New Facebook Policy Will Not Do Enough to Prevent Unchecked Gun Sales According to the Brady Campaign

March 5, 2014 Jennifer Fuson 202-370-8128 Jfuson@bradymail.org

Statement from Dan Gross, Heidi Yewman, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

“This new policy is not a victory because Facebook continues to make it too easy for dangerous people to evade a background check when buying guns. A mere warning to follow the law and community-based reporting will not do enough to prevent unchecked gun sales to dangerous people,” says Daniel Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “As we and thousands of others have told Facebook, unlicensed gun sales have no place on the social network. Facebook should prohibit all posts that advertise the unlicensed sale or transfer of firearms in the United States. Sadly, it’s only a matter of time before a gun purchased through Facebook without a background check is used in a terrible tragedy. ”

“Facebook and Instagram are great platforms to share opinions, memories and photos, but they shouldn’t be providing opportunities for criminals to evade background checks and get guns,” says Heidi Yewman, spokesperson for the Million Mom March and Brady Campaign Chapters. “As a parent, I’m disappointed that an industry leader like Facebook is way behind on such an important issue involving the safety and security of us all. I stand with moms across the country and ask that Facebook and Instagram join Craigslist, Google and eBay and prohibit unlicensed gun sales.”

New Jersey Boy's Facebook Picture Brings Cops to the House

The picture that allegedly caused official concern.

(Credit: Shawn Moore/Facebook) 

 Cnet

They were allegedly alarmed by a Facebook photo of Josh Moore, aged 11, holding a .22 rifle, and they allegedly wanted to get very near him.

The photo had been posted by his father, Shawn, to Facebook. It showed Josh, in his camouflage outfit and rather bright sneakers. 

Shawn Moore told his story to a forum on the Delaware Open Carry Web site.
He said he received a text from his wife that police and alleged members of the Department of Youth and Family Services had paid their home a visit. It was, allegedly, not a social call. 

Indeed, he posted a picture of police in what he describes as "tactical gear."

He says the authorities demanded to enter the house in Carneys Point, N.J., and check his guns. His lawyer, on a cell phone speakerphone, was privy to all the discussions.

Moore insisted that he wouldn't open the safe where his guns are kept-- as no warrant was allegedly presented to him -- and that a lady from the Department of Youth and Family Services refused to identify herself. 

What do you think?

Florida Man Arrested for Threatening Obama on Facebook

Huffington Post reports

Some people just don't know when to stop talking, or when to stop posting on Facebook.
A Florida man was arrested this November after posting threatening messages about President Barack Obama on Facebook. When Secret Service agents came to question 28-year-old Christopher Castillo about his violent comments, The Smoking Gun reports that the situation quickly deteriorated.
On Nov. 1, Castillo wrote the following on Facebook, apparently in response to Obama's views on health care:

That’s the last straw, if he gets re-elected I’m going to hunt him down and kill him watch the life disappear from his eyes.

Threatening the U.S. president's life is never taken lightly. After a tip-off from a concerned citizen, Secret Service agents arrived at Castillo's Melbourne home on Nov. 8 to investigate his intentions behind the Facebook post. 

According to the felony complaint report filed by the Secret Service, an agent asked Castillo what his actions would be "if the President was standing here right now?" The angry man didn't hold back his opinions, replying he would “bitch slap him, and beat the shit out of him.” He also stated he would scream and call Obama a terrorist.

"Bitch-slap" is what superior, arrogant white idiots do to inferiors, they may be women or younger people or blacks. This is inexplicable Obama hatred, which is synonymous with racism.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Social Media and Murder

We don't know the age of the shooter who committed the murder of two people and then committed suicide.  All three deaths by firearm are tragedies, tragedies which could have and should have been avoided.

The following news article about teen gun violence is significant as a demographic in light of the following statistics from the CDC and the Legal Community Against Gun Violence:

Guns cause the death of 20 children and young adults (24 years of age and under) each day in the U.S.⁴⁰
Children and young adults (24 years of age and under) constitute over 41% of all firearm deaths and non-fatal injuries.⁴¹
In the United States, over 1.69 million kids age 18 and under are living in households with loaded and unlocked firearms.⁴²
More than 75% of guns used in suicide attempts and unintentional injuries of 0-19 year-olds were stored in the residence of the victim, a relative, or a friend.⁴³
A 2000 study found that 55% of U.S. homes with children and firearms have one or more firearms in an unlocked place; 43% have guns without a trigger lock in an unlocked place.⁴⁴

The practices of keeping firearms locked, unloaded, and storing ammunition in a locked location separate from firearms may assist in reducing youth suicide and unintentional injury in homes with children and teenagers where guns are stored.⁴⁵

and this, citing THEIR sources for the data:

^40. WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2007, supra note 1. ^41. Id.; WISQARS Nonfatal Injury Reports, supra note 2.
^42. Catherine A. Okoro et al., Prevalence of Household Firearms and Firearm-Storage Practices in the 50 States and the District of Columbia: Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002, 116 Pediatrics e370, e370 (Sept. 2005), at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/3/e370.
^43. Grossman et al., supra note 16, at 875.
^44. Mark A. Schuster et al., Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes with Children, 90 Am. J. Pub. Health 588, 590 (Apr. 2000).
^45. David C. Grossman et al., Gun Storage Practices and Risk of Youth Suicide and Unintentional Firearm Injuries, 293 JAMA 707, 711-13 (Feb. 2005).

From MSNBC.com and the AP:

Police alerted to Ind. deaths by Facebook post

By The Associated Press

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Authorities in Indiana say they were alerted to the shooting deaths of a woman and two men after someone thousands of miles away called police about a chilling posting on Facebook.
Police in Fort Wayne are investigating whether the breakup of a 19-year-old woman and her boyfriend was the motive behind the killings.
Authorities suspect the ex-boyfriend shot and killed Erin Jehl and her friend 19-year-old Ryann Tipton. They say Jehl had brought Tipton with her when she went to her ex-boyfriend's house in Fort Wayne on Saturday afternoon to retrieve some belongings.
Foster said authorities were alerted to the scene by a woman who said she was in Washington state. She told police a friend on Facebook had posted that he had killed two others and himself.

Facebook Privacy

via Liberality. Now if Facebook can do all this, could licensing all gun owners and registering all guns really be as difficult as Joe Huffman says?

Facebook Laughing All the Way to the Bank

The Huffington Post reports that the Facebook group which prays for Obama's death has surpassed 1 million members.

The group is called, "DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN."

Naturally Facebook is reluctant to remove the group, which has led to another group.

Another group, "Petition to remove Facebook group praying for President Obama's death," has been created to denounce the anti-Obama group and advocate for its removal. The group, which has just over 650,000 members, is asking users to "Please act to encourage facebook to remove the page praying for the death of President Obama," and lists three steps Facebook users can take.

What's your opinion? Is this all good 1st Amendment stuff? Do you think it's right for Facebook to allow such blatant Obama-hating on its site? Do you think the animosity towards Bush went this far?

Please leave a comment.