the ninnies are coming! Stop Gun Violence Convention

[dZ]

http://www.gunfree.org/content/frame_home.html

http://www.gunfree.org/content/pdf/e...2_brochure.pdf

Stop Gun Violence Convention – CSGV – WINNING IN 2002

February 21-23 – Arlington VA

$110 a person.

Since September 11th, our country has renewed its commitment to national
security. In many ways, our work to reduce gun violence is chiefly concerned
with providing security and increasing freedom. It is far too easy
for young people and criminals to obtain guns in America, and in fact, there
have been instances of terrorists taking advantage of our lax gun laws to
obtain firearms . Since background
checks are currently only done on half of the firearm transactions in
America, criminals and young people can simply obtain firearms through
unregulated private sales.



For years, gun violence prevention advocates have argued that a handgun in
the home makes that home more dangerous. That message is resonating. From
1993 to 1999, handgun production dropped in America 52 percent. Accompanying
the decline in handgun production has been a 27% decline in firearm deaths
during that same time frame. Still, 28,874 Americans were killed with
firearms in 1999 which surpasses the number of Americans killed by drugs,
alcohol, or AIDS. Clearly, we have a lot of work to do.



The Citizen’s Conference to Stop Gun Violence is a two day training session
designed to equip concerned citizens with
the knowledge and tools to make their communities safer. This year’s
conference has been divided into four tracks to fit the needs of those new
to gun violence prevention and those who are more experienced activists.



Featured Speakers



Celinda Lake – Lake, Snell, Perry, and Associates

Bill Jenkins – Survivor and Author of “What to do when the Police Leave”

Benardo Rosa – Community Wellness Partnership

Jeri Bonavia – Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort

Phillip Alpers – Gun Policy Researcher

Maria Garin-Jones – Child Welfare League of America

Joshua Horowitz – Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence

Linda Harlee – Child Welfare League of America

Alliance For Justice

Tom Maher – Edison Group

Ellen Buckman – Association of American University Women

Claude Robinson – Urlich Children’s Home

Ginni Wolf – Marylanders against Handgun abuse

Marc Schindler – Youth Law Center

Jon Vernick – Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research

Edyie Andrews – Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence

Rebecca Peters – The Funders’ Collaborative on Gun Violence Prevention



Four Tracks

1. Participating in Elections
There are a variety of ways activists can become active in the 2002
elections. These workshops will highlight the races where gun violence
prevention will be an issue and how activists can best get their message
out.

1. How 501 c3s and 501 c4s can participate in the electoral process.

2. Hot electoral races in 2002

3. Doing your part: How to participate in Elections

4. Media strategies



2. CLOSING ILLEGAL MARKETS
Background checks are only conducted on just over half of of the firearm
transactions in America. The remaining sales are conducted no questions
asked and these sales are a conduit for criminals to obtain guns. If firearm
deaths are ever to be drastically reduced, the pipeline of guns to criminals
must be shut off.

1. A Model System of Licensing and Registration

2. An advocate’s guide to firearms litigation

3. Licensing and Registration research

4. State Education Panels



3. INVOLVING YOUTH Despite negative media portrayls, overwhelming numbers of
young people want to make a positive contribution to their community. Young
people enthusiastically support tough gun violence prevention measures and
can be a great resource for your work.

1. Trends in the gun industry

2. Juvenile Justice Approaches to Gun Violence

3. Youth Development

4. Ymedia: A Youth Anti-Violence Program



4. Recruiting New ACTIVISTS The gun violence prevention movement needs the
energy and enthusiasm of new people. Americans know how terrible gun
violence is, but they are looking for ways to become involved. Workshops at
the conference will introduce concerned citizens to the basic issues around
gun violence.

1. Guns 101

2. New Research

3. Coalition Building Across Diverse Communities

4. Convincing your neighbor to support gun laws.

[RickD]

I wouldn't spend the $110 to enter the affair, however, when just such an event came to my town, we had a dozen of us picket outside. Lots of press follow the socialist antis around. We stole 15 seconds of airtime from them.

Then, about a year later, we had our own Gun Safety Forum in the same building. It was partially sponsored by www.saf.org . 300 people attended. Hardly any press, lots of pro-rights legislators, though.

Rick

[Tamara]

In many ways, our work to reduce gun violence is chiefly concerned with providing security and increasing freedom.

That is doublespeak of truly Orwellian quality: "We are going to increase your security by disarming you and increase your freedom by passing more laws restricting you".

[WyldOne]

this may (or may not?) sound weird. but, if i had the money, time off work, and way to get there, i'd go in a second.

[dZ]

ignoring these dolts will serve us no American liberty pie,
shining the Spotlight of freedom on them will make them scuttle off nattering

who wants to play "Annoy the Socialists?"

we should have 4 gunnies inside attending the conference tracks
& 100 on the sidewalk

notice that AGS, MMM, & HCI are not listed...

interesting

could we TFLers pony up WyldOnes expenses?

