Anniversary of Virginia Tech Shooting

On Anniversary of Virginia Tech Shooting, Freedom States Alliance and GunFreeKids Urge Keeping Guns Off College Campuses

On the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, Americans need to take stock of what can be done to prevent such horrific acts of violence from happening again.

Despite the fact that 32 innocent students and professors lost their lives at the hands of gunman Seung Hui-Cho on April 16, 2007, little has been done in response to stem the tide of violence at America's schools and colleges.

In February, during one week alone, deadly and near deadly shootings occurred at four different schools in the U.S. leaving 9 innocent people dead and 17 wounded.

Instead of proposing tighter gun laws whenever terrible shootings like these occur, Andy Pelosi of GunFreeKids notes that "there is a deafening silence from our political leaders, and a loud call to arms from the gun lobby who would like Americans to believe that arming students and faculty is the most effective way to prevent tragedies from happening on our campuses."

Freedom States Alliance (FSA) and GunFreeKids (GFK) are joining together to oppose the sentiments of the gun lobby and those politicians that seek to solve a problem with more violence. In fact, we know that more guns only mean more death and injury -- plain and simple.

To get this message across, FSA and GFK are urging students from across the country to help spread the word about the real dangers of guns on campus.

Go to the FSA April 16 news release to find out more about what you can do. You can also visit the home site of Freedom States Alliance.

Both Sides

Gunning For the Right To Bear Arms

Sometimes takes a view from overseas to get a little perspective on our love affair with guns.

From the UK “Scotsman,” which in an April 7th article explained the Washington D.C. gun case currently before the Supreme Court.

America is a nation that pays a heavy price for permitting its citizens to be armed. On average 11,000 people are shot dead each year. In Britain, despite fears of rising gun crime, 50 people were shot dead in England and Wales in 2006. In 1996, as a result of the Dunblane massacre, handguns were banned entirely with more than 160,000 handed in to the police for destruction.

However, an entirely different mindset operates in America, where, in light of the Virginia Tech massacre in which 32 students and teachers were shot dead by Ch Seung Hui, a number of commentators argued that the problem was not that there are too many guns in American society, but too few. What, they argued, might have happened if the students and teachers were armed that fateful day?

The difference between Britain and America's attitude to guns is that, while we view them, broadly, as the necessary tools of the state, possessed by the military for the defence of the nation or by special units within the police, Americans, particularly those in the southern and western states, view guns as a source of recreation and a necessity for defence. There are historical and mythological reasons for this passion. While the American West was tamed by ranchers and farmers, miners and homesteaders who may never have fired a gun in their lives, the popular image is that the West was won by the cowboy toting his revolver.

We are still paying the price for our ill-conceived myths about guns among primarily white males. Europeans don’t generally associate gun ownership with emotionally charged claims of liberty. Freedom isn’t guaranteed by a gun in one’s dresser or a collection of 50 firearms. Freedom comes from a love of liberty and democracy, and it is not balanced on the barrel of a Beretta.

We thank the “Scotsman” for reminding us of that.

R.I.P.

Charlton Heston
October 4, 1924 – April 5, 2008

Would The NRA Approve?

Basra residents asked to give up weapons

Fri Mar 28, 6:03 AM ET

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office says the Iraqi government has given residents of Basra until April 8 to turn over "heavy and medium-size weapons" in return for a reward.

Government adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi says the deadline is separate from a three-day ultimatum for gunmen in the southern town to surrender their arms and renounce violence or face harsher measures. That expires later Friday.

The move instead appears to be aimed at noncombatants who may have weapons like machine guns and grenade launchers, either for smuggling purposes or to sell to militants or criminal gangs.

The statement says Basra residents will get unspecified monetary compensation if the weapons are turned over before the expiry of the deadline.

Settlement Offered To VTech Families

Virginia Tech shooting victims' families offered $100,000 each

Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va.: Those close to the victims of the Virginia Tech mass shootings offered mixed reactions Tuesday to a proposed multimillion-dollar state settlement and whether it will properly honor their loved ones.

Families of the victims have until Monday to say whether they'll accept the settlement, which would give $100,000 to representatives of each of the 32 killed and ensures that families will have the chance to talk to the governor and university officials about the shootings.

Under the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, $800,000 would be available to injured victims. They and the families of those killed could seek additional money from a $1.75 million hardship fund.

