“Once you’re in you’re in. There’s no backing down. I felt like I was finally a part of something.” - Go behind the story of the documentary “Nuestra Familia, Our Family,” a film about gun violence in Salinas, California.
The violence in Mexico is getting out of hand, and American guns are fueling the bloodshed. According to a report released Monday by three U.S. senators, at least 70 percent of the guns recovered by Mexican authorities in 2009 and 2010 can be traced back to the United States. The report, “Halting U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico” by Democratic Senators Diane Feinstein, Chuck Schumer and Sheldon Whitehouse, takes a strong position on Congress’s inaction in quelling the flow of American assault rifles. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has made repeated requests for stricter gun laws to prevent continued bloodshed.
The morgues are overflowing in San Fernando, which along a road locals call “the highway of death.” Many bus companies have cancelled that route between the Tamaulipas state capital Ciudad Victoria and Brownsville, Texas, and few journalists dare venture into the area without military escorts.
Calderon blames the United States, at least for the guns. Though the proportionate amount of weapons coming out of the U.S. has dropped to 70 percent from the 85 percent reported in 2009, it’s tough to argue against the Mexican president Along those lines, the American ban on assault rifles lifted in 2004 contributed to the spike in bloodshed.
Read more at The Atlantic Wire
Reblogged from The Atlantic
abc7:
The Los Angeles police commission is considering new regulations on BB or pellet guns. If approved, it could drastically change what they look like.
Imagine BB guns looking similar to water pistols. Under the new proposal that L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck is pushing, he says it could make a big difference in preventing officer-involved shootings.
Beck wants to require BB or pellet guns to be colored- such as white, red, green, blue, or even pink. Under the proposal, the guns could also be made with translucent material.
Reblogged from ABC7 Los Angeles
Studies of the health effects of Taser International’s stun guns are 75 percent more likely to deem the weapons safe when researchers have ties to the company, a new report concludes.
(via Researchers find bias in Taser safety studies | California Watch)
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California Watch, the largest investigative journalism team operating in the state, was launched in 2009 by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Investigative Reporting. Areas of coverage include education, health and welfare, public safety, the environment and the influence of money on the political and regulatory process.
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