[TheBluesMan]

"The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence's mission is to stop gun violence by fostering effective community and national action." Source

"The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence: Composed of more than forty organizations and 100,000 members that advocate for a ban on the sale and possession of handguns and assault weapons." Source

At least they're upfront about their goals. :barf:

A *BAN* on the sale and possession of handguns and assault weapons (i.e. semi-automatic firearms). You know what that means?

Confiscation. Plain and simple.

MOLON LABE!

[dischord]

28,874 Americans were killed with firearms in 1999 which surpasses the number of Americans killed by ... alcohol

That is simply not true. They are counting only deaths were alcohol is the "explicitly mentioned" cause, and are excluding alcohol-related disease and alcohol-related adverse effects. The number of alcohol-related deaths annually is more than 100,000 -- more than three time the number of gun-related deaths.
http://alcoholism.about.com/library/narmort01.htm

And you have to wonder: how many "gun homicides" and "gun suicides" actually are alcohol related?

No, I'm not anti alcohol either, but let's stick to the facts. (Oh, silly me, the facts get in the way of the agenda, don't they?)

Since background checks are currently only done on half of the firearm transactions in America, criminals and young people can simply obtain firearms through unregulated private sales.

Half? HALF? HALF? HALF?.

I'd love to see the source for that (untrue) factoid.

[dischord]

Bluesman:

"The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence: Composed of more than forty organizations and 100,000 members that advocate for a ban on the sale and possession of handguns and assault weapons." Source

Oops Bluesman: It didn't say that on the page you linked (Note that no matter how many times you click to new pages on the Gunfree.org site, the URL stays the same, so you simply linked to the first page you went to. On gunfree.org, you have to right click and look at "properties" to see the actual page you are on).

But you are correct, these folks support handgun bans.

See: http://www.gunfree.org/content/coali...l_aboutus.html

CSGV supports a ban on the importation, manufacture, sale and transfer of handguns and assault weapons, with reasonable exceptions for police, military, security personnel, gun clubs, and antique and collectable firearms stored in inoperable condition.

[RickD]

That is doublespeak of truly Orwellian quality: "We are going to increase your security by disarming you and increase your freedom by passing more laws restricting you".

Well, it does come from Orwell's time. The "freedom" that these leftists talk about is what *they* like to label "positive freedom" (see Bovard's "Freedom In Chains").

It is the same concept that FDR espoused. "Freedom from fear and freedom from want."

Freedom from fear sounds like what a parent would say to a child. "It's okay, baby. Everything will be alright. Mommy is here to protect you." Of course, we know that such promises to a child cannot fully be actualized. It makes the child feel safer, but the child is not safer.

The problem with "positive freedom" is that unlike "negative freedom" (yeah, that is what the socialists of the 1930 (both communist and fascist) called it), "positive freedom" comes only when government takes from one to give to the other.

A person (supposedly) has freedom from want only when government takes from another. A person freedom from fear when all of the good guys give up their guns. And so on.

Just more leftist babble.

Rick

[KSFreeman]

Coming??? I thought the blissninnies were already there? Who else would be making all those feckless laws.

I'm for stopping handgun abuse too. For example, I'd love to see an end of people abusing their poor pistols by putting lasers, phasers or wind speed indicators on them. Those poor, poor handguns. (Oh, let's do this--for the children).

[sumabich]

DZ, count me in for a few bucks to send the Wyldone to VA. Wyldone you better start asking for time off!

[Crimper-D]

Might not be a bad idea. Not to pay a lot of attention to the content of the featured speakers, their lines are well known and commented on alredy, but a look at the people who are organizing the function and where they come from and who's backing them might be an interesting series of stories.

[gburner]

'28,874 Americans were killed with firearms in 1999.....'

"Would ya's prefer they was pushed outta windows, little goil?"
Archie Bunker.

Results of the use of firearms doesn't even come close to the mayhem, injury and death caused by the ingestion of alcohol! Who are they trying to fool?

[Marko Kloos]

Banning booze didn't work, and a case of gin is much more difficult to hide or transport than a handgun. The Prohibition was a failure which cost us half our civil liberties...so let's make the same mistake again and lose the rest of them as well.

:barf:

[Navy joe]

From
1993 to 1999, handgun production dropped in America 52 percent. Accompanying
the decline in handgun production has been a 27% decline in firearm deaths
during that same time frame. Still, 28,874 Americans were killed with
firearms in 1999 which surpasses the number of Americans killed by drugs,
alcohol, or AIDS. Clearly, we have a lot of work to do.

Oh, that's a new one! Lemme see, isn't that the same time that more states passed CCW, the crack craze of the early 90's slowed down and oh yeah, American gunmakers continued to suck while mfgs. like H&K, Glock, and SIG grabbed a ridiculous amount of the firearms marketshare? These people got a way with numbers.

[JoshM75]

Featured speaker: Phillip Alpers, "Gun Policy Researcher"

This guy is actually New Zealand's lead anti gun proponent, before moving to CA.

