The first anniversary of the terrible shooting deaths in Tucson, Arizona was observed in Seattle with a candlelight vigil. Washington Ceasefire, Congressman Jim McDermott, and members of the public tired of the relentless violence and deaths of the innocents came together to remember ALL victims of gun violence, to stand united, and to let voices be heard. We can do better.
    Washington Ceasefire isn't seeking to restrict the public from keeping handguns in the home. But it IS seeking gun sanity. It's seeking common sense. It's seeking to open up the conversation with the public and shed light on the issue for what it is : a public health threat.
    Fact : A gun in the home increases the risk of homicide of a household member by 3 times and the risk of suicide by 5 times compared to homes where no gun is present. It's easily verifiable. And yet vast numbers of people don't give a gun lying under their pillow a second thought.
    But it's not statistics that opens our eyes. It's stories. The man shot and left to die on a sidewalk by an unknown assailant, the little girl killed in Burien when a gun discharges by accident from a neighboring apartment, the co-worker who's 12 year old daughter shoots herself with a family gun.
    Join us. Tell those stories. The reality is that guns don't make us safer and the statistics show it. So do the stories.

1/24/12 Welcome to the NorthWest : Recent arrival from Florida shot and killed outside a bar in West Seattle.

1/18/12 Yet another senseless shooting : Man fatally shot, dies on Capitol Hill sidewalk.

1/8/12  Seattle Vigil Marks Anniversary of Tucson Shooting. Washington Ceasefire, Rep. Jim McDermott, and others held candles and observed a moment of silence to honor victims of gun violence.

A federal judge in Lubbock, Texas threw out a lawsuit from the NRA that challenged Texas law prohibiting 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying concealed handguns, saying "Texas has identified a legitimate state interest - public safety - and passed legislation that is rationally related to addressing that issue."

A federal judge in New Jersey dismissed a case from the Second Amendment Foundation that challenged NJ's strict concealed carry laws, saying "the Second Amendment does not include a general right to carry handguns outside the home."

A federal judge in California upheld Los Angeles County's strong concealed carry laws.  Jonathan Birdt filed suit after being denied a ccw permit.  The court ruled that LAPD policies "do not infringe upon Plaintiff's constitutional rights."

A federal judge threw out a case backed by the NRA that challenged new reporting requirements for gun dealers in border states, ruling that "multiple sales of certain powerful long guns is a strong indicator of gun trafficking" and  the "ATF acted rationally" in asking for sales data in the border states.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a California appeal and let stand a state appeals court ruling upholding a California law that imposes a 10-year ban on gun ownership for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime involving violence or threats of force.

For more post-Heller litigation see LCAV's summary and Brady Center's Hollow Victory?.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords announced that she will resigned from Congress in a message posted on YouTube. Giffords has "determined that it will take more time"  to recover from being shot in the head in 2011.

Missouri police and prosecutors navigate the castle doctrine.   In one recent killing St. Louis police sought second-degree murder charges but prosecutors decline to file them because of the new castle doctrine law.

South Dakota Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 to kill a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed handguns in public without first having to get a permit. 

iWatch, Toys, BB Guns and Pellet Guns Subject to a Confusing Patchwork of Laws, to regulate the sale, use and color of replica guns.  "As these guns get more popular, kids are getting shot because of them."

A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that Safe Streets Baltimore, a replication of Chicago's CeaseFire program,has effectively reduced gun violence in three of the four violent Baltimore neighborhoods were the program is used. Click here to read the full study. 

Media Matters, John Lott Uses Distorted Anecdotes to Push for "Dangerous" Gun Laws, corrects Lott's account of two recent cases where travelers to New York City were arrested on gun charges.

David Drake, guest columnist Des Moines Register, This Guy's Not Packin' Heat Any More, talks about why he no longer carries a concealed handgun and the need for mandatory range training before someone can get a ccw permit.

Thomas Fisher, University of Minnesota, Guns Don't Kill People, Bullets Do, details the high cost of gun violence and ponders the possibility of charging the ammunition industry for the costs incurred due to the availability of cheap ammunition.

Dr. Art Kamm, Art on Issues, Sacrificing Our Children in the Name of the Second Amendment, looks at the "grossly disproportionate" rate of firearm deaths in minors in the U.S. as compared to peer countries, and policies that contribute to this ongoing tragedy including "market expansion policies for gun products."

Greg Laden, The X Blog, Legal Guns To Criminal's Hands: Is It Uncontrollable?, argues that "the flow of guns from legal ownership to illegal possession can be affected by the implementation of statue."

Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks, Obama Squandered a Year of Potential Gun Reform After Giffords Shooting, talks about Obama's lack of true follow-up on promised policy proposal on guns. Also see Cenk's commentary Giffords' YouTube Resignation a Viral Hit, But No One's Talking About Guns.

First Impressions on the Slide Fire, from the SHOT Show 2012,  reports on a new product that increases the speed of fire for AR-15s and AK-47s and enables automatic-like firing speed. 

Feeling Ignored, Gun Lobby Threatens to Retaliate Against Harwell and Her Supporters, looks at complaints from the Tennessee Firearms Association that TN House Speaker Harwell isn't doing enough to expand Second Amendment rights despite the large Republican majority in the state legislature.

Group spends Martin Luther King Day Raffling off .50-Caliber Rifle, notes that as part of their rally at the Virginia State House the Virginia Citizens Defense League held a raffle for a Serbu .50 BMG.