Gun Control Across the Globe

To the surprise of many, the United States does not top the list of firearms related deaths from a global perspective. South Africa, Brazil and Mexico all rank higher than number 12, the United States, when looking at this issue. When it comes to the regulation of guns, there is a wide variety of laws, or lack of laws, enforced, or not so enforced, in countries around the world.

South Africa is under great scrutiny in current news because of the tragic death of Reeva Steenkamp, whom was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Olympian Oscar Pistorius, with a handgun. In recent years, South Africa was seen as a model for gun laws after a great gun-related violence drop was seen since 2004 with the enactment of gun laws that required a two-stage license application process. With this tragedy though, these laws are being aggressively criticized.  

On the flip-side, Japan has very relaxed gun laws that are not strongly enforced and still has one of the lowest gun related death-rates in the world. Other countries such as Russia and England all but prohibit the ownership of guns by individuals. 

Firearm related violence and deaths are seen greatest in countries with high concentration of gang activity and drug cartels even if the country employs very strict gun control laws. Central American countries such as Guatemala and Mexico are especially struggling with issues of this type.

-Ashton Theiss
Gun Regulation 
Blog Post Two 

Teachers Are Still Fighting In Austin

As the legislative session pushes forward, Texas educators are still advocating for higher salaries while attacking other legislation.

HB 176, written by Armando Martinez, was introduced and referred to the committee on House Public Education on Feb. 6, 2013. This bill would increase Texas teacher salaries so they are closer to the national average.

The Texas Classroom Teachers Association is another group advocating for Texas teachers. However, the TCTA is in Austin opposing a piece of legislation. SB 2, presented by Dan Patrick, is being opposed by the TCTA because "the home-rule section of the bill essentially guts teacher rights and benefits, legal protections, parent and student rights, and many other provisions of the Education Code", according to their site. 

Something that may impact the outcome of legislation for Texas education is the recent court case that found Texas' system for funding schools unconstitutional. Judge Dietz found the system to be "inadequate" and "unfair". The case is headed to the Supreme Court. You can read the full story here.

Will the TCTA be successful in opposing SB 2? Will the court case affect what is happening in Austin?

Quote Source: Court Case Article

Preston Chilton
Post 2
Topic: Increasing Teacher Salaries, Texas Education

Guns present on campus in Five other states across Nation

SB 182, the bill that will make it legal to carry firearms on campuses of higher education, is still currently in the Criminal Justice committee. According to the process of bills, this means that the bill is currently in Stage One. Once it has left the Criminal Justice committee, it will move to be voted on by the Senate. Further updates are to come as the bill continues in the Texas Legislature.

According to a Forbes online article, the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 cause the debate for gun on college campuses increased dramatically. In 2008, only one state allowed guns on public institutions. Now there are five states (Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin) that allowed concealed guns on campuses of public institutions. David Burnett of Students for Concealed Carry said that allowing licensed concealed carry would give potential pause and ultimately give innocent victims a fighting chance.

However, Gary Olson, the former Provost of Idaho State University said that there is no recorded incident in which a victim–or spectator–of a violent crime on a campus has prevented that crime by brandishing a weapon. Olson went onto say that school officers are normally the ones firing the guns and so, it would be difficult for the officers to their job when 10,000 other students could have weapons as well.

 Photo credit: Guns for Concealed Carry Article

Blog Post #2

Cody Coke

Topic: Guns on college campuses bill, SB 182

Senator Fights Trafficking on the Hill

Rachel Adcock

Blog Post #2

Senator Fights Trafficking on the Hill

She is known for her active role in furthering small businesses and fighting for veterans’ rights in San Antonio. But this legislative session, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, is committed to fighting a new battle: Human trafficking.

In the 2013 Texas state legislature, Senator Van de Putte is introducing three bills that will aid victims and target traffickers. Senate Bill 92 focuses on victim relief. It sets forth guidelines concerning how the legal system should regard young victims of trafficking, relieving them of criminal charges of prostitution.

In 2009 the Texas Attorney General initiated the Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force. This force, installed by Sen. Van de Putte during the 81^st legislative session, works with law enforcement, non-governmental organizations, and prosecutors to establish policies that assist in the successful prosecution of human traffickers.  Senate Bill 93 during the 2013 session will extend the task force for another two years.

