Pro-Gun Activists Defend Law that Armed Seattle Mass Shooter

On May 30, 2012, Ian Stawicki walked into Cafe Racer in Seattle, Washington and shot five people,killing four: Joe Albanese, 52; Drew Keriakedes, 49; Kimberly Layfield, 38; and Donald Largen, 57. Fleeing the cafe, Stawicki then confronted Gloria Leonidas, a 52-year-old married mother or two, and beat her physically before shooting her in the head, killing her. Later that day, police confronted Stawicki in West Seattle. As they approached him, Stawicki knelt on the ground and shot himself in the head, taking his own life.

Shortly after the shooting it was revealed that Stawicki had obtained a concealed handgun permit in the state of Washington in August 2010 and legally purchased at least six handguns. This was despite a lengthy history of violence that included prior arrests for assault, domestic violence, and unlawfully carrying a weapon. Stawicki's family also revealed that he had a long history of mental illness. Stawicki suffered from delusions. He told his girlfriend he was married and the father of six. He told others he was a member of a CIA death squad. But the family never pushed to have him committed because they never heard him threaten to hurt himself.

The family did attempt to have Stawicki's concealed handgun permit revoked. When they contacted law enforcement, however, "the response to [them] was, there's nothing we can do, he's not a threat to himself or others, or we haven't had a report of it, or we haven't had to pick him up—call us when it's worse." Law enforcement wasn't simply being indifferent. They were powerless to act. The "Shall Issue" permitting law in Washington, written by the National Rifle Association (NRA), prevents the state from denying a concealed handgun permit to anyone who meets a basic set of criteria. And because Ian Stawicki had never been involuntarily committed nor convicted of a felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, he met those criteria.

That a dangerous mentally ill man was allowed to retain his guns and carry permit despite these warnings is apparently of no concern to pro-gun activists, who came to the defense of the state's gun laws immediately after the tragedy. Dave Workman, the communications director for the Washington-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a former member of the NRA Board of Directors, had the following to say about Ian Stawicki:

I don't know that there's anything you can do in these situations. We can't treat him like a child, he's got his own life to live and he can make his own mistakes no matter how horrific those mistakes turn out to be.

Workman's boss agreed with him about Stawicki's "mistake." Alan Gottlieb, a convicted felon who petitioned the federal government to have his "gun rights" restored, wasn't focused on the innocent lives that Stawicki took in the wake of the shooting. He seemed to have his own questionable history in mind, telling KING 5 News: "If you did that here in Seattle, you'd have a chief who gave out no gun permits. If it becomes discretionary, then people who deserve guns won't get them."

Workman and Gottlieb were certainly not alone. Keith Milligan, an Election Volunteer Coordinator with the NRA-ILA and author of the pro-gun blog "Shall Not Be Questioned, made it clear to us that he was concerned about individuals like Ian Stawicki being deprived of "life, liberty or property" and "due process." The lives and liberty of those innocent Americans Stawicki killed in cold blood? Milligan didn't mention it...

"Melvin Udall," a pro-gun activist from Virginia, concurred with Milligan, complaining, "So the precedent going fwd is GOV must deprive ALL ppl of life,liberty,pursuit IN CASE one might deprive others?" One? Udall seemed unphased by the fact that Stawicki is now at least the 20th concealed handgun permit holder to have committed a mass shooting since May 2007.

Pat Watson" (AKA "Hazmatpat") of Minnesotans for Firearms Safety Tweeted at us, "did he have a criminal record? Any reason to deny him his rights prior to crime? Otherwise you're talking #MinorityReport stuff!" Minority Report? Watson apparently neglected to read about Stawicki's criminal record, or review the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller, which stated that "concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the [Second] Amendment [and] state analogues." Later, Watson told another Twitter user that if Stawicki was "not safe to be walking around, then prosecute!" For what? He didn't say. But apparently that wouldn't violate his "rights" like, say, preventing him from legally carrying a gun in public despite abundant evidence he was mentally ill and violent.

