Mass Shooting News

On bus shelters and social media sites starting Wednesday, a provocative advertising campaign will begin rolling out to promote a new type of insurance — one that protects against different varieties of gun violence.

The insurance would cover things like accidental or unintentional shootings, mass shootings, and gang- and domestic violence-related gun violence.

But those interested in getting this insurance — if there are any — may be disappointed.

The phone numbers and website information actually leads to a campaign — called “Actions Speak Louder Than Guns ” —  supporting universal background checks for gun purchases at the federal level, and state legislation to provide funding for to fight local gang-related gun violence.

Steven Bash, an El Camino Real Charter High School student who was part of a youth team that hatched up the “Mad Men”-style advertising campaign, admits it is a “publicity stunt” — but a needed one to jolt his high school peers and adults into action.

“I feel terrible that it’s come to this,” the 17-year-old said, adding that the idea of gun violence insurance is “something that should never have to be a real thing.”

Bash said that many of his fellow classmates care about the issue of gun violence, but there is not enough action being taken by both his peers and adults to reduce the availability of guns.

Bash is part of a youth council put together by Mayor Eric Garcetti to take part in a campaign to get laws passed to limit the availability of guns. The council includes high school students from South Los Angeles, the Harbor area, and throughout the San Fernando Valley.

For Angela Saha, a senior at Van Nuys High School, the idea of gun violence insurance may not be all that far from a reality in which students participate in active shooter drills and bullet proof backpacks are being sold. But things should not be that way, she said.

With the advertising campaign, Saha said they are hoping that “there is no need for this preparation ever.”

“No matter how prepared you are you can’t tell students to prepare to die because of someone not being able to control their wanting to shoot or take a life basically,” she said.

And they are not stopping at just an advertising campaign. Saha and Bash both are now hoping to create more awareness around legislation that would reduce gun violence, and they are looking to inspire others to back them up through future events.

Saha is actively involved in creating events that bring several schools together, and to get students to become voters once they become 18. Bash previously worked to raise awareness about anti-gun violence legislation, gathering up classmates to observe the 19th year anniversary of the Columbine mass shooting.

“We’re trying to be the example that others should follow,” Saha said. “(For) people who have power, they should also be following our footsteps to see not only the statistics of how a child loses their life to gun violence, but also not only just giving prayers and condolences, but actually making laws and legislation.”

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Families outside of the Al Noor Mosque, one of two targeted in the March 15th shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.

David Alexander/AP

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David Alexander/AP

Families outside of the Al Noor Mosque, one of two targeted in the March 15th shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.

David Alexander/AP

The man accused in the mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques has been charged with carrying out a terrorist act. Brenton H. Tarrant, 28, already faced 50 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder for the March 15 shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

An additional murder charge was lodged against him on Tuesday in relation to a Turkish man shot in the attacks who died earlier this month at Christchurch Hospital.

Tarrant, who is an Australian citizen and a self-described “white supremacist,” wrote an anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim manifesto before the attacks. New Zealand has made it illegal to possess the manifesto or video footage of the attacks, which the shooter streamed live online via Facebook.

In a statement, New Zealand police said they are charging Tarrant with engaging in terrorism under the Terrorism Suppression Act. New Zealand enacted the law in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and the charge filed against Tarrant is the first of its kind. Following the shooting, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, “It is clear that this can only be described as a terrorist attack.”

Less than a month after the massacre, New Zealand passed a law banning most semiautomatic weapons, and Ardern urged social media companies to monitor their platforms more aggressively for extremist content.

Last month NPR reported on the recent spate of attacks at churches, mosques and synagogues:

“Over the past few months, attackers have targeted places of worship around the world. On Saturday, a gunman opened fire in a California synagogue on the last day of Passover, one of the holiest holidays in the Jewish calendar. The attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue outside San Diego followed a series of explosions on Christian churches in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday; mass shootings at New Zealand mosques last month; and a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh six months ago.”

J.M. Berger, the author of Extremism, spoke with NPR’s Ailsa Chang about how the internet has facilitated a rapid spread of extremist ideologies expressed by suspects like the New Zealand shooter — and he noted that a shooter at a San Diego synagogue had modeled his attack after Tarrant’s.

“Now, if you go back to the 1980s and 1990s, extremist ideologues had to make a videotape. And then that videotape would be passed around. Somebody would have to carry it somewhere or mail it somewhere. This process was expensive, and it was slow. And with the rise of the Internet, an extremist ideologue or a mass shooter can create a document, distribute it instantly to thousands of people who then spread it to thousands more. And there is very little friction to stop that from happening.”

