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Reprimand Texas Rep who tweeted ‘guns are a god-given right’ after Odessa massacre

Odessa, TX 1 September 2019 – Seven people are dead and approximately 17 others are injured – including an infant – after America’s latest mass murder enabled by gun proliferation, Texas’s weak laws on gun control, and the NRA.

When gun law reform individuals and groups take to social media demanding change after tragedies, they are are always told by pro-gun factions ‘it’s too soon to talk about gun control’ or ‘don’t politicise shootings’.

However, it seems that Texas Representative Matt Schaefer feels he is not too soon in saying guns are a ‘god given right’ and that he will not do anything – not a single thing –  to stop the problem: other than praying.  He tweeted:

The picture (left) is of 17-month-old Anderson Davis – shot in the face by the killer.

Texas is about to further loosen its lax gun laws; we will take a separate action soon to the state governor.

#DoSomething is a social media hashtag that was created to link tweets and posts asking for gun law reform.

 

 

ACTION:

Please contact Matt Schaefer through one of the channels below and give him the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

For Twitter:

 @RepMattSchaefer You tweeted ‘guns are a god-given right’ after the murder of 7 and wounding of 17 in TX: this is unacceptable. Killing is not a god-given right, and AR-type weapons are for killing. You may want to resign and let someone who’s competent take over #DoSomething

(For Facebook, just use the message above, and customize it.  There is a long thread on his page where he is being condemned – let’s be counted in there too).

 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MattForTexas/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/RepMattSchaefer

 

Finally, if you are in a position to make a donation, large or small (and many of us just can’t – that’s fine), here is the Go Fund Me link for helping Anderson Davis; she’s had operations, and is likely to continue to need them as she grows – probably for most of her life.  https://www.gofundme.com/f/17-month-old-that-was-shot 

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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‘Good guy with a gun’ myth is destroyed: tell your elected reps

In an explosive Colorado Sun article, the myth of a ‘good guy with a gun’ who will stop school shootings is discredited forever:  tell your elected representatives they can never hide behind it ever again.

The Colorado Sun reports on findings following a deadly school shooting in May:  “STEM School Highlands Ranch asked the private security company hired last year to patrol the K-12 campus to make sure its security guards were unarmed.

“But when two students began a deadly attack at their school in May, the on-duty guard not only had a gun, but court records indicate he shot and wounded an uninvolved student while accidentally firing at a responding sheriff’s deputy.

“Additionally, the gun the guard was carrying appears to have been concealed because ‘STEM administration and leadership were not aware that the guard was armed,’ the school said in a written statement.”

The deadly attack by two students was bad enough – but this guard, concealing a deadly weapon in violation of the school district’s law, shot a student.

The security guard was apparently from the local sheriff’s office, and would likely have had weapons training from that role.

 

The NRA and its paid-for elected officials like to tell us that having ‘a good guy with a gun’ is the cure for any and all mass shootings:  after this excellent piece of investigation by the Colorado Sun, make sure that they don’t ever try to pull that myth again.

Imagine how terrifying it was for all those students – and for a student who was shot by a security guard who should not have had a gun in the first place.

Douglas County School District policy forbids private security guards from carrying concealed guns on its campuses.

ACTION:

Please contact your congresspeople through the link below (and by all means contact your State Governor if you wish too) and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

The NRA makes the argument that mass shootings including school shootings can be stopped if there are armed personnel on site.  In a shocking case from Douglas County, CO, we now know that ‘good guys with guns’ do shoot innocent people.

The US gun slaughter epidemic  militarizing our schools, which should be carefree places for learning in a secure environment without the fear of violence or the need for petrifying active shooter drills,

Instead of creating meaningful gun laws, many politicians have been instead encouraging an escalation, and not only want to have armed personnel in schools, some are actually wanting teachers to cross-train as potential deadly force security.  The claim that ‘one good guy with a gun’ is the rallying cry for such NRA-funded representatives:  but after the Colorado STEM school incident in May, this logic has been discredited forever.

A security guard – who should not have been carrying a gun – had a concealed weapon.  When two students went on a murderous shooting rampage at the school:  this guard actually shot and wounded a student who was merely a bystander.

