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The Coalition Against Gun Violence extends appreciation to each one of the people and entities who donated to the gun buyback. These are the folks who wanted to make this happen and believed a gun buyback would help make this a safer community. There would not have been a buyback without their support. The Santa Barbara Police Department under the auspices of Sgt. Riley Harwood played a major role in organizing a smooth and efficiently run event.

CAGV and the community of Santa Barbara wishes to thank Vons Grocery Stores in Santa Barbara for discounting gift cards worth $100 each to give people in exchange for firearms turned on at the June 14th Gun Buyback. This generous donation facilitated CAGV’s offer of $100 for a handgun, rifle or shotgun and $200 for an assault weapon. Kudos to Vons Grocery Stores for their donation towards a safer community.



Over $1000

Leslie Bhutani
Charles and Francine Freund 
GunByGun
The Martinez Family 
The Palonens  

Martin Potts

$500-$1000:

Pamela McLean and Frederic Hudson  

Tatiana Fenkner  

Sharon Felder 
Anne Smith Towbes
Jana and Jeff Young

$100-$500

Yekaterina Belton 
Carnzu Clark 
Sue Colin 
Margaret Connell
Democratic Women of SB County
Stanley Furman
Joan Haber 
Mark & Sally Hamilton
Jean Hane
Stanley Hatch
Colin and Joan Jones
Peter Lackner
David Teton-Landis 
Ann Reiss Lane 
League of Women Voters
Elizabeth Linn
Raquel Lopez
Melvin Mael 
Peter & Elisa Merkl
Wendy Minot 
Jade Moy
Remi Nadeau
Carol & Anthony Nicoletti
Robert Pearson 
Margot Roseman
Richard & Maryan Schall
Carol & Ali Shabrami
Susan Shank
Alfred & Stephanie Shuman
Wayne Siemens 
Chris & Mark Silverstein
Jennifer Smith
Larry & Toni Wellen
Cynthia Whelan
Donna Will 
Mary Ellen Wylie
Missy Zeitsoff

Up to $100

Marshall Ackerman
Karen Bednorz
Marty & Joe Blum
Barbara Bonadeo
Leslie Burdick
Sally Hearon
Cherie Ignatius
Pramook Khungorn
Sarah Knecht
Mara Kohn
Tina La Monica
Our Daily Bread
Maria Saltzman
Panakuadet Suwannatat
Marilyn Tam
Dale Tetalman
Mignon Watt

Business Donors

Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners & Launderers
Bavarian Performance Specialists for European Cars, Thousand Oaks
Beachside Bar—Café
Chaucer’s Bookstore
Chocolate Gallery
FrameStore – Custom Framing, Thousand Oaks
Fresco Café and Bakery
Garden Market Restaurant, Carpinteria
Home Improvement Center
In Bloom Orchids
Jeannine’s Restaurant & Bakery
Kahuna Grill
Lazy Acres
Lure Fish House & Oyster Bar, Camarillo, Ventura, Westlake Village
Natural Café
Ottavio’s Italian Restaurant, Camarillo
Pascucci Italian Restaurant
Pierre Lafond/Wendy Foster
Rose Café
Santa Barbara Frame Shop and Gallery
Shang Hai Chinese Restaurant
Shine Blow Dry Bar
The Painted Cabernet
The Palace Grill
Trader Joe's Milpas
Westerlay Orchids
Westland Orchids
WONDER Gift boutique
Yogurtland

The tragedy of children lost to their families forever has overwhelmed the souls of people nationally and internationally with near wordless grief.  With the loss of a child, grief does not abate or come to closure.  Many families have turned grief into action.  We know from past massacres that thoughts and prayers are not enough. We demand action!

We send those closest to our hearts, our precious innocent children to where we think is a safe place –our neighborhood schools.  But in the land of the free, our hearts are filled with fear because there is no safe place in a country where 300,000,000 firearms are easily accessible.  The reality is that only one-third of Americans own firearms, and 300,000,000 firearms have not created a safer America. Whether these weapons are legally owned or not, does not matter.  A legal upstanding gun owner is one argument or one crisis away from violence.  These dangerous killing weapons are in homes, presumably protecting the family from harm.

No other country in the Western world has this kind of violence attributable to firearms.  America’s culture of violence provides a crucible for permissible murderous acts. Let us not play politics with death and sorrow. Let us consider conflict resolution and what all sides can agree upon.