Both the murder and terrorism charges against Tarrant are punishable by life in prison. His next scheduled court appearance is in June.

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Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, the Texas house of worship that was the target of a deadly mass shooting in 2017, welcomed congregants into a new sanctuary on Sunday.

The space is three times the size of the previous location, local news station KXAN reported. A memorial room was built next to the sanctuary to honor the 25 churchgoers who were killed by a 26-year-old former U.S. Air Force employee, in what became the state’s worst mass shooting in modern history. Half the victims were children.

During Sunday’s service, the names and ages of the victims were read, including the name given to a pregnant victim’s unborn child. As each name was spoken, the church’s restored bell, which hung in the previous structure, tolled.

In a message of strength, Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in the massacre, reminded worshippers that the bricks and mortar are not what matter most.

“What I pray that everyone will remember is the church is still thriving, and the church is not the building,” he said. “It’s all who have the blood of Jesus Christ within their heart and up on their soul.

Elected officials including Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, as well as Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, spoke at the service, all delivering words of hope to the church.

“The opening of this new worship center ushers in a new era of healing for this congregation and for the entire town of Sutherland Springs,” Abbott said. “I have no doubt that God will continue to work through this community to write the next chapter for the remarkable and faithful people of Sutherland Springs.”

Today’s dedication ceremony of First Baptist Church’s new worship center and memorial ushers in a era of healing for the congregation and for the entire community of Sutherland Springs. https://t.co/RlNJzG7rj5 pic.twitter.com/EfIlIM1ANt

— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) May 19, 2019

In a tweet Sunday, Cornyn praised church members for their resilience, stating that he felt “honored” to be at the service.

“No community should ever have to face tragedy like this, but in the face of hatred, they never let darkness prevail,” the senator said.

No community should ever have to face tragedy like this, but in the face of hatred, they never let darkness prevail. I was honored to join these inspiring Texans today for the grand opening and dedication of their new worship center. pic.twitter.com/mzeos89nVG

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 19, 2019

Soon after the shooting, the Air Force revealed that it had not recorded shooter Devin Patrick Kelley’s domestic violence conviction in a federal database that would have prevented him from purchasing a gun. The oversight allowed Kelley to pass a handful of background checks and then buy firearms legally.

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The citizens of Switzerland has supported the tightening of rules for the sale of guns in the country in accordance with the norms of the European Union.

According to the Sunday referendum’s official data, almost 64 percent of the country’s residents favored tightening weapons control. In particular, from now on, when buying new weapons — from pistols to rifles — it will be necessary to obtain permission from the regional supervisory authorities. Opponents of the referendum argued that this was the first step towards the disarmament of Switzerland.

Sputnik has discussed the issue with Alexander Frind, Political scientist of the GfS Bern Research Institute.

Sputnik: Where does the controversy lie? What were the differences with other EU countries?

Alexander Frind: Switzerland has a longstanding tradition in sports shooting and mandatory military service requiring soldiers to store ordonnance rifles at home and complete annual shooting exercises. This is unique in European comparison. Gun legislation has also been more liberal than Germany or the Netherlands for example.

Opponents of the new regulation saw an excessive restriction of legal gun ownership and feared a loss of the shooting tradition. Proponents made the benefits of the Schengen-Dublin agreement a priority early on in their campaign. The Swiss voters ultimately valued the Schengen-Dublin membership higher than private gun ownership.

Sputnik: Why was the EU concerned about Swiss gun laws?

Alexander Frind: The amendment of the EU directive required all members of the Schengen-Dublin agreement to adopt national regulations. Early on in the negotiation process with the EU, the Swiss government, however, managed to get exceptions concerning military rifles in private ownership.

Sputnik: The reform won 63.7 percent of the ballot with only canton Ticino rejecting the legal amendment. Why is it so? What is the gun tradition in different areas of Switzerland?

Alexander Frind: In general, competitive shooting is more common in rural areas. Communities with a higher number of shooting clubs were also less in favor of the new gun regulations.

In the canton of Ticino, the No-vote was of political nature. It was an expression of Anti-EU sentiment and disagreement with Swiss-European affairs which is less pronounced in other parts of the country. In addition, the Swiss people’s party was joined by the Lega in the canton of Ticino, leading to greater momentum for the No-campaign.

Sputnik: What are the new requirements of the law, what is the difference with the current legislation?

Alexander Frind: Semi-automatic firearms with large magazine capacities are now treated as banned weapons, like fully automatic firearms. Purchase now requires a special permit. Before the referendum, it was possible to purchase semi-automatic firearms after a mandatory background check.

