In a guest column for The Wall Street Journal, writer, journalist and LSU grad Campbell Brown says President Barack Obama's recent speech on gun violence in Denver missed the mark when it failed to mention "one of the nation's biggest promoters of violence: the entertainment industry." Brown—who will speak at Leadership for Change education summit in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, April 17—says "the president's campaign against gun violence has produced a stale debate marked by lots of speeches with little achieved." A more creative chief executive, she says, would have used the moment to "widen the discussion by drawing attention to the increasingly graphic violence so pervasive in television shows, movies and videogames." Brown calls for new restrictions on TV violence that's accessible by children, as well as a "real movie ratings system," saying the current voluntary ratings system is "meaningless." You can read the full column
A new state-by-state analysis of gun violence released today by the Center for American Progress says Louisiana, on several key measures, "has been hit harder by gun violence than any other state in the country." Ranked No. 1 for gun violence per capita, Louisiana has a gun-murder rate that is more than two-and-a-half times higher than the U.S. average. With one person killed by a gun every 10 hours in the state, the analysis says Louisiana's gun-homicide rate is 9.5 per every 100,000 residents—compared to a national average of 3.6 per every 100,000. Louisiana also has the highest gun-homicide rate among children aged 19 and younger, and the second-worst rate among women. "Louisiana not only has rampant gun violence within its borders, but it contributes to crime in other states as well," the analysis says. "In 2009, Louisiana had the15th-highest rate of guns sold in the state that went on to be used in crimes in other states." Behind Louisiana on the rankings for states with...
It wasn't exactly a typical chamber of commerce event. But the Chamber of Commerce of East Baton Rouge's recent Gun Training Program proved so popular, the organization now plans to offer it four to six times a year, with the next session tentatively scheduled for May 18. Some 34 residents—three-fourths of them women—turned out at the Baker Range for the four-hour course to learn how firearms work and how to handle, load and unload them safely. "We probably could do it every week," chamber Chairman Woody Jenkins says. "Our first class was packed out." He says the newly formed chamber hosted the event as a way for business owners to reach out to a community that is concerned about crime. "We want to do things that will serve the community," says Jenkins, who is also chairman of the Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish, which in January hosted a luncheon to advise people on the best guns to buy for self-defense. "I think there's just a lot of fear out there with the...
Louisiana is gearing up for a fight over potential new federal gun restrictions. A half-dozen pre-filed bills for the legislative session that convenes in April target the issue, including one that would fine and/or imprison any federal authorities attempting to enforce a ban or forced registration of semi-automatic firearms in the state. The proposed Louisiana Preservation of Individual Gun Rights of Citizens Act, co-sponsored by three Capital Region legislators, also would require the attorney general to defend any Louisiana citizen charged with ownership or possession of a semi-automatic firearm or accessory under federal statutes. There's also a bill by a Metairie legislator to exclude firearms, accessories and ammunition manufactured and sold within Louisiana's borders from any federal regulation, since Congress only has the authority to regulate interstate commerce. That proposed law also creates an alternative background check procedure via Louisiana State Police for such...
Top officials gathered today at City Hall to underscore the importance of gun safety in the wake of three recent unrelated deaths of minors who were killed by others mishandling guns. "In these cases, the adult owners of these weapons should expect to face prosecution for negligent homicide or improper supervision of a minor," reads a joint statement from Mayor Kip Holden, District Attorney Hillar Moore III, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Coroner Beau Clark and Police Chief Dewayne White. Specifically, 20-year-old Deaundre Williams has been arrested in the death of 15-year-old Enrico Green; 18-year-old Terrance Varise has been arrested in the death of 2-year-old Travin Varise; and a 16-year-old unnamed juvenile has been arrested in the death of 17-year-old death Marcus Williams. All three deaths have occurred since the start of the year. "Often times these shootings are referred to as accidental shootings. This is not correct," reads the statement. "These are not accidents. They are...