Finally, Ken Soderstrom, a pro-gun activist from Greenville, North Carolina, decided to just blame Stawicki's victims for getting shot. "We know he was a regular [at Cafe Racer] and knew those in the cafe wouldn't be armed," Soderstrom told us. "Defenselessness promotes violence." How simple. It was their fault for not arming themselves against their fellow citizens in a place they went to relax and enjoy the company of others.

After the shooting, Ian Stawicki's brother would say, "It's no surprise to me this happened. We could see this coming." But pro-gun activists have warned us that preventing people who are clearly dangerous from arming themselves and carrying guns in public is unacceptable, no matter what the ultimate body count is.

"A Small Price to Pay"

During a day in which a horrific school shooting occurred at Chardon High School in Ohio—leaving three students dead and two injured—pro-gun activist John K. Haslach of Dunellen, New Jersey left the following comment on the National Gun Victims Action Council (NGAC) Facebook page:

A dead child is a small price to pay to protect our 2nd A rights to stop unjust laws and keep out forgeign invaders!

Haslach wasn't the only pro-gun activist on the attack following the shooting. Hank Fackovec of Woburn, Massachusetts left the following comment on the Facebook wall of Students for Gun Free Schools (SGFS):

People and organizations like SFGFS are responsible for these injured and dead children - If there was an armed teacher - the horror could have been prevented or minimized. Shame on you.

SGFS is an organization that was created to honor Reema Samaha, one of the victims of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. "In order to keep her memory alive and try to prevent future tragedies, our mission opposes efforts to allow guns in our schools," SGFS states. The organization's founders include Omar and Randa Samaha, Reema's siblings; Lily Habtu, who was shot in the face and arm at Virginia Tech; and Colin Goddard, who was shot four times during the massacre. The notion that they are responsible for what happened at Chardon High School is beyond the pale. It is equally horrific to suggest that the answer to school shootings is to arm K-12 teachers and instruct them to gun down troubled teens rather than giving them the support and counseling they truly need.

Linda Gaither of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship in Ithaca, New York also became a target of pro-gun activists when she urged Starbucks to reconsider its policy allowing loaded guns in its stores following the Ohio tragedy. Pro-gun activist Devon Siefried of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania lashed into her, writing:

Dance in that blood, Linda. Dance in the blood. You're disgusting.

This horrifying "dance in the blood" rhetoric is, sadly, common among pro-gun activists. Frequently, it is directed at individuals who have lost their loved ones to gun violence. Yesterday, Andrew Johnston (AKA “Weer’d Beard”), who has been mentioned at this blog before, attacked Joan Peterson in a blog entitled, "Blood Dancing 101." Joan lost her sister Barbara in 1992 to gun homicide. In the blog, Johnston claims that Joan and others who advocate for stronger gun laws to prevent tragedies...

...talk about dead victims with zero concern for their situation. This is called “Blood Dancing” and they SHOULD be ashamed of it, but they are not. Are they insane? Yes, yes they are!

Finally, Joan received the following comment from a pro-gun activist Dan Roberts (AKA "Son of the Revolution") at her blog "Common Gunsense." Roberts was responding to a blog Joan posted reagarding the shooting at Chardon High School, in which she wrote, "We can pass more gun laws and we should. Making parents responsible for children getting their hands on guns would help. 28 states have some form of Child Access Prevention laws. Laws requiring mandatory reporting of lost and stolen guns may stop gun owners from being careless with their guns. Safely storing guns should be of utmost importance to keep guns away from the hands of children and teens as well as theft. Guns in the hands of children must first pass through the hands of an adult." Roberts saw this as an opportunity to boast about his six-year-old daughter's proficiency with a bow and gun.

He left a hyperlink that goes to his blog "That Every Man Be Armed" and a piece he wrote entitled, "The Next Top Shot." There he says of his daughter, "I started drilling her on gun safety when she was three. She then moved to trigger time on my lap with my 10/22 by age four, by five she could correctly name all the parts and almost completely reassemble my Ruger .45 by herself and she got her own pink Cricket Bolt Action .22 for her sixth birthday."

