(Editor’s Note: The above Commoner Call cartoon runs after the well publicized mass shootings. We could actually run the cartoon pretty much every day, gven there is a mass shooting somewhere in the United States nearly every day. If you hear any RepublicaNRA or pro-NRA Dem politicians talking about “thoughts and prayers” today, call ’em up and tell the hypocrite to go to hell. They are completely responsible for yesterday’s shooting. — Mark L. Taylor)
By Nina Golgowski, Sebastian Murdock & Carla Herreria
The HuffPost (2/14/18)
- At least 17 people are reportedly dead and 15 injured after a shooter opened fire in a South Florida high school on Wednesday afternoon.
- Police have identified the suspect as Nikolas Cruz.
A suspect is in custody following a shooting at a South Florida high school on Wednesday in which at least 17 people were killed and 15 others wounded, officials said.
The suspect has been identified as Nikolas Cruz, The Associated Press reported, confirming the name students previously cited to local media.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the suspect’s arrest roughly two hours after Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a suburban community about 15 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale, was placed on lockdown.
At a press conference Wednesday evening, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said 12 victims had died inside the building, two outside of the building, one on the street and two in the hospital. Israel described the victims as “a mixture of students and adults.”
Three victims remain at Broward Health North hospital in critical condition, while three others are in stable condition, hospital officials said just after 7 p.m. …
(Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2018. Open source and free to use with link to www.thecommonercall.org )
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United States Of Insanity: There Have Already Been 18 School Shootings In The US This Year
By Meghan Keneally
ABC News (2/14/18)There have been 18 school shootings in the first 45 days of 2018, according to a nonprofit group.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group, had recorded 17 school shootings on their website prior to this afternoon’s shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Everytown defines a school shooting as “any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds, as documented by the press and, when necessary, confirmed through further inquiries with law enforcement or school officials,” according to its website.
Today’s shooting marks the first of the year in Florida. There were three shootings at different schools in Texas, two in different California schools and two in different Michigan schools, according to Everytown’s data. There are 10 other states that had at least one shooting.
In eight of the 17 school shootings recorded by Everytown prior to today, a gun was fired but no one was injured. …
- 290 School Shootings In America Since 2013 – Since 2013, there have been nearly 300 school shootings in America — an average of about one a week. How many more before our leaders pass common-sense laws to prevent gun violence and save lives? Communities all over the country live in fear of gun violence. That’s unacceptable. We should feel secure in sending our children to school — comforted by the knowledge that they’re safe. … Read the Rest
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Trump’s Budget Cuts Millions Of Dollars From Gun Background Check System
By Jennifer Bendery
The HuffPost (2/14/18)
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s newly unveiled budget would cut millions of dollars from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which gun dealers use to verify if someone is banned from buying a gun before selling it to them.
Buried on Page 719 of his fiscal year 2019 budget, released Monday, the president calls for cuts to the National Criminal Records History Improvement Program and the NICS Act Record Improvement Program. Both provide federal grants to states to help them improve their reporting of criminal records and protection orders to the national database for background checks, including domestic violence records.
The two programs are currently funded at $73 million. Trump’s budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 would slash their funding to $61 million, which amounts to a 16 percent cut. …