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.

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.