We know that many semi-automatic weapons fire many rounds per second, and many high-powered weapons can be used from a great distance:  having  an armed ‘good guy’ could not have stopped the Los Vegas massacre, and now we have proof that in the heat of an event, a ‘good guy’ is likely to shoot an innocent person.

I want to take this opportunity to ensure you know that in the next elections I will only be voting for candidates who have signed up to March for our Lives’ Peace Plan. If you haven’t signed, you need to.  I want you to write back at your first convenience and tell me whether or not you have signed.  You will not get my vote if you don’t, and I will be watching this closely.  Here’s where you sign up:  https://marchforourlives.com/peace-plan/ .

Find your congressperson here:  https://www.conginst.org/contact-congress/

Find your state governor here:  https://www.usa.gov/state-governor

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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Take the NRA Survey and tell them how you feel

August 2019 – The National Rifle Association has a new survey, which seems more like a PR exercise and fundraiser – you are asked to donate after taking it.

The questions are of course loaded and not balanced as you would expect from the pro-gun lobbyists.

For instance the survey asks “Do you agree that law-abiding citizens should be forced to submit to mandatory gun registration or else forfeit their guns and their freedom?” – the NRA equates its false interpretation of the Second Amendment (they always ignore the ‘well-regulated militia’ portion of the amendment).

Why wouldn’t a law-biding citizen want their gun registered?  Is it against freedom then that people need to register their cars?

ACTION

Let us tell the NRA what we think of them and their survey.

Follow this link and answer their questions:  https://membersurvey.nra.org/2ASurvey/Survey3 .

One Pulse for America will not tell you how to answer them, but as a member of the group, we know you will tell the NRA you want guns registered and semi-automatic weapons off our streets.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Support March for our Lives’ game-changing Peace Plan

August 2019 – March for our Lives, the gun law reform campaign group, has launched a new manifesto.

As Ladd Everett shared with One Pulse for America’s Facebook group yesterday, this is the deal:

March For Our Lives released a revolutionary new gun control policy document today titled “A Peace Plan for a Safer America.” It recommends:
1) National gun licensing and registration
2) Computerization of gun sale records
3) National gun buyback program to reduce American stockpile of firearms by at least 30%.
4) Repeal of legal immunity for gun industry
5) Blanket prohibition on online gun sales
6) Assault Weapons Ban
7) National requirement to safely store firearms and report theft/loss within 72 hours
8) Declaration of national emergency by president
9) Launch of public safety campaign to educate Americans about dangers of owning a firearm (homicide + suicide risk)
10) $900 million over eight years for community intervention programs in urban areas
11) Automatic voter registration at 18
12) Attorney General study questioning validity of the DC v. HELLER decision (2008) by Justice Scalia.
As Ladd wrote, “…Incredibly inspiring. This will change GVP advocacy for the better!”
One Pulse for America is only too happy to support this initiative.
ACTION:
Later on we will be taking an action to write to all  congresspeople seeking re-election.  For now, all you need to do is sign up for March for Life’s Peace Plan here:  https://marchforourlives.com/peace-plan/ – and ideally share it too.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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Thank Albuquerque Mayor Keller for life-saving initiative

Albuquerque, NM – The City of Albuquerque is pushing a new initiative to keep young people safe from guns.

KRQE reports Mayor Tim Keller signed an administrative instruction banning firearms from all of the city’s community centers, multi-gen centers, and senior centers.

He cited 27 gun offenses reported at these centers in a four-year period and a tragic  May 2013 shooting that killed an 8-year-old girl at the Alamosa Community Center.

In a press release the city announced it will have more information at a press conference on how it plans to address domestic terrorism in the mayor’s so-called “Project Guardian” initiative.

Doubtless pressure from pro gun groups will be on him and his administration:  that is why One Pulse for America will show him support.

ACTION:

Please contact Mayor Keller through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

I want to thank you for signing the administrative instruction banning firearms from all of the city’s community centers, which serve over 200,000 children.  I know that this is going to save lives.

I understand that 27 gun offenses were reported at these centers in a four-year period and there was a May 2013 shooting that killed an 8-year-old girl at the Alamosa Community Center.

Your  “Project Guardian” initiative sounds very promising, and it’s good to see a city take positive action on the country’s gun injury and death epidemic.

 Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller:

Phone:  (505) 768-3000

Email: (form)  https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/contact-us/email-the-mayor

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MayorKeller/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MayorKeller

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Send Condolences to El Paso Shooting Widower

ACTION UPDATE:  17/8/19 hundreds attended the service, flowers and sympathy messages arrived from around the world. It’s things like this that remind me that most people are good at heart https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/16/us/el-paso-shooting-margie-reckard-funeral-trnd/index.html

El Paso, August 2019 – Mr Antonio Basco invited all of El Paso to attend the  funeral for his wife, murdered in the El Paso shooting.

A gunman with a white supremacist agenda killed several innocent people at an El Paso Walmart store .

While we should and do mourn for shooting victims all over the country, with the murder of his wife, Margie Reckard, Mr Basco now feels he has no one left.  The city of El Paso and the country have come out to pay their respects.

Please post a message here https://www.facebook.com/PerchesFuneralHome/posts/2867143899979615 or try email (but it is inundated) info@perchesfuneralhomes.com or follow the link to send condolences via the funeral parlour.

(Note:  This action was posted on Facebook yesterday; if you have taken the action, please fill in the fields to record that you have done so, thank you).

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Illinois mayor: cut militarized police raids after 12 year old shot

A woman whose 12 year-old child was shot by police in a dawn raid is suing.

On 26 May 2019, according to the lawsuit filed by Crystal Worship, the mother, some two dozen Country Club Hills and Richton Park, Illinois SWAT officers entered her home in May with exploding flash-grenades and automatic rifles to execute a search warrant intended for her boyfriend. During the raid, her  son, Amir, was allegedly shot by a white officer as he sat on his bed with his hands in the air and suffered a shattered kneecap.

Blasting News reported “As Amir started screaming, Ms Worship asked officers in the next room if they were “shooting” the children, the lawsuit says. Officers allegedly refused to tell her what happened and “lied to her and told her they shot someone walking past outside.” (-as if that were somehow acceptable or reassuring).

One child was cuffed and left in a police car according to the mother, and flash  grenades were used at 5am, terrorizing the household.

Were the police looking for dangerous terrorists, a cache of guns?  They were looking for Ms Worship’s boyfriend who had been accused of drug possession.  Those charges were since dropped.  And in the meantime, “According to an orthopedic doctor, Amir will not be able to play any sports again, will have difficulty in physical education, will walk with a limp, and will have difficulty walking and running for the rest of his life,” the lawsuit states.

The increasingly militarization of civil police forces is an issue – and people are being shot, killed, harmed.  Should someone sought for drug possession lead to 24 gun-toting police to break into a house?  It seems rights are a thing of the past.

ACTION

Please contact Illinois Governor  J B Pritzker through one of the channels below and give him the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

I am pleased to know you are looking after citizens’ rights and will not allow ICE to operate private facilities in the state.  I agree ICE is out of control and denying people their basic rights:  but so are your increasingly-militarized police force.

I read about the lawsuit filed by Crystal Worship after bungling, dangerously inept police raided her home, terrorised her family with flash grenades at 5am, had some 2 dozen masked, camouflaged, gun-brandishing men round her and her children up. The reason?  Her boyfriend was wanted on some sort of drug charge that was later dropped.  And in case you didn’t know:  they shot her 12-year-old child in the knee, and he will never play sports again.

Who is paying for all this military hardware, police time and planning over a drugs possession charge?  How many such raids are taking place?  How are they getting authorized?  With financial pressures on the state, is it really appropriate to continue like this?  What about rights?  Who will pay for this family’s suffering and their medical bills?

The situation is a disgrace and it needs sorting out at the gubernatorial level – clearly the police have lost all sense of perspective.  I expect to see you take action to help this specific family and to ensure that this kind of senseless, rights-destroying, terrifying raid is a rarity used only in the most extreme cases.  I expect to hear from you by reply.

Phone:  217-782-6830 or 217-782-6831

Email: (form) https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/contactus/Pages/AssistanceRequest.aspx

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/GovPritzker/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JBPritzker

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

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Police who shot naked teen dead ‘justified’ claim lawyers

7 August, 2019; Oklahoma City – Attorneys representing  the two police officers who shot and killed a naked black teenager in May claimed the killing was justified in court papers today.

