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New Mexico Child shooting: charges must be brought against parents

Nearly half a year following the shooting death of a Santa Fe police officer’s 2-year-old son at the family home in Rio Rancho, no charges have been filed.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that  Rio Rancho police believe Lincoln Harmon’s 4-year-old brother discovered their father Jonathan’s off-duty handgun in a kitchen cabinet and unintentionally fired it early one morning in December, killing his two-year-old brother.

The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, which became involved in the case March 7, said an independent legal review is underway.

Is there preferential treatment because the gun owner Jonathan Harmon is an officer – who is still employed and is on ‘alternative’ duties?

Officer  Harmon was previously employed by the Bernalillo Police Department, which works closely with the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which created a conflict of interest issue.

Many feel the pace of justice in this case is impacted by Harmon’s status as an officer.  Given that other parents who have been in the same situation have had their cases brought more quickly and been convicted, it seems that way.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports:  “In other accidental shootings by a child elsewhere, parents have faced charges soon after the incident. Last month in Fort Collins, Colo., for example, the mother of a 6-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself turned herself in within weeks of the shooting after being charged with child abuse resulting in death and unlawful storage of a firearm, according to published reports.

“In January, Phoenix police arrested the father of a 2-year-old who accidentally shot himself; the arrest came a day after the shooting.

“Jennifer Burrill, president-elect of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said prosecutors have “plenty of time” to make a charging decision.”

Disturbingly, the initial 911 call was about the victim ‘falling off of a chair and not the gunshot, KOAT reports.  The public need and deserve the facts.

The New Mexico DA’s office has put pressure on Rio Rancho police to release information.  More however needs to be done.

ACTION:

We will demand that charges are brought swiftly and ask for an explanation as to why this has not happened.

Please contact the New Mexico Attorney General through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

As a member of One Pulse for America, I would like to know why no charges have been filed yet against Officer Jon Harmon and/or his wife regarding the shooting death of his son? The four-year-old was killed by a loaded gun Harmon owned which the child was able to find. Similar cases have been prosecuted more swiftly in your state.  While I appreciate your efforts, I have no faith in the Rio Rancho Police, and urge you to press this matter.  In similar cases in New Mexico where a parent was not an officer, I can clearly see charges were swiftly brought: the public need to see no one is above hte law.

@1Pulse4America wants law applied equally to all- and it’s definitely time for a NM gun safety campaign. If trained officers are leaving loaded guns unattended which result in child shootings, there is work to be done to educate people about the potentially-lethal dangers of leaving loaded guns where children can find them.

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

Phone:  1-844-255-9210

Email:  (form) www.nmag.gov/contact-us.aspx

Facebook:  (comment on this existing post)  https://fb.watch/cVY6Lq2-Z7/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/newmexicooag?lang=en

 

suggested Tweets:

@NewMexicoOAG Why no charges yet for Officer Jon Harmon yet re shooting death of his son? 2-year-old killed by loaded gun Harmon owned. Similar cases have been prosecuted more swiftly.
@1Pulse4America
wants law applied equally to all and it’s time for a NM gun safety campaign
and following tweet: 
I appreciate your efforts to get police to release info. However, the apparent initial report that the child had ‘fallen off a chair’ is a serious matter the public should by now know more about. I have little faith in @RioRanchoPD1 to act without your intervention.
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#GVSurvivorsWeek – Follow Up

Gun Violence Survivors week is ended – but it is not too late for you to take a simple action or two.

Every time this hashtag appears – #GVSurvivorsWeek – it helps spread awareness of the reality of gun violence.

The official week may be over, but there are still gun violence survivors who may not be aware they can join the community by texting SURVIVOR to 644-33.  It is never too late to get that message out.

 

ACTION

  1. Copy the image above (right click on it and save it), and share it across social media with the hash tag #GVSurvivorsWeek to let gun violence survivors know they can join a supportive community by sending a text.
  2. On Facebook, Twitter,  or any other platform you use, simply search for the hashtag #GVSurvivorsWeek and read a story or several stories.  Then share/retweet .  You will find videos, moving stories, and more.
  3. Use the #GVSurvivorsWeek hashtag to share your own thoughts, experiences.

Once you have taken action, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!  Feel free to take this action more than once.

 

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Signal Support for NYC Mayor’s Gun Law Reforms

New York, 25 January 2022

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is making strides towards gun law reform.