In the future, shooters need to prove after 5 and 10 years that they are still actively practicing. Collectors need to follow new requirements for safe storage and provide evidence. If shooters and collectors fail to provide these proofs, guns can be confiscated. The situation for hunters and private ownership of ordonnance rifles remains unchanged.

Sputnik: What were the arguments of the law opponents?

Alexander Frind: The opponents framed the new regulation as “anti-swiss” and contradictory to the shooting tradition. They also viewed the regulation as disarmament of the citizens and feared excessive bureaucracy.

However, their core messages spoke primarily to their supporters They failed to convince a wider audience with noties to the shooting tradition. Outside of the voter base of the right-wing Swiss people’s party, all other parties accepted the new regulation with strong majorities.

Sputnik: What has the situation with the firearms been so far in Switzerland? Were there any Columbine-like incidents?

Alexander Frind: Switzerland has never experienced incidents like the US, but two shootings lead to heated national debates. The mass shooting at the parliament of the canton of Zug in 2001 lead toincreased security measurements in local parliaments. In 2007, a teenage girl was shot dead in Zurich with a military rifle. After this incident, various organisations launched a popular vote in favor of tighter gun laws and abolishing home storage of ordonnance weapons. This initiative was rejected by a majority of 56 percent in 2011.

Sputnik: Nearly 48 percent of Swiss households own a gun — it is one of the highest rates of private ownership in Europe. How does the country manage to avoide mass shootings?

Alexander Frind: Estimates suggest about 2 million privately owned guns in Switzerland. From a legal perspective, mandatory background checks are in place to make sure only persons with a clean record are allowed to buy a firearm.

In light of the strong shooting tradition (e.g. the Knabenschiessen, one of many youth competitions), responsible and safe use is being taught from an early age. The proponents of the new regulations also expect prevention of firearms misuse due to improved cantonal registers and firearm markings.

Sputnik: How strong is the gun lobby in Switzerland?

Alexander Frind: The referendum comitee, composed of several shooting associations and individuals, managed to collect 125.000 signatures within a short time. The quorum for a referendum is 50.000 signatures. This shows the organizational strength of shooting associations. On the other hand, like most clubs or associations in Switzerland, shooting clubs attract fewer members. Private ownership of ordonnance firearms has also become less popular.

Sputnik: What consequences and reaction can we expect to see after the law is implemented?

Alexander Frind: The popular vote shows a high level of trust in the Swiss government. Authorities were not only able to negotiate exceptions from the rule, but they also managed to convince the voters of the importance of Schengen-Dublin for security and the Swiss economy.

Proponents argue that the changes will have only minor effects. Opponents expect further gun restrictions in the future and increasing adaption of EU-laws without being a member state.

Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Alexander Frind and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

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The school shooting in Colorado is another painful reminder of the crisis of mass shootings in the US. It’s another shooting that claim innocent lives, while law-makers are barely thinking or making any serious effort to address the rapid increase of gun violence.

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This mass shooting would have been more costly in human lives had it not been for the heroic intervention of Kendrick Castillo. As a society, we can do better than rely on the intervention of children to save other children. The gun violence issue and the long list of school shootings mandate a deeper conversation among all stake holders, schools administrations, parents, civic and faith leaders and the law enforcement agencies. Education, training and awareness are key to help prevent such horrific senseless crimes. Such partnership and collaboration will help save lives and help contribute to our common safety everywhere and at any place. No one is immune from being a victim and no entity is immune of being a target.

Hopefully, Kendrick’s sacrifice will spur action. We need sensible gun control laws in our nation. These ongoing tragedies merit serious attention, otherwise, people such as Kendrick will assume responsibility and pay the highest price in order to protect themselves and others from acts of such nature. The right to life is the most precious human right and all other rights are secondary.

The World Health Organization wrote: ‘In the past few years, firearms-related death and injury have been called everything from a “scourge” (1) to an “epidemic” (2), a “disease” (3) and a “preventable global health problem” (4). The biological analogies are not accidental or far-fetched.’ It is all of the above and the most important aspect of the problem is that it is preventable. Human causes the problem, human agency can prevent gun violence.

We urge our elected officials to rise to the occasion and honor Kendrick with a plan of action to save lives and not stay within vicious circle of politics as usual. Gun violence deaths are preventable deaths. We can do better.

Imad Hamad is the executive director of the American Human Rights Council.

