Too Many Victims Vigils Held Nationwide

Colin Goddard, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, appears on Democracy Now to talk about the Too Many Victims Candlelight Vigils that took place across the country on Sunday., Jan.8, 2012.

More than 60 vigils to honor the victims of the Tucson shooting and gun violence victims everywhere where held in 22 states.  Spearheaded by the Brady Campaign Too Many Victims, state gvp groups organized local vigils.  Click on group to see news coverage: Ceasefire Oregon , CeaseFirePA , Connecticut Against Gun Violence , Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence ,  Legal Community Against Gun Violence , Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence , North Carolinians Against Gun Violence ,New Yorkers Against Gun Violence , Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence ,Protect Minnesota ,Washington Ceasefire , Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort ,   Women Against Gun Violence .

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords attended a remembrance ceremony at the University of Arizona.

Watch Mayors Against Illegal Guns video of Tucson survivors sharing their stories one year later.

NY Times, Shootings Soar in Oakland; Children Often the Victims, reports that shooting incidents in Oakland increased dramatically in 2011.  On an average day, five or six people were shot or shot at.

Texas Death Offers Grim Reminder That Gun Replicas Can Fool Police.  15-year-old 8th grader Jaime Gonzalez was shot and killed in his Brownsville, TX middle school when he pointed a BB gun that resembled a Glock handgun at police.

Show of Force in Concord to Block Guns on Public Property. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch along with law enforcement and college officials blast three bills that would loosen NH gun laws.

Arizona Republic, Couple Who Escaped Bullets Can't Escape Horrible Memories.  Roger was not hit by bullets in the mass murder near Tucson a year ago, but he was wounded nevertheless.

Judge Orders D.C. to Pay $1.1 Million in Legal Fees for D.C. vs. Heller Lawsuit.  Federal judge rejected $3.1 million request from Heller's lawyers.

Journal of Urban Health, Temporal Association Between Federal Gun Laws and the Diversion of Guns to Criminals in Milwaukee, finds that the number of guns purchased at Badger Guns & diverted to criminals tripled following Congress adoption of the Tiahrt Amendment.

Violence Policy Center new analysis shows the number of Americans shot each year is rising. "America's gun problem is getting worse, not better. More guns means more shootings."  Read full report here.

American Law & Economics Review, The Impact of Right-to-Carry Laws and the NRC Report, looks at 1977-2006 data and finds that aggravated assault rises when right-to-carry laws are adopted.  "It will be worth exploring whether other methodological approaches and/or additional years of data will confirm the results of this analysis."

Mark Neish, Ahwatukee Foothills News, Putting the 2nd Amendment into Context, asks "What is the interpretation of this amendment from a late 1700's perspective?" and notes the context of 1791 and 2012 must be different.

Heidi Yewman, Ms. Magazine blog, Too Many Victims of Gun Violence Are Women, observes that firearms are more common in abusive homes and batterers often threaten their victims with guns.

Julie Peterson, Phoenix New Times, reviews the new book by Tom Zoellner A Safeway in Arizona: What the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State and Life in America. Zoellner analyzes his perceptions about special Arizona circumstances such as sprawl,  gun worship, urban isolation, and sketchy support of public mental healthcare.

Tammerlin Drummond, Oakland Tribune, More Die While Oakland Fiddles, Oakland averages more than 100 homicides a year.  Why don't the mayor and City Council launch a public education campaign against gun violence?

Caffeinated Politics, Does NRA Find Anything Wrong With This Picture of Benjamin Colton Barnes?, the man who shot a Mount Rainer park ranger. "Is this really what you want to have happen in America?  Are you proud to see this photo? This photo is America's gun policy!"

Dave Zweifel, The Capital Times, Who Knows Whether Concealed Carry is Safer?, in Wisconsin, as elsewhere, the names of people who get ccw permits are not subject to open records laws.  This makes it virtually impossible to prove whether or not ccw laws have caused any problems.

Christopher Evans, The Plain Dealer, Taking Aim At Gun Show Loophole, looks at a bill introduced in the Ohio Legislature that would require background checks on all gun show sales. "Leftist legislation introduced by secular humanists who care more about life than liberty threatens the very foundation of our freedom to shoot ourselves."

Bloomberg Business Week reports that the NRA Raises $200 Million a year through merchandising and marketing programs as varied as gifts from gun makers who benefit from NRA's political activism to an auction that fetched $650 for a toaster that burns the NRA logo onto bread.

Media Matters looks back at 2011: A Year in the NRA's "Insane Paranoid" Conspiracy Theories.

A gun store owner from Rifle, Colorado and his wife and children are competing to be part of a new reality television show about families that embrace the Second Amendment.