Meanwhile, the United States continues to lose more than 3,000 children and teens annually to gun violence.

Pro-Gun Activists Find Humor in Tributes on One-Year Anniversary of Tucson Massacre

January 8, 2012 marked the one-year anniversary of the horrific mass shooting in Tucson, in which a young man, Jared Loughner, killed 6 innocent Americans and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ). Despite the fact that he was severely mentally ill and a substance abuser, Loughner passed a background check and legally purchased the handgun used in the murders.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence organized a series of “Too Many Victims” candlelight vigils to recognize the anniversary and pay tribute to all Americans who are victims and survivors of gun violence. The staff of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence was proud to attend a vigil in the District of Columbia at Shiloh Baptist Church. It was a moving event that included powerful testimony from gun violence survivors including Colin Goddard (who was shot four times at Virginia Tech), Nardyne Jefferies (who lost her daughter Brishell to AK-47 fire in a horrific mass shooting in southeast D.C.) and William Kellibrew (who was forced to watch as his mother’s ex-boyfriend shot and killed her and his brother). This was just one of the scores of solemn vigils that were occurring that evening in states across the country.

These events were emotional and meaningful to the gun violence survivors and other concerned Americans who participated in them. But to pro-gun activists, they were apparently humorous, something to be mocked and laughed at.

One pro-gun blogger in Massachusetts, Andrew Johnston (AKA “Weer’d Beard”) urged his readers “Do More Than Just Light a Candle” by sending him photos of their guns arrayed around a candle. Johnston explained that he “takes offense” to the term “gun violence.” And he urged those who agree to “[show] what tools you have to back up your desire to prevent violence.” Johnston was so proud of his work that he sent it directly to gun violence survivor Joan Peterson, who lost her sister in a gun homicide involving domestic violence (the comment in question was left on Joan’s blog, “Common Gunsense”). Johnston then blogged to tell Peterson, "We show respect for the victims, you dance in their blood."

Another pro-gun blogger, Jon C. Sullivan of Knoxville, Tennessee (AKA "Linoge"), wrote the following at his blog “Walls of the City”: “By holding their candle-light vigils for ‘victims of ‘gun violence’, the Brady Campaign and their sycophants are, by definition, memorializing those murderers, rapists, thieves, muggers, robbers, home-invaders, and other scumbags who were shot down in self-defense by their intended victims, or by the police in the execution of their duties. As always, ‘gun control’ extremists are aiding, abetting, and sympathizing with criminals. Disgusting.”

Christie Caywood (AKA "Bitterb"), the girlfriend of fellow NRA volunteer election coordinator Keith Milligan of Langhorne, Pennsylvania (AKA "Sebastian"), found the vigils hilarious. Along with Milligan, she co-authors the blog “Shall Not Be Questioned.” On December 19, she mocked the “Too Many Victims” tributes, writing, “Yes, they want you to light a candle. Because candles will stop violence ... If candles can stop bullets, then they can do anything in this season of holiday miracles, right?” On Twitter, she said the following about gun violence prevention activists holding candlelight vigils: "We should report them as arsonists." Caywood and Milligan also shared a laugh about Joan Peterson's loss of her sister to gun violence. Milligan Tweeted that he won a bet with his girlfriend that Peterson would ring a bell instead of lighting a candle at the vigil. He hash-tagged the Tweet #toomanyfools. Milligan was referring to bell-ringing ceremonies held by the group Protect Minnesota, of which Joan is member. Gun violence survivors step forward to ring a bell once for each loved one they have lost to gun violence. Caywood loved it. "I didn't bet against you dear," she Tweeted back.

Milligan also issued the following warning to victims and survivors of gun violence: "Once your grief crosses over into trying to remove my freedoms and shred part of the Bill of Rights you can no longer claim the right to be left alone." "These aren’t people who are just concerned citizens," Milligan declared. "They are hate filled people out to destroy lives. How are these people different from a bigot who would enjoy the idea if a black man got an ass beating because he was visiting Mississippi in 1954, and didn’t know certain fountains weren’t for his kind? I posit they are no different in terms of their corrupt character, only in the form of bigotry they have chosen."

