I suppose it
useless to point out that Maryland is one of the most violent states. It
had the highest robbery rate for the most recent 9 years, a murder rate
regularly in the top 5 (most recent year #2) and assault rates running
#3 typically. Yet, despite that violence, no Maryland Police Officer has
been shot and killed during the period 1988-2003 (a 16 year period) with a rifle
of any kind. That includes no AR-15s, no AK-47s (or copycats), no M-1As,
..., no assault rifles of any kind.
During the
1988-2003 period, 19 Maryland Officers were killed from trauma received in
assaults. One in 5 police officers killed by AWs during 1998-2001, you
can't find any in Maryland. Why do you suppose that is, given Maryland's
high violence rates? Most of Maryland Officers were killed using handguns
(12), three with shotguns, two stabbings (one of those used the officer's own
gun to finish him off) and one killed from assault with a
car.
Of course, one
officer is recorded killed in 2000 from a rifle wound, but that wound was
received 23 years earlier (in 1977) and that officer continued to serve
until he retired in 1990 after 20 years of service.
Either Maryland
crooks are incredibly stupid to overlook the potentials of AWs for crime, or
they know better than Johns Hopkins surgeons that handguns and shotguns are far
more effective.
Phil Lee
-----Original Message-----latest from Johns Hopkins:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 10:19 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Medicalizing Guns
CeaseFire MD: Assault Weapons Threaten Public Health and Safety
5/13/2004
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,570936,00.html
CeaseFire Maryland
3000 Chestnut Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21211
www.ceasefiremd.org
Contact:
Leah Barrett
Phone: 410-889-1477
In Four Months, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban Will Expire Unless Strengthened and Renewed by Congress and Signed by the President
Baltimore, MD - Johns Hopkins doctors, faculty from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Baltimore City Health Commissioner presented strong evidence about the epidemic of gun violence in the United States and why it needs to be addressed as an urgent public health problem. The impending expiration of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban on September 13th motivated today's event at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Alex Haller, former Chief of Pediatric Surgery and Director of Children's Trauma at Johns Hopkins, declared: "If we as a society cannot agree to renew and strengthen a ban on military-style assault weapons, whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people efficiently, then how can we hope to successfully address the wider problem of gun violence? Assault weapons pose an unacceptable risk to public safety and in particular, to our law enforcement officers on the front lines. Between 1998 and 2001, at least one in five police officers slain in the line of duty was killed by an assault weapon."
Dr. Edward Cornwell, Chief of Adult Trauma at Johns Hopkins, commented: "You wouldn't want to see the damage these weapons can do to human tissue. It isn't a pretty sight. Trauma surgeons from around the world come to American inner cities to learn how to treat these wounds that normally occur in war zones. But we are fighting our own war here where 30,000 Americans die each year from gun violence. People must begin to see this carnage for what it is -- an urgent public health crisis."
The doctors were joined by Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran who spoke of the need to pass a strong state ban on military-style assault rifles and highlighted the failure of the General Assembly to pass a ban during the 2004 session. He said: "I agree with the 77% of Marylanders who support a ban on assault weapons from our streets, and I join with these outstanding doctors who have to deal with the public health crisis caused by these weapons day in and day out." In the 2004 Maryland General Assembly, a state assault rifles ban failed in Committee by a single vote, cast by Senator John A. Giannetti, Jr (D - Dist. 21).
The 1994 ban outlaws specific models of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons. But in a willful attempt to violate the spirit of the law, the gun industry continues to manufacture "post-ban" assault weapons -- guns identical to those banned except for minor cosmetic changes. The Bushmaster XM15 used in the 2002 DC-area sniper attacks, for example, is a "post-ban" version of the AR15 assault rifle, which is banned under current law. CeaseFire MD calls on Congress to pass legislation that would stop the gun industry from manufacturing "post-ban" assault weapons such as the Bushmaster XM15. Maryland crime tracing data from ATF shows a 67% increase in the seizure of copycat assault weapons since the federal ban went into effect in 1994. This shows the need to close the gaping loopholes in the federal law.
Several speakers acknowledged the terrible toll handguns take on lives in Maryland. According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, 607 Marylanders died from guns in 2001. Leah Barrett, Executive Director of CeaseFire Maryland said: "There have been two high-profile shootings of children during the past few weeks here in the Baltimore area, both in Randallstown. One involved a four-year-old boy who found a loaded handgun in a gym bag on his parents' sofa and shot himself in the head. The other was just last week following a high school charity basketball game where four students were wounded, two seriously. We are committed to educating parents that kids and guns don't mix and to working with law enforcement to ensure our existing strong gun laws are properly implemented and enforced."
Date of Release: May 13th, 2004
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