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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2013)
Opinion Gun Violence: Our Turn to Say ‘No More’ T his is an important conver- sation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats and Republicans. Speaking is difficult but I need to say something important. Vio- lence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many chil- dren. We must do something. It will be hard. But the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be coura- geous. Americans are counting on you. Statement of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30, 2013 At the Jan. 30 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun vio- lence, former Rep. Gabrielle Gif- fords, the survivor of a gunshot to the head, gave us our marching orders. The United States stands alone in the world in our tolerance of gun violence but in the wake of the devastating Newtown, Conn. murders, a powerful outcry of ordinary Americans across the country is saying no more. This time we want our collective heart- break and outrage to be followed by real change. How have people in other coun- tries responded after a gun mas- sacre or mass shooting? Australia and Great Britain pro- vide two examples. In 1996, 35 people were killed and 23 others were wounded by a gunman at the Port Arthur tourist site in Tasma- nia, Australia, in one of the largest massacres ever committed by a single shooter. Within 12 days of the shooting, spurred by strong public support, the Australian fed- C HILD W ATCH Marian Wright Edelman eral and state governments agreed to the historic National Firearms Agreement (NFA), which banned semi-automatic and pump action rifles and shotguns and required registration of all firearms, strict standards for gun licenses, and a permit for each gun purchase sub- ject to a 28-day waiting period. The NFA also prohibited private sales, regulated ammunition sales, and required licensees to receive firearm safety training and to store firearms safely. To get banned rifles and shotguns off the streets, the federal government bought back or accepted turn-ins of more than 1 million guns which were then destroyed. The National Firearms Agree- ment was supported by a coalition of groups from across the political spectrum, including women’s organizations, seniors, religious leaders, police, parents, human rights organizations and schools, all demanding stronger gun vio- lence laws in Australia. In the 18 years before the NFA there were 13 mass shootings in Australia. In the 16 years since, Australia has not had a single mass shooting. Rates of overall gun deaths, gun homicides, and gun suicides, which were declining prior to the NFA, started declining twice as fast after the reforms. Just weeks before the Port Arthur massacre in Australia, 16 5- and 6-year-olds and their teacher were killed in a devastat- ing school shooting in Dunblane, Scotland. After those murders the public outcry in Great Britain was very similar to the one we are seeing in the U.S. right now. The shooter owned his guns legal- ly and the outrage over his crime started a public campaign for tighter gun control culminating in a petition being handed to the gov- ernment with more than 700,000 signatures. A 1987 mass shooting by a man who killed 16 people and wounded 15 others had already led Great Britain to ban semi-auto- matic and pump action rifles and shotguns. This time, 11 months after the Dunblane murders, Great Britain passed the Firearm (Amendment) Act of 1997 institut- ing tighter controls over hand- guns. Soon after, the country went a step further and prohibited all handguns in civilian hands. The government also instituted firearm amnesties across the country resulting in the surrender of thou- sands of firearms and rounds of ammunition. After Great Britain acted, gun- related crimes continued to rise for a while, following a trend that began earlier in the decade. Experts said it was inevitable that criminals were not going to sur- render their illegal handguns and it took time to reduce the pool of illegal handguns after the ban and see declines in gun-related crimes. But after peaking in 2003 and 2004, the total number of firearm offenses has fallen every year since. In 2009, nearly 67 percent of U.S. homicides were committed with guns while in Great Britain the number was only 6.6 percent. In 2010, 27 people were killed by gun homicide in the United King- dom, which includes both Great Britain and Northern Ireland and has a population of more than 62 million people. In California and Texas, with a similar combined population of 62 million people, there were 2,255 gun homicides. What a difference guns make. Some will argue that other fac- tors contribute to the lower gun violence rates in Australia, Great Britain, and similar countries beyond their strong gun control legislation. Others note that the United States is a very different place, with entrenched attitudes equating guns with personal free- dom, tens of millions more people, and tens of millions more guns, and we may never be able to expect the same success reducing the number of gun murders to near zero. These points may have some merit but are not reasons to dis- miss anything other countries may be getting right in favor of contin- uing to do nothing new here. In both Australia and Great Britain extraordinary tragedies pushed a groundswell of citizens to stand up and say no more and elected officials to follow through with significant action. If Ameri- cans had said no more after Columbine, there may never have been a Virginia Tech. If we had said no more after Virginia Tech, there may never have been a Tuc- son. If we had said no more after Tucson, there may never have been an Aurora. If we had said no more after Aurora, there may never have been a Newtown, and maybe some of the more than 31,000 other American gun deaths that occur each year could have been prevented. President Obama was correct when he said at the interfaith prayer vigil at Newtown High School that “no single law—no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that can’t be an excuse for inac- tion. Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tuc- son, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that—then surely we have an obligation to try.” Let’s heed Gabby Giffords’ moving testimony to be bold, to be courageous, and to act now for our children’s sake. Marian Wright Edelman is pres- ident of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more infor- mation go to www.childrensde- fense.org. Black History Month by the Numbers T he U.S. Census Bureau has released the following fig- ures about Black America to coincide with African Ameri- can History Month. I found them interesting enough to share. Population 43.9 million The number of Blacks, either alone or in combination with one or more other races, on July 1, 2011, up 1.6 percent from the cen- sus on April 1, 2010. Source: Pop- ulation Estimates 77.4 million The projected Black population of the United States (including those of more than one race) for July 1, 2060. On that date, accord- ing to the projection, Blacks would constitute 18.4 percent of the nation’s total population. Source: Population projections 3.7 million The Black population in New York, which led all states as of July 1, 2011. Texas had the largest numeric increase since April 1, 2010 (84,000). The District of Columbia had the highest percent- age of Blacks (52.2 percent), fol- lowed by Mississippi (38.0 percent). Source: Population Esti- mates 1.3 million The Black population in Cook, Ill., which had the largest Black population of any county in 2011. Fulton, Ga., had the largest numer- American Community Survey T HE C URRY R EPORT George E. Curry ic increase since 2010 (13,000). Holmes, Miss., was the county with the highest percentage of Blacks in the nation (82.9 per- cent). Source: Population Esti- mates Serving Our Nation 2.3 million Number of Black military veter- ans in the United States in 2011. Source: 2011 American Commu- nity Survey Education 82.5% The percentage of Blacks 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher in 2011. Source: 2011 American Community Survey 18.4% The percentage of Blacks 25 and older who had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2011. Source: 2011 American Community Survey 1.6 million Among Blacks 25 and older, the number who had an advanced degree in 2011. Source: 2011 3.1 million Number of Blacks enrolled in college in 2011, a 74.0 percent increase since 2001. Source: 2011 Current Population Survey, Table A1 Voting 11.1 million The number of Blacks who voted in the 2010 congressional election, an increase from 10 per- cent of the total electorate in 2006 to 12 percent in 2010. Source: Vot- ing and Registration in the Elec- tion of 2010 55% Turnout rate in the 2008 presi- dential election for the 18- to 24- year-old citizen Black population, an 8 percentage point increase from 2004. Blacks had the highest turnout rate in this age group. Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of 2008 65% Turnout rate among Black citi- zens regardless of age in the 2008 presidential election, up about 5 percentage points from 2004. Looking at voter turnout by race and Hispanic origin, non-Hispanic whites and Blacks had the highest turnout levels. Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of 2008 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance $32,229 The annual median income of Black households in 2011, a decline of 2.7 percent from 2010. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insur- ance Coverage in the United States: 2011 27.6% Poverty rate in 2011 for Blacks. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insur- ance Coverage in the United States: 2011 80.5% Percentage of Blacks that were covered by health insurance dur- ing all or part of 2011. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States : 2011 Families and Children 61.9% Among households with a Black householder, the percentage that contained a family in 2012. There were 9.7 million Black family households. Source: 2012 Current Population Survey, Families and Living Arrangements, Table F1 and Table HH-2 45.2% Among families with Black householders, the percentage that were married couples in 2012. Source: 2012 Current Population February 6. 2013 Survey, Families and Living Arrangements, Table F1 1.2 million Number of Black grandparents who lived with their own grand- children younger than 18 in 2011. Of this number, 48.5 percent were also responsible for their care. Source: 2011 American Commu- nity Survey Homeownership 43.4% Nationally, the percentage of households with a householder who was Black who lived in owner-occupied homes in 2011. Source: 2011 American Commu- nity Survey Jobs 28.2% The percentage of Blacks 16 and older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupa- tions. Source: 2011 American Community Survey Businesses $135.7 billion Receipts for Black-owned busi- nesses in 2007, up 53.1 percent from 2002. The number of Black- owned businesses totaled 1.9 mil- lion in 2007, up 60.5 percent. Source: 2007 Survey of Business Owners The Seattle Skanner Page 5
