What A Week for Gun Safety Issues

Our petition demanding decisive action to end gun violence is going VIRAL.

Now, over 4O,OOO grassroots supporters have already pledged to be a part of the solution.

Will you join us? If you support making communities safer across America, please take less than a minute to sign our petition today >>

Sign the Petition to The U.S. Senate and Congress. Over 26,000 people have already signed the petition to Ban All Assault Weapons! You've joined us on campaigns before and we really need your help this week to get this petition over 50,000 signatures. Will you join the campaign to ban assault weapons?

House Republicans blocked an action that would stop individuals on the terror watch list from purchasing guns. This is the second time in two days they’ve failed to take action.

If you’re too dangerous to fly, you’re too dangerous to buy a gun.

But Ryan and House Republicans will bow to the NRA on everything -- even when it puts Americans in danger.

I’m done with it. I know you are, too. And I need you to take action.

Help me hold Republicans accountable. Demand that they close the terror watch list loophole >>

In response to the tragedy in Orlando, thousands of people from across the country have come together to call for action against gun violence. As an activist and concerned American, it’s been inspiring to see communities unite and demand change.

But here’s what else you may have missed this week:

The same day as the Orlando massacre, police announced four children and their mother were gunned down in New Mexico. This week in Brooklyn, three teens were shot in a fight over a backpack.

And just yesterday, during Senator Chris Murphy’s 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor, 48 people were shot across the country.

Gun violence is not an anomaly. It’s the norm in America. And it claims 89 lives every single day.

It’s time for the killing and suffering to end. And it’s up to us to call for change.


http://action.gunresponsibility.org/End-Gun-Violence


A Message from Chris Murphy: I was the Congressman from Newtown, Connecticut when tragedy struck Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14th, 2012. As long as I live, I’ll never forget the scene at the firehouse when twenty-six families were told they would not be reunited with their children and loved ones.


For years, Congress has failed those families and the victims of gun violence all across the country.

That is why yesterday, starting at 11:21 a.m., I decided to stand on the Senate floor and talk for as long as I could about the need to prevent gun violence. And with the help of more than 30 of my colleagues, we demanded immediate action to make our communities safer from gun violence:

I can tell you that as the hours progressed, my colleagues heard your calls for change grow louder and louder. And after almost fifteen hours of filibustering, I was proud to be able to announce that Republicans had agreed to our demand for a vote on legislation that would keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists and require comprehensive background checks for gun purchases.

That is just one step, and our fight is far from over. But there are millions of voices out there who believe like we do that now is the time for action. And if we keep making ourselves heard, we will save lives.

Add your voice to Hillary Clinton’s and mine to demand Congress take immediate action to make our communities safer from gun violence:
Whether it's shootings fueled by racism, rage against women, homophobia, extremist ideologies, or severe mental illness, I shudder to think what it says about us as a nation if we don't even attempt to make a good faith effort to end this carnage. We need to re-think whether or not that's something we are willing to allow. And like President Obama said on Sunday, doing nothing is a choice, too.

So I am going to stand with Hillary Clinton and continue this fight until Congress has done everything it can to make our communities safer from gun violence.

Thank you for adding your voice to ours.

Chris Murphy
U.S. Senator, Connecticut

A Message from Reverend Sharon W. Risher: A year ago today, my mother and two cousins were shot and killed in a Charleston church basement -- an act of hate by an angry man who should have never had a gun.

Last weekend, 49 people were shot and killed, and just as many injured, in a gay nightclub -- an act of hate by an angry man who should have never had a gun.

In the face of such repeated horror, it would be easy for us to retreat. But if you've been paying any attention, you know that's not what's happening. Thanks to an unprecedented outcry, the Senate is holding a vote on two bills that could keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people -- like the Charleston and Orlando shooters.

And here's why I have hope: There are only two possible outcomes of those votes. One, that Congress steps up and passes these laws or two, that we vote them out of office in November. We're going to change gun laws, or we're going to change Congress.

A year after Charleston, a week after Orlando, our anger has reached a boiling point. Will you chip in $25 or more to fuel the fire and help us keep pressure on Congress until they do their jobs or lose their jobs?
Change Gun Laws or Change Congress
When my family was gunned down with their fellow churchgoers for the color of their skin, I committed myself to this fight and all it's ups and downs. Last weekend hit me hard, but I'm heartened to see that we're standing up and speaking up louder than ever.

Since last weekend, more than 50,000 of you called your senators to demand action, flooding their phone lines. Since last weekend, the House floor has erupted with cries of "where's the bill?" -- and gun sense champions in the Senate led a 15-hour filibuster until their colleagues agreed to a vote. The entire nation is calling for change.

If there's one thing I know, it's that we won't let Congress off the hook. We'll keep calling. We'll keep emailing. We'll put up ads. We'll camp out outside their offices. We'll send gun violence survivors like myself to meet with them until the message sets in.

So, can you help us make it happen? Donate $25 or more to help us make sure they know we mean business when we say "change gun laws, or change Congress". For my mother, for my cousins, for Orlando, thank you. - Reverend Sharon W. Risher

Politico reports that it's not just Republicans blocking a vote on banning assault weapons. Nancy Pelosi is also standing in the way of House progressives who want to push for a vote.

POLITICO: "In a private meeting of Democrats on Wednesday, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) begged his colleagues to push a measure that might have actually prevented Sunday morning's carnage in Orlando: an assault weapons ban.
"Cicilline was answering the call of President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, to keep 'weapons of war' off the streets.
"But Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi nixed it."

The measure Rep. Cicilline was pushing is a discharge petition that would force a vote on banning assault weapons. It would get around Paul Ryan's obstruction and force every House Republican to take a position and be accountable to voters.

Will you join thousands of others across the nation telling Nancy Pelosi to support -- and all members of Congress to sign onto -- a "discharge petition" that would force a vote on the assault weapons ban? Click here.

According to Politico, Pelosi is limiting Democrats' focus to a measure to bar terrorists from buying guns that she says is "easier to explain to the public."

Unfortunately, as Sen. Chris Murphy and others explained during his heroic Senate filibuster on Wednesday, the so-called "terror gap" bill would not have stopped the Orlando shooter or many other mass shootings where the killers were not on the terror watch list.

