Heller’s Choice

There are at least 786 federally licensed firearms dealers in Nevada [link] ranging from major franchise retailers to individuals who are licensed sellers.    I’ve also wondered why small sporting goods dealers and retailers aren’t more critical of gun show and Internet sellers who don’t have to run background checks — unless, of course, the licensed gun dealers know that the Internet sellers and gun show folks are taking chances with their customers.  Chances they’d not be willing to take themselves.

This is not to contend that there aren’t a few rather bad actors among the licensed, such as the infamous case of the Las Vegas gun dealer who had prior convictions for domestic abuse and who was operating one of the nation’s largest sources for “Saturday Night Specials” back in 1999.  However, it’s logical to assume that most, if not nearly all, of our gun dealers are functioning within the law, and with acceptable record keeping and background check procedures.   So, if it isn’t an infringement on 2nd Amendment rights to have our federally licensed firearms dealers conduct background checks on prospective buyers, then why would it be an “infringement” for sellers on the Internet or at gun shows?

That said, we have Senator Heller on record saying: “I cannot support legislation that infringes upon the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”  The usual commentary accompanying this kind of statement is that background checks will only serve to make it more difficult for “law abiding” citizens to secure firearms.  There’s a problem with that statement:  Law abiding citizens can easily go  to one of their licensed gun dealers, pass the background check, and procure a firearm.  So, who would be inconvenienced by a background check?  Perhaps those who don’t think they’d pass one.

Among that less than commendable group of not-so-law-abiding citizens would be (1) felons (2) fugitives (3) minor children (4) the seriously mentally ill, and (5) undocumented aliens.

As of 2010 31,076 Americans died by guns in homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings. [LCPGV]  2011 statistics show Nevada with 75 murders 58% of them by firearms, about 70 robberies committed by a felon using a firearm, and 53.3 assaults with firearms against individuals. [Guardian]  If nothing else, these numbers should be analyzed as not only policing statistics, but as public health problems as well.

“You should live so long” — deaths by firearm injury nationally are a younger person’s issue.  The CDC reports for injury related deaths (pdf) indicate that in the age group 15-24 gun violence injuries were the second leading cause of death, among those in the nation between the ages of 25 and 34 gun violence injuries were the third leading cause of death.  Thereafter, suicide by firearm moves up the rankings.  For those 35 to 64 suicide by firearms is the third leading cause of injury related deaths.

The health care costs related to gun violence are hard to discern, but they are worth consideration.  One study from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (Miller) found that the average cost of medical care for a gun shot fatality was about $28,700.  When the study combined care for both fatalities and non-fatal firearm injuries the price tag was approximately $3.2 billion for 105,177 deaths and injuries in 2010.  [DFP] [USAT]

The Kaiser Foundation reports that as of 2009 Nevada’s death rate by firearms was 15.5/100K, as compared to a national rating of 10.1/100K.  The death rate for male Nevadans was 26.3/100K compared to a national rate of 17.8/100K.   Death by suicide (source not referenced) was 19.1/100K in 2009 compared to a national rate of 11.8/100K.  [Kaiser]  Nevada’s office of Suicide Prevention reports that as of the end of 2011 firearms were used in 58% of suicides in this state. [OSP pdf]  If we assume that the cost of medical services are somewhere close to the estimated $28,700 average for a fatal injury by firearm, then we’re running up some bills in Nevada for health care which aren’t doing anything positive toward health care cost containment.

These numbers raise questions about Senator Heller’s rationale.  IF the State of Nevada is experiencing a higher than national average of deaths by firearms, especially for men killed by firearm injuries, and if the State is looking at suicide rates (58% of which are by firearms) above the national average, then WHY would we not want to restrict gun sales to those who are willing to go to one of our reputable licensed dealers and undergo the required background check?

At some point we have to ask, why is a mere inconvenience more alarming to Senator Heller than our above average gun injury fatality rates, our above average suicide rate?  While we can estimate the monetary costs of treating gun injuries, we would be more hard pressed to specify the human toll in lost wages, productivity, health care costs, legal costs…and funeral costs involved in firearm fatalities in this State.

Why is it more important to protect the convenience of potential gun purchasers, who may have some very questionable reasons for avoiding a background check by a licensed dealer,  than it is to protect this State from its dismal rankings in terms of gun fatalities?

Passing VAWA…again

S. 47, the Senate bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act is sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and 59 co-sponsors, including Nevada Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dean Heller (R-NV).  Votes are expected sometime after 2:00 pm (Eastern) this Tuesday.

Title IX, section 204 is of particular interest to Native American victims of domestic violence.

“(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in addition to all powers of self-government recognized and affirmed by sections 201 and 203, the powers of self-government of a participating tribe include the inherent power of that tribe, which is hereby recognized and affirmed, to exercise special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction over all persons. (2) CONCURRENT JURISDICTION- The exercise of special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction by a participating tribe shall be concurrent with the jurisdiction of the United States, of a State, or of both.”

There are two exceptions to this jurisdictional framework: If the persons involved are not Native Americans, or if the defendant has no ties to the tribe.

This version of the bill has been modified since the last session:

“The Senate version has been tweaked from the version considered last year, with sponsors scuttling a provision on law-enforcement visas given to undocumented immigrants who’ve been the victim of domestic violence. Democrats did this for procedural reasons — it gives the House fewer excuses to ignore the bill — and expect to address this in a comprehensive immigration reform bill, so the issue isn’t being dropped altogether.

