Portraits of Gun Violence: Jessica Ghawi

You didn't need to meet Jessica Ghawi to feel her infectious energy.  It seems to be an energy which won't die since the first item that came up was her post on the Toronto shooting that she survived.  She managed to survive one, yet ended up the victim of another.

Part of the reason I'm writing this is that I know her mother who is coping with this incident.  I see Jessi's face and I think of the interview she did where she was wearing high heels on the ice at a hockey rink.  She kept falling down, but that didn't stop her from trying.

“She would walk into a room, and the place would light up. She was a jolt of lightning,” her mother,  said through tears Saturday. “She just had a spirit that was larger than life.”

You didn't even need to meet her to feel her energy as this remembrance of her attests:
caitykauffman.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/a-letter-to-jessica-ghawi-victim-of-the-colorado-shooting/

Maybe that's why I am writing this post.


I understand that she started a charity before she died to provide Sports Equipment for underprivileged children that recently held a drive to collect sporting gear.

Jessica may have died that night, but she is not a "victim" as her energy will carry on a live until something is done about this plague.

And for you hoaxers, I can assure you that Jessica Ghawi is quite dead and not physically present in this reality.  Her spirit may be strong, but her physical presence is no longer with us.

The Soaring Cost of the Aurora Shooting

Denverpost.com reports

Police spent nearly 26 percent of the year's law enforcement budget for overtime pay in responding to the July 20 mass shooting in a movie theater.

The city so far has spent $462,600 on overtime costs for police officers and civilian employees following the midnight movie killings at the Century Aurora 16 theater and has applied for a federal grant to help cover the costs. The costs include investigators and responders on the morning of the shooting, security at a large vigil held later and protection for visiting dignitaries.

The article goes on to explain that police overtime, which all happens AFTER the shooting is over is just the tip of the iceberg. The lawyers get into the act too.

CU has agreed to pay $505 an hour for a single lawyer to review what officials there knew about Holmes and when they knew it. As that lawyer brings in associates and paralegals from his firm, Perkins Coie, they will be billed to the university at $245 an hour or more and $205 an hour, respectively, according to an agreement signed July 30.

Sadly, we're still talking about a small fraction of the cost. Some of the victims had inadequate or no medical coverage. These costs must be added to the toll.

Wouldn't an ounce of prevention be worth a pound of cure in this case? Isn't this a good argument for proper gun control which would prevent some of these major incidents?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

This Is How The Colorado Shooter Was Armed -- And Sadly It Was All Legal

This is a cross-post with the New Trajectory blog, HERE.

When you picture someone who is dressed and armed for self-defense and conceal carry, what do you picture?  I picture someone dressed normal, except for a handgun strapped under their jacket or in a holster at their waist or in their purse.

When you picture someone who is dressed and armed for hunting, what do you picture?  I picture someone in rugged outdoor clothes, a hunter-red vest and hat, and a long rifle.

From the Denver Post online.

When you see the picture to the right, does this fit either of those images?

To the gun lobby, this picture is an image of "freedom" and self-defense.

James Eagon Holmes, the young man who opened fire on a crowded theater of men, women, and children, who killed 12, wounded another 58, and terrorized hundreds, and who set booby trap bombsall over his apartment, was dressed and armed like this, according to an article in the Denver Post today.

From the article (I've added bolding):

He also came dressed for battle, wearing a gas mask, a combat helmet, a ballistic vest and armor protecting his legs, throat and groin.

Law enforcement officials said Friday that they are investigating whether James Eagan Holmes, the 24-year-old suspect, was legally eligible to own all those weapons and combat gear. But they had found no evidence of a criminal history that would have prohibited him from buying the weapons used to massacre moviegoers at a midnight Batman premiere in Aurora.

His only run-in with police: an October 2011 speeding ticket.

Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said Holmes brought a pair of .40-caliber Glock pistols, an AR-15 military-style rifle and a Remington shotgun to the Century Aurora 16 complex, but it was unclear whether he used them all as he strode through the theater, shooting people apparently at random. One Glock pistol was found in his white Hyundai when police arrested him outside the car, he said. Oates said Holmes purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition and multiple magazines, including a drum magazine able to hold 100 cartridges, from stores and on the Internet.

Oates also said investigators have not yet determined how many shots were fired or how many gun magazines were brought to the theater to carry out the midnight massacre.

But "many, many rounds were fired," he said.

According to one law enforcement source, the gunman could easily have shot police officers as they approached because of all his combat gear but sat calmly by his car instead.

The AR-15 is a semi-automatic version of the military M-16 rifle, first marketed for civilian sales in 1963.

Glock, an Austrian gunmaker, has become the leading seller of semi-automatic pistols to U.S. law enforcement agencies and offers a variety of .40-caliber pistols to civilians as well.

The Remington Model 870 is a U.S.-made pump-action shotgun used by the public for sport shooting and hunting and is often carried by law enforcement and military personnel.

Holmes purchased all of his weapons legally, passing background checks, and purchased the thousands of rounds of ammo online.

What do you think of when you see that image?  I think of military special forces or SWAT teams.  Yet everything he wore or was armed with was completely legal to purchase and possess in America.  In some places, such as Arizona, where unlicensed "open carry" is allowed, you can walk down the street dressed and armed this way, and there's not a thing the police can do to stop you.

Is this the cost of our "freedoms," as the NRA defines them?

It's time to put a limit on what dangerous people are able to buy in the United States.  It's time to re-instate the Assault Weapons Ban, prohibit high-capacity ammo clips, and better regulate large sales of ammunition and weaponry.

Special Training for Aurora CO Police

As we've mentioned before Aurora Colorado is about the worst place in the country to be a criminal.

Denverpost.com reports that due to all the police shootings this year, the cops are going to get special mandatory training.

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates has ordered each of the city's officers to attend specialized training after the city's eighth officer-involved shooting of the year occurred early Thursday.

In a letter Friday to all officers, Oates noted the "disproportionately high number of officer-involved shootings" this year and the wounding of two officers by gunfire. Taken together, he said, it convinces him that it is time for the force to review officer safety techniques and the proper time to use deadly force.

I was thinking maybe the cops will get a two-week intensive course at some Parris-Island type facility. My suggestion in the as-we've-mentioned-before link was a bit too much I realize.

About the training, I say every work day, one hour. Some of that can be practicing techniques like someone said above and some of it can be actual shooting.

Just like anyone else who wants to carry a gun, they need to be practiced and qualified, even more so since, as cops, that’s their job.

But what are they planning in Aurora?

The department has a new high-tech simulator to practice scenarios in which deadly or nondeadly force may come into play, and Oates said he is eager to give the simulator a full workout.

The training program will also cover "de-escalation skills," including tactical retreat, and it will stress the use of nonlethal force.

"We really like the idea of a whole day devoted to this kind of stuff,"

A WHOLE DAY! Is that a riot, or what? Some of the most trigger-happy cops in America are going to get a whole day of training to learn restraint and de-escalation techinques.

My opinion is this is pitifully inadequate. The training should be far more than that. The savings on one or two avoided unnecessary shootings would more than make up for the cost. I mention that because obviously the loss of human life doesn't seem to motivate.

What's your opinion? Do the cops have inadequate training now? Do you think a one-day program is sufficient to effect change and result in improvement?

Please leave a comment.