The PCCC's Sarah Badawi explained to Politico the rationale for Democrats focusing on bolder, more effective measures such as the assault weapons ban:


"'At major national moments, the lowest common denominator solutions aren’t enough,' said PCCC’s Sarah Badawi in an interview Thursday. 'When Democrats go on offense and shift the conversation about these bigger ideas, that puts more oxygen in the room to have the conversation about these more important elements.'"

Click here to tell Nancy Pelosi to support -- and all members of Congress to sign onto -- a "discharge petition" that would force a vote on the assault weapons ban.


We're keeping the media and members of Congress apprised as this petition grows, so please add your name today.


Democratic Gun Control Filibuster Leaves Advocates Skeptical: "We Could Be Asking for a Lot More"
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy took the floor of the U.S. Senate, and held it for nearly 15 hours. It was the eighth longest filibuster of all time, and the first of its kind on the issue of gun violence prevention. 

Senator Murphy, and a number of his colleagues, spoke eloquently about the need to close loopholes in our laws that allow criminals and the dangerously mentally ill to buy guns without a background check, and the imperative of closing the "terror gap" immediately.

And by the time he finished, we won an exceptional victory: Republicans in the Senate agreed to vote on both of these issues. His efforts captured the imagination of a nation. Join us in thanking Senator Murphy for his courage and determination:

Add your name: Thank Senator Chris Murphy for making our voices heard while holding the Senate floor for 15 hours during an unprecedented gun violence prevention filibuster.

Gabby and Mark have always said this was going to be a long, hard haul. And yesterday, Senator Murphy spoke for a long time. His filibuster helped us move the ball forward in our efforts. He and his colleagues deserve our praise for their participation.

The 7 Most Compelling Moments From The Senate Democrats’ 15 Hour Filibuster For Gun Control. 
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) led a nearly 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor on Wednesday and Thursday to demand a vote on gun control legislation that would ban people on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms and require universal background checks. He ended his hold of the floor shortly after 2 am, when Republican leaders agreed to hold a vote on the legislation.
I am proud to announce that after 14+ hours on the floor, we will have a vote on closing the terror gap & universal background checks
Murphy was joined on the floor with more than 40 of his colleagues including Republicans Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). Members of the House from Connecticut, including Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) who walked out of the House’s moment of silence Monday, were also present in the gallery to show their support.

Here are the seven best moments from the filibuster:

When Murphy ended the filibuster by telling the story of a Sandy Hook victim.
. ends gun control w/ story of 6y/o Sandy Hook victim

Sen. Chris Murphy's filibuster

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy finished his 14+ hour filibuster on gun control reform with the story of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Dylan Hockley.
Toward 2 am, when many of his colleagues had already gone to sleep, Murphy ended his hold of the Senate floor by telling the story of Dylan Hockley and his caregiver, Anne Marie Murphy, who were both killed in the shooting in Newtown in 2012. Murphy displayed a photo of Hockley, grinning wide and wearing a Superman t-shirt.

“This has been a day of questions, and so I ask you all this question: If Anne Marie Murphy could do that, then ask yourself, what can you do to make sure that Orlando or Sandy Hook never ever happens again?”

When Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) read a statement from an Orlando trauma doctor.
shoestrauma
After displaying photos of the weapons used in the Orlando attack, Nelson then displayed a large poster-sized photo of bloody shoes. “Do you know who those shoes belong to?” he asked, before identifying them as those of Orlando trauma surgeon Joshua Corsa.

Corsa shared the photo on Facebook on Monday with a statement that Nelson read aloud on the Senate floor:

These are my work shoes from Saturday night. They are brand new, not even a week old. On these shoes, soaked between its fibers, is the blood of 54 innocent human beings. I don’t know which were gay, which were straight, which were black, or which were Hispanic. What I do know is that they came to us in wave upon wave of suffering, screaming, and death.

When Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said that the shooting in Newtown was “just a preview of coming attractions.”

Markey took time Wednesday afternoon to address how Congress has appropriated exactly zero dollars for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to study “the out of control gun epidemic in our country.”

He then turned to Murphy and discussed how he can anticipate more gun violence like the carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School if legislation isn’t passed. “This is just a preview of coming attractions,” he said.

When Sen. Murphy compared Republican’s opposition to gun control to their denial of climate change.

“We’re not scientists,” Murphy declared when talking about the ban on the CDC studying gun violence, using the common line that Republican lawmakers like to use when they deny the existence of climate change.

“When we get into the routine of deciding what’s worthy of research, bad things happen, whether it’s climate change or gun violence,” he continued.

When Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that “if you use an AK-47 to hunt a deer, you should stick to fishing.”
durbin
While holding the floor, Durbin, like many of his colleagues, discussed the lethal nature of the type of assault weapon used in Orlando, San Bernardino, and Newtown.

“If you use an AK-47 to hunt a deer, you should stick to fishing,” he said.

He also discussed the high rate of gun violence in Chicago, the largest city in his home state. He pointed to the gun show loophole which allows roughly 40 percent of gun purchasers to buy a firearm without a background check online or through private sellers at gun shows.

This past weekend, while 49 people were being shot and killed in Orlando, 8 people were killed and 36 injured by guns in Chicago. Among those shot was a 5-year-old girl, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said.

When Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) talked about his cousin killed in a mass shooting last year.
On Wednesday afternoon, Merkley said he was going to get “personal” for a moment before he told the floor that his 18-year-old cousin, Rebecka Ann Carnes, was one of nine people killed at Umpqua Community College last year. Merkeley has never identified his cousin in public before, though he’s said in the past that he lost a relative in the shooting. During the filibuster, he spoke briefly about Carnes’ life:

She had just graduated from South Umpqua High School the previous June. She was an avid hunter. She was a lover of four wheeling. And in the picture she posted online for graduation, she had a picture of her graduation cap and she was holding it, and it said on it: ‘And so the adventure begins.’ She was ready for the adventure of adulthood. She was ready for the adventure of going off to college. She was ready to explore the world. She was excited. She was a beautiful spirit, but her adventure ended so shortly after graduating from high school before she could really get started on the journey of life.

When Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) discussed how a reporter in Vermont bought an assault weapon in a parking garage.

The senator from Vermont discussed how a reporter in his state was able to buy an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, the weapon originally thought to have been used in Orlando, without ID, license, or a background check. Leahy discussed how the reporter met a private seller in a parking lot, and when the seller asked the reporter if he had identification, the reporter responded that he preferred not to share it.

“Oh ok, you look old enough,” Leahy said about the interaction. For $500, the reporter was able to purchase the powerful weapon.

According to the reporter who bought the weapon, Paul Heintz, Vermont is “home to the nation’s most permissive gun laws.” All he had to do to purchase the gun was email a seller and arrange the interaction in a parking lot.

14 hours and 50 minutes.

That's how long gun sense champions held the Senate floor last night to demand a vote on common-sense gun safety laws -- one of the longest filibusters in modern U.S. history.


You flooded congressional offices with tens of thousands of calls. Over 95,000 of you signed our petition calling for action from Congress in the wake of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. NRA-backed politicians finally surrendered and agreed to hold a vote on bills that would prevent suspected terrorists from getting guns and require background checks for all gun sales.

Gun sense champions like Senator Murphy, Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Blumenthal, and Sen. Schumer stood through the night. Now it's time for us to stand with them. Share our graphic thanking these gun sense champions so they know we've got their back.


This vote could happen any day -- so tell your friends and family to call their senators and support these common-sense gun laws.

Thank gun sense champions in the Senate for standing up for gun sense
Last night was a historic moment. That's because a historic number of Americans are demanding change from their leaders. But what hasn't changed are the people in Congress doing the NRA's dirty work.

This November, Americans have the chance to kick out these craven politicians and elect a gun sense majority. If Congress doesn't change our gun laws, we'll change Congress.

Let's make sure these politicians know that Americans are watching.



Share our graphic to stand with these Gun Sense Senators and let NRA-backed politicians know: We hear your silence. And we won't tolerate it any longer.  

When Senator Chris Murphy started his historic filibuster last Wednesday, he said he would not yield the floor until he received assurances that the Senate would vote on two measures that reduce gun violence:

1. Legislation closing the loopholes that let felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill get a gun without a criminal background check.

2. Legislation addressing the dangerous gap in our laws that allows known and suspected terrorists to pass a criminal background check.

Because of that work, and the more than 30 senators who joined Senator Murphy on the floor, we learned that on Monday - just eight days after the gun tragedy in Orlando - our lawmakers in the United States Senate will vote on those two important gun violence prevention laws.

Use our Contact Your Legislator Tool to tell your Senators to vote to strengthen our gun laws and help keep guns out of the wrong hands.

Now is our chance to help keep dangerous people full of hatred and prejudice from having easy access to firearms.

But the gun lobby is trying to keep the Senate in its grip and block responsible change.

That's why it's so important you make your voice heard today:

Use our Contact Your Legislator Tool to tell your Senators to vote to strengthen our gun laws and help keep guns out of the wrong hands.

We've always known that changing our gun laws would be a long, hard haul. But if we continue to stand together, we are going to keep making progress. And that means saving lives. 


Every Public Health Crisis Has Been Addressed By Turning To The Research — Except Gun Violence.
"We consistently, consciously, deliberately have turned our back on the tools that we ordinarily use to address tough problems."


Mass Murder is Good For Business--At Least for Smith & Wesson
Orlando shooting: Gun store owner warned FBI about Omar Mateen 6 weeks before massacre
Terror Watch List Expansion Won’t Stop the Next Orlando, Experts Say. In the wake of a national tragedy, the notorious government database is in the spotlight once again.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in a roundtable conversation on national security at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia, on June 15.

As politicians point fingers and sling accusations about what could have been done to prevent the shooting deaths of 49 people in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday morning, the limitations and power of the federal government’s terrorist watch list system have come under sharp scrutiny.

Wednesday’s 15-hour filibuster by Senate Democrats came to a close early Thursday after GOP leaders agreed to permit votes on two amendments to an annual appropriations bill: one that would bar Americans included on the terrorist watch list from buying guns and another that would mandate universal background checks for all gun buyers.

Expanding the power of the watch list, which was created after 9/11 and is monitored by the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, was also the focal point of remarks by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who suggested that “a broader list” might have prevented shooter Omar Mateen from “purchasing the assault weapon plus the ammunition.”

Yet the breadth of the list in its current form has long attracted criticism and litigation.

“I don’t think that expanding the list does anything to make us safer,” David C. Gomez, a retired FBI counterterrorism expert with nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience, told TakePart. “Over time, it has become inefficient, if not problematic. The watch list is too easy to get on and too hard to get off.”

More than 1.5 million names were added to the master list, which includes numerous subsets such as the no-fly list, between 2009 and 2014, according to an Associated Press investigation. As of September 2014, the Terrorist Screening Center confirmed that at least 800,000 names were on the list. The broadest version of the database, called the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, included 1.1 million people as of December 2013.

Being added to the list—as Mateen was from 2013 to 2014, before being removed after an investigation proved inconclusive—can be far more than inconvenient.

“Inclusion on the list can mean any number of severe consequences, including invasive, lengthy detention at airports; no flying; additional screening time when you do fly; and invasive encounters from traffic stops to attempts to obtain government-issued licenses,” said Hugh Handeyside, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project. “That’s to say nothing of the shame of being denigrated as a terrorism suspect.”

Yaseen Kadura, a U.S. citizen and Indiana resident of Libyan descent, knows firsthand the jeopardies that accompany being placed on the list. Kadura’s cell phone was seized while he was interrogated at the border between Canada and Michigan after a vacation, and he was also prevented from traveling to Libya in 2012 because of his placement on the no-fly list. The medical student is one of five plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against multiple government agencies in April by the Council on American-Islamic Relations challenging the placement of Muslims on the terrorist watch list.

Multiple other lawsuits have challenged the government’s alleged practice of encouraging people on the list to become confidential informants—and, some allege, punishing them if they decline to cooperate.