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It wasn’t a cheerful graduation statement, but it’s hard to dispute the sincerity behind Gina Warren’s grad-cap statement against gun violence or her standing to have an opinion on the matter.

She and fellow members of the Class of 2019 have grown up with more senseless school shootings than any class before; it’s understandable that she wants that trend to end.

Warren, whose commencement from Teays Valley High School was Sunday, drew viral online acclaim after tweeting a photo and explaining her mortarboard decoration: a QR code connecting to a website listing 50 teens who have been shot to death at their schools, going back to and including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Atop the list of lives lost, Warren wrote: “I graduated. These high school students couldn’t.”

It seems a heartfelt statement of the personal connection many high-schoolers feel to the uniquely American tragedy of random gun violence. Warren said she was inspired by the activist response of many of the students who survived the February 2018 attack at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a 19-year-old former student who had been expelled is accused of going to the school and killing 17.

Several Douglas students became nationally known as advocates for gun control and youth activism; their movement inspired “March for Our Lives” demonstrations across the country and is credited in part with substantially increasing young voter turnout in the 2018 election.

Who can blame an American high-schooler for feeling that gun violence is national crisis?

Schools aren’t the only settings for mass gun violence, of course. Americans have been equally horrified by scenes of slaughter at churches, cinemas, concerts and workplaces. And preventing such tragedies, in a society in which so many people have guns, has proven difficult.

While many of the policies advocated by the March For Our Lives group — universal background checks, red-flag laws and laws targeting gun trafficking — are reasonable and sensible, critics are correct when they say such measures won’t prevent the next mass shooting by a disturbed individual.

One approach, though, almost certainly would save lives: requiring those who have guns to store them safely. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that, of the 14,000 American children killed by guns in the past decade, more than a third committed suicide. Another 6% were shot accidentally.

How many of those young people might still be alive if they hadn’t been able to get their hands on a gun?

This should be an easy thing for policymakers to agree on. In fact, groups that typically oppose each other on gun issues already have agreed: In 2017, the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics joined with the Columbus Division of Police and gun-rights groups including the Buckeye Firearms Association on the “Store it Safe” campaign.

An earlier study, reported in JAMA in 2010, showed that more than 80% of children who committed suicide with a firearm did so with a gun belonging to a parent or other relative.

The plea of Warren and others — simply to make the mass shootings stop — doesn’t have an easy answer. But while thornier issues are debated in Ohio and elsewhere, lawmakers should seize the chance to prevent tragedies by requiring adults to make their guns off-limits to children.

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It wasn’t a cheerful graduation statement, but it’s hard to dispute the sincerity behind Gina Warren’s grad-cap statement against gun violence or her standing to have an opinion on the matter.

She and fellow members of the Class of 2019 have grown up with more senseless school shootings than any class before; it’s understandable that she wants that trend to end.

Warren, whose commencement from Teays Valley High School was Sunday, drew viral online acclaim after tweeting a photo and explaining her mortarboard decoration: a QR code connecting to a website listing 50 teens who have been shot to death at their schools, going back to and including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Atop the list of lives lost, Warren wrote: “I graduated. These high school students couldn’t.”

It seems a heartfelt statement of the personal connection many high-schoolers feel to the uniquely American tragedy of random gun violence. Warren said she was inspired by the activist response of many of the students who survived the February 2018 attack at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a 19-year-old former student who had been expelled is accused of going to the school and killing 17.

Several Douglas students became nationally known as advocates for gun control and youth activism; their movement inspired “March for Our Lives” demonstrations across the country and is credited in part with substantially increasing young voter turnout in the 2018 election.

Who can blame an American high-schooler for feeling that gun violence is national crisis?

Schools aren’t the only settings for mass gun violence, of course. Americans have been equally horrified by scenes of slaughter at churches, cinemas, concerts and workplaces. And preventing such tragedies, in a society in which so many people have guns, has proven difficult.

While many of the policies advocated by the March For Our Lives group — universal background checks, red-flag laws and laws targeting gun trafficking — are reasonable and sensible, critics are correct when they say such measures won’t prevent the next mass shooting by a disturbed individual.

One approach, though, almost certainly would save lives: requiring those who have guns to store them safely. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that, of the 14,000 American children killed by guns in the past decade, more than a third committed suicide. Another 6% were shot accidentally.

How many of those young people might still be alive if they hadn’t been able to get their hands on a gun?

This should be an easy thing for policymakers to agree on. In fact, groups that typically oppose each other on gun issues already have agreed: In 2017, the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics joined with the Columbus Division of Police and gun-rights groups including the Buckeye Firearms Association on the “Store it Safe” campaign.