Alpers always refers to himself as a "Gun Policy Researcher" which the media blindly accepts him as, yet his agenda is extremely and covertly anti gun/self defence.

Basically his policy is exactly the same as Brady's.

The fact that this guy can make a living as an imported anti gun expert say's something about the funding and determination of some anti gun funders.

I'm guessing Monster.com 's AGS.

[dischord]

Alpers:

From 2000, here

<snip>

a Dunblane laws "fact" sheet floating around written by some fellow named Philip Alpers who fancies himself a "gun policy researcher” (Dunblane laws are those enacted after that madman shot up a school in Dunblane Scotland in 1996). Alpers April 2000 "fact" sheet is at various places, including the Bell Campaign (Million Moms) web site at http://www.bellcampaign.org/fact/Pub...shguncrime.htm .

Alpers writes, “As the UK handgun ban took effect, the most closely related category of crime also dropped: ‘The number of handgun offences...fell by 21% in 1997, near which level they have remained’” (his ellipses; he’s quoting the UK home office in the latter half).

Read that carefully: "As the UK handgun ban took effect." Laws don't cause change simultaneous to their passage; they cause change afterwards. The ban was passed in id 1997. As Alpers states elsewhere in his "fact" sheet, the confiscation program took until March 1998. How can the 1997 drop be attributed to a 1997 law (a piece of paper) that took until 1998 to put into effect?

Further, look at the last clause: "near which level they have remained." This means handgun offenses **did not drop** after 1997 – they stayed at the same level that they were the year the ban was passed. Since the true measure of a law is what happens *after* its passage, then we have to conclude from this that – at best – it had no effect.

Now, consider this sentence from Alpers' "fact" sheet: "The number of gun-related deaths has also declined markedly. In 1998/99, 49 people were victims of firearm homicide in Britain, down 66% since 1993."

1993? 1993?? 1993????

What does a measurement from 1993 have to do with the effectiveness of a ban passed in 1997 and not fully effected until 1998? What this sentence shows is that there already was a downward trend in gun homicides prior to the law, raising doubt as to whether it was the Dunblane laws or the already existing trend that was responsible for any decline after 1997.

In fact look at the numbers for all the years, from 1993, and we see that the downward trend preceded the Dunblane laws http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib...9/rp99-056.pdf)

Gun Homicides
1993 - - - 74
1994 - - - 66
1995 - - - 70
1996 - - - 49
1997 - - - 59
1998 - - - 49 (Alpers' number, not in my source)

But what strikes me is the focus on "crimes involving guns" rather than crime overall. Does a reduction in "gun related homicides" translate into a reduction in murders overall? That’s important, after all: Small consolation to the family of a victim if he was "lucky" enough to be stabbed to death rather than shot.

In fact – leaving aside that the trend has nothing to do with the Dunblane laws – the downward trend in gun murders did not equal a reduction in murder overall.

Overall Homicides (% by gun)
1993 - - - 565 (13%)
1994 - - - 632 (10%)
1995 - - - 663 (10%)
1996 - - - 584 (10%)
1997 - - - 650 (9%)

For 1993 to 1997, despite a nearly 34% drop in gun homicides, there was a 15% increase in overall homicides. Gun murders simply become a lower percentage of overall crimes – it looks like the theory of weapon substitution played out.

<snip>

[jimpeel]

It is so fantastic that there are great minds out there who disassemble this drivel and place it in perspective using the liar's own words.

[Kaboom]

Or we could go and give the whole moronic bunch a real good mugging. Show them what being defenceless really means.

[David Park]

I'll definitely be outside to "greet" the attendees. Hopefully they won't change the location to DC like the Brady Bunch, so I'll be able to carry legally.

I think the VA TRT is currently inactive. Does anyone know what's up with them? This would be a great reorganizing event for the group, and I'd be willing to help.

[Kharn]

$110 a person.

Hmmm,
Anti gun activity: $110 for admission to "rally"
Pro gun activity: $10 for admission to gunshow.

I bet the antis are spending that extra $100 on security for the rally, since they wouldnt dare bring guns to provide for their own security.

Kharn

[WyldOne]

in all fairness, this isn't a rally and isn't being billed as one. this is a convention; a conference. chock full of speakers and workshops. and without a doubt it's a fundraiser for some organization.

but very, very different from a "rally". (i'm particular 'bout that sorta thing )

[Monkeyleg]

This is really funny in a perverse way. I had a conversation with one of the listed speakers about CCW and he/she said that concealed carry in this state wouldn't result in an increase in shootings. That was off the record, of course. I wonder how many of these activists really believe their propaganda?

[madmike]

Contact the hotel. See if they still have function space. Rent a room.

Hold an "exhibition" (no sales), of "collectible firearms" (antiques, rare and unusual stuff).

Trust me. After eyars of conventions, the hotel staff neither know nor care who rents the space.

Bill yourself as the "East Coast Militaria Antiquities Club" and they won't even make the connection.

You want headlines?

Need help?

[dZ]

i would think a Class III convention would be really interesting