The FBI credits inclusion on the watch list in part for the apprehension of Jose Padilla at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in 2002. Though Padilla was on the watch list, it was a tip from a detained al-Qaida operative, who alleged that Padilla had been directed to carry out an attack with a radiological bomb, that led to Padilla’s detention. He was held without charge by the military and later sued the U.S. government—a case that failed.

According to Gomez, the bloated list’s inefficiency stems from multiple federal agencies being able to add people to it, and do so with different sets of criteria for nominating additions. The FBI, the CIA, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies all have the authority to propose additions. All additions remain on the list unless the National Counterterrorism Center receives evidence that they should be removed.

Government documents outlining the guidelines for nominating people to the list were leaked to The Intercept in 2014 after being kept secret for years. The documents reveal that roughly half of the people in the database at the time had no connection to any known terrorist groups. “People put them on the list for different investigative reasons, as opposed to strictly terrorism,” said Gomez.

The 166-page government guidelines illustrate how low the threshold of proof for being added to the list is. A name may be added if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the person may pose a threat, which, Handeyside notes, is a “very low standard.” Once people are added to the list, only the nominating agency that put them there can remove them—another major sore spot for civil liberties advocates. The government is also not required to notify individuals if they are on the watch list—even if they are denied the ability to board a plane—making it even more difficult, if not impossible, to challenge inclusion in the database.


“The guidance doesn’t come close to giving people on the list a meaningful opportunity to contest their inclusion,” said Handeyside. “Broad lists of this sort are necessarily ineffective because they undermine the purpose of the system, which is to direct resources toward people who are actual threats.”

SARAH'S EMAIL:

I took this at the vigil in Orlando.
Turn on show images to see this photo of the vigil in Orlando.
My name is Sarah Badawi, and Orlando is my home. I grew up here, I made my first friends here, and I attended my first schools here.

I live in Washington DC now -- I work on the PCCC's Capitol Hill team -- but I was home visiting family when the attack happened. Orlando wasn't the only community that was attacked. The LGBT community was attacked. America -- as a collective community -- was attacked.
Like all of us, I am feeling devastated and heartbroken. 

I'm also feeling frustrated at the calls from politicians for "thoughts and prayers." We need action. Big action. Real action on ideas that would have prevented this tragedy. Even if Republicans threaten to obstruct, we need to fight and force their hand until we win.
I've spent the last few days talking with congressional offices about what can be done, and it turns out there is bold action that could force a vote on an assault weapons ban.

A "discharge petition" allows House members to get around Speaker Paul Ryan's obstruction. When 218 House members sign the discharge petition, there will be an automatic vote on banning weapons of war from our communities.

If Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats introduce this rare measure, every vulnerable House Republican will have to say where they stand on this popular proposal. They cannot hide behind Paul Ryan's refusal to schedule a vote.


Our grassroots work on this starts with a petition and then moves to local calls and more actions.

CBS just released a poll showing 57% of Americans support banning assault weapons and only 38% oppose it -- a net 25% surge in support since the Orlando attack. President Obama and Hillary Clinton have both called for an assault weapons ban in recent days.

It's illegal for civilians to have grenades because they are weapons of war. But assault weapons and semi-automatics that are meant for war are totally legal -- even after being used to shoot children at Sandy Hook, soldiers at Fort Hood, Planned Parenthood patients in Colorado Springs, moviegoers in Aurora, a church group in Charleston, a congresswoman in Tucson, and so many others. Why?

The real reason is the NRA -- a front for the big gun manufacturers -- has had too much influence over Congress. But as mass shootings have become our reality, public opinion is changing. 

If we can get 218 members of Congress to sign a "discharge petition," the assault weapons ban will be forced out of committee and the whole House of Representatives will vote. And if House Democrats simply introduce this measure, every House Republican will have to take a stand and can be held accountable.


Assault weapons were banned in 1994, but the ban lapsed in 2004. Republican leaders have prevented votes on the new assault weapons ban, even though Republican voters and even NRA members support it. 125 members of Congress are already sponsors of the assault weapons ban, which happens to be sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), an openly gay member of Congress.

Donald Trump and Republicans aren't talking about how this was a targeted attack on LGBT Americans. They aren't talking about how people of color were disproportionately the victims. They aren't acknowledging that this is just the latest in a long series of attacks that could have been prevented if we had reasonable gun laws.

Instead, Republicans want to use the events in my hometown to spread hatred.


Thanks for being a bold progressive -- Sarah Badawi, PCCC Capitol Hill team and Orlando native
Orlando nightclub massacre: How Omar Mateen slaughtered 49 people and wounded dozens
 
This Is The Gun That Committed The Deadliest Shooting In U.S. History. In this Thursday, July 26, 2012 file photo, an AR-15 style rifle is displayed at the Firing-Line indoor.
How was Omar Saddiqui Mateen able to carry out the deadliest massacre by a single gunman in U.S. history? By bringing “America’s gun of choice” into a closed and crowded space.

Orlando police recovered an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle at Pulse, the gay nightclub that Mateen chose as his target. He reportedly bought the AR-15 and a handgun legally within the last few days.
Without the semiautomatic rifle, which allows a shooter to fire off many rounds at once without reloading, it would have been harder to inflict quite as much damage in such a short period of time.
The AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the U.S.; there are an estimated 9 million in circulation as of 2014.

It was also the gun of choice for the massacres in San Bernardino, California, where 16 people at a holiday party were gunned down, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 children and staffers were murdered, and at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where twelve were killed.

The rifle is a favorite in part because it’s highly customizable, the NRA blog notes. It also accommodates high capacity magazines that can fire off 100 rounds or more within minutes.
Another contributing factor to its popularity is the gun lobby’s fearmongering after every mass shooting. Though the federal government has never attempted to mass-confiscate guns, the NRA and other groups often warn that the government will respond to each shooting by cracking down. As a result, assault rifle sales skyrocket in the wake of each attack.