WE CAN AGREE ON THESE FACTS:

• There are too many gun deaths in America:  87 each day, 30,000 each year.
•  Guns are here to stay.  No one’s going to take your gun away. It’s a fear tactic used by the gun lobby. Gun control advocates and organizations don’t talk about banning all guns.  They talk about REASONABLE GUN POLICIES and work closely with law enforcement.
• America has a culture of violence.  Media violence does have an effect on people and children. Why did the killer in Aurora wear a Joker costume? Life imitates art.
• Mentally unstable people are a long way from receiving adequate care and therapy.  Yet they are jailed or become homeless and as a consequence there are millions of suffering people who are living on the edge. States do not share information regarding persons who have had a history of hospitalization due to mental illness.  A perfect local example was the Goleta Post Office shooting on January 31, 2006.  The shooter got her gun in New Mexico, not California where we have laws that would not have permitted her purchase.
• Domestic violence is prevalent, and millions of women are shot by their partners or constantly threatened with the use of a gun. There is a murder suicide or annihilation killing of a family resulting in 1000 to 1500 deaths per year, 90% with a firearm.
• The new activist interpretation of the Second Amendment whereby the Supreme Court rejected the gun lobby’s mantra: any gun, anywhere, anytime by stating: the individual right to possess guns in the home for self-defense does not prevent the enacting of common-sense gun laws.

  WE MUST AGREE TO TAKE ACTION:

• Require a background check for every gun sale (40% of gun sales in our nation have no background check; 92% of Americans favor passing this law.)
• Ban Assault Weapons and any gun or rifle that can be converted to hold a high capacity magazine over 10 rounds.
• Ban large capacity magazines.

More than 20 family members and victims of mass shootings met in Washington, DC with leaders in Congress and the White House calling on them to seriously address gun violence in this nation.  The group released the following letter asking leaders and the American public for a meaningful dialogue and swift action:

“We are Republicans and Democrats, from “blue states” and “red states.” We live in cities, suburbs and rural areas.   We are from many different walks of life.  Some of us own guns.  Some of us don’t. “We know that the overwhelming majority of Americans support sensible solutions that would have prevented many of our tragedies, and can prevent many more every day.”

The full text of the letter can be read and signed at http://wearebetterthanthis.org/

The Declaration of Independence states the inalienable rights of the people to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness; and that a government is necessary to ensure our Safety and Happiness.  The first duty of all elected officials is the safety of the public.

WE ARE NOT SAFE. WE DEMAND ACTION!
CAGV Works To Educate Santa Barbara County & Central Coast Neighborhoods Since 1994 • Contact information here:
(805) 564-6803 • sbcagv@gmail.com

GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS TWO BILLS INTO LAW JULY 18th!

AB 1964 UNSAFE HANDGUN – SINGLE SHOT EXEMPTION – Dickinson
(Sacramento) California law requires that all semiautomatic handguns models sold in the state pass a series of safety tests and possess certain features to be placed on the roster of handguns approved for sale. (Read More Here: http://sbcoalition.org/2014/07/governor-signs-bill-to-strengthen-unsafe-handgun-law/)

AB 1591 FIREARMS: PROHIBITED PERSONS NOTIFICATION – Achadjian
This bill is a measure to speed up communication between the courts and the state Department of Justice when a person is deemed to be prohibited from possessing a gun. The bill requires courts to report to the state Justice Department within one business day when a person becomes barred from having a firearm, either due to certain felony or misdemeanor convictions or for mental health reasons.

MORE STATE/FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON THE TABLE:

AB 1014 GUN VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDERS – Skinner
Most guns sold in California must comply with the state's safe handgun requirements -- including having certain safety devices or meeting specified firing tests -- but the law had exempted handguns that hold a single bullet.

AB 1609 ENFORCEMENT OF INTERSTATE GUN TRAFFICKING LAWS – Alejo
(Watsonville) Federal law makes it illegal to purchase a firearm outside of California and bring it into the state unless the firearm is shipped to a licensed dealer in California to complete the transaction. Federal authorities do not have the resources to enforce this law and California has no authority governing these transactions. This bill would make California law consistent with federal law and give prosecutorial authority to law enforcement. This bill would ensure that the purchase of firearms from out of state would be fully subject to California's strong laws and would reduce firearm trafficking from out of state.

