Locked and Loaded? > Now this changes everything - School shooter's parents go to prison

 

Ethan Crumbley’s parents sentenced to up

to 15 years for son’s fatal school shooting

By 

Social Links forPriscilla DeGregory

Published April 9, 2024

 Updated April 9, 2024, 1:44 p.m. ET

Ethan Crumbley’s parents were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years behind bars Tuesday for their son’s 2021 massacre that left four students dead — the first time parents have been sentenced in a US mass school shooting.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were handed down the prison time by Judge Cheryl Matthews in a Pontiac, Michigan courtroom after they were found guilty on involuntary manslaughter charges at separate trials in March and February, respectively.

“These convictions are not about poor parenting, these convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train, about repeatedly ignoring things that would make a reasonable person feel the hair on the back of their neck stand up,” Matthews said before announcing the sentences.

The convictions are the first time in US history parents have been held accountable for a school shooting carried out by their child.

If you have a gift of discernment
you may see more than just
Ethan Crumbley

They were convicted for failing to intervene despite obvious warning signs their son was troubled and for failing to keep a gun locked away in their home.

The judge blamed Jennifer for glorifying owning guns and for her “dispassionate and apathetic” attitude toward Ethan.

“Each of the defendants’ gross negligence has caused unimaginable suffering to hundreds of others,” the judge said.

Prosecutors had asked Judge Matthews to put James, 47, and Jennifer, 46, away for at least 10 years for the rampage that killed four students, injured six more and also injured a teacher at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021.

Both parents, who’ve been locked up for the two-and-a-half-years since their arrests, asked for no additional prison time. Jennifer requested she be released with GPS tracking to live with her lawyer.

Speaking before the sentencing, Jennifer — wearing black and white jail clothes — was allowed to address the court, where she said she had found god and claimed she had no idea what her son was capable of.

But, don't you think you should have?

She said: “The gravity and weight this has taken on my heart and soul cannot be expressed in words, just as I know there is nothing I can say to ease the pain and suffering of the victims and their families.

“If I even thought my son would be capable of crimes like these, my actions would have absolutely been different …He was not the son I knew when I woke up on Nov. 30. The Ethan I knew was a good quiet kid.”

James — wearing orange jail scrubs — was also given an opportunity to speak from the defense table where he emotionally apologized for the “pain and agony” his son had caused.

“Part of you will be missing forever but please know I am truly very sorry. I am sorry for your loss as a result of what my son did. I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen.

The case against Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents

• Ethan Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer, have each been sentenced to between 10 and 15 years behind bars in a Michigan court in their son’s 2021 school shooting, which left four dead and six injured.
• They are now the first parents in the nation’s history to be convicted of manslaughter in a school shooting carried out by their child. Both were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter charges at separate trials in March and February.
• The couple faced prison for failing to intervene despite obvious warning signs their son was troubled.
• Prosecutors told jurors James failed to intervene despite his teen son’s unstable mental state, even neglecting to lock up the semi-automatic handgun the dad bought for Ethan as a Christmas presen before the shooting.
• James was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and Jennifer was found guilty in February after jurors found her to be an unreliable witness.
• In September 2023, Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the deaths of Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Tate Myre, 16.

“You know that what my son did. I was not aware of that or that he was planning it or that he obtained access to the firearms in my house, there is no evidence that suggested that,” he said.

Addressing Judge Matthews, he added: “I’m simply going to ask that you sentence me in a fair and just way.”

Before the Crumbley parents spoke, family members of the slain students — Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Tate Myre, 16 — told the judge about the devastating toll the shooting has had on their lives. 

Baldwin’s mom, Nicole Beausoleil, through tears said she wishes she could have taken “the bullet that day so [Madisyn] can continue living the life she deserves.”

“You failed as parents,” Beausoleil said to the Crumbleys. “The punishment that you face will never be enough, it will never bring her back.”

Shilling’s parents, Jill Soave and Hank Shilling, both asked Matthews to impose the maximum sentence possible for the agony the Crumbleys caused them.

“The blood of our children is on your hands too,” Hank Shilling said to the two Crumbleys.

And St. Juliani’s older sister, Reina blasted the Crumbleys for failing as parents and for causing the victims’ “everlasting nightmare.”

“Instead of giving quality time and compassion, you gift your son a gun,” Reina said.

Reina and Hana’s dad, Steve St. Juliania said his daughter’s murder “has destroyed a large portion of my very soul.”

At their trials, jurors heard testimony about how the parents went to the school the day of the shooting to discuss a violent drawing found on Ethan’s math assignment with officials. The pictures showed a gun, a bullet and a person bleeding with the words, “Blood everywhere,” and “The thoughts won’t stop — help me.”

