SEATTLE – Millones de dólares han sido destinados en Washington a las campañas de cada una de las iniciativas de ley relativas a la verificación de antecedentes personales para la venta de armas. Pero, ¿quién está en cada lado del debate?

No se están disparando balas, pero sí retórica en la defensa que hacen los partidarios de cada uno de los proyectos. Una revisión atenta de quién respalda cuál, encuentra a coleccionistas de armas, instructores de tiro y grupos del Tea Party apoyando la I-591, que tiende a reducir los requisitos.

Es más diversa la coalición a favor de la I-594, que plantea hacer más estricta la verificación de antecedentes: son grupos de fe, médicos y educadores, así como la League of Women Voters of Washington (Liga de Mujeres Votantes de Washington).

Y en cuanto a los oficiales del orden público, ellos parecen estar divididos en el tema. Esto no sorprende a Brian O’Neill, ex oficial de policía en la división de pandillas, quien señaló que los policías se sienten más cómodos con las armas que mucha gente.

“Ya sabes, estas herramientas se vuelven herramientas con las que algunos se involucran mucho. Las políticas y la mentalidad cuentan para los oficiales de policía -dijo-, pero también está el aspecto de que tienen muchas más armas que una persona promedio, y no quieren ser leones domesticados.”

O’Neill opina que una pistola es, en sus palabras, “una pieza de una propiedad demasiado importante y peligrosa” como para no tener registro de ella. Agrega que una de las facetas más frustrantes de trabajar como miembro de la unidad de pandillas fue no poder rastrear las armas robadas. Pero la Asociación de Policías y Sheriffs de Washington manifiesta no estar convencida de que la ley I-594 vaya a cambiar eso.

Meredith Goldstein, defensora en Lake Washington High School, dice que ha estado siguiendo el tema desde un tiroteo que hubo en la Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle (Federación Judía de Great Seattle), en 2006, y las muertes por arma de fuego ocurridas en escuelas de todo el país.

“Sentí como que esta violencia está llegando a un pueblo cercano -narró Goldstein-. Y que si no hacía algo, nunca podría perdonarme cuando ocurriera la próxima tragedia. Y creo que hay mucha gente que se siente igual, y así es como se involucran.”

Goldstein es una presidenta de la PTA que ha ayudado a organizar foros sobre seguridad armamentaria y ha llevado el caso ante la Asamblea Legislativa de la PTA en Washington. Ella manifiesta su deseo de que hubiera algún punto medio en las propuestas sobre la revisión de antecedentes para comprar armas.

En la comunidad de la fe el Rabino Daniel Weiner, del Templo De Hirsch Sinaí, opina que es un asunto de equidad el de asegurar que toda persona que compre una arma pase por la misma revisión de antecedentes, medida que, en su opinión, actualmente es fácil de evadir.

“Cuarenta por ciento de las armas que se venden en el estado de Washington son vendidas fuera de libros -reveló-, por Internet o en exhibiciones de armas. Hablamos de que casi la mitad de las armas fueron vendidas sin vigilancia alguna de a quién se les están vendiendo.”

Se ha dado cierta confusión porque los números de las leyes son demasiado similares: ‘591’ y ‘594’. Ambos bandos quieren que la gente entienda a favor de qué están votando, dado que las iniciativas se contradicen mutuamente. Y con los ánimos encendidos en ambos frentes, incluso es posible que ambas leyes sean aprobadas.


get more stories like this via email

A package to improve public safety is moving ahead in the California state Legislature - with a floor vote in the State Assembly on the first bill expected this week.

Assembly Bill 2215 puts into statute that police officers have the discretion to send people arrested for low-level offenses directly to supportive services.

Anthony DiMartino - government affairs director with the nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice - said sometimes public safety is best served when people avoid arrest and instead get therapy, addiction support or help getting a job.

"We're also hoping to raise awareness that this is something officers can do, and then also encourage partnerships more with officers to look at what's in their community," said DiMartino, "as alternatives to jail booking."

A second bill would increase transparency and accountability on money sent to the counties as part of the Public Safety Realignment.

A third bill would require police officers, prosecuting attorneys and investigators to identify themselves any time they're interviewing a family member of someone killed or severely injured by police.

DiMartino said they also support AB 2499, which would ensure that survivors of violent crime and their family members can take unpaid time off work to address safety concerns and heal.

"We're hoping to broaden the scope a bit," said DiMartino, "and make it more clear that family members of victims are able to also tap into unpaid leave to support their family member that has been a victim."

A fifth bill would make it easier for justice-involved people and crime victims to speak freely during restorative justice programs - by making the communications inadmissible in other legal proceedings.

Missouri went through with its first execution of the year, as Brian Dorsey was put to death last night, just after 6 p.m. CT.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stop Dorsey's execution. He was convicted of murdering his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben nearly 20 years ago.

The advocacy group Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty launched several recent campaigns on Dorsey's behalf to spare his life.

Jenni Gerhauser, a cousin to both Dorsey and Sarah Bonnie, expressed belief in his redemption.

"Brian is more than the worst moment of his life," Gerhauser stressed. "There is so much more to him."

Gerhauser fondly remembered him as fun and charming from their visits during holidays. Dorsey's current lawyers said he was in a drug-induced psychosis when he killed the Bonnies in 2006 and his attorneys at the time had been offered money, preventing them from fighting the death penalty with his guilty plea deal.

Gov. Mike Parson confirmed Monday the state would move forward with Dorsey's death sentence, rejecting a separate request for clemency. More than 70 current and former corrections officers had urged the governor to commute Dorsey's sentence, arguing he had been rehabilitated.

Claudia Boyce, also a cousin in the family, said it should not be a decision for the state to make.

"You know, that's supposed to be God's decision, not ours," Boyce contended.

Dorsey received a lethal injection Tuesday evening. Lethal injection became an option for people on Missouri's death row in 1987, alongside lethal gas.


get more stories like this via email

Amid overcrowding and unsafe conditions in West Virginia jails, state lawmakers introduced bills that would allow judges to take a 'second look' at an individual's original sentence.

If a court determines they no longer pose a threat to the community, the person could be released, placed on supervision, or receive a shortened sentence.

Sara Whitaker - criminal legal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy - said West Virginia is one of the few states that has seen its prison population balloon over the past decade, despite declining crime.

She noted that as of last month, more than 500 people in the state were in jail awaiting transfer to a prison.

"As a result, eight out of 10 of the regional jails in the state were beyond capacity," said Whitaker, "with hundreds of people assigned to sleeping on the floor."

The bills failed to advance this session, but Whitaker said advocates are hopeful lawmakers will consider them next year.

The state's jails remain among the deadliest in the country, with at least 91 people losing their lives while incarcerated in the past few years.

According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, jail bills cost counties $45 million in 2022.

Nationwide, long sentences have led to growth in the number of older people behind bars.

Whitaker pointed out that 'Second Look' legislation could help the state avoid turning its prisons into nursing homes, and said the number of elderly people in prison has tripled in the past two decades.

"In 2019, West Virginia had to open a dementia unit in one of its prisons," said Whitaker. "There are hospice units across multiple prisons. And experts predict that this is just only going to get worse."

Whitaker added that 'Second Look' policies also offer a way to correct past racial injustice in the criminal legal system.

Black people incarcerated in West Virginia are four times more likely than white people to be serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and five times as likely to be serving a life-without-parole sentence.




get more stories like this via email