The number of federal background checks for firearms sales declined last month in the United States, and retailers continue to run out of guns to sell during the buying spree driven by Washington's new focus on gun control. Background checks decreased 10% nationally between December and January. Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi saw the largest declines in background checks from December to January, by nearly one-third, according to an Associated Press analysis of new FBI data published today. Those states, however, also saw some of the highest increases in background checks between November and December last year. Firearms sales surged around the country after the December shooting spree in Newton, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the school. There were more than 2.78 million checks in December. That was a 12-month peak following an upward trend through last fall. The number fell to 2.48 million in January, which is still a higher figure than any month...
Ruling out handguns and ammunition clips holding 10 rounds or fewer, well-known defense attorney Lewis Unglesby says semi-automatic assault weapons and high-volume magazines should be banned from sale and bought back from the public. "I'm trying to get rid of weapons of mass destruction," says Unglesby, who made the remarks today as guest speaker of the Baton Rouge Press Club. The attorney is adding his voice to debates about gun control that are taking place nationwide following the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn.; President Barack Obama's is addressing the tragedy with calls for new legislation. Unglesby says it is "foolishness" to consider anything less than banning assault weapons. "They're only for one thing: killing people," he says. Outside of hunting rifles and handguns, Unglesby says, highly effective weaponry ought to be legislated like the automobile industry and tobacco companies. He says it is misguided to defend assault weapons based on the rights outlined...
Mayor Kip Holden says the gun control debate should, at the very least, result in across-the-board background checks for gun buyers to curb violence in Baton Rouge and the rest of the country. Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged city leaders gathered at the U.S. Conference of Mayors to pressure members of Congress to support President Barack Obama's proposals to curb gun violence, but Holden stops short of doing so; he knows some Louisiana representatives have entrenched positions on gun rights: "I would not want to waste my time or theirs," says Holden, who attended the recent mayors conference. He added that that current discussion about placing armed guards in schools, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, is misguided; the debate, he says, should instead be centered on treating mental illness. He points out that the shooter at the Sandy Hook school broke into a building window to gain entrance. "You could have had somebody at the...
In anticipation of last week's unveiling of President Barack Obama's plan for gun control, Capital Region gun owners have been stocking up for the better part of a month.
In anticipation of today's unveiling of President Barack Obama's plan for gun control, Capital Region gun owners have been stocking up for the better part of a month. Few AR-15s or other military-style rifles are to be found, and those that are have nearly doubled in price. But that's not all shoppers are after. Weapons of all calibers, magazines, ammunition, parts and even reloading materials have been flying off the shelves. For weeks now, the gun sales section of Bass Pro Shops has been marked by heavy traffic and slim pickings. This morning, the firearms on display constituted about half the usual inventory; and with the exception of shotgun shells, ammunition was scarce. At Academy Sports on Airline Highway, the shelf normally containing .223 ammunition—one caliber that is at issue in the current controversy—was empty, and supplies of other calibers were running...
President Barack Obama today officially proposed the most expansive gun-control policies in generations and initiated 23 separate executive actions aimed at curbing what he called "the epidemic of gun violence in this country." Obama spoke in a ceremony to formally unveil the proposals and to sign executive orders and paperwork initiating immediate administrative actions, including steps to strengthen the existing background-check system to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous people as well as to improve mental health and school safety programs. In an emotional ceremony one month and two days after the shooting that killed 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Obama was flanked by children who wrote him letters in the days after the massacre, pleading with him to do something to curb gun violence. The complete story from The Washington Post can be found
President Barack Obama will today unveil a package of gun control proposals. According to various reports, the proposals will include a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The president also wants universal background checks for all gun buyers, not just those who purchase weapons through licensed dealers. Obama has signaled his plan would include elements that did not require congressional approval, Reuters reports. The president could take action to ban certain gun imports and bolster oversight of gun dealers. The announcement sets up a confrontation with the National Rifle Association, which is launching an advertising campaign against gun control and deploying its lobbyists in force on Capitol Hill. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will present the measures at a White House event attended by children from around the country who wrote letters to the president about gun violence and school safety, reports say.
