Mon 7/30: “Ghost” guns, untraceable, undetectable, being made in a garage near you. Thanks, GOP! 5 actions to take now! This starts Aug. 1st.

Remember who allowed this to happen…

The day that metal detectors became useless.
The day that laws and restraining orders preventing the underage, the violent and the criminal from obtaining weapons became null and void.
The day the ability to trace weapons back to their source became moot.

…then do the 5 actions at the bottom.

This didn’t start yesterday: Five years ago, Cody Wilson, of Defense Distributed, published designs online for the “Liberator,” the world’s first 3D-printed handgun. The US Dept. of State office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance sued to block publication, arguing that they posed a national security risk and violated the Internation Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The government won the initial trial as well as the subsequent appeal.

Continue reading “Mon 7/30: “Ghost” guns, untraceable, undetectable, being made in a garage near you. Thanks, GOP! 5 actions to take now! This starts Aug. 1st.” →

Mon. – 5/21: Four great anti-gun violence projects you can do right now.

#1 – Stopping gun violence starts at home. UPDATED WITH MEETING INFO!

Stop Gunshows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds!

To be delivered to Ventura County Fairgrounds Board, Barbara Quaid CEO

State agencies should not promote and profit from the proliferation of guns and ammunition. The state-owned Ventura County Fairgrounds should stop renting out its facilities to gun shows.

495 signatures. NEW goal – We need 500!

(From Indivisible Ventura: There are three shows currently scheduled by Crossroads of the West Gun Shows.)

Aug 25th – 26th, 2018
Oct 27th – 28th, 2018
Dec 15th – 16th, 2018

Continue reading “Mon. – 5/21: Four great anti-gun violence projects you can do right now.” →

Fri. – 5/4: The NRA is busy this weekend. We should be too…

Actions for this weekend!

Write a postcard to Ed!

Despite serious backlash, Dick’s Sporting Goods has not only stopped selling assault rifles, they destroyed the ones they still had in stock instead of returning them for a refund. And now, they’ve actually hired lobbyists to talk about gun control to lawmakers!

Send a thank-you postcard to Mr. Edward Stack: Dick’s Sporting Goods, 345 Court Street, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania 15108 or (724) 273-3400 (Use Option 1, Dial by Name Directory) or Edward.Stack@dcsg.com or tweet @DICKS We can also call our closest store manager with thanks as well. We need to support the businesses that are taking action when our lawmakers refuse to do so.

Actions for next weekend! – Start planning now!

Joining the Parkland 17 Moms/Wives for a National “Shop-In”, Sat, May 12th!

Reward Dick’s and Walmart for doing the right thing and show other retailers how it’s done. Walmart made firearm policy changes following the Parkland shooting by raising their minimum age requirement for purchasing ammunition and firearms. In 2015, Walmart stopped carrying assault-style rifles. Continue reading “Fri. – 5/4: The NRA is busy this weekend. We should be too…” →

Postcard Pizza Party for California Congressional District 25 on April 25th!

We will be joining a statewide effort to get out the vote in California Congressional District 25!

When: Wednesday, April 25th at 11:00AM – 2:00 PM
Where: Santino’s Pizza Parlor – 4321 Telegraph Rd, Ventura
Fun! Pizza will be provided! (A little cheese grease goes a long way toward making our postcards have that special “homey” touch!)

CD25 is Steve Knight’s district which includes part of Ventura County, Santa Clarita, Lancaster, and Palmdale. We Venturans can’t vote Knight out, but we can help our neighbors rid themselves of him – and help ourselves by removing one of the 24 Trump minions needed to turn the House blue! We are not endorsing a candidate, just advocating power to the polls.

Our appeal will be directly to the voters in CA25 – NOT mass political mailings, because all of our cards will be handwritten. Each will be a message from one voter to another. We are simply asking Americans to do that most American thing — VOTE!

Here are some tidbits from about Steve Knight to inspire us:

Let us count the ways Steve Knight has betrayed us: He votes with Trump 98% of the time. He voted against our healthcare. The National Rifle Association gives him an A rating. He voted for the #TrumpTaxScam. He’s Continue reading “Postcard Pizza Party for California Congressional District 25 on April 25th!” →

Postcard Party for California District 1 on April 4th!

We will be joining a statewide effort to get out the vote in California District 1!

When: Wednesday, April 4th at 11:00AM – 2:00 PM
Where: Santino’s Pizza Parlor – 4321 Telegraph Rd, Ventura
Fun! Pizza will be provided! (A little cheese grease goes a long way toward making our postcards have that special “homey” touch!)

CD1 is LaMalfa’s district which is spread out, red, and rural. The CD1 Democratic Alliance have asked us to write postcards to their rural democratic voters, encouraging them to turn out to vote. We are not endorsing a candidate, just advocating power to the polls.

Our appeal will be directly to the voters in CA-1 – NOT mass political mailings, because all of our cards will be handwritten. Each will be a message from one voter to another. We are simply asking Americans to do that most American thing — VOTE!

Here are some tidbits from LaMalfa’s reelection site to inspire us:

“I am proud to have earned an A rating and the endorsements of the NRA and Gun Owners of America.”

“The current (immigration) policy Continue reading “Postcard Party for California District 1 on April 4th!” →

March For Our Lives – Ventura! – Part 2

Besides information, great speechs and marching (See Part 1), there was a lot of information being shared at the park. For those who weren’t able to attend, or didn’t have a chance to see it, we’ve attached it below.

