Jeff Sessions nabs NRA endorsement over Tommy Tuberville in Alabama GOP Senate runoff
The National Rifle Association on Friday endorsed former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his primary challenger, former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville in their quest for the Republican Party’s nomination in the U.S. Senate race. Jason Ouimet, Chairman of NRA’s political arm, the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), praised Sessions’ “steadfast support of the Second Amendment.” “Based on your strong leadership on Second Amendment issues as a U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General, you have earned the highest attainable rating, an A+ from NRA-PVF. An A+ is reserved for a candidate with an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues and who has made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment,” Ouimet said. Jeff Sessions said he was honored to have the NRA’s endorsement and that it was critical that Alabama have a Senator who understands how to protect Alabamians’ Second Amendment rights. “I am honored to have the NRA’s endorsement. The Second Amendment is a bedrock right for all Americans and it guarantees and secures our freedom and liberty,” Sessions remarked. “Powerful, well-funded national forces are bent on destroying our right to keep and bear arms. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are working day and night to gut the Second Amendment. I have fought Schumer and Pelosi on this issue, and I have won, and I will do so again when I return to the Senate.” As part of their decision, the NRA praised Sessions’ work as U.S. Attorney General to stop “Operation Choke Point,” an Obama Administration program that encouraged federal regulators to harass and intimidate banks and financial institutions that have business relationships with firearm and ammunition retailers. “NRA members and law-abiding gun owners appreciate that as Attorney General, you were instrumental in stopping ‘Operation Choke Point,’” Ouimet added. “As U.S. Senator, you demonstrated support for our right to keep and bear arms by voting multiple times against unconstitutional bans on modern sporting rifles such as the AR-15…further, we appreciate your support for Right-to-Carry Reciprocity legislation that would ensure that the nearly 20-million law-abiding Americans who can carry a concealed firearm in their home state are able to do so in any other state that does not prohibit concealed carry,” the NRA wrote.
Donald Trump says he’ll work with congress to stop mass shootings
President Donald Trump expressed a commitment Sunday, hours after the latest deadly mass shooting, to work with a divided Congress to “stop the menace of mass attacks.” He said any measures must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership and seemed to cast fresh doubt on the merits of instituting more thorough background checks for gun purchases. Trump spoke shortly after the death toll in Saturday’s rampage in West Texas rose to seven as authorities worked to understand why a man pulled over for a traffic infraction opened fire on state troopers and fled. He shot more than 20 people before he was killed by police. A motive has not been released. The president said it would be “wonderful to say” he’d work to “eliminate” mass shootings, but acknowledged that that was unlikely. “We want to substantially reduce the violent crime,” Trump said at the top of a briefing about Hurricane Dorian at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington. Trump’s commitment to gun control has been in doubt ever since 17 students and adults were killed in a shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Trump came out in favor of stronger background checks after the shooting, but then quickly retreated under pressure from the National Rifle Association, the politically powerfully gun owners’ lobby that strongly backed his bid to become president. More recently, he has waffled on the merits of stronger background checks for gun purchases in the aftermath of back-to-back shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that killed more than 30 people about a month ago. Instead, Trump sought to elevate mental health issues over access to guns. “For the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five (shootings) going back even five or six or seven years, for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it,” he said. “So it’s a big problem. It’s a mental problem. It’s a big problem.” Trump mentioned the need for “strong measures to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous and deranged individuals” along with changes to a mental health system he described as “broken.” He also called for ensuring that criminals with guns “are put behind bars and kept off the streets.” “Public safety is our No. 1 priority, always wanting to protect our Second Amendment. So important,” he said, referring to the constitutional amendment that established the right to keep and bear arms. Trump told reporters earlier Sunday that he’s been speaking to lawmakers from both political parties and “people want to do something.” He said the administration is “looking at a lot of different things” and hopes to have a package ready by the time Congress returns to session next week. The Republican-controlled Senate has refused to take up several gun-control bills that passed the Democratic-controlled House this year, and the GOP historically has opposed many efforts to strengthen the nation’s gun laws. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Republican-controlled Senate to “end its obstruction” and send the gun violence measures to Trump. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said he has discussed the issue with Trump and described the president as “very interested in doing something meaningful.” Toomey has long pushed a bipartisan bill with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to expand background checks and said he remains interested in measures to keep guns away from people who shouldn’t have them. “We’re going to take a very serious run at it,” he said. Others, like Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, argued that Congress should use his state as a model. Scott, who was governor at the time of the Parkland school shooting, said officials sat down within days of the massacre with law enforcement, mental health counselors and educators. Legislation was quickly passed and signed into law, including a “red-flag” statute that would allow authorities to confiscate weapons from individuals deemed by the courts to be a threat to themselves or others. Scott said he doesn’t want to take guns away from law-abiding citizens, but added that “we’ve got to figure out how we get guns away from mentally ill people who want to harm others or themselves.” In the days immediately after the August shootings in Texas and Ohio, Trump said he was eager to implement “very meaningful background checks,” saying there was “tremendous support” for it. He also said he disagreed with the NRA’s stance that such legislation would open the door to infringing on Second Amendment rights. But the president has also acknowledged that his core supporters support gun rights, which highlights the challenge he has to balance the politics of gun control before he stands for reelection in November 2020. Toomey was interviewed on ABC’s “This Week,” and Scott spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” By Darlene Superville Associated Press Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Gun-control backers concerned about changing federal courts
California has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, including a ban on the type of high-capacity ammunition magazines used in some of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings. How long those types of laws will stand is a growing concern among gun control advocates in California and elsewhere. A federal judiciary that is becoming increasingly conservative under President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has gun control advocates on edge. They worry that federal courts, especially if Trump wins a second term next year and Republicans hold the Senate, will take such an expansive view of Second Amendment rights that they might overturn strict gun control laws enacted in Democratic-leaning states. The U.S. Supreme Court so far has left plenty of room for states to enact their own gun legislation, said Adam Winkler, a gun policy expert at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. But he said the success of the Trump administration in appointing federal judges, including to the high court, could alter that. “Those judges are likely to be hostile to gun-control measures,” Winkler said. “So I think the courts overall have made a shift to the right on guns. We’ll just have to see how that plays out.” The legal tug-of-war already is playing out in California. The state banned the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines nearly two decades ago as one of its numerous responses to deadly mass shootings; a voter initiative passed three years ago expanded on that, banning all ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds even among gun owners who already possessed them. Earlier this year, a Republican-appointed federal judge overturned the ban, triggering a weeklong bullet buying spree among California gun owners before he put his decision on hold pending appeal. The same judge is overseeing another lawsuit brought by gun-rights groups that seeks to repeal a state law requiring background checks for ammunition buyers. Legal experts, lawmakers and advocates on both sides said the decision in the case over ammunition limits foreshadows more conflicts between Democratic-leaning states seeking to impose tighter gun laws and an increasingly conservative federal judiciary. “What you’re looking at in the Southern District of California is happening all over the country,” said Frank Zimring, a University of California, Berkeley law professor who is an expert on gun laws. Trump has the opportunity to fill a higher percentage of federal court vacancies than any president at this point in his first term since George H.W. Bush nearly three decades ago.To date, he has nominated 194 candidates for federal judgeships and has had 146 confirmed, out of 860 total federal district court judicial seats, according to the conservative Heritage Foundation. Of 179 seats on the federal appellate courts, Trump has nominated 46 judges and had 43 confirmed. He is poised to fill 105 vacancies in the district courts and four in the appeals courts, according to the Heritage Foundation. The changes to the federal judiciary could mean that even gun restrictions that were previously upheld