Brown blasts Obama for not targeting Hollywood in gun debate
In a guest column for The Wall Street Journal, writer, journalist and LSU grad Campbell Brown says President Barack Obama's recent speech on gun violence in Denver missed the mark when it failed to mention "one of the nation's biggest promoters of violence: the entertainment industry." Brown—who will speak at Leadership for Change education summit in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, April 17—says "the president's campaign against gun violence has produced a stale debate marked by lots of speeches with little achieved." A more creative chief executive, she says, would have used the moment to "widen the discussion by drawing attention to the increasingly graphic violence so pervasive in television shows, movies and videogames." Brown calls for new restrictions on TV violence that's accessible by children, as well as a "real movie ratings system," saying the current voluntary ratings system is "meaningless." You can read the full column
Study: Louisiana has most gun violence per capita in U.S.
A new state-by-state analysis of gun violence released today by the Center for American Progress says Louisiana, on several key measures, "has been hit harder by gun violence than any other state in the country." Ranked No. 1 for gun violence per capita, Louisiana has a gun-murder rate that is more than two-and-a-half times higher than the U.S. average. With one person killed by a gun every 10 hours in the state, the analysis says Louisiana's gun-homicide rate is 9.5 per every 100,000 residents—compared to a national average of 3.6 per every 100,000. Louisiana also has the highest gun-homicide rate among children aged 19 and younger, and the second-worst rate among women. "Louisiana not only has rampant gun violence within its borders, but it contributes to crime in other states as well," the analysis says. "In 2009, Louisiana had the15th-highest rate of guns sold in the state that went on to be used in crimes in other states." Behind Louisiana on the rankings for states with...
EBR chamber to extend gun training program
It wasn't exactly a typical chamber of commerce event. But the Chamber of Commerce of East Baton Rouge's recent Gun Training Program proved so popular, the organization now plans to offer it four to six times a year, with the next session tentatively scheduled for May 18. Some 34 residents—three-fourths of them women—turned out at the Baker Range for the four-hour course to learn how firearms work and how to handle, load and unload them safely. "We probably could do it every week," chamber Chairman Woody Jenkins says. "Our first class was packed out." He says the newly formed chamber hosted the event as a way for business owners to reach out to a community that is concerned about crime. "We want to do things that will serve the community," says Jenkins, who is also chairman of the Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish, which in January hosted a luncheon to advise people on the best guns to buy for self-defense. "I think there's just a lot of fear out there with the...
La. lawmakers prepare for federal fight on gun restrictions
Louisiana is gearing up for a fight over potential new federal gun restrictions. A half-dozen pre-filed bills for the legislative session that convenes in April target the issue, including one that would fine and/or imprison any federal authorities attempting to enforce a ban or forced registration of semi-automatic firearms in the state. The proposed Louisiana Preservation of Individual Gun Rights of Citizens Act, co-sponsored by three Capital Region legislators, also would require the attorney general to defend any Louisiana citizen charged with ownership or possession of a semi-automatic firearm or accessory under federal statutes. There's also a bill by a Metairie legislator to exclude firearms, accessories and ammunition manufactured and sold within Louisiana's borders from any federal regulation, since Congress only has the authority to regulate interstate commerce. That proposed law also creates an alternative background check procedure via Louisiana State Police for such...
EBR officials jointly targeting gun safety
Top officials gathered today at City Hall to underscore the importance of gun safety in the wake of three recent unrelated deaths of minors who were killed by others mishandling guns. "In these cases, the adult owners of these weapons should expect to face prosecution for negligent homicide or improper supervision of a minor," reads a joint statement from Mayor Kip Holden, District Attorney Hillar Moore III, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Coroner Beau Clark and Police Chief Dewayne White. Specifically, 20-year-old Deaundre Williams has been arrested in the death of 15-year-old Enrico Green; 18-year-old Terrance Varise has been arrested in the death of 2-year-old Travin Varise; and a 16-year-old unnamed juvenile has been arrested in the death of 17-year-old death Marcus Williams. All three deaths have occurred since the start of the year. "Often times these shootings are referred to as accidental shootings. This is not correct," reads the statement. "These are not accidents. They are...