The NRA claims the rifle is primarily used for hunting, but hunters find the rifles sloppy and controversial. The model is actually marketed more toward civilians who want to play war. Colt’s first AR-15 model in the 1960s was inspired by civilian interest in the automatic version of the rifle the company had sold to the U.S. military as the M16.
This is how some manufacturers advertise AR-15s:
gunads
AR-15 style rifles were once targeted by the federal assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Evidence is mixed on how effective the ban was at reducing gun violence. However, as a Center for American Progress report pointed out, assault weapons like the AR-15 were significantly less regulated than handguns after the ban expired. Since the federal ban expired, some states and cities have taken it upon themselves to ban semiautomatic and automatic weapons, though Florida has not.
Parents of some of the children killed in Newtown recently advanced a lawsuit against the manufacturers of the AR-15, arguing that the companies are liable for their loved ones’ deaths because they market the gun as a military grade weapon “engineered to deliver maximum carnage with extreme efficiency.”

It was later reported that Mateen did not use an AR-15, but a Sig Sauer MPX assault rifle, which is similar to the AR-15 model and was developed for use by U.S. special forces. He also had a Glock 17 semiautomatic pistol.

Orlando nightclub shooting: Shooter used SIG Sauer MCX to kill 49 people and not a AR-15


Seems more than sensible that weapons of war should not be commercially sold.


The Role Of Toxic Masculinity In Mass Shootings. Terry DeCarlo, executive director of the LGBT Center of Central Florida, is comforted by Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando.
The man who committed the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history had a history of domestic violence and disrespecting women, according to people who were close to him. The emerging details about Omar Mateen fit into a bigger and often overlooked pattern of violence in this country, in which crimes against female partners often escalate to crimes against greater numbers of people.

Mateen, who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning — killing 49 people and wounding 53 others — used to abuse his wife.

“He was not a stable person,” Sitora Yusifiy, who was married to Mateen for about two years after the couple met on an online dating site, told the Washington Post. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”

One of Mateen's former coworkers, Daniel Gilroy, told the Miami Herald that Mateen often bragged about his relationships with other women while he was married to Yusifiy. "All he wanted to do was cheat on his wife," Gilroy said. "He had very little respect for women."

This news is unsurprising to people who work on issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault, and gender roles. There's a lot of evidence that men who hurt their female family members often go on to hurt other people.

Between 2009 and 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings started with a shooter targeting his girlfriend, wife, or ex-wife. Last year alone, nearly a third of mass shooting deaths were related in some way to domestic violence. And when you look beyond public shootings, the majority of mass shootings in this country actually take place inside the home, as men target the women and children they're intimately related to.

Employing harassment, violence, and coercion against women has long been considered a normal way for men to behave in romantic relationships, as deeply ingrained gender norms teach men that they're entitled to women's bodies. This toxic approach to masculinity has been directly linked to the sense of entitlement that drives many mass shooters to commit their crimes.
Super wish we cared about DV and its escalation into other violence.
Nonetheless, while national politicians are quick to pinpoint shooters' crimes on their immigration status or religious affiliation, the harmful effect of toxic masculinity doesn't receive the same high-profile attention.

Domestic violence advocates, however, say it's obvious that men who commit crimes against women should be taken more seriously within society as a whole. As lawmakers debate the best way to prevent mass shootings, one policy solution would be tightening existing loopholes in an effort to make it more difficult for domestic abusers to obtain firearms.

Here are just a few recent examples of shootings where the perpetrators likely had a toxic attitude toward women before they opened fire -- a list that includes many men who were directly connected to incidents of violence and abuse against women:

Mainak Sarkar, who made a kill list of his UCLA professors.
Earlier this month, the UCLA campus was shaken by the murder of a beloved professor in his office. Doctoral student Mainak Sarkar had planned to kill two of his former professors, but could only find one before he turned the gun on himself. Before Sarkar loaded up his backpack with guns and ammunition for the trip to UCLA, however, he murdered his estranged wife. According to authorities, he climbed through a window to kill her in her home.

Cedric Larry Ford, who killed 3 people in Hesston, Kansas.
Ford's shooting spree in February at Excel Industries, which killed three of his co-workers, may have been prompted by receiving a restraining order from someone he had previously abused. He got the restraining order about 90 minutes before opening fire. Evidence from court documents shows that women in romantic relationships with Ford were afraid of him. One former girlfriend said that he tried to strangle her and that she was worried about his mental state.

John Russell Houser, who killed 2 people in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Houser opened fire in a movie theater last July and, although his motive for the crime was unclear, his family had previously raised alarm about his violent behavior. In 2008, Houser's wife asked for a temporary protective order against him, arguing that he “perpetrated various acts of family violence” and “has a history of mental health issues." According to those court documents, his wife became so concerned that she removed all of the guns from the family home.

Robert Lewis Dear, who killed 3 people in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Dear, who opened fire in a Planned Parenthood clinic last fall, has a long history of being accused of preying on women. In 1997, authorities responded to a domestic violence call after Dear’s wife said he hit her and pushed her out of window. Five years later, he was investigated for making “unwanted advances” toward a neighbor, who said she was hiding in the bushes by her house and "leering" at her. She eventually filed a restraining order.

Syed Rizwan Farook, who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
There's some evidence that Farook, who along with his wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire at a company holiday party last December, grew up in a violent home. In court documents regarding his parents' divorce, Farook's mother alleges his father abused her in front of the children -- hitting her, pushing her toward a car, and once drunkenly dropping a TV on her. She sought multiple domestic violence protection orders against him. Witnessing this type of domestic violence in the home can have a serious impact on children who see a model for inappropriately treating women. Just days after the shooting, authorities investigated Farook's brother on a possible charge of domestic battery.

Elliot Rodger, who killed 6 people in Santa Barbara, California.
Rodger went on a rampage near a Santa Barbara, California university campus in 2014 against women who had romantically rejected him. In revenge for still being a virgin, which he perceived as women's fault, he pledged to "slaughter every spoiled, stuck-up, blond slut I see" inside the "hottest sorority house of UCSB." Rodger planned the crime for more than a year and was deeply involved with misogynistic online communities that have degrading attitudes toward women.

Cho Seung-Huim, who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech.
Before Cho committed one of the deadliest school shootings to date in 2007, two women complained that he was stalking them. They reported receiving persistent calls and messages from Cho, who went through campus disciplinary proceedings. After the massacre, Cho left behind a manifesto that the Associated Press described as a "rambling note raging against women," as well as against rich kids and Christianity.