Miguel Gonzalez of Miami, Florida, author of the pro-gun blog “Gun-Free Zone,” described “Too Many Victims” as the “Candlelight Dance Over Corpses.” And as the South Florida Daily Blog and Florida Progressive Coalition Blog pointed out, he published another offensive post in which he attacked Colin Goddard—who was shot four times at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007—for "doing nothing till he got shot" without even identifying him correctly (Andrew Goddard is Colin's father). According to the South Florida Daily Blog, "[Gonzalez] and his minions have become the gun advocates' version of Westboro Baptist Church and have decided that posting callous and inflammatory pictures that are nothing more than gun porn is the best way of delivering their message. Good job, guys ... MLK Day is just around the corner."

Illinois militia member Roy Kubicek (AKA "Thirdpower"), co-author of the blog “Days of Our Trailers,” said that those who participated in the candlelight vigils are “enablers of violent crime, religious and racial bigotry.”

St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner blogger Kurt Hoffman used the Too Many Victims vigils to reiterate his standing threat of armed violence against our government.

Perhaps most offensive, however, was a video posted by pro-gun bloggers Barron Barnett of Washington and Joe Huffman of North Central Idaho. The video shows pro-gun activists holding candles, saying “candles don’t stop violence” and then drawing their handguns and firing at paper targets that are supposed to “simulate the January 8th 2011 shooting in Tucson.” On his blog, Barnett added that those who participated in the vigils "are faster on the draw than a personal injury lawyer to dance in blood."

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to understand how pro-gun activists believe such comments were appropriate on a day when gun violence survivors and others were remembering those they have lost.

New Threat from Pro-Gun Activist: "There will be no acceptance of any arms control."

By now, America is becoming familiar with the "Insurrectionist Idea" that is the foundation of the modern gun rights movement. This radical idea holds that the Second Amendment provides individuals with the right to shoot and kill government officials when they determine our government has become "tyrannical."

Apparently, the boogeyman of a tyrannical U.S. government is not enough for gun rights activists, however, because their paranoid fears also extend to the United Nations. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has raised a significant amount of money in recent years by convincing gun rights activists that a draft U.N. treaty focused on the illegal international trade in small arms is somehow a secret plot to disarm American citizens.

The following comment was recently received by Million Mom March leader Joan Peterson on her blog "Common Gunsense" from a gun rights activist in Dodge City, Kansas. The blog focused on bizarre and offensive comments that NRA Board Member Ted Nugent made about the United Nations in a Washington Times editorial:

Setting aside Mr. Nugent's rather intemperate style of speaking (he's a rock star, after all) just what is incorrect about his statements?

That historically, governments are the greatest murderers of their own citizens is without dispute. Countless millions have been slaughtered by their own governments over the last century, and in nearly every case, the massacre was preceeded by one important fact: the intended victims were disarmed.

Should it ever arrive, this treaty should be, and will be, rejected by the Senate. Frankly it does little but enable some governments to wrap the veneer of respectablity around their attempts to disarm and, in some tragic cases, murder their own citizens. It has happened before, over and over again.

Have we learned nothing?

If nothing else, the experience of Europe's Jews should have taught us all: Never again.

Never.

Personally, I'd advise each and every American gun owner to take a paper bullseye of his choosing, place a nice tight group of bulletholes in it his or her favorite caliber, and send same (with a notation of the caliber and range) to the U.N., along with these words written on the bottom: A well regulated milita being necessary to the security of a free State, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

No threats. No rants. Just a simple statement of fact: we are armed, and we know how to use them. There will be no acceptance of any arms control, treaty or not. There will be no compromise on fundamental principles.

We will not disarm. Molon labe.

Not a threat, huh?

Pro-Gun Activist to Woman who Lost Sister to Homicide:"Go ring your little bell you stupid ignorant c***."

