Saturday, April 26, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
U.S. Western Hemispheric Security Issues
Hemispheric Security
In the Western Hemisphere, the dangers of the Cold War have been replaced by new and more complex challenges. Illicit trafficking in drugs, persons, and weapons, criminal organizations, and cybercrime threaten peace and prosperity in the region. These transnational threats have changed traditional definitions of security and require coordinated multilateral responses by the governments in the hemisphere in accordance with democratic norms and principles. The U.S. Department of State has an active program to address the threats, concerns, and challenges to the security of the hemisphere at the bilateral, sub-regional, and regional levels. Click on the map or links below to find out about hemispheric security developments in the region.
For more information, contact Giovanni Snidle, the WHA Senior Coordinator for Hemispheric Security Policy, at 202-647-3799.
In the Western Hemisphere, the dangers of the Cold War have been replaced by new and more complex challenges. Illicit trafficking in drugs, persons, and weapons, criminal organizations, and cybercrime threaten peace and prosperity in the region. These transnational threats have changed traditional definitions of security and require coordinated multilateral responses by the governments in the hemisphere in accordance with democratic norms and principles. The U.S. Department of State has an active program to address the threats, concerns, and challenges to the security of the hemisphere at the bilateral, sub-regional, and regional levels. Click on the map or links below to find out about hemispheric security developments in the region.
For more information, contact Giovanni Snidle, the WHA Senior Coordinator for Hemispheric Security Policy, at 202-647-3799.
The NRA's worst nightmare is America's moms
Posted Thursday, April 24th 2014 @ 10am by Dean Obeidallah
Can a group of passionate mothers defeat the nation’s largest pro-gun institution and persuade elected officials to enact laws that will reduce gun violence and save lives? It’s too early to tell, but this weekend the two groups will come face to face outside the NRA’s annual convention.On one side of this version of the classic David versus Goliath battle, we have “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense.” This small, but passionate group is led by Shannon Watts, a 43-year-old mother of five who started the organization via a simple Facebook page after the horrific shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012.
On the other side, we have the National Rifle Association—an organization with an annual operating budget of approximately $250 million, 4 million-plus members, and a legion of federal and state elected officials in their corner.
This weekend, the battle will commence when the “Moms” and their allies demonstrate outside the NRA Convention in Indianapolis. Watts explained that this protest will feature “Moms, gun violence survivors, domestic violence prevention advocates, faith leaders, gun owners and other gun safety advocates” speaking out for “sensible reforms to end the gun violence the kills 86 Americans every day.”
Watts made it clear the NRA is, indeed, their adversary. “Our goal is to bring attention to the ways in which the NRA’s leadership and its lobbyists have fundamentally distorted the facts when it comes to gun violence in America,” she says, before adding that they’ve created “the false impression that people’s Second Amendment rights are under threat.”
Read more: http://www.kfiam640.com/articles/national-news-104668/the-nras-worst-nightmare-is-americas-12285348/#ixzz2zqSnYaHg
Early-Release Felon Charged with Kidnapping, Rape, Torture
Posted Friday, April 18th 2014 @ 5pm
Photo Credit: California Department of Corrections
A man on probation as a “non-violent offender” under California’s prison realignment program has been charged with kidnapping, raping, and torturing a 16-year-old girl in South Los Angeles, and detectives suspect he may be connected to three other recent murders.
Robert L. Ranson, 30, was arrested in late March after the girl escaped from a U-Haul van in an alley near Imperial Highway and New Hampshire Ave., according to police and booking records.
The girl was covered in gasoline and said her attacker, later identified as Ranson, had tied her hands and taped her mouth, and was trying to light her on fire when she ran away, naked.
Ranson was tracked by detectives and arrested March 27th. He was booked on a 10-day probation violation, known as a “flash incarceration,” while the case was investigated.
Prosecutors charged Ranson for the teenager’s kidnapping April 3. An alleged accomplice, Julian Tobar, was charged with robbing the girl.
Now, LAPD detectives are looking for evidence that could link Ranson to the murders of two women and a child.
On March 2nd the body of a 19-year-old woman was found near 93rd St. and Grand Ave. She had been tied-up and set on fire.
A man on probation as a “non-violent offender” under California’s prison realignment program has been charged with kidnapping, raping, and torturing a 16-year-old girl in South Los Angeles, and detectives suspect he may be connected to three other recent murders.
Robert L. Ranson, 30, was arrested in late March after the girl escaped from a U-Haul van in an alley near Imperial Highway and New Hampshire Ave., according to police and booking records.
The girl was covered in gasoline and said her attacker, later identified as Ranson, had tied her hands and taped her mouth, and was trying to light her on fire when she ran away, naked.
Ranson was tracked by detectives and arrested March 27th. He was booked on a 10-day probation violation, known as a “flash incarceration,” while the case was investigated.
Prosecutors charged Ranson for the teenager’s kidnapping April 3. An alleged accomplice, Julian Tobar, was charged with robbing the girl.
Now, LAPD detectives are looking for evidence that could link Ranson to the murders of two women and a child.
