[I. <<As Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, said over the weekend during a rally in Florida: “If all our government and president can do is send ‘thoughts and prayers,’ then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see.” As I watched Emma’s impassioned speech, it hit me more than ever: The future of this country depends on each and every one of us. By voting for politicians who will take action on gun violence, running for office, getting involved with gun violence prevention organizations and mobilizing our communities, we can and will save lives and keep more families from experiencing the heartbreak and trauma that has touched far too many Americans. By standing up and saying “Enough is enough,” we can take our country back. Let’s join Emma and all of the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas who are demanding change.>>
(Excerpted from sl. no. I. below.) II. <<As shootings like these seem to escalate in the US, so do questions about gun control. Americans who fear their town or city could be the site of the next attack wonder what strategies if any the US could take to reduce rates of gun violence. No country is a perfect analog of the US, but several have taken steps that worked for them — here are their insights.>> (Excerpted from sl. no. II. below.) III. <<"Of course, as we've often said, Bob Mueller and his team know a lot more about all this than is out there that we know, and I think there's much more to come. I didn't see any announcement about closing down the investigation after this indictment," Clapper added. It's unclear what is driving Clapper's speculation, but Trump's finances have been a mystery for years. The Washington Post reported in December that Mueller's probe included a subpoena to Deutsche Bank for its data relating to accounts held by Trump, who has not publicly released his tax returns. Trump has suggested that Mueller would be crossing a "red line" if his investigation included Trump's personal finances, fueling more suspicion that the president is hiding something.>> (Excerpted from sl. no. III. below.)] I/III. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i-lost-my-little-brother-at-sandy-hook-heres-whats-different-about-the-florida-shooting_us_5a8aecd5e4b00bc49f46ecd0?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003 02/19/2018 12:11 pm ET Updated 12 hours ago I Lost My Little Brother At Sandy Hook. Here’s What’s Different About The Florida Shooting. By Danielle Vabner DANIELLE VABNER Last week on Valentine’s Day, a 19-year-old gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where he had been expelled. He opened fire just outside the school, and soon began shooting students in hallways and classrooms using an AR-15. Minutes later, 17 students and staff were dead, and 15 others were injured. We are just a month and a half into 2018, and already the number of school shootings since Dec. 31 has risen into the teens. Predictably, as with every other time innocent Americans have been gunned down in schools, movie theaters, at concerts, or in places of worship, politicians took to social media to offer up “thoughts and prayers” rather than the legislative action we so desperately need. More than five years ago, my 6-year-old brother Noah was shot and killed in his first-grade classroom in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Just like those innocent teenagers in Florida, my brother and his classmates and teachers were killed doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing: going to school. They were murdered in the very place that was supposed to keep them safe, and they were gunned down with a military-style assault weapon that had fallen into the wrong hands. To this very day, it is unfathomable to think that 20 first-graders and six educators could have been senselessly murdered in an elementary school in the United States of America, just 11 days before Christmas. Just like those innocent teenagers in Parkland, Fla., my brother and his classmates and teachers were killed doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing: going to school. My brother and his classmates had a right to life. They had a right to safety. My siblings, both of whom were in the school that day as the horror unfolded, had a right to grow up with their brother. All of that was violently torn from them, and these basic human rights have been torn from thousands of other Americans in the years since. The worst part? Congress has actively chosen to do nothing to keep it from happening again, despite overwhelming evidence from other countries that common-sense gun safety legislation can and does save lives. In the months after Sandy Hook, Congress voted down a measure that would’ve expanded background checks for gun buyers. And since then, thousands more lives have been cut short due to gun violence. More children have been murdered in their classrooms, including in Parkland last week. I, along with the rest of the country, have seen the cycle play out over and over in the media: News breaks of yet another shooting, politicians offer thoughts and prayers ― some telling us that these tragedies shouldn’t be politicized or that we shouldn’t have a “knee-jerk reaction” against guns. We are told it’s too soon to talk about gun violence ― when, tragically, it’s much too late ― and then we wait until the next one happens and the cycle begins anew. [email protected] Not this time. I can feel that this time is different. Unlike my brother’s elementary school peers, who were unable to fully grasp what had happened in their school on Dec. 14, 2012, the teenagers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas are speaking out on behalf of themselves and their classmates whose lives were violently cut short. They are giving a voice to the voiceless. And they are demanding change in a way we’ve never seen before. They are calling out politicians who have accepted hefty donations from the National Rifle Association (including the president). They are organizing marches to demand action from American politicians on the gun violence epidemic. They are turning their grief into action so that no more parents, siblings, or friends have to experience the despair and anguish of losing a loved one to senseless gun violence. Most recently, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas announced March For Our Lives, a nationwide protest on March 24. According to the website, the march is “created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shooting that has become all too familiar.” Americans are angry, we are fed up, and we have had enough. We are not numb to gun violence, as some have suggested ― in fact, quite the opposite. I am angry as ever, and I am determined. Lives are at stake, and I refuse to allow my brother’s death to have been in vain. Let’s make this recent shooting in Parkland the turning point that Sandy Hook should’ve been. I recently saw a tweet that suggested that the possibility of passing common-sense gun safety legislation ended as soon as we decided that children dying in their first-grade classrooms was acceptable. Despite having felt this way numerous times in the years since Noah was gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary, I disagree. Sandy Hook was the turning point. Although we have allowed this to happen far too many times, there is hope. There is too much on the line not to keep fighting. Lives are at stake, and I refuse to allow my brother’s death to have been in vain. Let’s make Parkland the turning point that Sandy Hook should’ve been. As Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, said