Not long ago, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) posted a blog detailing personal attacks made on Joan Peterson, a gun violence survivor from Minnesota and the author of the blog Common Gunsense. In 1992, Joan’s sister, Barbara, was shot and killed by her husband three years into divorce proceedings. He took his own life not long thereafter in a psychiatric ward.

Joan recently shared three comments left by a pro-gun activist on her (moderated) blog. "japete" is the screen name that Joan uses to respond to comments on her blog.

"Go ring your little bell you stupid ignorant cunt. We'll be busy advancing in individual states. Deep down, you see what's happening and clutch your rancid crotch stink hole in despair, huh?"



"Hey japete, why don't you clean out your disease-ridden cunt-hole? Does making everyone you walk past sick with fishy shit smell a turn-on for you? I'll bet your sister's dead crotch smells better than yours. Your husband certainly thinks so."



"Hey japete, does your dead sister like hot cock up her ass? Oh wait, I guess it doesn't matter. Perhaps I would insult you if you had the decency to publish my comments, you stupid ignorant cunt. But it is your blog. You don't publish my comments because my logic destroys your world. I guess we'll just have to continue spanking your shit covered cheeks in Congress. Fuck you and your stupid little bell."



The commenter is referring to a bell that hangs in a Memorial Garden in Lake Place Park in Duluth, Minnesota. Periodically, Joan gathers with members of Protect Minnesota (which formed when the Million Mom March Chapters of Minnesota merged with Citizens for a Safer Minnesota) and other organizations at this spot to remember victims of gun violence. Attendees are invited to ring the Memorial Bell for each loved one they have lost to gun violence.

Joan rings the bell each time for Barbara, faithfully.

Attack on Survivor of Violence By Pro-Gun Activist

When you work in the field of gun violence prevention, you get used to seeing hostility and vitriol from those on the opposite side of the debate. But one thing you never get used to is personal attacks on victims of gun violence.

On April 11, 2011, Link Porterfield, a pro-gun activist from Boise, Idaho who goes by the screen name of "Link P" made such an attack during a Twitter exchange with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV). Tweeting through his account @peaceloveammo, Porterfield suggested that our organization "has an undiagnosed case of Peterson syndrome." This was a derogatory reference to Joan Peterson, a gun violence survivor from Minnesota and the author of the blog www.commongunsense.com. In his Tweet, Porterfield linked to a blog by another pro-gun activist in Idaho, Joe Huffman, where Huffman attacked Joan and named what he described as a "mental defect" after her.

Our staff at CSGV knows Joan personally and has great respect for her. We replied to Porterfield that Joan is a courageous and great American.

Porterfield's response? "Peterson is no survivor of gun violence. Her sister was murdered by her criminal brother in law. She wasn't even there."

It's hard to imagine why anyone would feel compelled to make such a statement about someone whose sister was lost to gunfire.

The facts of Joan’s loss are as follows ... In 1992, Joan’s sister, Barbara, was three years into divorce proceedings with her husband. After he left bizarre messages on her answering machine, Barbara got a restraining order against him. One day, Barbara and a male friend went to her husband’s house to deliver some paperwork regarding the divorce. Her husband erupted in anger and shot both of them in cold blood, killing them. Prior to this incident, he had no violent criminal history. He ended taking his own life not long thereafter in a psychiatric ward.

Sadly, this type of incident is not uncommon in the United States. 69% of homicides in our county are committed with a gun (CDC, 2007). In 78% of cases, the perpetrator and victim know each other. In 23% of cases, they are family (FBI Uniform Crime Report, 2008).

For her part, Joan was restrained and gracious about the words of Porterfield. "Gun rights activists like to think that only ‘criminals’ shoot other people," she told us via email. "It doesn't fit with their world view when everyday people shoot other people because it makes them look bad."

That was not the end of it, however. Another pro-gun activist, Keith Milligan (AKA "Sebastian") from Pennsylvania, blogged in defense of Porterfield. In the blog he explained, "Our religion is the role firearms play within the American cultural and political framework. It is heresy to the other side, because their religion centers around victimhood."

The thought that Joan's "religion" might be acting to prevent others from experiencing the same tragedy she experienced apparently didn't cross his mind.