This follows closely on the heels of NYCP officers being shot and killed while responding to a domestic incident.

He said: “We will not surrender our city to the violent few”- you can read more about it here:  New York Times 

We know from experience the NRA and others will pile on the hate, so we are going to send brief messages of support by email, phone, Facebook, and Twitter.  You don’t have to be a NewYorker to want to see this change – and he may well inspire other mayors.

Please contact Mayor Adams through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

Greetings from George Takei’s gun law reform group, One Pulse for America. As a  member, I wanted to send you my thanks and approval for your much-needed gun  law reform plans.


Phone:  212-NEW-YORK or 311 if in New York

Email (form):  http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/social_media_feedback.html

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=487688136044952&set=a.416326673181099

Twitter:  @NYCMayor

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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Support Letitia James’ Gun Law Reforms

December 2021 – New York’s Attorney General Letitia James is trying to achieve meaningful gun law reform. This inevitably means she is being attacked on social media. We will send messages of support.

Attorney General James is the subject of a lawsuit by segments of the gun industry following her decision to implement a state public nuisance statute that allows gun makers and distributors to be sued if their products are used in crimes by third parties.

NewYork State laws seeking to hold manufacturers of lethal weapons to account is behind these  manufacturers suing Ms James.

In a December 16 press statement  Ms James said:  “Once again, the gun lobby is trying to exert total control over this country and thwart common-sense efforts to protect lives.

“Make no mistake: We will aggressively defend this law and won’t back down against their continued attempts to endanger New Yorkers.”

 

While many gun-violence-weary New Yorkers are sending her messages of support, there are many people sending hateful, illogical messages to her on social media.

This is a remarkably easy action alert to take; it may be our last of the year.  All you need to do is comment on her social media,  on a platform of your choice, with a brief message of support.   You can choose to call or email – but by making a public comment, you will be showing to the rest of the community she has your support, and there are people like us out here who want gun law reform.  When there are no messages of support visible, it looks like there is no support:  let’s counter that.  By the way, we are closing in on a massive 50,000 actions taken over the years! Many of these have been successful in their aims and/or directly contributed to successful outcomes. A few minutes of your time will leave a visible sign that you want gun law reform.  Please do take this action, thank you!

TAKE ACTION

Please follow one of these links shown below and leave the following message, personalized to your liking. You can take this action more than once.  Please do not engage with the many trolls out there, just send a polite message of support for AG James:

 

“Dear Ms James, I applaud your actions on gun law reform; lives are at stake.  A well-regulated militia does not mean school shootings, mass shootings, and the huge death toll America has because of avoidable gun violence.”

Phone:    1-800-771-7755

Email:    (this is a link to the form to fill out) https://ag.ny.gov/contact-attorney-general-letitia-james

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/newyorkstateag – scroll down and you will find the gun-related posts 

Twitter:    https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1472628013468692483

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!  This is important – we will never use or share your email, but we will use this to count the individuals who have done the action alert, and you will be credited with taking an action on our leaderboard – see here:  

 

 

 

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Get Greene’s gun giveaway off YouTube!

27September 2021 – Congressperson Marjorie Taylor-Greene today reached a new low with an online giveaway for a semi-automatic weapon.

In her video which can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhT9Yp1tK1Q  , she mixes in anti-Biden propaganda as part of this giveaway, linking him inexplicably to the gun prize draw.  For example, one of her video segments carries the caption ‘Joe Biden armed an Islamic terrorist nation with $83 billion in weapons’.  This can easily be interpreted as meaning to inflame anti-Biden sentiment to the audience of people wanting to get this gun.  She then says she will ‘blow away the Democrats [sic] socialist agenda’, and presumably using the ‘prize,’ she aims and seems to destroy a vehicle marked ‘socialism’.  Is this a member of a well-regulated militia? Is this a person fit to be in Congress?

The far-right webchat group Gab emailed its subscribers with information on how to enter the prize draw.  This ad talks about the weapon being the kind that “TRIGGERS fake news media and Democrats.”  The ad, which has no closing date or terms and conditions,  can be found here https://action.greene2020.com/50cal-gab-em/  

Let’s get this vile, gun-glamorizing, inflammatory video taken off social media.  If you would also take an extra step and let your Congressional representatives know about the situation – they may be able to help.

