Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor of the City of New York
253 Broadway, # 9
New York, New York 10007
Subject: Resignation from Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG)
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
Upon careful review of your statements and actions, listening to the concerns of many of my constituents and receiving communications from and speaking with firearm industry officials, I hereby, effective immediately, resign my membership in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. I am withdrawing because you are attempting to erode all gun ownership, not just illegal guns.
I have learned that the coalition may be working on issues which conflict with legal gun ownership, and that some actions on your behalf are dubious. I joined your coalition because of its purpose to combat the criminal acquisition and misuse of guns, which is a goal shared by every single American. Regrettably, it has become continuously clear to me that you are using this coalition of mayors to advance a hidden agenda of bringing lawsuits against members of the firearms industry and spreading anti-gun propaganda.
Mayor, you and your coalition of allies have misrepresented yourselves to the mayors of America and its citizens. This effort is simply another attempt to shift blame for violent crime from criminals to law-abiding gun owners. This is gun control, not crime prevention. These tactics do not target illegal guns, but rather honest citizens and lawful dealers, essentially criminalizing all gun ownership. This coalition makes no distinction whatsoever between law-abiding gun owners and violent criminals.
Please Mayor Bloomberg, instead of being a part of a misguided coalition and advocating attacks against law-abiding gun owners, I ask you to direct your efforts towards strict enforcement of existing laws in our cities to ensure both our safety and civil rights. I am dedicated in defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities, including self-defense and competitions. We need to defend our Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms.
Mayor, I can only hope that you will see my departure and the recent departure of other mayors from your coalition as a sign that things must change. We are all on the same side when it comes to stopping criminals from getting guns. Where you lose me is in your true quest – to end lawful firearms ownership and destroy a lawful American industry.
Warm personal regards,
Marlene B. Anielski, OCPM
Mayor / Safety Director
Village of Walton Hills, Ohio
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6840
Showing posts with label anti gun politicians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti gun politicians. Show all posts
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Chicago gun violence: Where's the outrage?
By Gerald D. Skoning
July 10, 2009
The long 4th of July weekend featured glorious fireworks along the lakefront and deadly gunfire in inner-city neighborhoods. Chicago tallied 63 shootings, one stabbing and 11 fatal shootings.
That's just the latest carnage. The city logged 202 homicide victims in the first six months of 2009: 88 percent were male, 78 percent were black, 44 percent were between the ages of 20 and 30, and 84 percent were shot to death.During the same time, we lost 101 U.S. soldiers in Iraq and 99 in Afghanistan.
By any measure, it seems we aren't winning any of the wars.
Chicagoans face urban violence and death on a daily basis with very little notice. Many of the victims of the Chicago carnage are our children, innocents caught in the crossfire of gang warfare. Call it "sectarian violence" fomented by gang and drug traffickers fighting over turf.
Community leaders rail about the root causes of this urban slaughter -- poverty, unemployment, drug trafficking. Mayor Richard Daley screams about gangbangers and the shocking availability of handguns. The veins in his neck bulge as he argues for stricter gun-control laws.
Meanwhile, national leaders who are fearful of offending vital constituencies pander to the right-to-bear-arms advocates and refuse to address the most urgent issue in urban America.
What about the rest of us? Where is our outrage? Where is our indignation over the slaughter of Chicago children?
Why aren't the residents of Barrington, Winnetka, Wheaton and Lincoln Park linking arms with residents in Englewood, South Austin and Lawndale to mount a massive protest against the outrage in our midst? Have we thrown up our hands in defeat?
To be sure, the challenge is enormous, but there are solutions. As we begin to draw down troop levels in Iraq, a brigade or two could be redeployed to Chicago neighborhoods. Their mission would be not unlike the one they pursued in Iraq, to clear and secure neighborhoods, to protect the local population and to help Chicago Police Department forces curtail
the tidal wave of urban violence.
The tragic loss of brave soldiers killed overseas grabs media headlines and fuels the raging fires of political debate. Meanwhile, in another war right here in our own backyard, the killings continue, almost ignored.