An earlier study, reported in JAMA in 2010, showed that more than 80% of children who committed suicide with a firearm did so with a gun belonging to a parent or other relative.

The plea of Warren and others — simply to make the mass shootings stop — doesn’t have an easy answer. But while thornier issues are debated in Ohio and elsewhere, lawmakers should seize the chance to prevent tragedies by requiring adults to make their guns off-limits to children.

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Judging solely by a preponderance of small but well cared for homes in the area, the 4200 block of Cody Drive looks to be a placid, quiet place.

An older man labored behind a push mower in the afternoon heat Monday. Another guy had his head under the hood of a car. Two others lingered under shade trees in a cul-de-sac.

Yet there were signs of disturbance less than 48 hours removed from the chaos of a shooting death in the street Saturday night.

A pair of detectives, nearly identical in matching Winston-Salem Police Department golf shirts, khakis, sunglasses and closely cropped hair, knocked on the door of a house littered with lawn furniture, an empty cooler and trash spilling over from a large can — almost certainly the scene of a house party.

When no one answered, the detectives waved down the occupants of a small black Honda who’d just been interviewed by a TV news crew and asked a few questions of their own.

For the second time in as many months, whether authorities want to call it one or not, sleepy little Winston-Salem has suffered a mass shooting.

Thirteen people with gunshot wounds — one young man died — in separate incidents that took less time than it takes to fill a car with gas.

For what, exactly?

These things usually wind up taking the form of a scorecard. The places, more so than faces, become iconic. Outside family and friends, nobody remembers the dead.

Thirteen at Columbine. Thirty-two at Virginia Tech. Twenty-seven in Newtown, Conn. Fifty-eight in Las Vegas.

The same goes on here at the local level. Witness the standard closing line from the official police news release about the shootings Saturday that left 23-year-old Jalen Cockerham dead in the 4200 block of Cody Drive.

“This is the 6th homicide to occur in 2019, as compared to 9 homicides for the same period of time in 2018.”

The first mass shooting happened in April outside a troublesome nightspot in the 500 block of North Cherry Street.

A conga line of strip clubs and bars filled the space through the years. Xpressions, Winkers, Harper’s, Lollipops, Nova Lounge, whatever its proprietors want to call it, the name didn’t matter because trouble inevitably followed the place like flies to an outhouse.

Early on the morning of April 7, a Sunday, seven people suffered gunshot wounds outside the club. Cops found three victims, all in their 20s, outside the club. Three other victims made their way to local hospitals on their own.

Investigators’ best guess is that there were at least two shooters — 12 shell casings from two different caliber guns were found — and that those involved had been fighting about … something.

The next one, this past weekend, happened on quiet Cody Avenue, where another fight over God knows what resulted in another mass shooting.

Violence too great to ignore

Whether that’s due to prurient interest, concern, fear or plain old curiosity is anyone’s guess, but my money’s on the prurient — or the morbid — mostly because of the collective shrug these things tend to inspire.

Just six? One dead? That’s nothing.

I’d even venture to say that nobody — not even police tasked with unspooling this latest mess — is looking at either incident as a mass shooting.

The victims, apparently, weren’t strangers and neither incident carried a whiff of randomness. Both resulted from fights of some sort made worse by the hot-headed instinct to settle disputes with firearms.

Nor was there anything particularly unusual about the weapons involved. Not by American standards.

There are no indications that anyone used assault rifles, high-capacity magazines or any of other gimmicks favored by modern mass murderers — just dime-a-dozen semi-automatic handguns available to anyone, anywhere at any time.

Weekend shootouts with 13 people shot, one killed and one left in critical condition over … what? Women? Money? An insult, real or imagined?

The dead man, according to his social media persona, appeared to have a fixation with gun culture. That’s neither a knock nor a slight; it’s just one fact among many that make up the entirety of someone’s story.

A recent post that quoted a rapper, left without comment, is sad for its somber prescience: “Your funeral gonna be more packed than your birthday party. Because (people) would rather see you on your back than on your feet.”

The scope of the recent violence is too great to ignore. In two months, we’ve had two mass shootings. If you’re keeping score, that’s 13 victims shot in less time than it takes to tweet.

It was just another weekend in America, two more mass shootings in a nation awash in blood. Only this time, again, it was our turn.

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“It’s kind of sad today because this temple has meant so much to so many,” said Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky. “The beauty of the temple is not the beautiful structure. It’s the people who were brought together, the messages, the love, the hope that was shared, and the resilience that has been shown by this community.”

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