Singer & YouTube star Christina Grimmie shot dead at concert; Orlando nightclub shooting
GoPro robbery: biker robbed at gunpoint; Squirrel steals GoPro and takes it up tree - compilation
Chicago shooting: Man gunned down outside home in possible gang-related violence
 
Off-duty cop pulls gun on bike messenger: NYPD sergeant draws weapon at cyclist
Orlando shooter Omar Mateen said he didn’t have a problem with black people
Walmart hostage taking Texas: Gunman killed after taking 2 hostage in Amarillo store
Orlando attack: Omar Mateen’s wife could face charges for not reporting shooter’s plan
Sig Sauer Expands North American Operations
SPU shooting: new video shows hero Jon Meis tackle shotgun-wielding gunman Aaron Ybarra
Attack on gay pride parade? Man found with weapons, explosives ahead of LA Pride 2016
 
Why are gun silencers not used extensively among criminals?
1. The correct term is suppressors. The movie silencers are often depicted too small to be practical -- small suppressors only drop the noise level a little.

2. ATF has 'no' sense of humor if you are caught with an 'unlicensed' suppressor. You get jail time if bought/owned illegally. Currently US citizens can buy 'silencers' legally in 41 states and use them in hunting in 37 ($200 registration tax) -- fingerprinting and painful documentation. Short answer -- It's often too expensive in cost, effort, and consequences and harder to conceal. Modern suppressors with grease or oil reduce the sound from the muzzle blast to make them usable (hearing safe). A 43 db drop is huge  and it makes the gun a lot friendlier to shoot though heavier, longer (not as concealable as some cheap Keltec shoved in your waistband).

3. You must use sub-sonic (under speed of sound) ammunition so the bullets passage through the air does not produce the 'sonic boom' of faster-than-sound passage. Subsonic ammunition is expensive if purchased -- only ammo I remember using was blue-tipped and being slower -- did not have as much penetration and would produce misfeeds in poorly designs adaptations.

4. Effective silencers I have used .45 cal Ingram Mac-10 -- were almost a foot long and you couldn't use them much before they became ineffective. You had to replace fiber washers in them (they get hot)...think mufflers on cars.

5. Suppressors can be made cheaply out of household materials and are sometimes used on shotguns (not too effective) and rifles using subsonic ammo. Cheap ones are typically not threaded (commercial ones fit on guns threaded or clamped onto the firearm). If you make one that drops your shot noise by 3 dB -- ATF has charged people (that is hardly anything at all) -- then they charge you with 'manufacturing' which is worse than possession. Some muzzle-brakes (to reduce felt recoil) that redirect the gases coming out of the barrel drop noise more than 3dB. Conventional ammo passing through a suppressor does make it difficult for the 'target' to determine where the shooter is located.

6. They are fun and have a lot of advantages -- reduces noise pollution, you can certainly hear range commands easier, no hearing damage, often reduces recoil.

Thank you for upvotes. Yes muzzle brakes make it louder for the shooter by directing escaping gases back...reducing recoil. All I'm saying is the ATF has no sense of humor when considering wrongdoing and any reduction in sound can be measured anywhere.3dB drop is a lot actually so don't make a silencer and claim its a muzzle brake. Hopefully our lasers and plasma rifles in future will be quieter...'til then...buy a rifle and ammo and shooting is a blast...it is fun.

Demand Congress Ban Assault Weapons.
AR15s by Crazyad0boy
Target: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan
Goal: Ensure thorough background checks are conducted for individuals purchasing firearms and reinstate the federal assault weapons ban.
The perpetrator of the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando had twice been the subject of FBI investigation. Furthermore he had a documented history of violent behavior, including hate speech and domestic violence. Yet he was able to legally purchase two guns and, a few days later, used them to commit the worst mass shooting in US history. A thorough background check would have revealed these facts.
One of the weapons the gunman used was an AR-15, the same make of gun that was used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. These guns are a modification of the M16, a gun developed for the US military. They are designed for warfare, for killing people. Moreover these guns were banned under the federal assault weapons ban, which was allowed to expire in 2004.
In 2015 there were 372 mass shootings in the US, there have already been 176 this year. We may not be able to change the hate in people’s minds, but we can make it harder to turn that hate into an atrocity. Sign our petition and demand that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan back legislation for stronger background checks, and to reinstate the federal assault weapons ban.
Dear Speaker Ryan,
In the wake of the tragedy in Orlando, it should be undeniable that it is time for the federal government to take a leadership position on the problem of gun violence. A basic background check would have revealed that Omar Mateen had a history of instability, violence, and extremist beliefs and had been twice investigated by the FBI. Had the federal ban on assault weapons remained US law, it is quite possible that many of his victims would still be alive today.
I am not asking for a wholesale ban on firearms, simply that more be done to ensure that guns are in responsible hands. There have already been 176 mass shootings this year, and thousands of Americans are killed by gun violence every year. Assault weapons designed to inflict mass casualties should not be available to the public, and thorough background checks must be mandatory. I urge you to back legislation instituting thorough background checks on those purchasing firearms, and to reinstate the federal assault weapons ban.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: crazyad0boy
There are some sad realities in this world. The presence of violence, and in the case of Orlando, hateful violence directed at the Latino LGBTQ community, is one of those sad realities our society faces.
Yet this is a reality we are called to change. Events like the tragedy in Orlando should galvanize all of us to action. We can't turn away because the politics are hard or disengage because we don't like the campaign rhetoric.
What will move Congress to act? Not more statistics. You.
Act Today
The Senate will vote in the coming days on expanding background checks for people buying guns at gun shows and online. This vote is happening because Sen. Chris Murphy, supported by 35 of his Senate colleagues, spent almost 15 hours speaking on the Senate floor yesterday filibustering until Senate leadership agreed to a vote.
Call your senators today – right now – at 877-429-0678. Ask them to vote “yes” to expand background checks on gun purchases.
Background checks won’t eliminate gun violence, but it would be a step. After so long without congressional movement on curbing gun violence in the U.S., it would be a big one.
Act This Week
Your calls today matter. It will also take sustained action – showing Congress over and over again that this is a priority for you – to keep the momentum going for change. We’ve seen the pattern before: a tragedy like the Orlando shooting captures headlines and attention for a few days or weeks, and then things return to business as usual – until the next preventable tragedy.
That’s why, after you make your call, I hope you’ll send an email to your senators and representative. Tell them that background checks would be a good start, but it’s not enough. Tell them it’s time they take action against military-style assault weapons.
Similar types of military-style assault weapons were used in Orlando, Newtown, Aurora, San Bernardino, and the Umpqua Community College.
Act This Year
This isn’t just about one killing, or even a series of mass killings. Gun violence permeates our society. The current stats are already alarming:
  • 1,500 shootings in Chicago so far this year.
  • On average, 51 women in the U.S. are shot and killed by an intimate partner each month.
  • 20,000 gun suicides in the U.S. every year.
This summer, candidates for public office – people who want to represent you and your views – are campaigning and holding events.
Bring your concerns for preventing gun violence to campaign events.
People running for office in this country need to hear that it’s time for Congress to prioritize preventing gun violence.
See FCNL’s resources on asking candidate questions, find out about races in your area and how to contact candidates, and see tips for being heard at in-person candidate events.
This is a time of great grief for our country. Yet we can also translate this moment into a moment of action. But it's going to take all of us speaking up and showing up.
The Orlando Mass Shooter Checked Facebook for News of His Attack As He Killed. Disturbing new evidence shows how social media is fueling gun massacres.