But James and Jennifer didn’t take Ethan, then 15, out of school that day, instead returning to work after the school gave them list of mental health services, according to trial testimony.

Staffers didn’t insist Ethan be removed from school grounds but they also weren’t aware that the parents had bought their son a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun only four days earlier, which looked like the gun in Ethan’s drawing, jurors learned at trial.

Ethan, now 17, copped to murder and terrorism charges and is serving a term of life imprisonment without parole.

China Refuses to Help WHO With Second Covid Origins Lab Leak Inquiry

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China refuses to participate in 2nd phase of WHO’s Covid origins probe,

says research into lab leak theory goes against ‘science’

22 Jul, 2021 07:54

Staff members in protective suits stand at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 29, 2021. ©  REUTERS/Thomas

Beijing has put the brakes on its involvement in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) investigation into the origins of Covid-19, citing its disapproval of any inquiries into the possibility that the virus came from a lab.

The Chinese government will not take part in a second phase of the WHO’s probe into what caused the pandemic, Zeng Yixin, deputy head of China’s National Health Commission, said on Thursday. 

The senior health official said at a press conference in Beijing that he was “surprised” to see research into the lab leak theory – which was initially dismissed by the WHO as highly unlikely – as a listed objective for the organization’s proposed second visit to Wuhan and other locations in China. 

“In some aspects, the WHO’s plan for the next phase of investigation of the coronavirus origin doesn’t respect common sense, and it’s against science. It’s impossible for us to accept such a plan,” he said.

Liang Wannian, a senior scientist and the representative for the Chinese side of the WHO’s joint investigation, said during the same press briefing that, instead of returning to China, the team of experts should prioritize the “very likely” possibility that coronavirus originated in animals. He also pointed to reports of Covid-19 being found in wastewater from different countries around the same time that the disease was first detected in Wuhan, and suggested that investigators expand their research to locations outside China. 

Chinese officials also used the press conference to reiterate that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had no links to the outbreak. Yuan Zhiming, director of China’s National Biosafety Laboratory and professor at the Wuhan lab, stressed that, before December 30, 2019, he and his colleagues had never preserved or studied the novel coronavirus.

And I absolutely believe him. By the way, did I mention I have a tropical island off the coast of Labrador for sale?

After spending around four weeks in China early this year, the experts concluded in their initial report that the virus likely originated in an animal before spreading to humans in December 2019. But the findings have come under scrutiny from Western states, which claim the investigation lacked transparency. US President Joe Biden has since ordered US intelligence agencies to conduct their own assessment into how the health crisis began. 

The theory that Covid-19 may have leaked from a laboratory – possibly the Wuhan Institute of Virology – was embraced by Donald Trump’s administration in the early months of the health crisis. At the time, US media outlets rejected the idea as implausible and even dangerous misinformation. But, in recent months, the theory has gone mainstream, after Washington began to question the thoroughness of the WHO’s preliminary findings. 

The WHO has expressed similar concerns about China’s purported lack of openness. Last week, its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on Beijing to be “transparent and open, and to cooperate” with the organization’s ongoing probe into Covid-19’s origins. 

Beijing has rejected such allegations, insisting it has cooperated fully with the international investigation. 

Not true, they were never allowed to question Wuhan staff without Chinese authorities being in the room.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said last week that the origin probe is a “scientific issue” and “all parties should respect the opinions of scientists and scientific conclusions, instead of politicizing the issue.”

Although Beijing has seemingly dismissed the idea that the virus could have come from a Chinese lab, it has remained open to the possibility that it may have leaked from an American facility. On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry backed calls for an investigation into whether coronavirus came from Maryland’s Fort Detrick biolab, after 4.7 million Chinese petitioned the WHO to send experts to the US military facility. 

Seems fair enough to me! But it would be astonishing if the coronavirus was created in Maryland and became public down the street from China's only level4 lab, halfway around the world. Mind you, if some person, or some sample was shipped from Fort Detrick biolab to Wuhan in the fall of 2019, there might be a case. That should be easy enough to check-out, even for the Chinese, unless they have already destroyed any such files.

More Than 100 in Germany Found to Be Infected With Coronavirus After Church’s Services

Social distancing was observed and building disinfected for affected Sunday May 10 ceremonies, says senior member

The Evangelical Christian Baptist Church in Frankfurt, where a number of people who attended services

Sunday, May 10 later tested positive for the new coronavirus.

PHOTO: KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS

By William Boston, WSJ

BERLIN—At least 107 people have been found to be infected with the new coronavirus after some of them attended Sunday services at a church in Frankfurt two weeks ago, according to German officials, highlighting the growing risk of new outbreaks of the virus as Germany loosens restrictions on public gatherings.