On March 2nd the body of a 19-year-old woman was found near 93rd St. and Grand Ave. She had been tied-up and set on fire.
Read more: http://www.kfiam640.com/onair/john-and-ken-37487/earlyrelease-felon-charged-with-kidnapping-rape-12269131/?cmp=obinsite#ixzz2zqS6jDrt
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Garden Grove, California student, 13, held after police say he brought a gun to school
CLAUDIA KOERNER / STAFF WRITER
Published: April 23, 2014 Updated: 2:24 p.m.
Published: April 23, 2014 Updated: 2:24 p.m.
GARDEN GROVE – A 13-year-old boy was booked into Juvenile Hall after police said he brought a handgun to school on Monday. Officers responded to a classroom at Jordan Intermediate School around 9:40 a.m. Monday after a report that a student had a loaded gun in his backpack, said Lt. Ben Stauffer of the Garden Grove Police Department. Police searched the boy’s backpack and found a Colt Mark IV .38-caliber handgun, Stauffer said, and a loaded magazine was found in his front pants pocket. Investigation is continuing to determine why the boy brought the gun to school, he said.
The gun was registered to a family member of the student’s, and officers went on to search their home, Stauffer said. At the home, police found a .22-caliber Ruger rifle that was not properly registered. The rifle, which the family member claimed, was seized. The student was taken into custody without incident on suspicion of weapons violations, Stauffer said. The student’s relative was cited and released on suspicion of a misdemeanor gun registration violation related to the rifle. Officials of the Garden Grove Unified School District notified parents at the school Monday evening about the incident. “The situation was handled very quickly,” public information officer Amy Stevens said. “The students are safe, and classes are continuing as scheduled.
Georgia governor signs 'unprecedented' bill expanding gun rights
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday signed legislation significantly expanding gun rights in the state.
The bill, described by the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm as "the most comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation introduced in recent state history," expands the scope of public places where licensed owners are allowed to carry firearms.
The bill makes several changes to state law. It allows those with a license to carry to bring a gun into a bar without restriction and into some government buildings that don't have certain security measures. It also allows religious leaders to decide whether it's OK for a person with a carry license to bring a gun into their place of worship.
Democrats resisted the proposal, although they conceded it would pass in the GOP-dominated House of Representatives. They argued that allowing guns in more places will not make society safer and may lead to more deaths.
Under the bill, school districts would now be able, if they wanted, to allow some employees to carry a firearm under certain conditions. The bill also eliminates the fingerprinting requirement for renewing weapons carry licenses.
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, the legislation prohibits the state from creating and maintaining a database of licensed weapons carriers and repeals the state-required license for firearms dealers.
Colin Goddard, who survived the 2007 campus shooting at Virginia Tech, told Georgia Public Broadcasting he's alarmed by a provision that waives criminal prosecution of felons who use illegal firearms in the act of self-defense.
“The stand your ground expansion is truly a new type of stand your ground as we know it,” Goddard said. “To expand it in such a way to remove all carrying or possession offenses is really unprecedented.”
Jerry Henry of GeorgiaCarry.org told GPB News he doesn’t expect to see a surge in gun sales or an increase in gun-related businesses in the state. He noted that other states have far less restrictive gun laws than Georgia.
“I don’t think people are going to look at it and say, ‘Oh Georgia just passed a new law and I’m going to move over there because it’s so much easier.’ I don’t think we’re going to see that,” he said. “Arizona, Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont – they all have Constitutional Carry."
The bill, described by the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm as "the most comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation introduced in recent state history," expands the scope of public places where licensed owners are allowed to carry firearms.
The bill makes several changes to state law. It allows those with a license to carry to bring a gun into a bar without restriction and into some government buildings that don't have certain security measures. It also allows religious leaders to decide whether it's OK for a person with a carry license to bring a gun into their place of worship.
Democrats resisted the proposal, although they conceded it would pass in the GOP-dominated House of Representatives. They argued that allowing guns in more places will not make society safer and may lead to more deaths.
Under the bill, school districts would now be able, if they wanted, to allow some employees to carry a firearm under certain conditions. The bill also eliminates the fingerprinting requirement for renewing weapons carry licenses.
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, the legislation prohibits the state from creating and maintaining a database of licensed weapons carriers and repeals the state-required license for firearms dealers.
Colin Goddard, who survived the 2007 campus shooting at Virginia Tech, told Georgia Public Broadcasting he's alarmed by a provision that waives criminal prosecution of felons who use illegal firearms in the act of self-defense.
“The stand your ground expansion is truly a new type of stand your ground as we know it,” Goddard said. “To expand it in such a way to remove all carrying or possession offenses is really unprecedented.”
Jerry Henry of GeorgiaCarry.org told GPB News he doesn’t expect to see a surge in gun sales or an increase in gun-related businesses in the state. He noted that other states have far less restrictive gun laws than Georgia.
“I don’t think people are going to look at it and say, ‘Oh Georgia just passed a new law and I’m going to move over there because it’s so much easier.’ I don’t think we’re going to see that,” he said. “Arizona, Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont – they all have Constitutional Carry."
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
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