Roger O'Dell, whose son Derek was among two dozen wounded April 16, said while he considers the proposal a very reasonable offer, he is concerned about how the money would be split among the survivors. The proposal only states that the money would be distributed "based on a matrix acceptable to the commonwealth, with a maximum payment of $100,000 to any individual."

"I'm inclined to believe this will not be settled by April 15th," O'Dell said. "I think there are too many question marks in the proposed offer."

Seung-Hui Cho, a mentally disturbed student, killed two people in a dormitory just after 7 a.m. University officials did not send an e-mail alert until more than two hours later — just before Cho killed 30 others in a classroom building across campus and then committed suicide.

Twenty-two families have filed notice with the state that they may sue. They have until April 16 to file. Families of all deceased victims and the survivors would be eligible for a payout under the settlement.

By accepting the proposal, family members would give up the right to sue the state government; Virginia Tech; the town of Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech is located; Montgomery County; and the New River Valley Community Services Board, which provides mental-health services in the area.

Cho had been ruled a danger to himself during a court commitment hearing in 2005 and was ordered to receive outpatient mental health care. He never received the treatment.

Diane Strollo, whose daughter Hilary was shot three times but is back at Virginia Tech, said she believed the negotiations were ongoing.

"The families want accountability, justice and change," she said. "We have yet to see it."

O'Dell said there is no consensus among the families regarding the offer, though many feel it's "good in a number of respects."

"It's totally across the board as to how people feel. Some people feel that there is no wrongdoing and therefore there's no obligation by the state or the university to be paying anybody anything," O'Dell said. "At the other end, there's some who feel that this agreement — proposed settlement agreement — doesn't go nearly far enough and there needs to be much more money put into it."

The total cost of the proposed settlement, including attorneys' fees and a $1.75 million fund for charities, comes to about $8.5 million, plus the cost of reimbursing and paying for medical and psychological treatment for victims' families and survivors.

In October, the families and surviving victims received payments ranging from $11,500 to $208,000 from the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, set up in the days after the shootings to handle donations that poured into the school.

In contrast to the Virginia Tech shootings, attorneys say there is little to indicate lawsuits might be pending against Northern Illinois University over its response to a Feb. 14 attack on campus. In that case, former student Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall, killing five people before killing himself.

Chicago attorney Kathleen Zellner, who has won several high-profile lawsuits, said the school might avoid being sued because there's no indication of glaring shortcomings in its security response.

Police entered the NIU lecture hall just minutes after the shooting began, and the school launched its emergency alert system — sending out e-mails and posting messages on Web sites to notify students a possible gunman was on campus — before authorities could confirm the gunman acted alone and was dead.

Attorney Michael Helfand, who monitors Chicago's legal scene for an online lawyers referral service, said attorneys would have been hotly pursing NIU lawsuits weeks ago if they thought they could win one.

There doesn't appear to be talk about a settlement in NIU's case similar to the one being offered in the Virginia Tech case.

Turning Grief Into Advocacy -Albany, New York

Albany Mother Takes a Stand Against Gun Violence

From time to time we point out how much we value and thank victims of gun violence who become activists to reduce firearm death and injury.

There are so many victims of gun violence: the person killed or injured, the families, the friends, the devastated communities, etc. A gunshot is like a ripple that spreads out over a wide area.

Allison Banks of Albany, New York, is still mourning the gun death of her 24-year-old son, Dushan. But that hasn’t kept her from advocating for gun control.

According to an Albany article, “After her son died, Banks joined Albany's Gun Violence Task Force and the Capital Region chapter of New Yorkers Against Violence. She said she'll keep fighting for justice.”

Turning grief into advocacy takes courage and perseverance. Those of us who are fortunate enough not to have personally known gun violence can emulate the strength and fortitude of those who have, people such as Allison Banks.

The Albany report notes:

Gun Violence Task Force Co-Chair Rev. Dr. Edward B. Smart said, "Our future is at stake. These young people who are getting killed. These families that are getting ripped apart because justice is not being served. We think that we all ought to be concerned about this."

They say getting community members to line up to take a stand against gun crimes is the first step to stopping them from seeing more police lines from hanging in the neighborhood.

That is something that we can all support by not being silent. Our voices need to be heard loud and strong.