ACTION

Please go to the video on YouTube using the link below and give them the following messages, personalized to your liking:

 

This ad for a gun – where the entry form has no age limit, no info on background checks – is highly irresponsible. Greene brings Biden into her vile gun giveaway with propaganda about him which could inflame her base. How is destroying a vehicle after talking about Biden anything but incitement? America has a serious gun violence problem and this content does not help.  It doesn’t belong on YouTube; please get rid of it and her channel.

To comment on the video:  Click here, give the video the ‘thumbs down, and write your comment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhT9Yp1tK1Q

 

To report the video:  Click here and follow instructions to report  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhT9Yp1tK1Q.  You will see three dots under the video; click on them and the word ‘Report’ appears.  It will ask questions about why you are reporting.  You then get a box to explain more. Put your version of the message in the box and hit Submit. Anyone needing further help – just let us know.  We can share step-by-step instructions with pictures to those who need them.

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 Bonus Action:  Comment on the video as well. If you see other messages criticising the video, give them the thumbs up – just click on the thumbs up image next to the comment.

 

Bonus Action:  Please do tell your Congressional representative about this giveaway one of their colleagues is doing. Finding your rep is only a few clicks away- Find your congressperson here:  https://www.conginst.org/contact-congress/

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The Price of Freedom: Join Exclusive Online Screening

The Price of Freedom

The team behind the powerful new documentary The Price of Freedom has invited One Pulse for America members to a private online screening of the film.  We are honored to have this chance and hope you will join us.

There will be a choice of viewing dates and times for this event:

Saturday 18th September at 8pm New York time

Sunday 19th September at 3pm New York time

To get a link for viewing the film, go to our Eventbrite page and request your chosen day.  We will then send you a link before the screening.  Click on the link to register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-price-of-freedom-exclusive-screening-for-one-pulse-for-america-members-registration-169733175497

You need to sign up at least half an hour before the start time.  And of course, no recording, audio or pictures are to be made.

Afterwards, we will schedule a time to discuss the film on our Facebook page – details to be confirmed.

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Have your say on Ghost Guns – Act before Midnight 19 August

URGENT – COMMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY midnight 19 August 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)  has a  consultation expiring 19 August – on Ghost Guns – privately made firearms, often homemade/3d printed, which lack commercial serial numbers.  The enormity of the problem cannot be overstated.

We have the advantage of being allowed to have our say on the subject, and it is a right that if used may save lives.

ACTION:

Please contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives through the link below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

I write as a member of One Pulse for America, and I want to see the ATF recognize the threat ghost guns present.  The law has to reflect the seriousness of untraceable ‘ghost guns’. Without legal safeguards, these weapons-  easily made from easy-to-get materials- can only increase in number and will cost lives. Some say a fully-functioning weapon can be made in under an hour – and such weapons are virtually untraceable. 

Please take a hard stance against this dangerous development.  

 

 Follow this link and just add your comment:  https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ATF-2021-0001-0001

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

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Demand charges be dropped against 10 year old who found coach’s illegal gun

10 June, 2021 – Lancaster, S.C. The Associated Press reported a South Carolina youth basketball coach has been arrested after a 10-year-old player took a loaded gun from his car to his elementary school.

Isaac Lamon Adams, 36, was barred from legally owning a gun because of a previous criminal conviction, Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said.  Exactly what ‘a person convicted of a crime of violence’ was doing around children while having the unsecured gun in his vehicle is a question those who hired him should be asked.

That Adams is to be charged is great news.  Now the extremely bad news:  the little ten-year-old boy is to be charged as a juvenile for having the gun!  This is wholly unacceptable.  Deputies say the child did not brandish the pistol or use or threaten to use it in any manner at the school.

The trauma to be visited on this child for the illegal actions of Adams by charging him must be averted.

ACTION:

Please contact the Lancaster South Carolina Sheriff’s Office through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

I am writing to demand that the charges you inexplicably want to lodge against a little ten-year-old boy who found a gun his coach illegally had are immediately dropped.  A child of ten who was sent to a vehicle with an illegal gun in it is far below the age of criminal responsibility. I am glad you are charging coach Adams, who was prohibited from having a gun.

Drop the charges on the boy (who any child psychologist will tell you cannot have understood the implications of what that gun could do) and add a charge of child endangerment to Adams’ charge sheet. You must surely know giving this boy a record serves no good at all and will do harm. 

I expect to see an announcement shortly that all charges against the child are dropped.  Why would you inflict such psychological damage on an innocent child?