over the weekend during a rally in Florida: “If all our government and president can do is send ‘thoughts and prayers,’ then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see.” As I watched Emma’s impassioned speech, it hit me more than ever: The future of this country depends on each and every one of us. By voting for politicians who will take action on gun violence, running for office, getting involved with gun violence prevention organizations and mobilizing our communities, we can and will save lives and keep more families from experiencing the heartbreak and trauma that has touched far too many Americans. By standing up and saying “Enough is enough,” we can take our country back. Let’s join Emma and all of the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas who are demanding change. Let’s join the mothers who have lost their sons and daughters to senseless gun violence. Let’s join the brothers and sisters who should not have to grow up without their sibling by their side. Let’s stand alongside one another, hand-in-hand, and together be the change that we need to see. Clarification: Language in this story has been amended to more accurately characterize the weapon used in the Sandy Hook shooting. II/III. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gun-deaths-eliminated-america-learn-japan-australia-uk-norway-florida-shooting-latest-news-a8216301.html?S2ref=902750 These four countries have nearly eliminated gun deaths - here's what the US can learn Chris Weller, Business Insider 2 days ago37 comments Click to follow The Independent US Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images On Wednesday, a gunman opened fire at a Florida high school, leaving 17 people dead and more than a dozen others injured. In November, a gunman went on a shooting spree at the Rancho Tehama reserve in Northern California, killing four people and injuring three children. A week before that, a man in Sutherland Springs, Texas, stormed a church with a semiautomatic rifle, killing 26 people and injuring 20. 0:00 / 0:32 White House refuses to release photo of Trump signing bill weakening gun laws for mentally ill A month before that, a gunman in a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas shot at concertgoers below, killing 59 people and injuring more than 500. As shootings like these seem to escalate in the US, so do questions about gun control. Americans who fear their town or city could be the site of the next attack wonder what strategies if any the US could take to reduce rates of gun violence. No country is a perfect analog of the US, but several have taken steps that worked for them — here are their insights. READ MORE Miami gun show goes ahead just 50 miles away from high school massacre Florida school shooting survivors demand gun control at rally Florida victim's mother invokes Donald Trump's son in gun control plea Librarian whose friend survived Sandy Hook saves 55 at Florida school Australia paid citizens to sell their guns to the government. Australia gun protest (Reuters / David Gray) A spate of violence in the 1980s and '90s that culminated in a 1996 shooting that left 35 dead led Australian Prime Minister John Howard to convene an assembly to devise gun-control strategies. The group landed on a massive buyback program, costing hundreds of millions of dollars offset by a one-time tax increase, that bought and destroyed more than 600,000 automatic and semiautomatic weapons and pump-action shotguns. Over the next few years, gun-death totals were cut nearly in half. Firearm suicides dropped to 0.8 per 100,000 people in 2006 from 2.2 in 1995, while firearm homicides dropped to 0.15 per 100,000 people in 2006 from 0.37 in 1995. A US buyback would mean destroying more than 40 million guns — but at the state level, the undertaking might not be so massive. Japan puts citizens through a rigorous set of tests. Japan, which has strict laws for obtaining firearms, seldom has more than 10 shooting deaths a year in a population of 127 million people. If Japanese people want to own a gun, they must attend an all-day class, pass a written test, and achieve at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test. Then they have to pass a mental-health evaluation at a hospital, as well as a background check, in which the government digs into any criminal records or ties and interviews friends and family members. Finally, they can buy only shotguns and air rifles — no handguns — and must retake the class and the initial exam every three years. Unlike in the US, Japanese law has long outlawed guns. Still, the wisdom from Japan seems to be that tighter regulations keep guns confined only to those fit to use them. Florida shooting – in pictures III. http://www.newsweek.com/james-clapper-donald-trump-russia-probe-810357 TRUMP CAMPAIGN FINANCES MAY BE NEXT 'SHOE TO DROP' IN RUSSIA PROBE, SAYS FORMER INTEL CHIEF CLAPPER BY HARRIET SINCLAIR ON 2/18/18 AT 1:18 PM Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says other shoes will drop in the ongoing Russia probe—most likely involving the “finances” of the Trump campaign and the president's businesses. In the wake of Friday's indictments of 13 Russian nationals by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Clapper said the next night on Anderson Cooper 360, "I think there are other shoes to drop here, notably the finances." “I think that's going to be another profound thing that's going to come out about this. What were the financial relationships between the Trump Organization before the election and then the Trump campaign?" he said, although he acknowledged that his comments were speculation. "Of course, as we've often said, Bob Mueller and his team know a lot more about all this than is out there that we know, and I think there's much more to come. I didn't see any announcement about closing down the investigation after this indictment," Clapper added. It's unclear what is driving Clapper's speculation, but Trump's finances have been a mystery for years. The Washington Post reported in December that Mueller's probe included a subpoena to Deutsche Bank for its data relating to accounts held by Trump, who has not publicly released his tax returns. Trump has suggested that Mueller would be crossing a "red line" if his investigation included Trump's personal finances, fueling more suspicion that the president is hiding something. 10_30_James_Clapper Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on May 11. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY The president has lashed out at the Russia probe once again this weekend, having previously referred to the investigation into alleged election meddling by Russia as “fake news” and a “witch hunt.” Indeed, Trump previously suggested that he believed assertions from Russian president Vladimir Putin that there was no attempt to meddle in the U.S. election, in comments that Clapper referred to at the time as “naïve.” After Trump and Putin met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, Trump emerged saying he believed Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. “It’s very naïve, and again, in fact, perilous to this country, to make an assumption that Russia is going to behave with the best interests of the world or the United States in mind," Clapper said on CNN’s State of the Union. "They’re not.” The president has since dialed back on the suggestion he did not believe there had been election meddling, commenting he did not say there had been no meddling—only that his campaign team was not involved. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
