Tug of war over children's lives

[sarisataka]

TELL DOJ: CANCEL $2.4 MILLION GRANT TO GUN LOBBY GROUP

Joint Petition from Newtown Action Alliance, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:

On September 10, 2015, the Newtown, Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) announced that it had been awarded a two-year, $2.4 million grant by the U.S. Department of Justice for its Project ChildSafe program.1 The funds will go toward buying kits (containing a cable-style gun lock and safety brochure) which NSSF distributes to law enforcement agencies around the country.2 Law enforcement typically provides these kits to gun owners at their request.

While few would oppose the use of gun locks to secure firearms or the dissemination of information on gun safety, the partnership between DOJ and NSSF is nonetheless deeply troubling. Since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary—which claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 adults in NSSF’s own community—the organization has opposed any and all attempts to strengthen U.S. gun laws to prevent future tragedies. Instead, NSSF has actively lobbied for policies that put children at direct risk of obtaining unsecured firearms. Specifically, NSSF:

Opposes all legislation that would require parents to safely store firearms in the home in the manner described in their Project ChildSafe Safety Kit brochure.
Opposes Child Access Prevention laws to hold adults criminally responsible when children gain unauthorized access to their firearms.
Supports unprecedented legal immunity for the gun industry, which prevents parents (and others) from bringing lawsuits against the industry when they market and/or distribute their products in a negligent manner.
Supports lowering the age at which Americans can purchase firearms and carry them in public.
Furthermore, Project ChildSafe has been beset with problems from the start. After hundreds of thousands of its gun locks were recalled for being too fragile and flimsy, NSSF lost federal funding for the program in 2009. Obliged to fund Project ChildSafe on its own, NSSF scaled the program back significantly.3

It’s difficult to understand why the Obama administration would possibly want to bankroll a radical lobby that has accused it of being “willing to try virtually anything to pursue its gun control agenda in defiance of Congress and existing law.”4 Whatever good might be done by Project ChildSafe is vastly outweighed by the harm NSSF does in lobbying for reckless gun laws. No taxpayer in America should have to foot the bill for a profit-focused lobby looking to improve its public image.

Tell the Department of Justice: Cancel your $2.4 million grant to NSSF and find a better partner for gun violence prevention.

http://csgv.org/action/cancel-2-4-million-grant-gun-lobby/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=csgv&utm_content=2+-+Sign+our+petition+today+and+tell+the+Dep&utm_campaign=DOJNSSF&source=DOJNSSF

NSSF Statement: Project ChildSafe DOJ-OJP Cooperative Agreement Grant

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting, and shooting sports industry, has been awarded a two-year $2.4 million competitive, cooperative agreement grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (DOJ-OJP).

Following announcement of the award, two gun-control groups voiced opposition to the Department of Justice’s decision to select NSSF and Project ChildSafe to receive the grant. It is unfortunate that these groups, which do not have comprehensive, practical firearms safety programs of their own, cannot find common ground to support the goals of this successful, long-standing safety initiative.

They also made false claims about the quality of the program’s cable-style gun locks. The gun locks included in the Project ChildSafe firearm safety kits exceed standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the California Department of Justice.

The new federal funding will allow Project ChildSafe to expand its firearm safety efforts, broaden community partnerships and focus on developing new safety communication tools and distribution strategies.

http://www.nssfblog.com/nssf-statement-project-childsafe-doj-ojp-cooperative-agreement-grant/

Ultimate irony- "gun safety" groups are petitioning against a proven gun safety program. 37 million lock have been freely distributed over sixteen years, mostly through law enforcement. While CSGV and Newtown Action Alliance want the money to go to a program run by a 'better' group, they offer no suggestions. That is because there is no such program among the "gun safety" organizations. They focus 100% on lobbying for new laws while devoting no resources to education or providing the gun locks that they would like to see legally mandated.

It is especially ironic that the Newtown Action Alliance is against the program as had the rifle used at Sandy Hook been secured with a cable lock, the shooter would have been at least slowed, by having to locate the key, if not stopped entirely.

Whatever good might be done by Project ChildSafe...

The good is saving children's lives...