Posted on 04/01/2004 11:27:44 AM PST by MegaSilver
DURHAM -- A group of moms presented some staggering statistics about gun violence and children in North Carolina and Durham at the old North Holloway Street school Wednesday afternoon.
Between 1999 and 2001, 131 children under the age of 17 died from gunshot wounds in North Carolina, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Durham County had the second-highest number of youth gun deaths of all N.C. counties and the highest per capita percentage of gun deaths in the state. Only Mecklenburg County reported more youth gun deaths.
Anna Lee Mosley, president of the West Triangle Chapter of the Million Mom March, said those statistics, and many others, are cause for alarm.
"The importance to me is to make a statement, to let Congress and the American people know that we have not gone away," Mosley said. "It's outrageous what's happening in Durham and in North Carolina and in the United States of America."
Members of the Million Mom March held the news conference Wednesday to announce this year's Mother's Day March to Halt the Assault in Washington, D.C., on May 9.
While there, Mosley said, members would lobby lawmakers on the Sept. 13 expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Act, which former President Bill Clinton enacted in 1994 to ban semi-automatic assault weapons.
"If the assault weapons ban expires ... [children] will have access to even more firepower," Mosley said.
The National Rifle Association, however, asserts on its Web site that the debate about the assault weapons ban is "far too often driven and dominated by emotion."
The NRA argues that firearm purchases are not available to "felons, drug addicts, illegal aliens and fugitives from justice," the site states.
"And, of course, semi-automatic firearms, which have been around for more than a century, are used by millions of Americans for hunting, self-defense, recreational target shooting and in formal marksmanship competitions such as the Olympics," according to the site. The weapons fire only once each time the trigger is pulled and use the same ammunition as other legal guns, the NRA states.
But a study by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence indicates that assault weapons banned by name in the act decreased from nearly 5 percent of guns traced to crime prior to the ban to 1.6 percent after it was enacted.
"We seek to create a city, state and an America where all people are safe from gun violence, Mosley said.
Connie Padgett, a member of the West Triangle Chapter of the Million Mom March, who presented the medical examiner's statistics, said Durham County youth deaths in the period studied were greater than in Wake, Guilford and Forsyth counties combined.
And while 4 percent of total firearm deaths in North Carolina were children, Durham County experienced 11.1 percent, Padgett said.
"I've held in my hands a list of the dead from gun violence in North Carolina, page after page of names," she said. "I come from that experience knowing we cannot continue doing what we've done in the past. Something must change to end the cycle of gun violence."
If any of my guns died, I'd be really sad.
| Government | Dates | Targets | Civiliams Killed | "Gun Control" Laws | Features of Over-all "Gun Control" scheme |
| Ottoman Turkey | 1915-1917 | Armenians (mostly Christians) |
1-1.5 million | Art. 166, Pen. Code, 1866 & 1911 Proclamation, 1915 |
• Permits required •Government list of owners •Ban on possession |
| Soviet Union | 1929-1945 | Political opponents; farming communities |
20 million | Resolutions, 1918 Decree, July 12, 1920 Art. 59 & 182, Pen. code, 1926 |
•Licensing of owners •Ban on possession •Severe penalties |
| Nazi Germany & Occupied Europe |
1933-1945 | Political opponents; Jews; Gypsies; critics; "examples" |
20 million | Law on Firearms & Ammun., 1928 Weapon Law, March 18, 1938 Regulations against Jews, 1938 |
•Registration & Licensing •Stricter handgun laws •Ban on possession |
| China, Nationalist | 1927-1949 | Political opponents; army conscripts; others |
10 million | Art. 205, Crim. Code, 1914 Art. 186-87, Crim. Code, 1935 |
•Government permit system •Ban on private ownership |
| China, Red | 1949-1952 1957-1960 1966-1976 |
Political opponents; Rural populations Enemies of the state |
20-35 million | Act of Feb. 20, 1951 Act of Oct. 22, 1957 |
•Prison or death to "counter-revolutionary criminals" and anyone resisting any government program •Death penalty for supply guns to such "criminals" |
| Guatemala | 1960-1981 | Mayans & other Indians; political enemies |
100,000- 200,000 |
Decree 36, Nov 25 •Act of 1932 Decree 386, 1947 Decree 283, 1964 |
•Register guns & owners •Licensing with high fees •Prohibit carrying guns •Bans on guns, sharp tools •Confiscation powers |
| Uganda | 1971-1979 | Christians Political enemies |
300,000 | Firearms Ordinance, 1955 Firearms Act, 1970 |
•Register all guns & owners •Licenses for transactions •Warrentless searches •Confiscation powers |
| Cambodia (Khmer Rouge) |
1975-1979 | Educated Persons; Political enemies |
2 million | Art. 322-328, Penal Code Royal Ordinance 55, 1938 |
•Licenses for guns, owners, ammunition & transactions •Photo ID with fingerprints •License inspected quarterly |
| Rwanda | 1994 | Tutsi people | 800,000 | Decree-Law No. 12, 1979 | •Register guns, owners, ammunition •Owners must justify need •Concealable guns illegal •Confiscating powers |
There seems to be alot of that going on with the libs these days.
Thanks for the stats.
Do you have stats for total firearm caused deaths in the USA?
Sarah Brady was once a good person too, but she needed a cause to jump on and remain relevant in the Washington cocktail and social circuit.
Hence, the gun-grabbing agenda....
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