This urban nightmare brings to mind the sage words of 17th Century poet John Donne: "No man is an island, entire of itself . . . any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
The bell is tolling mournfully, for all of us.
Gerald D. Skoning is a Chicago attorney.
By Gerald D. Skoning
July 10, 2009
The long 4th of July weekend featured glorious fireworks along the lakefront and deadly gunfire in inner-city neighborhoods. Chicago tallied 63 shootings, one stabbing and 11 fatal shootings.
That's just the latest carnage. The city logged 202 homicide victims in the first six months of 2009: 88 percent were male, 78 percent were black, 44 percent were between the ages of 20 and 30, and 84 percent were shot to death.During the same time, we lost 101 U.S. soldiers in Iraq and 99 in Afghanistan.
By any measure, it seems we aren't winning any of the wars.
Chicagoans face urban violence and death on a daily basis with very little notice. Many of the victims of the Chicago carnage are our children, innocents caught in the crossfire of gang warfare. Call it "sectarian violence" fomented by gang and drug traffickers fighting over turf.
Community leaders rail about the root causes of this urban slaughter -- poverty, unemployment, drug trafficking. Mayor Richard Daley screams about gangbangers and the shocking availability of handguns. The veins in his neck bulge as he argues for stricter gun-control laws.
Meanwhile, national leaders who are fearful of offending vital constituencies pander to the right-to-bear-arms advocates and refuse to address the most urgent issue in urban America.
What about the rest of us? Where is our outrage? Where is our indignation over the slaughter of Chicago children?
Why aren't the residents of Barrington, Winnetka, Wheaton and Lincoln Park linking arms with residents in Englewood, South Austin and Lawndale to mount a massive protest against the outrage in our midst? Have we thrown up our hands in defeat?
To be sure, the challenge is enormous, but there are solutions. As we begin to draw down troop levels in Iraq, a brigade or two could be redeployed to Chicago neighborhoods. Their mission would be not unlike the one they pursued in Iraq, to clear and secure neighborhoods, to protect the local population and to help Chicago Police Department forces curtail
the tidal wave of urban violence.
The tragic loss of brave soldiers killed overseas grabs media headlines and fuels the raging fires of political debate. Meanwhile, in another war right here in our own backyard, the killings continue, almost ignored.
This urban nightmare brings to mind the sage words of 17th Century poet John Donne: "No man is an island, entire of itself . . . any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
The bell is tolling mournfully, for all of us.
Gerald D. Skoning is a Chicago attorney.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Crack head politician messes up again !
The Charge Against Barry: Stalking His Ex-Girlfriend
By Tim Craig and Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 6, 2009
D.C. Council member Marion Barry found himself mired in more political, legal and personal drama yesterday after his arrest late Saturday on charges that he was stalking a female companion.
Barry's latest run-in with the law centers on his relationship with political consultant Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, who alleges that he continues to approach her even though they split up a few months ago.
Barry, Watts-Brighthaupt and police gave conflicting accounts of how the former mayor ended up in police custody Saturday night after attending several Fourth of July functions.
U.S. Park Service Police arrested Barry (D-Ward 8) about 8:45 p.m. in Anacostia Park after a woman flagged down an officer to report that a man in a nearby vehicle was "bothering her," police said.
After interviewing Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt, Barry, 73, was charged with one count of "misdemeanor stalking," said Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman. Barry, on probation for failing to pay his federal taxes, was released hours later and ordered to appear in court Thursday.
Through a spokeswoman yesterday, Barry called the charges unfounded and asked prosecutors to drop them. Natalie Williams, the spokeswoman, said that Barry feels "betrayed" because of the emotional and financial support he has provided Watts-Brighthaupt, 40, over the years and that he suggested she is unstable. In April, Barry made news after he paid $800 at an auction to buy Watts-Brighthaupt an opera jacket even as he struggled to repay back taxes.