La. among states with largest decrease in gun background checks
The number of federal background checks for firearms sales declined last month in the United States, and retailers continue to run out of guns to sell during the buying spree driven by Washington's new focus on gun control. Background checks decreased 10% nationally between December and January. Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi saw the largest declines in background checks from December to January, by nearly one-third, according to an Associated Press analysis of new FBI data published today. Those states, however, also saw some of the highest increases in background checks between November and December last year. Firearms sales surged around the country after the December shooting spree in Newton, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the school. There were more than 2.78 million checks in December. That was a 12-month peak following an upward trend through last fall. The number fell to 2.48 million in January, which is still a higher figure than any month...
Unglesby calls for ban on assault rifles
Ruling out handguns and ammunition clips holding 10 rounds or fewer, well-known defense attorney Lewis Unglesby says semi-automatic assault weapons and high-volume magazines should be banned from sale and bought back from the public. "I'm trying to get rid of weapons of mass destruction," says Unglesby, who made the remarks today as guest speaker of the Baton Rouge Press Club. The attorney is adding his voice to debates about gun control that are taking place nationwide following the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn.; President Barack Obama's is addressing the tragedy with calls for new legislation. Unglesby says it is "foolishness" to consider anything less than banning assault weapons. "They're only for one thing: killing people," he says. Outside of hunting rifles and handguns, Unglesby says, highly effective weaponry ought to be legislated like the automobile industry and tobacco companies. He says it is misguided to defend assault weapons based on the rights outlined...
Holden: Gun debate should focus on background checks and mental illness
Mayor Kip Holden says the gun control debate should, at the very least, result in across-the-board background checks for gun buyers to curb violence in Baton Rouge and the rest of the country. Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged city leaders gathered at the U.S. Conference of Mayors to pressure members of Congress to support President Barack Obama's proposals to curb gun violence, but Holden stops short of doing so; he knows some Louisiana representatives have entrenched positions on gun rights: "I would not want to waste my time or theirs," says Holden, who attended the recent mayors conference. He added that that current discussion about placing armed guards in schools, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, is misguided; the debate, he says, should instead be centered on treating mental illness. He points out that the shooter at the Sandy Hook school broke into a building window to gain entrance. "You could have had somebody at the...
Capital Region gun sales soar
In anticipation of last week's unveiling of President Barack Obama's plan for gun control, Capital Region gun owners have been stocking up for the better part of a month.
Capital Region gun sales soar
In anticipation of today's unveiling of President Barack Obama's plan for gun control, Capital Region gun owners have been stocking up for the better part of a month. Few AR-15s or other military-style rifles are to be found, and those that are have nearly doubled in price. But that's not all shoppers are after. Weapons of all calibers, magazines, ammunition, parts and even reloading materials have been flying off the shelves. For weeks now, the gun sales section of Bass Pro Shops has been marked by heavy traffic and slim pickings. This morning, the firearms on display constituted about half the usual inventory; and with the exception of shotgun shells, ammunition was scarce. At Academy Sports on Airline Highway, the shelf normally containing .223 ammunition—one caliber that is at issue in the current controversy—was empty, and supplies of other calibers were running...
Obama signs 23 executive actions on gun control
President Barack Obama today officially proposed the most expansive gun-control policies in generations and initiated 23 separate executive actions aimed at curbing what he called "the epidemic of gun violence in this country." Obama spoke in a ceremony to formally unveil the proposals and to sign executive orders and paperwork initiating immediate administrative actions, including steps to strengthen the existing background-check system to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous people as well as to improve mental health and school safety programs. In an emotional ceremony one month and two days after the shooting that killed 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Obama was flanked by children who wrote him letters in the days after the massacre, pleading with him to do something to curb gun violence. The complete story from The Washington Post can be found
Obama to propose assault weapons ban, universal background checks
President Barack Obama will today unveil a package of gun control proposals. According to various reports, the proposals will include a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The president also wants universal background checks for all gun buyers, not just those who purchase weapons through licensed dealers. Obama has signaled his plan would include elements that did not require congressional approval, Reuters reports. The president could take action to ban certain gun imports and bolster oversight of gun dealers. The announcement sets up a confrontation with the National Rifle Association, which is launching an advertising campaign against gun control and deploying its lobbyists in force on Capitol Hill. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will present the measures at a White House event attended by children from around the country who wrote letters to the president about gun violence and school safety, reports say.