Two officers claim they tased Isaiah Lewis, 17,  multiple times with no effect (NB – tasers can be lethal, and no one should be tased multiple times).   They already knew he had had some form of breakdown, whether permanent or temporary was irrelevant (he had THC and an antihistamine in his system, nothing else).  He had run through the streets naked, and allegedly broken and entered.  He.  Was. Unarmed.

It is not clear whether the officers could have, as one might have immediately and reasonably done, just cornered/contained the 17 year old and called for an ambulance and medical crew to deal with the obviously mentally-unstable man.  They killed him instead.  As One News reported at the time of the killing, the same force had managed to arrest without killing an armed white teen who had murdered his parents.

According to Buzzfeed’s report back in May , there are discrepancies between police and witness claims, and that neither of the police involved in the killing were wearing bodycams, apparently not fully distributed to the force.  It is claimed Isaiah Lewis had previously assaulted other police officers, one had a head injury of some kind.

Officers Box, 56, and Scherman, 24, were placed on administrative assignment.

ACTION

Please contact Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater through one of the channels below and give him the following message, personalized to your liking:


I am sickened to learn that defense attorneys claim that  17 year-old Isaiah Lewis’ killing is considered ‘justified’,  and I expect your office to be robustly investigating the many questions around the killing.

It seems pretty clear that police statements do not add up ( for instance how does an unarmed naked teen pose a lethal threat to two trained, armed police officers  who should have been trying to get medics and an ambulance to deal with the situation?). 

The following questions need to be addressed at any trial, and the stunt pulled by the attorneys representing the killers can only serve to have further distressed the deceased’s family and friends:

Questions arising:
*  Why wasn’t an ambulance immediately called when it was clear the teenager was suffering some kind of mental health episode?  Whatever the cause of it, it was a medical situation as well as any potentially criminal one.

 

*  What injuries precisely were suffered by which officers that required them to go to hospital?  Were they serious enough to require medical treatment, or as is often the case, did they report to hospital in order to be able to say hospital treatment was needed should any legal action later arise – such as for an unlawful killing?  The exact injuries need to be disclosed.
*  Did other officers have body cams?  Why didn’t the two responding officers wear body cams?  Was absolutely nothing caught on cameras by anyone?  Did any other cameras record any of the episode?
*  Why is there a discrepancy between the deceased’s girlfriend – who says she never claimed she was assaulted and the police who claim they were told she was?
*  How precisely were tasers used:  how many times fired, to what part of the body, by which officer(s), and were the tasers deployed correctly by trained officers?  A taser, used correctly should be able to stop anyone – in fact they are occasionally fatal (beanbag guns, such as used in Europe, will unfailingly knock a weapon-holding person over, likely disarming them without the brain or cardiac damage tasers do).
*  How close were the police when they fired; how much time in between each round being fired and how did this not stop the deceased; was he still in a position to pose a threat to the two officers, unarmed as he was after multiple taser shots and being shot once – and they after being shot multiple times?
* And sadly, in today’s climate, any trial must also be told of any racial discrimination, race hate groups, and any racial incidents either officer may have been involved with.

I will be watching this situation carefully, and I expect to have all of these questions fully answered – and to see that justice is done.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

Phone:  (405) 713-1600

Email:  (if any One Pulsers can find this, please let me know, thank you)

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/okgov/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/OKdistattorneys

personalised to your own liking, to the

 

 

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Texas: Stop your gun-happy police from killing more of us

1 August, Arlington, Texas – a homeless woman lying on the grass prompted people to call the police.  Sent to check on her welfare, police shot her while they were trying to shoot her dog.

Apparently the homeless woman was passed out; she may simply have been sleeping.  Her dog, said to be a small, young pitbull cross allegedly ‘charged’ at the police – so  they decided to take out a gun and shoot it multiple times.

Only they missed, and the woman, Margarita Victoria Brooks, was hit, later to be pronounced dead in hospital.

 

We have not seen the officers’ bodycam footage yet; it will be shown to a court.  This is neither protecting nor serving.

ACTION

Please contact Arlington police through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

A woman lies dead after one of your officers decided to try to shoot her dog and missed:  I want such a person immediately relieved of any duty without pay, and I want your guarantee such a trigger-happy person will not kill again.  Get them out of policing now.

