the FBI could establish a relationship between the murderer and the victim. 78% (6,170) of these victims knew their murderer—only 22% (1,742) were murdered by a stranger. Not only do 78% of victims know their murderer—43% of homicides are caused by simple arguments over money, property and other mundane matters. In comparison, only 9% of murders are gang-related.

The NRA’s scare tactics regarding the “criminal element” are an effective sales pitch and certainly better the gun industry. If an American is convinced that their family is under overwhelming threat from unknown outsiders, a gun purchase will seem like a wonderful idea, and he/she will certainly underestimate the harm that that gun could cause within their home while in the hands of someone they know and/or love.

Stories like that of Mark Valentino and Louis Roberts betray the NRA’s version of “reality,” depicting common scenarios where the “home invader” is someone you’ve welcomed in countless times, and where your firepower makes you a potential target and not someone to be avoided.

Children in the Line of Fire

The United States, with its weak gun laws, remains an exceptionally dangerous place for children. Approximately nine children and teenagers die every day from gun violence in America. In any given year, the U.S. loses more than 3,000 children and teens to gun violence; a number greater than the number of Americans that were killed in the 9/11 attacks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American children age 14 and below are sixteen times more likely than children in other industrialized nations to be murdered with a gun, eleven times more likely to commit suicide with a gun, and nine times more likely to die from firearms accidents.

A spate of recent tragedies reminds us that children remain vulnerable even when their parents are among the most highly qualified gun owners in America—concealed handgun permit holders. For years, the gun lobby has told us that permit holders are some of the most law-abiding and responsible citizens in the country. The problem is that in approximately 40 states, little is done in terms of screening or training requirements to assure that this is the case.

• On January 8, Jaritza Alvarado’s eight year-old son Jose found her 9mm handgun and tragically shot himself in the chest. Alvarado, a resident of Allentown, held a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Pennsylvania. The boy’s father told police that the previous night he had seen the gun on the dresser in the couple’s bedroom. Just before going to bed, he grabbed the weapon, loaded it, racked a round into the chamber, and placed it in a backpack on the floor of the room. That backpack belonged to Jose, who stored his video games inside it. The following morning, as his parents slept, Jose opened the backpack to find the handgun sitting on top of his games. He fatally shot himself, waking them up immediately. After searching the home, police found an extra gun magazine in a kitchen cabinet, next to a two-liter bottle of soda that had a hidden compartment used to store cocaine.
  
  

• Marine Sergeant Colton Lumon was at home with his wife and two daughters on February 21. As nine month-old Makenna sat in her high chair eating fruit, Colton practiced drawing and “dry firing” his handgun at candles across the room. During one draw he applied too much pressure to the weapon and it accidentally discharged, striking Makenna in the hand and head. She was pronounced dead two hours later. Colton had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Virginia and told police he kept his weapon loaded with a bullet in the chamber at all times.
  
  

• On February 27, 11 year-old Randy Reddick, Jr. was accidentally shot and killed in front of his home in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Earlier that day, his father, Randy Reddick, Sr.—a concealed handgun permit holder—had removed his 40-caliber Glock pistol and placed it in the center console of his truck before entering the post office. When the family returned home later that day, Randy Sr. sent Randy Jr. and his 10 year-old son outside to get his coat from the truck. The 10 year-old found the gun, which had been left in the truck, and accidentally shot his brother in the head, killing him instantly.

None of the three states in which these tragedies occurred—Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida—require any real training for concealed handgun permit holders. Pennsylvania requires no training whatsoever. Virginia requires applicants to take a one-hour online test (applicants watch a 1/2-hour video and then answer a 20-question multiple-choice test at the website). Florida requires three hours of classroom instruction. Once satisfied a single time, the Virginia and Florida requirements are good for life. Additionally, none of these states have any mandatory safe storage requirements for firearms kept in homes where minors are present.

The results, sadly, are predictable: Unnecessary and heartbreaking tragedies that claim the most precious and vulnerable members of our society. We could—and should—be doing a lot more to protect children like Jose Alvarado, Makenna Lumon and Randy Rennick, Jr. It is a stain on our nation’s conscience that we are not.