by appointees of former Republican presidents may now be in jeopardy, said Hannah Shearer, litigation director at the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “I think the judiciary is headed into a more extreme place on gun control issues because of President Trump’s appointees,” she said. Even when gun and ammunition limits are upheld, those cases eventually could make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Trump may already have tipped the balance. The court is currently poised to take up its first Second Amendment case in about a decade. It’s a challenge to a law New York City passed that prohibited people who have home handgun licenses from taking their guns outside the city for target practice or to a second home. The city has told the court the case should be dropped, however, because it has relaxed its law. Among other cases working their way through the courts are challenges to a California ban on certain handguns, other states’ longstanding restrictions on carrying concealed weapons and limitations on interstate handgun sales. Yet forecasting how the Supreme Court might act, or even whether it will take certain cases, is fraught with uncertainty. The court has steered clear of gun-rights cases since establishing an individual right to possess guns in 2008 2010, and has let stand a number of state gun restrictions. Still, gun-rights supporters are excited by the changes brought by Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate. The upcoming Supreme Court session “could be a real game-changer” with Trump’s appointments of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, said Chuck Michel, an attorney who represents both the National Rifle Association and the affiliated California Rifle & Pistol Association. “To the extent that the composition of the court has changed and that it will give the Second Amendment back its teeth, it’s very important,” Michel said. “It looks like there’s enough votes on the court right now to reset the standard.” His clients are challenging California’s ammunition background check and extended magazine ban before U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, an appointee of former President George W. Bush. Other states that limit ammunition magazines in some way, typically between 10 and 20 rounds, are Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Vermont, according to the Giffords Law Center. Democrats said the prospect of four more years of Trump judicial appointments is helping energize their opposition to his re-election. “This would be one of the lasting legacies of Donald Trump,” said former California state Senate leader Kevin de Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles who carried or supported many of the state’s firearms restrictions, including limits on military-style assault weapons. “When Trump is gone, they will be there for lifetime appointments.” Democratic lawmakers said they will continue pushing more firearms restrictions even as some fear they could be thwarted in the federal courts. State Sen. Anthony Portantino, a Democrat from Southern California, acknowledges the potential for state gun restrictions to be overturned by federal
Cory Booker proposes national license for all gun owners
Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker is proposing that all gun owners be licensed by the federal government, a process that would include an interview and safety training. National licensing is one of more than a dozen specific proposals in a sweeping gun control agenda the U.S. senator from New Jersey released on Monday. It’s his second policy rollout in three weeks as he tries to break through the crowded Democratic primary field . While current gun owners and first-time buyers would be subject to the federal license requirement, a transition period would allow current owners to come into compliance, the Booker campaign said. No such national gun license program currently exists. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of licensing or permit rules before people can buy guns, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “I am sick and tired of hearing thoughts and prayers for the communities that have been shattered by gun violence — it is time for bold action,” Booker said in a statement. Last month during a high-profile speech in his hometown of Newark, Booker vowed to “bring a fight” to the National Rifle Association, which generally opposes gun restrictions. Booker, a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, said gun violence is an issue close to him, with several people being shot in his neighborhood recently. “We must step up and deal with something that is crushing communities, destroying lives and really just tearing apart families,” Booker said in an interview on CBS’ “CBS This Morning.” Booker’s gun control agenda includes universal background checks for gun buyers; the reinstitution of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity firearm magazines; and the modernization of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The plan would face a steep climb to winning approval from a Democratic House and would face even stiffer resistance in a Republican-controlled Senate, where less-sweeping gun control measures have failed in recent years. President Donald Trump has said the constitutional right to bear arms is “under assault.” Trump, a Republican, spoke at the NRA’s annual convention last month, vowing to fight for gun rights and imploring NRA members to rally behind his reelection bid. Booker, who launched his presidential campaign in February, has struggled to rise from the low single digits in polls of the 21-candidate Democratic primary field, though he recently secured the 65,000 donors necessary to meet both qualifications for participation in next month’s first debate . He released an environmental justice plan late last month. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Supreme Court returns to gun rights for 1st time in 9 years
