Let domestic abuse victims know there is help

April 2020- with many cities and states implementing lockdowns and curfews to slow the spread of the Corona virus, domestic abuse victims are in danger:  but there is help.

Time Magazine spells out the issues in this latest article , and WAMU / American University Radio reports on the shocking statistics of domestic abuse and guns:

“An estimated 900,000 women alive today have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner. Between 2010 and 2017, intimate partner homicides that involved guns increased by 26% according to a 2019 study published in the journal Violence and Gender.

“’When survivors are forced to stay in the home or in close proximity to their abuser more frequently, an abuser can use any tool to exert control over their victim, including a national health concern such as COVID-19,” the National Domestic Violence Hotline wrote in a web post.”

This is a good time to remind your state officials about the wonderful initiative from Laforche Parish to help domestic abuse victims whose abusers have guns – our action with details is here, and can still be taken https://www.onepulseforamerica.com/action-alert/thank-lafourche-parish-sheriffs-office-for-its-domestic-violence-initiative/

ACTION:

Share the following message on your social media , personalized to your liking:

“If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline via text or call at 1-800-799-7233.  It’s free, it’s 100% confidential – it could save the health and lives of you and your loved ones.”

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Call out the NRA on their dangerous, paranoia-inducing video

21 March 2020 – the NRA has released a video of a disabled woman – basically telling everyone society is going to collapse and they must get a gun.

This paranoid, violence-inciting video would have you believe there is no well-regulated militia – no local police, no state troopers, no armed forces, no national guard, no FBI.

No, according to Carletta Whiting, you must have a gun to defend your property – asap.

The funny thing is Ms Whiting, who can’t be found on Twitter for the record, wants your sympathy because she is vulnerable to the Corona virus.

But she wants it both ways:  on the one hand we have to fear for her health because of the pandemic – but on the other hand, we apparently have to allow people to risk further spreading the disease by standing in long lines, going into gun shops, handling guns and money (bearing in mind the virus can live for hours and days on some surfaces).  If she’s scared of society breaking down then she should be fighting the spread of the disease, not getting ready to kill whoever might hypothetically try to rob her.

We know children are getting shot and dying from finding loaded guns; does she really think that panicky, inexperienced people possibly going into a lockdown situation should think this is the best time to get a lethal weapon?  The NRA’s irresponsible advert smacks to many as tokenism, fear-mongering, violence-inducing:  let’s tell them this is not the time for their Russian-funded scaremongering.  We have a well-regulated militia – it’s the police, the state troopers, the national guard and the armed forces.  It is not scared, inexperienced, paranoid people with guns like her.

ACTION

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

 

I’ve just watched the vile video featuring Carletta Whiting in which she says everyone who wants a gun should have one, strongly implying society will break down because of the Corona Virus.  If she is actually a person who is vulnerable to it, can you or she explain why she wants people going to gun shops and risk spreading the disease more widely?  How many ways do you people want it?

We have a second amendment that allows for a well-regulated militia – and we have that:  we have police, state troopers, the national guard, the armed forces.  I want them keeping order, not some people made paranoid by your dangerous stunt who have run out and bought a gun because of the NRA.

I’m also not forgetting for a second that you are a Russian-funded, Russian-spy infiltrated organisation; a senate sub-committee found this to be the case, and the sooner you’re out of business the better off we’ll all be.

While millions are busy trying to help their neighbors during this crisis, you want everyone to think that looting and riots are the inevitable conclusion:  you are promoting a dangerous agenda, and I’m shocked at your self-serving greed even more than ever.