AB 2305 WEAPONS. – Ridley-Thomas
(Los Angeles) It is generally illegal to carry a concealed firearm "upon" a person unless the person has a valid permit to do so. This bill would replace the word "upon" with the words "on or about". This makes it clear that carrying a firearm in a handbag or backpack without a permit would also be illegal.

SB 293 OWNER AUTHORIZED HANDGUNS – DeSaulnier
(Concord) This bill would require that two years after at least two owner-authorized handguns are certified for sale in California, new models of handguns must have owner-authorized technology so that the gun can only be fired by authorized users. This personalization technology must be a permanent programmable biometric or other feature that is part of the gun’s original design and manufacture.

SB 505 PEACE OFFICERS: WELFARE CHECKS – Jackson
(Santa Barbara) This bill would require a peace officer who is asked to check on the welfare or well-being of an individual based upon a concern that the individual is a potential danger to self or others, to first conduct a search of the Department of Justice Automated Firearms System to determine whether the person is the registered owner of any firearm.

SB 580 FIREARMS SAFETY AND ENFORCEMENT SPECIAL FUND – Jackson
(Santa Barbara) This bill would appropriate money from the Firearms Safety and Enforcement Special Fund to redesign and modernize the Department of Justice's firearm data systems and provide training to local law enforcement agencies on the use of the Automated Firearms System. This bill would provide funds for contracting with local law enforcement agencies to disarm individuals under the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) program.

SB 53 AMMUNITION PURCHASE REGULATION – De Leon
(Los Angeles) This bill will regulate the sale of ammunition in California by requiring sellers of ammunition to be licensed by the state and also require ammunition purchasers to complete a background check.

SB 808 FIREARMS: IDENTIFYING INFORMATION – De Leon
(Los Angeles) This bill would require a person who manufactures or assembles a firearm to apply to the department for a unique serial number or other identifying mark permanently engraved. Prior to issuing the serial number the applicant would have to pass a background check. This information would be kept on record.

FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON THE TABLE:

HR 4806 PAUSE FOR SAFETY ACT – Congresswoman Lois Capps
(Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties)

S. 2445 PAUSE FOR SAFETY ACT – Senator Barbara Boxer
(CA with co-sponsors, Senators Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Richard Blumenthal (CT))

How did Florida’s gun death rate suddenly become almost 50% higher than California’s? The question is particularly relevant to the 2012 election. After 1999, when Republicans won control of Florida’s Legislature and the Governor’s office, they passed 38 gun-friendly laws, culminating in Stand Your Ground (SYG). This notorious 2005 law allows people to use lethal force in self-defense in public places even when they could avoid it. After SYG, between 2005 and 2009 (the latest CDC data) Florida’s firearm homicide rate shot up 21%.

In contrast, California—a Democratic state—had been strengthening its gun laws since the early 1990’s. As the regulations took effect its gun homicide rate declined dramatically—by 53% from the 1993 California (and national) peak, far more than the decline in the rest of the nation.

Since the 2005 SYG law, remarkably, Florida’s firearm homicide rate soared higher than California’s, even though California is a more urban state with greater inner-city gang and gun violence problems.After SYG more Floridians brought guns into their homes. Not coincidentally, from 2005 to 2009 Florida’s gun suicide rate jumped 20%, driving its total suicide rate up 16%. (Suicide attempts with firearms are much more likely to be lethal than are attempts by other means.)

Florida’s total firearm mortality rate also increased—by 20% from 2005 to 2009. (In 2005, 1,824 Floridians died by gunfire; in 2009, 2,306 died.) By 2009 Florida’s firearm mortality rate was almost 50% higher than California’s, because that state’s firearm mortality rate had continued to drop. California’s gun policies helped cut gun deaths without infringing on Constitutional rights.

1. I will help my family find ways to resolve conflict without anger or violence.
2. I will monitor my children’s media viewing to limit their exposure to violence.
3. Before my children go to the home of friends or family, I will ask parents whether they have a gun and how it is stored.
4. If I choose to have a firearm in my home, I will store it unloaded, securely locked and separate from the ammunition.
5. I will be a member on CAGV’s email action alert regarding gun issues.
6. I will call, email or fax my legislators about gun issues that concern me.

Any Donation Helps!

Our Latest Newsletter:

Summer 2014 Vol 20 • NO 2 (5.39 MB) Gun Buyback, Smart Guns Aim to Dumb Down Gun Industry , Pediatricians Take on the NRA, Annual Luncheon Breaks All Records

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