The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up its first gun rights case in nine years, a challenge to New York City’s prohibition on carrying a licensed, locked and unloaded handgun outside the city limits. The court’s decision to hear the appeal filed by three New York residents and New York’s National Rifle Association affiliate could signal a revived interest in gun rights by a more conservative court. The case won’t be argued until October. The challengers are represented by prominent lawyer Paul Clement, who has been urging the justices to elaborate on the extent of constitutional gun rights the Supreme Court declared in decisions in 2008 and 2010. The court had previously rejected several appeals. The court may be more willing to take on a gun rights case now that Justice Anthony Kennedy has retired and been replaced by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was President Donald Trump’s second high-court nominee to be confirmed. Clement says the case “is a perfect vehicle to reaffirm that those decisions and the constitutional text have consequences.” Joining in support of gun rights, 17 states said the court should break its years-long silence and use the case to define the scope of gun rights under the Constitution and the level of scrutiny, or skepticism, judges should apply to gun laws. New York’s ordinance allows people licensed to have handguns to carry them outside the home to gun ranges in the city. The guns must be locked and unloaded. The city residents who filed suit want to practice shooting at target ranges outside the city or take their guns to second homes elsewhere in New York state. Lower courts had rejected the challenge. The city’s top lawyer, Zachary Carter, urged the court to reject the case, arguing that the restrictions allowed New York police to reduce the number of guns carried in public. There are seven shooting ranges in the city and at least one in each of the city’s five boroughs, Carter said. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
NRA endorses Wes Allen for Alabama State House District 89
The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Wes Allen in his race for the Alabama House of Representatives in District 89, the group announced Monday. An endorsement from the NRA‘s Political Action Committee, the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), can be a game changer for many candidates. “When provided with the facts, the nation’s elected officials will recognize that “gun control” schemes are an infringement on the Second Amendment and a proven failure in fighting crime” says the fund. “The importance of this premise lies in the knowledge that, as one U.S. Congressman put it: ‘The gun lobby is people.’” The NRA-PVF makes its decisions based on voting records, public statements and their responses to their NRA-PVF questionnaire. “I am honored to be endorsed by the NRA,” Allen said. “This is a group of hardworking men and women who support the United States Constitution and the preservation of our rights as Americans. Their commitment to preserving gun rights for law abiding citizens is something that I appreciate.” Allen, the Republican nominee in the race, faces-off against Democrat Joel Lee Williams in the November 6 general election for the seat currently held by Troy-Republican Rep. Alan Boothe who announced he will not seek reelection. Allen, who has served as Pike County’s Probate Judge since a 2009 appointment from then-Gov. Bob Riley, is viewed as one of the most conservative Probate Judges in the Yellowhammer State. District 89 includes Pike County and the northern half of Dale County.
Timeline of suspected Russian plot to infiltrate NRA, GOP
As Siberian gun rights activist Maria Butina faces a hearing in Washington, here is a look at the unusual path that led to her arrest. She’s accused of working as an undeclared foreign agent, based on FBI suspicions that she and patron Alexander Torshin sought to infiltrate the NRA and build a long-term influence campaign with the American right. She has pleaded not guilty. 2001 Torshin is elected to serve in Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. He makes his first contact with the NRA. 2011 Butina moves to Moscow, funded by an oligarch couple, and forms gun rights group Right to Bear Arms. Torshin and Butina meet at Moscow gun rally. 2012 Torshin presents draft bill on liberalizing gun sales, crafted in part by Butina. It fails miserably, lacking support from President Vladimir Putin. Torshin attends NRA convention in St. Louis, and goes to Nashville to observe the 2012 U.S. presidential election. 