Phone:  803-313-2121

Email:  sherifffaile@lacoso.net

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LancasterCountySheriffSC

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Obscene: Guns are Covid-19 vaccination prizes in W Virginia

West Virginia is to offer a raft of incentives and prizes for those citizens who get immunized against Covid-19.  It is unfortunate that some people need to be bribed to protect themselves and their communities from deadly disease. It is positively obscene that weapons are to be among the prizes.

As CBS reports, from  June 20, West Virginia will “…give out $1 million and other prizes each week up until Aug. 4, when two grand prizes of nearly $1.6 million and $580,000 will be announced, according to state officials.

“Other prizes include five custom hunting rifles and five custom hunting shotguns”.

State Governor Jim Justice, Republican said:  “These vaccinations are amazingly safe and they’ll protect you — I don’t know how in the world people are sitting on the sidelines still saying, no, I’m not going to do one, I’m not going to do it,”

One Pulse is happy with initiatives to encourage immunization, but we are appalled that lethal weapons should be linked to saving lives.  These handguns and shotguns may be intended for killing animals, but as we know, such weapons are part of the country’s huge death toll.  Trivializing guns by turning them into prizes which in theory anyone could win is unsupportable.

ACTION:

Tell Governor Justice you approve of efforts to improve take-up of Covid-19 vaccines, but you condemn guns being part of any reward system.

Please contact Governor Justice through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

I am pleased that West Virginia is using prizes and rewards to convince people to get the Covid-19 vaccine.  It should not be necessary to bribe or reward anyone to take this lifesaving step,  but if it helps, fine.

I am however disgusted that the prizes will include guns:  this is obscene to me on many levels.  The irony of trivializing lethal weapons as prizes for those who are helping to save lives by being immunized is saddening.  The idea of earmarking a gun of any kind as being a prize or reward is a huge insult to those of us who have been the victims of gun violence.  This decision to paint a gun as a desirable object which seemingly anyone can win sends completely the wrong message – and I expect you to halt this ridiculous, potentially dangerous, insulting initiative.

I will be waiting for you to call a halt to this unacceptable scheme.  West Virginia lost 300 lives to shootings in 2019:  why are you turning lethal weapons into raffle prizes?

 

Phone:  888-438-2731

Email (form):  https://appengine.egov.com/apps/wv/governor/contactus

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/WVGovernor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WVGovernor

 

or send a tweet – this is a suggestion:

@WVGovernor West Virginia lost 300 lives to shootings in 2019:  why are you turning lethal weapons into raffle prizes for those who get Covid-19 vaccines? A gun is not a toy; it is not a prize. This insults those who lost loved ones – 300 dead in WV in 2019. Stop this.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

 

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Boulder Killings: NRA fought for the ‘freedom’ of shooter to have AR-15

15 March, Boulder, CO – the National Rifle Association claimed a ‘victory’ after a courtroom decision stopped any limits on how assault-style rifles and ammunition can be transferred.  The NRA’s publication brags that “…a judge in the Centennial state gave law-abiding gun owners something to celebrate.”

22 March, Boulder, CO – ten people ranging in age from 20 to 65 including a police officer were murdered by a man with an assault-style rifle.   The NRA’s twitter feed makes zero mention of its role in this latest loss of life; the NRA is ironically re-tweeting the text of the 2nd Amendment.  The man who took the lives of ten people was not part of any well-regulated militia and the NRA know this.

The ABC news coverage in the link above includes comments from people who were there.  One woman explains how she and a child escaped from the back of the store when the shooting started. Crying, she explains she saw a person sprawled out and wanted to help them; the child explained to her it was too late.

There is virtually no other wealthy nation in peacetime that lives the way Americans are forced to live because of the NRA and its self-serving interpretation of what a well-regulated militia is.  This has to change.

 

George Takei, founder of One Pulse for America, tweeted : ” A better way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to not let that bad guy buy a gun so easily. Text UNIVERSAL to 34131 to let your senators know that you take this seriously and to demand universal background checks.”

Jay Kuo of One Pulse will have a piece for us shortly on the NRA – keep an eye on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1779750855570640

ACTION:

Please follow George Takei’s lead and contact your senators by texting UNIVERSAL to 34131.  This will tell them you demand universal background checks.  We do have a real chance with the current makeup of Congress for positive, life-saving change.

 

If you have Twitter then please like and share  George’s Tweet here https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1374203821757452289 

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!