VAWA supporters in the Senate did not, however, get rid of LGBT provisions or a measure that extends tribal courts limited jurisdiction to oversee domestic violence offenses committed against Native American women by non-Native American men on tribal land.

House Republicans have balked at these provisions in the past, but at least for now, senators don’t care.”  [MSNBC blog]

Now it will be up to the House of Representatives to step up and do the right thing.

Overnight Express: News and Views Roundup

Not quite together with Heller (R-NV): “Heller, through his statements and votes in Congress, has consistently supported limiting or eliminating the ability to conduct government business in any language other than English. Heller has sponsored legislation to limit election ballots to English-only, to mandate that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid only be filled out in English and to make English the official national language. Heller also supported a bill to end birthright citizenship.”  [LVSun]   There appears to be just one little problem with Senator Heller’s “outreach” to voters in the Latino/Hispanic community — his proposals don’t exactly match his record.

However, his “no new taxes” allegiance to Grover Norquist et. al. is pleasing to the ears of members of the business community who’ve not yet figured out that in order to support the Republican economic policies to which Governor Romney and Senator Heller adhere, you have to believe that giving the big tax cuts to the top 0.5% of income earners in the U.S. will magically trickle down to local economies.  Small business owners who rightly see themselves as “job creators” seem to have conflated their interests (increasing demand) with the “job cremators” in the ethereal upper reaches of the Wall Street casino who are essentially Financialists for whom actual job creation isn’t a priority.

Not quite a birther?  Republican hopeful Willard M. Romney will be in Las Vegas, NV for a fund raiser ($2500 per) at the Trump International Tower, with The Birther Donald Himself. [RGJ]  It seems Mr. Romney isn’t concerned by The Donald’s foray into the realms of irrationality. “The standard the Romney campaign seems to be advancing here is that it’s OK for the candidate to appear on the same stage as a loon, as long as that loon doesn’t say the thing that makes him loony in the candidate’s presence. And if he does, the candidate can merely disavow it later.” [Salon]  The disappointed birthers may now be busying themselves questioning the President’s college transcripts. [LAT]

Listen Up, and get connected: “None of that matters. Not one whit. The only thing that is going to matter is whether or not Republican astroturf organizations like TruetheVote, Republican governors like John Kasich, Rick Scott and Scott Walker, and Republican True Believers will team up to suppress the vote in enough states to guarantee a stolen election.”  [More at Crooks & Liars] Think this really isn’t happening: Try this egregious example from Ohio.  Governor Rick Scott (FL) has a plan to purge individuals from that state’s rolls. [Think Progress] There’s a lovely example of a inexplicably purged voter in that state as well.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: And why the GOP can’t extinguish its War on Women.   Good litany and explanation here.

Another Romney Theme Another Chart Debunking It:  The GOP is hauling out the old chestnut about Democrats “hollowing out the military” with decreased defense spending.   This canard has worked for them before, but won’t now if this little chart gets enough attention.  Note that the Iraq/Afghanistan warfare spending is shown in red, and that the other chart elements do not decrease.

Financialism can be the cruelest form of capitalism:  Watch what’s happening with American Airlines.   “The parent company of American, AMR Corp., is seeking to cut labor costs by tossing employee contracts where no agreement has been reached. Closing arguments in U.S. bankruptcy court wrapped up Friday; a judge said he expects to rule by June 22.” [MiamiHerald] American has been told to cut labor costs by 20%, meaning a loss of some 13,000 jobs [HuffPo] From last January: “Airline giant AMR, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle. AMR, which filed for bankruptcy in November, last week announced plans to retain the advice of Bain & Co., the consulting firm where Romney worked before co-founding private equity firm Bain Capital in 1985.”  [ITTimes] Oh, and did we mention that the pension fund, once an industry gold standard, has come to grief, “the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. slapped liens on $91 million in AMR property after the company paid only $6.5 million of a required $100 million contribution to the plans.”  [HuffPo]

Financialism is often painful — for the financialists:  “JPMorgan dips into cookie jar to offset London Whale losses.” Gains from the sales could provide about 16 cents a share of earnings, about one-fifth of the bank’s second-quarter profit, analysts said. But rather than creating new value for investors, the transactions merely shift gains in securities from one part of the company’s financial statements to another.” [Reuters]  (emphasis added)  As one SEC consultant remarks — dumb move #1 playing with derivatives the company didn’t fully understand, dumb move #2 selling off high value securities they can’t replace….  Do these people really want us to believe they need “de-regulation?”

And, then there’s Citigroup “the biggest U.S. bank to have regulators reject its capital plan this year, dismantled a board committee created during the credit crisis to police the disposal of toxic and unwanted assets. ” [Bloomberg]   This, while it still has queasy mortgages, and loans to Spain and Greece on its books?   Even some big funds are getting bitten, Dewey &LeBoeuf has filed for bankruptcy… with more strain on the Pension Guarantee System.

Recommended Reading:  “How black WWII vets helped lead the Civil Rights Movement,”  The Grio;  unfortunately there’s this article in the same source — “KKK invites North Carolina town to a Whites Only cross burning.”   A semi-sweet ending to the story of a slave cemetery in Georgia in the AJC.