2013 Torshin attends NRA convention in Houston in May. Three months later, Spanish police try and fail to arrest Torshin for alleged connections to organized crime; Torshin denies wrongdoing. In October, an NRA delegation including then-chief David Keene visits Russia for a conference organized by Butina’s group Right to Bear Arms. Butina meets Torshin’s NRA contacts. 2014 Butina goes to the U.S. for the first time, and she and Torshin attend an NRA convention in Indianapolis. She resigns as leader of Right to Bear Arms. 2015 Torshin leaves parliament to become deputy governor of Russia’s Central Bank; Butina becomes his assistant. Butina and Torshin attend an NRA convention in Nashville; Torshin says he met Donald Trump there. Butina questions Trump at Freedomfest gun show in Las Vegas. NRA delegation visits Moscow on Butina’s invitation, meets Torshin, oligarchs, top officials. 2016 Butina and Torshin attend National Prayer Breakfast, and Torshin attends NRA convention in Louisville where he says he met Donald Trump Jr. Butina starts masters program at AU. She and Torshin exchange messages about contacts with Russian intelligence, and a “back channel” to U.S. right wing, according to the FBI. 2017 Butina, in Washington, joins celebrations of Trump’s inauguration. She and Torshin attend National Prayer Breakfast. 2018 Senate questions Butina in April, and her apartment is searched by FBI. Torshin is hit with US sanctions. Butina is arrested July 15. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
NRA-ILA ask members to show Doug Jones their support of Brett Kavanaugh
The National Rifle Association’s political arm the Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) is joining the many voices calling for U.S. Senator Doug Jones to support Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump‘s nominee to the U.S Supreme Court. Alabama’s senior senator Richard Shelby announced his support last week saying, “After speaking with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, I am confident that he is principled, intelligent, and a steadfast supporter of the rule of law,” said Shelby. “He is highly-qualified for this role and exhibits strong, conservative values and an unwavering commitment to our Constitution. I have no doubt that Judge Kavanaugh will uphold the principles on which our nation was founded. “Confirming Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most important things we will do during this Congress. I look forward to supporting his nomination to serve on our nation’s highest court, and I urge my colleagues to do the same,” Shelby continued.” Jones has previously said he was keeping an open mind on if he’d support or oppose the candidate. Since then he’s received pressure from both sides of the fight including from Obama’s own “Organizing for America” who weighed in asking Jones to oppose the nomination. The NRA-ILA is asking people to sign the following pledge which can be found on their website: Federal: Contact Your Senator and Urge Them to Confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh is a major step in securing a pro-Second Amendment majority on the Supreme Court for a generation. Let your U.S. Senators know that you support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court and that you, along with the NRA’s six million members and tens of millions of Second Amendment supporters, will be watching the confirmation process closely. We have a responsibility to secure our right to self-defense as well as protect the Second Amendment rights of future generations. Sen. Chuck Schumer and the gun control lobby have vowed to prevent Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation. That is why we need you and every pro-Second Amendment supporter to contact your U.S. Senators today and urge them to vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. What you need to know about Brett Kavanaugh: He will faithfully execute his oath to the Constitution and protect our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. He is an outstanding choice to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Court. He has demonstrated his clear belief that the Constitution should be applied as the framers intended. He has supported the fundamental, individual right to self-defense embraced by Justice Antonin Scalia in the historic Heller decision. In 2011, he filed a dissenting opinion in a case challenging D.C.’s “assault weapon” ban and restrictive firearm registration requirement. In a well-reasoned opinion closely following the Supreme Court’s guidance in Heller, he found both the ban and registration requirement to be unconstitutional. In 2016, he voted to leave in place an order striking down D.C.’s restrictive carry law. In 2017, he voted to leave in place a panel decision that found D.C.’s “may-issue” carry law violated the Second Amendment. This vote led to D.C. adopting its current “shall-issue” concealed carry process. Judge Kavanaugh has an extensive and impressive legal resume. He completed his undergraduate and law degree at Yale University, clerked on the Supreme Court and served in the Bush administration. Throughout his career, Kavanaugh has fostered and built lasting relationships with key conservative figures who fight to protect and defend the Second Amendment. Tell your U.S. Senators you will be watching how they vote on this nomination and will be keeping their vote in mind when deciding how to cast your vote in the next election! Encourage your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners to contact their senators as well.