Williams said Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt met Saturday afternoon for lunch before Barry attended several Fourth of July events. On his way home, Williams said, Barry once again came into contact with Watts-Brighthaupt near the park after they saw each other's vehicles. "How are there charges of stalking when they had lunch earlier in the day?" Williams asked. "It was consensual. . . . There was no hide-and-seek stalking as one would think when they hear the term."
In an interview, Watts-Brighthaupt said she didn't seek to have Barry arrested and did not report the encounter to police. Police pulled over Barry for a traffic violation, she said.
Watts-Brighthaupt, the mother of two girls, says she never felt her life was in danger as Barry was "trying to catch me." But she said she has "tons and tons of evidence to prove" that Barry was stalking her in a way that was not life-threatening.
Barry, through his spokeswoman, alleged that Park Police mistreated him by holding him for four hours Saturday night before giving him access to his attorney. Police officials declined to comment on the specifics of the arrest. Schlosser said the officer who arrested Barry was a New York native who did not know that Barry was a prominent D.C. Council member. He said Barry was "very cooperative" during the booking process.
Watts-Brighthaupt said she worked on Barry's 2008 council campaign as a paid consultant and they began dating during the Democratic National Convention last summer. She said they broke up three days before his kidney transplant in February. "It was a wonderful, insightful, history-telling experience," she said of their time together.
The two still see each other every other day, she said.
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By Tim Craig and Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 6, 2009
D.C. Council member Marion Barry found himself mired in more political, legal and personal drama yesterday after his arrest late Saturday on charges that he was stalking a female companion.
Barry's latest run-in with the law centers on his relationship with political consultant Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, who alleges that he continues to approach her even though they split up a few months ago.
Barry, Watts-Brighthaupt and police gave conflicting accounts of how the former mayor ended up in police custody Saturday night after attending several Fourth of July functions.
U.S. Park Service Police arrested Barry (D-Ward 8) about 8:45 p.m. in Anacostia Park after a woman flagged down an officer to report that a man in a nearby vehicle was "bothering her," police said.
After interviewing Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt, Barry, 73, was charged with one count of "misdemeanor stalking," said Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman. Barry, on probation for failing to pay his federal taxes, was released hours later and ordered to appear in court Thursday.
Through a spokeswoman yesterday, Barry called the charges unfounded and asked prosecutors to drop them. Natalie Williams, the spokeswoman, said that Barry feels "betrayed" because of the emotional and financial support he has provided Watts-Brighthaupt, 40, over the years and that he suggested she is unstable. In April, Barry made news after he paid $800 at an auction to buy Watts-Brighthaupt an opera jacket even as he struggled to repay back taxes.
Williams said Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt met Saturday afternoon for lunch before Barry attended several Fourth of July events. On his way home, Williams said, Barry once again came into contact with Watts-Brighthaupt near the park after they saw each other's vehicles. "How are there charges of stalking when they had lunch earlier in the day?" Williams asked. "It was consensual. . . . There was no hide-and-seek stalking as one would think when they hear the term."
In an interview, Watts-Brighthaupt said she didn't seek to have Barry arrested and did not report the encounter to police. Police pulled over Barry for a traffic violation, she said.
Watts-Brighthaupt, the mother of two girls, says she never felt her life was in danger as Barry was "trying to catch me." But she said she has "tons and tons of evidence to prove" that Barry was stalking her in a way that was not life-threatening.
Barry, through his spokeswoman, alleged that Park Police mistreated him by holding him for four hours Saturday night before giving him access to his attorney. Police officials declined to comment on the specifics of the arrest. Schlosser said the officer who arrested Barry was a New York native who did not know that Barry was a prominent D.C. Council member. He said Barry was "very cooperative" during the booking process.
Watts-Brighthaupt said she worked on Barry's 2008 council campaign as a paid consultant and they began dating during the Democratic National Convention last summer. She said they broke up three days before his kidney transplant in February. "It was a wonderful, insightful, history-telling experience," she said of their time together.
The two still see each other every other day, she said.
CONTINUED 1 2 Next >
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