The massacre in Orlando stands as a grim case in many respects, not least the hateful targeting of the LGBT crowd at the Pulse nightclub, and the highest death toll from a mass shooting in modern US history. Equally dark is that the case builds on some disturbing trends related to the means and motives now seen in mass shootings. One is that the attacker struck with an assault rifle and high-capacity magazines—marking the sixth of nine mass shootings in just the past year alone to be carried out with firearms tantamount to weapons of war.

The other disturbing trend lies with how the perpetrator, Omar Mateen, used digital media. He searched online for inspiration from recent attackers before he struck. And then, as he was unleashing carnage inside the club, he sought to learn if the media was covering the killing in real time.

The attacker reportedly searched online for 'Pulse Orlando' and 'Shooting' during the prolonged siege of the club.
According to Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, head of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Mateen "used Facebook before and during the attack to search for and post terrorism-related content." Johnson detailed authorities' knowledge of Mateen's online activity in a letter sent Wednesday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in which Johnson called for the company to hand over data connected to the attacker.

As Mateen shot scores of people and held others hostage, according to Johnson's letter, he searched online for 'Pulse Orlando' and 'Shooting' during the prolonged siege of the club. (Presumably he did so on a smartphone, though that isn't detailed in the letter.) Meanwhile, just weeks before the massacre, Mateen researched the couple who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and committed the massacre in San Bernardino last Decemeber—suggesting that he wanted to follow in their footsteps.

These behaviors underscore a growing concern among leaders in the field of threat assessment that digital technology has compounded the danger of future attacks. As I reported in a Mother Jones cover story last fall, there is emerging forensic evidence showing that social media has both exacerbated a copycat effect and become a prime tool for mass shooters seeking infamy.

Last August in Virginia, an enraged ex-television reporter carried out what was dubbed "the first social media murder": He gunned down two of his former colleagues on live television while filming it with a camera of his own. He then posted the footage on Twitter and Facebook as he fled, shortly before dying in a police pursuit.

Less than 48 hours after the massacre in Orlando last Sunday, a 25-year-old man in France stabbed an off-duty police officer and his female companion to death, and then proceeded to film himself live on Facebook from inside the couple's home. He declared his allegiance to the Islamic State and pondered what he might do with their terrified 3-year-old son, who was in the background. (The boy apparently remained physically unharmed after police raided the home and killed the attacker soon thereafter.)

"This is so much what we thought would happen, this increasing use of social media," says Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and threat assessment expert who consults for the FBI and foreign security agencies. "I think we're going to see more of this movement toward real-time broadcasting of these events, or individuals looking for the level of coverage of the events in real time." Digital media offers a big platform for attackers to feed their pathological narcissism, he explains, "fulfilling their desire to be seen and to gain notoriety."

Orlando epitomizes just how difficult it can be to untangle motive in a mass shooting, especially with so-called lone wolves (a term Meloy and others suggest is unhelpful to mitigating the copycat problem.) Was it a terrorist attack? A hate crime? The act of a disturbed person secretly struggling with his sexual identity? Quite possibly it was all of the above—and we may never really know, as security expert and author Peter Bergen wrote this week.

"If they pledge to ISIS, in their minds it burnishes their reputations even more because they become a part of a larger and much more frightening movement."
Many mass shooters display behaviors that fall along a spectrum of the criminal, clinical, and ideological, explains Meloy. Investigators are still piecing together a picture of Mateen's background and his pathway to the Pulse nightclub. But while the term "terrorism" obviously applies to the massacre, Mateen's stated allegiance to a violent extremist group—he'd also boasted about Al Qaeda and Hezbollah in the past—may have been more related to the clinical than the ideological.

Becoming a "school shooter" has long been a kind of apex for disturbed young men who gravitate toward going on a gun rampage. Many cases—attacks carried out as well as others averted—have included evidence of the perpetrators aspiring to "do a Columbine." Now, we may be facing an even more grandiose and chilling phenomenon. "If they pledge to ISIS, in their minds it burnishes their reputations even more because they become a part of a larger and much more frightening movement," says Meloy. "They also garner much more attention as soon as they pledge allegiance, whether during the fact or just before it."

The ability of ISIS to exploit deep-seated grievance, rage, and self-loathing in potential recruits has been well documented. Though there still may be much that we don't know about the Orlando and San Bernardino attackers, there are some astonishing parallels in the two young men: a history marked by personal rage and domestic violence, the abandonment of a young child to go on a suicidal mass-murder mission, and their taking up the ISIS banner shortly before striking.

With the San Bernardino massacre, the perpetrators' abandonment of their baby struck many as the most incomprehensible detail. In Orlando, observes Meloy, it may well have become a new point of identification for a copycat. "You've got a young man who was willing to sacrifice his life and his role as a father—probably for a variety of disturbed reasons, possibly including self-loathing as a homosexual—to satisfy the hatreds and to seek the glory that he's somehow searching for online, before and while the attack is occurring."