Five things you need to know about Rich Anderson
The primary elections are over, but some highly sought spots still remain open due to the primary races resulting in runoffs. One of those races is for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2. Three candidates stepped up to the plate seeking election in the June 5 primary. Both Rich Anderson and Chris McCool garnered enough support to tip the race into a a runoff election set for July 17. With that in mind, here are the five things you need to know about Rich Anderson:
Parkland students to make bus tour to register young voters
A day after graduating, a group of Florida high school shooting survivors announced they’ll spend their summer crisscrossing the country, expanding their grass-roots activism from rallies and schools walkouts to registering young voters to help accomplish their vision for stricter gun laws. David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin and about two dozen other students who have become the faces and voices of bloodshed in American classrooms stood together Monday in matching black “Road to Change” T-shirts, holding placards at a park just down the street from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 were killed on Valentine’s Day. In the months since the shooting, the students have rallied hundreds of thousands across the country to march for gun reform, including a massive turnout in Washington, D.C., in March. But the young activists say rallies won’t matter unless that energy is funneled into voting out lawmakers beholden to the National Rifle Association this November. “This generation is the generation of students you will be reading about next in the textbooks. … These are students who are changing the game,” Kasky said. “It’s not just my friends and I from Stoneman Douglas High School. We are part of something so much greater. Students from all over the country are beginning to get up, rally, move in the right direction and realize just how important it is to exercise our freedom.” He cited dismal statistics noting voter turnout in the last midterm elections was the lowest since World War II. That’s why the students are planning more than 25 stops in a two-month nationwide tour hitting Iowa, Texas, California, South Carolina, Connecticut and others, targeting communities rocked by gun violence or where lawmakers supported by the NRA are running for office. Kasky said they’re focusing on the 4 million people turning 18 this year. “Voting has so often become a chore to people; people have so often shrugged it off as something that’s not important,” he said. Hogg helped organize a massive voter registration drive last week at 1,000 schools in 46 states. He and other students are advocating for tighter regulations on guns, including universal background checks and training for people who own AR-15s and similar semi-automatic rifles. The students said they are funding the tour through donations but declined to say how much they’ve raised. March For Our Lives received heavy financial and publicity support from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney. They’re also backed by a tightknit, wealthy community where parents and residents have lent them office space and professionals have also been coordinating publicity for them. In addition to the national tour, the students are also planning a separate tour in Florida, targeting every congressional district in the Sunshine State. “We’re working straight through with very minimal breaks because we’re trying to get to as many places as possible, meet as many people as possible,” said Gonzalez, who graduated Sunday. “We’re trying to help stop this before it comes to other places because bullets aren’t picky.” Gonzalez and Corin said their favorite part of activism has been connecting one-on-one with students across the country just like them. Corin recently traveled to Kenya to speak about engaging young activists The tour will begin June 15 in Chicago, where the Florida students will join the Peace March, led by students from St. Sabina Academy. Some of the Chicago students who spoke at the Washington rally and will join the Florida group at a few other stops, Corin said. She said they’re making calls to the student clubs and groups that held their sibling marches and walkouts across the country to encourage voter registration. “Our school is right down the road. Our lives are completely changed forever, and we are dedicating our lives to this issue,” said Corin. Also Monday, a local task force released 100 recommendations for improving school safety, but noted it will be difficult to fund the measures, which include hiring additional school counselors, therapists and school police officers. The Broward County task force also recommended random searches at schools, raising the heights of fences around schools, adding metal detectors and window coverings to conceal students, keeping classroom doors locked at all times and installing cameras to monitor every inch of school grounds. “We would love to be able to put every one of these recommendations into place right now, but the reality is we don’t have all the resources to do that,” said Beam Furr, mayor of the Broward County Board of County Commissioners. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Publix supermarket suspends political giving amid anti-NRA protest
Survivors of the Parkland school shooting lay down in “die ins” at two Publix supermarkets Friday to protest the chain’s support for a gubernatorial candidate aligned with the National Rifle Association, as the company announced a suspension of political contributions. The students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shouted “USA, not NRA!” and caused brief delays at the checkout as customers navigated carts around them on the floor. Pro-NRA counter-protesters also showed up at one store, and two men almost came to blows before police intervened. “A lot of people don’t support who Publix is supporting,” said Haylee Shepherd, a 15-year-old sophomore at Stoneman Douglas, who joined 13 fellow protesters on the floor for about 10 minutes at one of the stores. “It’s going to reflect on them as a brand and people shopping there.” Publix has been criticized by the students for supporting Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam, a Republican who has called