The third bill in the series however, Senate Bill 94, focuses on those convicted of trafficking humans. It will allow victims to sue traffickers and website owners whose sites served as a media through which the victims were sold.

“There's one group of people I want to make their life miserable. That's human traffickers,” Van de Putte said in a San Antonio news conference in January.

“This is one of the worst crimes that exists,” Van de Putte said. And she is committed to stopping it. 

Control Over Gun Shows on Public Property

County officials soon vote on if gun/weapon shows should be allowed at their public centers.   

Gun's and gun shows are a big thing here in Texas.  With everything that has been going on lately with shootings and guns being in the hands of the wrong people, it's starting to really cause a problem with those who deal with gun's for a living and those who use them for sporting and hobbies.

Because of all of bad things that some of these people have been doing with these guns, some officials are trying to figure out if it is a good idea to have these massive gun shows at these public places where anyone is allowed to attend. Gun shows are a big business here in Texas, especially in Fort Worth.  At the Will Rogers Center, there is a gun show just about every month that hundreds of people attend.

Along with trying to take a stand with gun shows on public property, there are other things trying to be changed with gun control too such as background checks.  Texas is one of only about a dozen states that don't require background checks with the purchasing of guns at gun shows. 

The Star Telegram had a great quote from Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson that said, "But these politicians are doing knee-jerk reactions that won't make any difference. This is low-hanging, politically correct fruit for politicians who want to say they did something."

 

 

-Shelby Campbell

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/01/13/4543978/a-clash-over-gun-shows-on-public.html#storylink=cpy

Innocent until proven guilty?

In Texas, and many other states, the presumption of innocence is a right that the legal system has failed many of those accused of criminal acts. The principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty has in-turn wrongfully imprisoned many people, who are either pardoned after death (including execution) or years of prison- of which they did not owe one hour. It turns out, in many cases, that DNA and other forms of evidence and procedure prove such civilians innocent. Thus, it has been suggested that The Code of Criminal Procedure be amended by adding a “Texas Innocence Commission.” This bill suggests the creation of a commission to investigate and prevent wrongful convictions.

In short, the bill calls for the creation of the committee, the details of how the nine members are to be selected, and the duties of the committee. The duties listed include: the investigation of all post-conviction exonerations, including convictions vacated based on a plea to time served, to: (1) collecting errors and defects in the prosecutor’s case, (2) identifying errors and defects in the criminal process of Texas, in general, (3) developing solutions to correct such errors or defects, and (4) identifying procedures and programs to prevent future wrongful convictions. To read the bill in its entirety, click here.  

The bill was first read on January 28, 2013 and was referred to the Criminal Justice Senate Committee that same day. The bill’s status has not changed since last week, and it is still in committee.

For information on the Innocence Project of Texas, one of the main contributors to this bill, visit http://www.ipoftexas.org/ and take at a look at some numbers, including Texas exoneration statistics. 

 Timothy Cole, the first person in Texas history to be formally cleared of a crime after his death.

"He passed away in prison while serving a 25-year sentence for rape. He maintained his innocence until the end, hoping that one day he would receive vindication and a pardon from the Texas Governor."

Images provided by http://www.ipoftexas.org/

Henrietta Williams

Innocent until proven guilty?

Drinking Age--Up or Down?

For the purpose of this blogging session, I will be following the initiatives to change the drinking age. I’m going to be looking into bills and proposals that are attempting to lower the drinking age, those that are attempting to raise the drinking age, and others that pertain to alcohol consumption in the state of Texas or even federally. I’ll be following several issues, because alcohol-related bills often get denied.

            I’m following this issue because alcoholism rates are very high in our country and I’m researching to find out why. I’m observing the things we do differently than other countries with lower rates and trying to uncover why we have such poor statistics related to alcohol. After research, I discovered that Texas is about in the middle of all the states in terms of alcohol consumption. Would lowering our drinking age reduce or increase overall consumption? Would raising the drinking age reduce or increase overall consumption? Which would promote healthier relationships with alcohol, and reduce alcoholism? These are all questions I will be asking throughout this semester as I follow various bills.

-Hannah Teague