Posted on 03/27/2006 3:36:00 PM PST by RogueIsland
Washington, D.C. - Criminals, youth and other prohibited persons are gaining access to guns with remarkable ease and continue to wreak havoc on communities around the country. And elected officials are doing little to stop them. That’s the lesson of the 2005 Annual Report Cards of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Overall, 32 states received a grade of "D" or "F" for the 2005 report card.
With the leaders of America’s cities crying out for help from either the Federal government or state Capitols; with front page stories providing daily examples of the pain inflicted on communities by the misuse of guns and with major exposes in the news media about how illegal guns are wreaking havoc in our nation’s cities, state legislative leaders who could do something about it continue the recent trend of winking at the gun lobby, doing nothing, and letting the gun lobby and the gun industry it protects get away with murder.
“We have cracked down on library books, cell phone calls, fertilizer purchases and wearing shoes in the airport, but we have done almost nothing, at the state or Federal level, to make it harder for either a terrorist, garden variety armed robber, or young person to get their hands on a handgun,” said Sarah Brady.
Consider these facts:
From 2004 to 2005, only four states changed their “grade” - and three of those grade changes were demotions. And most state legislatures are currently considering firearm related legislation - but the majority of legislation are bills pushed by the gun lobby that threaten to increase firearm violence rather than decrease it. Despite growing awareness of how to stem the tide of illegal guns - by limiting bulk purchases of guns, imposing background checks on every gun purchase and by allowing local municipalities to pass their own measures to stem gun violence - only Illinois enacted important legislation to require background checks at gun shows in 2005. That’s the bad news - but there are positive signs popping up across America like spring blossoms:
In some key political battleground states, like Illinois, Colorado, and Maryland courageous elected leaders and gun violence prevention advocates have challenged the gun lobby and intend to run for office as aggressive supporters of sensible gun laws designed to protect families and children. At least four states are considering state-level assault weapons bans to help assuage the dangers created by the sunset of the Federal ban in September 2004. Other states like California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington state and Illinois are considering measures to stem the tide of illegal guns in their state. These measures will help police solve gun crimes, will hold gun stores accountable and will ensure that guns don’t get into the hands of convicted felons, terrorists, and teenagers. Gun violence prevention advocates and leaders in major urban areas - New York, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Columbus, Detroit, Seattle and Los Angeles, among others - are ramping up the pressure on state legislatures to help them fight the easy availability of guns to prohibited purchasers, including youth. The states that saw a grading change include Florida, which went from a “D” to an “F+” as the first state in America to pass a “Shoot First” law, sanctioning the shooting of innocent bystanders in the name of self-defense; Alaska, which went from “D-“ to “F+” for passing a law mandating that private businesses allow guns on workplace property; Kansas, which stripped local governments of the right to regulate firearms and droped from a “C+” to “C-“; and Illinois, which took positive steps to strengthen background checks at gun shows and required child safety locks be sold with new handguns and moved from a “B+” to an “A-.”
The Brady Campaign began grading state gun laws nine years ago. The state scores are available in complete category-by-category detail at www.bradycampaign.org.
Twice a year, like clockwork. They'll be back in July.
Why? I've no idea. I've never given them a reason to believe that I'd cut 'em a check.
woohoo! Kentucky earns a solid F.
WOW! NM, my new home, got an "F"!
Way to go, New Mexico! I can't believe they did better than my original home state Texas!
Yeah...Montana got an F!!! Gladly doing my part to keep it there.
Yay NM! I'm almost proud to live here now! ;-)
It would be nice to get those grades, and compare them to crime rates in those self-same states. :D
I was so hoping for an F.
I'd say we have room for improvement.
I do my part.
Me too. My 20 yr old daughter wants to shoot my 45, an M1911. Guess we are making progress.
Gonna be hard to do with a Demorat govnor....
no tags no bag limit/s
D- for Texas. I told everyone here to quit copying off of Arkansas test.
They also recently passed a "true man" law which allows one to defemd themself without the duty to retreat. Maybe this report was made prior to that law.
Here's their "grading criteria:
GRADING CRITERIA
Each state was carefully rated on seven types of legislation that protect children from gun violence, with extra credit or demerits awarded for additional relevant legislation.
Juvenile Possession of Guns - Is it illegal for a child to possess a gun without supervision?
Sale/Transfer of Guns to Juveniles - Is it illegal to sell a gun to a child?
Safe Storage and Gun Owner Accountability - Are gun owners held responsible for leaving loaded guns easily accessible to children?
Childproof Guns and Gun Design Safety - Are guns required to have child-safety locks, loaded-chamber indicators and other childproof designs? Are there restrictions on unsafe Saturday night specials?
Preemption - Do cities and counties have authority to enact local gun laws?
Secondary "Private" Gun Sale Background Checks - Are background checks required at gun shows and between "private" parties?
Carrying Concealed Weapons (CCW) - Is it legal to carry concealed handguns in public?
I guess they are getting a "wad in their panties" cuz grades keep dropping....
Good for her!
Kentucky gets an F.
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