I cannot believe that your officers saw fit to try to shoot a dog as a first resort, even if it was ‘charging’.  Is this really what your training says?  If so, you need to reassess before more animals and people are senselessly killed.  I would like to hear why your officers, upon seeing this allegedly dangerous dog, continued to approach and call out without first getting any protective clothing, tasers, an animal handler unit.  If the woman was unconscious and had a dangerous unrestrained dog – they should have got an animal specialist.  If she was awake and moving, then you had no further business with her.  Which was it?  Your officer fired multiple shots, clearly in the woman’s direction:  this is unacceptable.  How many times has this officer used his gun?  What were the outcomes?  We need to find this out as soon as disclosure is legally possible.

If the footage 100% confirms your officer’s version of events, you still need to do some serious re-thinking of how you deal with unresponsive people especially if they have dogs, even if dogs are running at you.  There are alternatives to guns.

If the footage does not 100% confirm that a clearly dangerous dog made your trained officers fear for their lives so much so that they had to shoot, then you and your organisation are deeply flawed and deeply responsible for this avoidable death.  Many of us are working hard to teach that guns are only ever a last resort:  if as it seems guns are Arlington Police’s first resort, perhaps you should resign en masse.  The message you send out about immediately escalating to lethal force is one with dangerous repercussions all around us, and this has to stop.   I will be watching this situation, and demand justice for this woman (and what have you done with the dog?).

Arlington Police:
Phone:  817-459-5700

Email:  (their website is conveniently down at present)

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ArlingtonPolice/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ArlingtonPD

 

Please copy Governor Abbott on your correspondence to the police:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TexasGovernor/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GovAbbott

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

 

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Recall Congress to vote on Gun Control Bills ASAP

The number of gun murders and massacres so far this year is staggering, devastating and wholly unacceptable.

Mitch McConnell must – immediately – recall Congress to address this and to hold votes on gun control bills he has been sitting on.

USA Today explains the two bills in an article on 5 August:

H.R. 8: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019

In February this year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 8: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.

NBC News image of Mitch McConnell

This bill passed 240-190, with eight Republicans joining almost all Democrats to vote for the bill.  This bill would prohibit most person-to-person firearm transfers unless a background check can be conducted, aiming to close a potential loophole allowing the transfer of firearms without a background check at gun shows or between individuals.


The Senate has not taken any action on the bill since the House passed it.

 

H.R. 1112 Bipartisan Background Checks Act

This bill would extend to at least 10 days the amount of time firearms dealers must wait for a response from the background check system before the sale can proceed. Currently, they can make the sale if they haven’t received a response in three days.

H.R. 1112 passed in February 2019 by a vote of 240-190. Like H.R. 8, the Senate has taken no action on the bill since it passed.

Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer is among those calling for Congress’ recess to be cut short, as is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.  She tweeted to Senator Mitch McConnell, who is responsible for the bills’ lack of progress, writing:  “The House passed HR8, a Bipartisan Background Checks Act, *5 months ago* and the Senate has yet to vote on it. It was one of our 1st major priorities after ending the gov shutdown. You’ve been sitting on it since February giving bogus excuses. Care to explain the people why?”

ACTION

Please contact your elected representatives through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 In light of the country’s recent spate of gun murders including Gilroy, Dayton and Chicago, and especially in light of the El Paso massacre in which an AK-47 style assault rifle was used, I want to see Congress recalled immediately to address the nation’s gun death epidemic.

Two bills are with Senator Mitch McConnell – HR 8 and HR 1112:  these need to be put to a vote immediately, and Senator McConnell should be made to explain why he has sat on them since February. 

I will be watching to see what happens and how my representatives vote:  anyone who is still taking money from the NRA and who is not actively working to improve America’s gun laws will not be getting my vote.     It is a shame that Senator McConnell has suffered a broken bone:  but this must not stand in the way of calling Congress back from recess.

I am not remotely interested in your thoughts and prayers for those who have been killed:  I am only interested in your concrete actions to stop more avoidable gun murders. 

Find your congressperson here:  https://www.conginst.org/contact-congress/

And/or copy Mitch McConnell on your message:

Mitch McConnell
Phone:  (270) 781-1673
Email:  (form) https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactform
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mitchmcconnell/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/McConnellPress

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!