himself a “proud NRA sellout.” The activists have called for a boycott of the supermarket. Publix announced earlier this week that it would “reevaluate” its donations amid the outcry. In another statement Friday, company spokeswoman Maria Brous said the chain would halt its contributions for now as it continues that reevaluation. Senior David Hogg, one of the most vocal student activists for gun reform and one of the founders of March for Our Lives, helped organize the protest. It came a week after 10 were killed at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, and the same day that authorities said an Indiana middle school student opened fire inside his science classroom, wounding a classmate and a teacher. At one point, a counter protester, Bill Caracofe, stuck his middle finger an inch from Hogg’s face outside the grocery store just a few miles from the school where 17 of Hogg’s classmates and teachers were gunned down. “There are millions and millions of people who don’t worship everything that comes out of his mouth,” said Caracofe, who joined about a dozen NRA supporters who counter-protested inside the store. He said the students’ anger toward Publix should be directed at the sheriff’s office and school district for failing to protect them. Hogg said such reactions are common, saying the media has falsely portrayed him as someone who wants to seize guns. He said he supports the Second Amendment but wants tighter regulations, universal background checks and training for people who own AR-15s and similar semi-automatic rifles. Publix has been a strong Putnam supporter. Campaign finance records show that Publix, its top executives and board members, and their family members have donated more than $750,000 altogether to Putnam or his political committee. A former top Publix executive who is related to the chairman of Putnam’s committee has donated an additional $65,000. The suspension announced Friday applies only to money from the company, which has given $413,000 to Putnam over about three years. The supermarket chain is one of a long line of Florida corporations that has helped bankroll Putnam’s candidacy. Over the last three years Putnam has also gotten substantial financial help from Walt Disney Co., Florida Power & Light and U.S. Sugar. Disney has given more than $800,000 to Putnam’s political committee, including a $50,000 check it gave him earlier this month. Publix said it supports candidates focused on building the economy. “We regret that some of our political contributions have led to an unintentional customer divide instead of our desire to support a growing economy in Florida,” the company said in a statement. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Standing with Publix and the Second Amendment tomorrow and in the future
Parkland survivor David Hogg — currently one of the nation’s most outspoken, anti-gun advocates — is making headlines yet again. He’s unsuccessfully called for boycotts of Fox News host Laura Ingram and then BlackRock and Vanguard but why let those failures keep him down if at first and second times you don’t succeed Hogg clearly believe you should try again. This time he’s calling for the boycott and a “die in” of Publix supermarkets tomorrow (Friday, May 25, 2018), because the central-Florida based grocer supported Rep. Adam Putnam, an NRA-endorsed candidate, in the state’s gubernatorial election. His tweet says he’s going to be crashing his local stores but invites others to join at other locations. Meaning even here in Alabama we may see an activists or two (however unlikely) in our stores. .@Publix is a #NRASellOut In Parkland we will have a die in the Friday (the 25th) before memorial day weekend. Starting at 4pm for 12 min inside our 2 Publix stores. Just go an lie down starting at 4. Feel free to die in with us at as many other @Publix as possible. — David Hogg (@davidhogg111) May 23, 2018 While I wholeheartedly disagree with both Hogg’s message and his tactics (hello, encouraging people to go lay down in grocery stores is absurd) I do applaud the fact that he’s engaged. I’ve said it before that my support of constitutional rights, in this case the First Amendment doesn’t just apply to those I agree with. I’m all for protecting the rights of those I disagree with if only the other side felt the same. That said, Hogg’s right to assembly, in this case, is up to Publix what happens once they’re there. I for one and hoping they don’t idly stand by while people make a scene in their stores and disrupt the lives of those simply going about their daily business trying to feed themselves and their families. Even the leftist (or are they progressive?) organization, ACLU will tell you that when protesting on private property the property owners have the right to tell you to leave. I see this as a as call to arms (figuratively speaking of course – Disclaimerfor those who would say I’m encouraging otherwise) to those of us who support Second Amendment rights and Publix’s right to support the candidates of their choice, to show up at our local Publix tomorrow and spend our money in opposition to the sideshow that Hogg is trying to create. What Hogg (or more accurately the gun control lobby and agenda pushers whispering in his ear) is focusing on is Publix’s political donations. What he misses is how much Publix does for the communities around its stores. Not just in Florida where they are based, but in every state, including Alabama where they have locations. I’ve researched Publix and its charitable giving. The company gives a TON of money to the Yellowhammer State and to entities that support our local communities. Here are just a few highlights of their Alabama-based charitable giving in just the last year: $500,000 in Alabama to help alleviate hunger as part of a wider, $5 million donation Four Alabama Habitat for Humanity affiliates supported to build houses and foster hope as part of a $5 million donation $569,100 to the Central United Way of Alabama Join me tomorrow in shopping at one of Publix’s 68 Alabama stores in a public show of support to thank them for all that they do in our neighborhoods. We cannot let our voices be drowned out by the voices who fail to to offer true and real solutions to the tragic shootings happening in our schools, but instead are painting good companies like Publix as bad guys.
