Carter Twitter

Statement From CT Against Gun Violence on Dan Carter Smear

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Fairfield, CT – Last evening, State Representative Dan Carter tweeted that Newtown Action Alliance and Connecticut Against Gun Violence are equally as accountable as the National Rifle Association for gun deaths in this country.

Carter tweeted: “Both sides are against reasonable solutions, so they are all accountable for gun deaths – NRA, NAA, CAGV.”

Equally accountable? Newtown Action Alliance, formed by a stricken community in the aftermath of the most horrific killing spree the nation has ever seen, responsible for gun deaths? Along with CT Against Gun Violence, an organization that has been fighting for gun safety for more than twenty years, contributing to the result that Connecticut now has the second strongest gun laws in the nation and the sixth lowest rate of gun deaths?

Ron Pinciaro, Executive Director of CAGV, commented: “Dan Carter, Representative for a General Assembly district that includes part of Newtown, voted against the landmark gun violence prevention bill passed in response to the enormity of the Newtown tragedy. Perhaps he is trying to rationalize that vote in this way. We have had many differences with the gun lobby in the past, but this accusation is a first.”

Social media was alive for hours late last night after the tweet with the Newtown community and surrounding towns uniformly outraged over Carter’s statement.

More Results Since Passage of SB 1160

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Gun rights activists love to proclaim that SB 1160, the comprehensive CT Gun Violence Prevention bill we passed in 2013, signed by Governor Malloy, “doesn’t do a thing” to stop gun violence or prevent another Newtown from happening.

A Fairfield man was recently convicted of illegal possession of an AR-15 rifle, banned by the new law. The weapon was found in his car on the campus of the University of New Haven, where he was a student. Clippings of the Aurora Colorado shootings were found at his home.

We know that SB 1160 is a smart gun law and we also know that smart gun laws save lives. We also know that, in the year since the new law was signed:

  • 50,242 assault weapon certifications have been received and 38,209 gun owners filed declarations listing the number and type of large capacity magazines they owned.
  • The state has also issued 2,592 ammunition certificates and received 61 eligibility certificates for long guns.
  • 1,747 pistol permits were revoked.
  • 210 people tried to buy rifles and shotguns and were denied when background checks turned up felony convictions, undocumented alien status and domestic violence charges.

Here is more information on the mass shooting tragedy that may very well have been avoided because of our ban on assault weapons.

Read more

FBI

FBI Releases Report on Mass Shootings

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The Federal Bureau of Investigations issued a report on mass shootings on September 24, 2014. The Title of the Report is “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013.”

The criteria used to define a mass shooting was when individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in populated areas (excluding shootings related to gang or drug violence).

Major Findings of the Report included:

Active shooter incidents are becoming more frequent—the first seven years of the study show an average of 6.4 incidents annually, while the last seven years show 16.4 incidents annually.

– All but six of the 160 incidents involved male shooters (and only two involved more than one shooter).

– More than half of the incidents—90 shootings—ended on the shooter’s initiative (i.e., suicide, fleeing), while 21 incidents ended after unarmed citizens successfully restrained the shooter.

– In 21 of the 45 incidents where law enforcement had to engage the shooter to end the threat, nine officers were killed and 28 were wounded.

– The largest percentage of incidents—45.6 percent—took place in a commercial environment (73 incidents), followed by 24.3 percent that took place in an educational environment (39 incidents). The remaining incidents occurred at the other location types specified in the study—open spaces, military and other government properties, residential properties, houses of worship, and health care facilities.