You didn’t find time to talk about the children who have been injured and killed so far this year because of legally-owned guns left loaded in homes:  that is down to you too.  If frightened people do run out and get guns and rounds, risking spreading the disease because of you, I hold you responsible for the inevitable injuries and deaths your ad will have contributed to.  How much more blood do you want on your hands?

 or

Suggested Tweet:

NRA is a Russian asset; a Senate sub committee proved NRA links to Russian spies, money, but here they are, making us paranoid, making us forget there are police, state troops, FBI to uphold the law. No more innocent lives lost 2 gun culture. Join @1Pulse4America help us fight

Phone:  800 672 3888
Email:  https://contact.nra.org 
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NRA/ (NB they block posts, may block comments too)
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/NRA 

The link to the Tweet in question is here:  https://twitter.com/NRA/status/1241418470341980167

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join Giffords Law’s calls for home gun safety during Corona

24 March, 2020  – Reported by Middletowntranscript.com, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence released a paper, “The Importance of Safe Gun Storage During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”  It reads:

“As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across America, communities are increasingly urging residents to practice social distancing to help slow the spread. While families are contending with tremendous disruptions to daily life and nearly unprecedented uncertainty, COVID-19 also presents a life-threatening risk for America’s young people: unsecured guns in the house.”

“Recent data indicate that approximately 4.6 million children and teens in the United States live in homes where loaded guns are kept unsecured.

“Two of the greatest threats posed by unsecured guns to children, teens and young adults are accidental shootings and suicide.”

“We must ensure that firearms are properly secured to protect the millions of young Americans who are spending significantly greater periods of time in their homes. By practicing safe storage— keeping unattended firearms unloaded and locked, with ammunition stored separately — gun owners can significantly reduce the risks of unintentional shootings and firearm suicide and save lives.”

“On Jan. 25, 2020, a three-year-old in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who discovered a loaded and unlocked gun shot and killed himself. Less than 24 hours earlier, a five-year-old across town had shot himself in the hand.”

“As demonstrated by the tragedies in Baton Rouge, children as young as three are strong enough to fire some types of handguns. In one study, 73% of children under age 10 living in homes with guns reported knowing the location of their parents’ firearms, and 36% admitted they had handled the weapons. Many of these children handled guns without their parents’ knowledge. Nearly a quarter of parents did not know that their children had handled a gun in their house.”

“When children and teens have unsupervised access to firearms, tragedies are all but inevitable. According to the CDC, 888 children under the age of 18 died from unintentional gunshot wounds between 2009 and 2018 in the U.S. Among these victims were 598 children ages 14 and under. Children ages five to 14 are more than 20 times more likely to be killed in unintentional shootings in the U.S. than in other high-income countries.”

The paper also talks about the risks of suicides with unsecured guns, and this time of uncertainty and epidemic can be very stressful.

The photo is of Tripp Shaw and his family; his dad was ‘play wrestling’ with Tripp while wearing a gun, and Tripp was shot dead.

While we at One Pulse for America have been calling for people to take home gun safety seriously for years.  We will do it again now, in the hope that perhaps lives can be saved.  Children should not die from adults’ ignorance.

ACTION:

Please contact your friends, family, local community social media groups  and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

If you have children at a home that has guns, please be more vigilant than ever before.  You’re probably thinking about the Corona virus and staying safe from it – and you should be.  But please do all you can to ensure that your child doesn’t become a tragic statistic.

Please think about this:  from 1 January to 26 March 2020: 38 little children died from shooting, and a further 111 were injured.  Think of how many that is, and then you can add on the 190 teens killed and 479 injured.  Many of these occurred because loaded guns in the home were left unsecured.   Think of how the rest of the family will feel for the rest of their lives.

If parents had kept guns unloaded, kept rounds and guns locked away securely, fitted gun locks -available free from many police stations – these little children would be here today, and these teens would be looking forward to college or work, and growing up.

Please, ask your local police force for help on gun safety.  They may offer a free gun lock.  You might regret it if you don’t.  There is no second chance here.  And by the time you read this, the sad fact is that the numbers quoted here from the Gun Violence Archive quoted will be going up.

Or a short tweet:

Please take precautions re. corona pandemic, and if you keep guns at home where children live, please take extra care. As of 26 March 38 children died from shooting, 111 were injured. 190 teens were killed and 479 injured.  These tragedies were avoidable. Ask ur police for advice

 

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