California – New gun laws for 2018. (Sacbee)
California gun laws (Giffords)

Parents (and grandparents) Promise to Kids

The goal of Parents Promise to Kids (PPTK) is to get parents to vote for candidates who believe that the safety of our children is much more important than the right to own guns. We urge parents, grandparents and other concerned adults to sign a contract, found below and then post it on social media with the included instructions. The contract is a promise to kids that they will never leave their homes in fear of being attacked by people with assault weapons.

Parents’ contract
Grandparents’ contract
Concerned adult’s contract

The Parkland student’s presription for gun safety

(From thetrace.org) Continue reading “March For Our Lives – Ventura! – Part 2” →

March For Our Lives – Ventura! – Part 1

It was an amazing day yesterday, completely organized by four Ventura High School students. See this VC Star article for more videos and pics, as well as our Facebook page, and this link to great photos from Ray Smith of Indivisible Ojai Valley.

Our local congresswoman, Julia Brownley, made some great speeches. (Thanks to Paul Taylor for this great video!)

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., students and future leaders from our own Ventura County Youth Collective took a moment from the MFOL events there to gather in front of this inspirational portrait. They toured the Capitol with staff from Congresswoman Julia Brownley’s office, visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and will be meeting with our legislators. Follow their adventures on Facebook and Twitter. Continue reading “March For Our Lives – Ventura! – Part 1” →

Friday 3/23 – A “NO” that counts double! – an inappropriate nominee AND a NRA favorite!

HOWARD NIELSON IS A RADICAL RIGHT-WING CHOICE FOR THE JUDICIARY, AND THE SENATE MUST STOP HIS CONFIRMATION.

We’ve talked about Howard Nielson before…one more of the seemingly endless supply of reactionary hard-right candidates the Trump administration has loaded up, ready to take over lifetime appointments in our court system.

Pay attention to what he’s done. Not what he says…

Anti-LGBTQ+: Nielson defended the anti-LGBTQ Proposition 8 in California by arguing that the federal judge hearing the case should be disqualified for being gay. His bigoted motion to disqualify the judge was denied. During the court case, he put forth the arguments that same-sex attraction was a choice and that LGBTQ individuals were not discriminated against. He also wrote an amicus brief against Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Politicized the DoJ: In 2002, Nielson participated in the illegal politicization of the hiring process for civil servants at the Justice Department by screening out left-leaning candidates for openings. In a report regarding this, he inspector general added, “the problem was not necessarily with the law. The problem was with the application of the law by the people in the Department of Justice, which is very troubling that the Department of Justice would not adhere to the law.”
Pro-Torture: Nielson’s involvement with issues of torture and executive power must be fully disclosed. He worked under Steven Bradbury (the architect of the Bush-era torture regime and a recently-confirmed Trump administration lawyer) during the George W. Bush administration, and assisted Bradbury in crafting the legal rationale to justify torture of detainees. Nielson’s argument that the US could torture people as long as they weren’t physically in the US caused Betty Van Schaack, former Deputy to the Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes, to say that his

“erroneous legal reasoning and conclusions” were so flawed that the memo should be “add[ed] . . . to the Legal Scrapheap.” Continue reading “Friday 3/23 – A “NO” that counts double! – an inappropriate nominee AND a NRA favorite!” →

3/13 – Get ready for the walkout – Part 2 – Voters

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 13: Seven thousand pairs of shoes, representing the children killed by gun violence since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, are spread out on the lawn on the east side of the U.S. Capitol March 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. Organized by the online activist group Avaaz, the shoes are intended to urge Congress to pass gun-reform legislation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Action #1 – “YES” on HR 4909/S. 2495 STOP School Violence Act.

On Wednesday 3/14 (tomorrow), the House will be considering this bill.

Sandy Hook Promise is supporting the STOP School Violence Act, HR 4909 and S 2495, to create new federal funding that will bring efforts like their Know the Signs programs to schools across the country to teach students and adults know how to spot and report warning signs of gun violence before a tragedy occurs.

What is the STOP School Violence Act? (from Sandyhookpromise)

The STOP School Violence Act will give states the funding they need to bring life-saving violence prevention programs to schools. It will help train millions more students, teachers, and adults to prevent violence and suicide in our schools BEFORE it happens. The STOP School Violence Act invests $50 million in federal funding each year to:

Train school personnel, local law enforcement, and students- to identify warning signs and intervene to stop interpersonal violence and suicide
Develop and implement anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, in coordination with local law enforcement
Train and operate school threat assessment & intervention teams, to preemptively triage threats before tragedy hits
Enable better coordination between schools and local law enforcement
Continue reading “3/13 – Get ready for the walkout – Part 2 – Voters” →

3/13 – Get ready for the walkout – Part 1 – Students

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 21: Students From A Maryland High School Organize Walkout And March On Capitol Demanding Gun Control Action From Congress: (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Pass this information on to any student protesters you know…

(from TheTrace.org)

The ENOUGH National School Walkout follows weeks of individual demonstrations that began to pop up in the days after the February 14 shooting.
The youth outreach branch of the Women’s March has provided planning support to the teen activists who have become the face of the movement.
There are more than 2,000 different events registered on the official walkout website.
Teenagers are leading the demonstrations to show solidarity with Parkland students — and to flex their political potential and put politicians on notice: “We want Congress to pay attention and take note: many of us will vote this November and many others will join in 2020,” the protest’s call to action reads.
The walkouts pose a disciplinary problem for school administrators: Some school districts are allowing students who walk out to return to class; others, including the Minneapolis public school district, will ban students who leave school grounds from returning. According to the ACLU, schools may sanction students for missing class, but they may not enact harsher punishments “because of the political nature of or the message behind” the demonstrations.