"I'm truthfully far more interested in the posts from before," Sen. Johnson said on NPR's Morning Edition, "to see if there's anything possible we could've learned to prevent this attack, as opposed to what a sick person, a deranged person was actually doing [online] while he was slaughtering our fellow citizens."

Beyond the toxic brew of motive and any further details that may emerge about the attack planning, the whole world is now very familiar with Mateen's selfies—including the next potential mass shooter. For threat assessment professionals, all of it is troubling new evidence as they continue to focus on stopping the next one.

The Most Powerful Medical Association In The U.S. Gears Up To Fight Congress Over Guns

Dr. Michael Cheatham, chief surgeon of the Orlando Health Regional Medical Center hospital, addresses reporters during a news conference after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016.
The largest medical organization in the United States, the American Medical Association, passed a historic resolution last night in response to the weekend’s mass shooting. After years of tiptoeing around the topic of gun control, AMA leaders voted to officially call gun violence a public health issue — and respond accordingly. That means flexing the organization’s powerful political muscle on Capitol Hill to refocus federal funds toward studying gun violence.
To see this through, however, Congress would need to lift a 20-year-old ban that blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding any research related to gun violence. But the AMA, with one of the largest political lobbying budgets of any organization in the U.S., appears ready to fight.

Let AMA be part of turning the tide to make something right

“Even as America faces a crisis unrivaled in any other developed country, the Congress prohibits the CDC from conducting the very research that would help us understand the problems associated with gun violence and determine how to reduce the high rate of firearm-related deaths and injuries,” said AMA President Dr. Steven Stack, in a written statement.

“An epidemiological analysis of gun violence is vital so physicians and other health providers, law enforcement and society at large may be able to prevent injury, death and other harms to society resulting from firearms,” he added.

This 1996 funding block, also known as the Dickey Amendment, was heavily lobbied for by the National Rifle Association, who saw any negative research on guns as an attack on their industry. Since its initiation, the number of gun-inflicted homicides in the U.S. has continued to skyrocket far beyond other advanced democratic countries.

Physicians, scientists, politicians, and family members of gun violence victims have demanded the ban’s repeal for years. Even Jay Dickey, the former Republican representative who led the bill through Congress, has openly expressed his regret for helping the ban advance. President Obama tried to lift the gun research restrictions in 2012 — but ultimately couldn’t stop Congress from continuing to block funding requests.

The AMA has been relatively passive in their support of gun safety over recent years. But the recent mass shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando, which left 50 people dead, appeared to push its leaders to a tipping point.

"It's about time we took some action to implement our policy and try to make a difference," said Dr. Robert Gilchick, a member of the AMA's Council on Science and Public Health. "How many more mass shootings do we have to sit through—not one more I hope."
Dr. Mike Miller, an AMA delegate that voted on this resolution, called the U.S. the "shame of the world" for its inaction on gun violence.

"Other nations look at us and go 'what is wrong with America?'" he told Modern Healthcare. "Let AMA be part of turning the tide to make something right."

A message from Mark Kelly: Gabby and I started Americans for Responsible Solutions shortly after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School because for far too long the gun lobby has used money and influence to pressure Congress to do the unthinkable in the face of epidemic levels of gun violence:

Nothing at all.

The vast majority of Americans are with us. We want to close loopholes in our laws that give criminals easy access to guns. We want to keep guns out of the hands of stalkers and domestic abusers. And we want Congress to ensure people on the terrorist watch list aren't able to pass a background check.

We have a chance to do something about congressional inaction this November. And if we are able to pair the overwhelming public support we enjoy on these issues with the financial resources needed to challenge the gun lobby, we will:

Contribute $3 to Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC as a way of saying ENOUGH is ENOUGH: if our representatives won't stand up to the gun lobby, we will elect champions who are up to the job.

The aftermath of these mass shootings almost always falls into a familiar pattern. Politicians offer their thoughts and prayers, when they are capable of so much more, and we are told now is not the time for politics. But I agree with President Obama, and I think you do, as well -- now is the time for action.

And I know that if we stand together and make our voices heard on this issue, we are going to make a lot of politicians come around to our position, or we are going to replace them in November. That's what your $3 contribution today will accomplish.

Thank you for caring about this issue. We are saving lives.

All my best,

Mark Kelly


Our eyes, minds and hearts turned to Orlando. Welcome to the weekend edition of the Fusion newsletter, where we’ll be hand-picking some of our best stories for you…
It’s hard to believe, but it hasn’t even been a full week since the horrible tragedy that befell Orlando’s Pulse nightclub. We’ve spent the last six days reflecting on the multitude of angles that touch upon Fusion’s core mission, to “champion a young, diverse, and inclusive America from the inside out; to approach news through a lens that celebrates all voices in today’s world.” These guiding principles provided, in the humble opinion of this newsletter’s editor, an inspiring light during an otherwise dark time in our collective experience. —Man Bartlett

11 days before the Orlando shooting, President Obama was asked about gun control. His response was perfect.

It's time for a change.
Read More

49 powerful, moving images from the aftermath of the Orlando shooting

In the wake of Sunday morning's shooting, impromptu vigils sprang up around the world to mourn the Orlando victims.
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The site of the Orlando shooting wasn't just a gay nightclub. It was my safe haven.

Pulse was where I learned to love myself as a gay man.
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These are the victims of the Orlando massacre

Remember their names.
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Why Is Omar Mateen a Terrorist, but Not Dylann Roof?

Muslims who commit mass acts of violence are easily and immediately deemed terrorists. White people who do the same thing are not.
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Bree Newsome: A year after Charleston, we still need to cure what ails America

We didn’t even arrive at the one year anniversary of the Charleston massacre before the nation was rocked by yet another hate crime.
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Sandy Hook father on stricter gun laws
6/17/16 09:15AM
Mark Barden lost his son in the Sandy Hook school shooting, and he is now the founder of Sandy Hook Promise, which advocates for gun reform. Barden joins... read story
Senator: Honor victims by changing gun laws
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., discusses why Congress must act on reforming gun laws, and Sen. Kaine also says that Donald Trump makes discriminatory remarks about... read story