Local residents of Frankfurt, Germany’s financial center, and surrounding communities became infected during religious services held by the Evangelical Christian Baptist Congregation in Frankfurt on Sunday May 10, city and church officials said.

Kai Klose, the health minister for Hesse state, where Frankfurt, is located, said Sunday that local health officials had begun assembling lists of people who attended the church services and those who later came in contact with them.

“This situation shows how important it is—especially during loosening of restrictions, which is now possible again—that we remain vigilant and do not become careless,” Mr. Klose said. “The virus is still there and wants to spread.”

News of the outbreak in a faith congregation in Germany comes just days after President Trump called on state governors to reopen houses of worship, threatening to “override the governors” if they didn’t. “The ministers, pastors, rabbis, imams and other faith leaders will make sure their congregations are safe as they gather and pray,” Mr. Trump said.

A cyclist rides by the sunset skyline of Frankfurt and its banking district.

PHOTO: KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS

The fresh outbreak after church services in Germany suggests that even adhering to strict social-distancing and hygiene measures may not stop infections when people begin to gather again in large groups.

Wladimir Pritzkau, a senior member of the Frankfurt evangelical Baptist congregation, stressed that the community had observed social distancing, maintaining the recommended distance of about six feet between individuals, and had disinfected the facilities.

He said services at the church had now been canceled for the foreseeable future and would be held only online.

The number of people infected rose dramatically from Saturday, when Rene Gottschalk, head of the Frankfurt Health Office, said that around 40 people had become infected following the church services.

News of the sharp increase in infections in Frankfurt comes after the city of Leer in northwestern Germany said 11 people had contracted Covid-19 after attending a private party at a local restaurant on May 15.

Local health officials ordered around 70 additional people to quarantine at home.

Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s leading virology institute, on Sunday morning reported 431 new confirmed infections over the previous 24 hours, raising the total number of confirmed infections in Germany to 178,281. A total of 8,247 people have died from Covid-19 infections in the country, the Institute said.

Is Your Church Planning on Opening Again Soon - Read This!

'I would do anything for a do-over': Calgary church hopes others learn from their tragic COVID-19 experience

Chris Epp
Senior Reporter / Anchor Weekend News, CTV

CALGARY -- Members of a Calgary church ravaged by COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic are sharing their stories of grief and healing, after Alberta's chief medical health officer cited them as a cautionary tale.

"I had the opportunity recently to talk to a faith leader whose faith community gathered together in mid-March before many of our public health measures were in place,” Dr Deena Hinshaw said Thursday. "The congregation had a worship service and then gathered together for a celebratory social event. There were only 41 people present, and they were careful to observe two meter distancing and good hand hygiene. They followed all the rules and did nothing wrong. "

Despite that, 24 of the 41 people at the party ended up infected. Two of them died.

Rev. Shannon Mang is the minister of Living Spirit United Church.

"One of our most beloved members was having a very important birthday and we wanted to celebrate that," Mang said of the post-service celebration. "Under the circumstances, we thought we were going to be safe. We were very diligent about physical distancing, very diligent about hand hygiene.”

Though the church has capacity for 200 people, fewer than 50 were at the event - well within the public health rules of the time.

Food was served but everyone handling it wore gloves.

"We were very careful and then a week later, we learned of the first person who was diagnosed with COVID-19," explained Mang. "A few days later we had the second, and the third and within a week there were about 14. Within two weeks, there were 24 of the 41 people who had been there that day.

"The overwhelming emotion was shock."

Shannon Morey attends the church with her mom and dad and all three were at the party that day. She never got sick, but both of her parents did.

"My mom thought she had a sinus infection, then a day later my dad thought he had a cold."

Her father Dennis was admitted to the hospital on April 3 and the ICU two days later. Three weeks after that, he died. He was 81 but, according to his family, still very active.

"He was out shoveling the walk just days before he got sick and looking forward to planting his garden," said Shannon.

Other church members organized a vigil in his memory with more than 100 people dropping off candles outside his house, one at a time.

The church also held online wakes for members who died, allowing the community to grieve virtually.

"That was so important because COVID-19 interrupts our traditions," said Mang. "The food at the house, being able to stay and visit and to cry together and tell stories together and laugh and show pictures. "All that stuff that we want to do, we can't do. So having an online wake helped."

Mang also says she struggles with her decision to proceed with the party.

"It's really tough. Me personally I've had to keep working through this," she said. "We were working with the information that we had at the time, but I would do anything for a do-over. It's very very hard to live with this reality."

Mang says the church has been devastated by the aftermath of the infection spreading among members and she wants others to learn from their experience.

"We don't want another organization or faith community to go through what we've been through," said Mang. "It's really, really hard. There seems to be this huge divide between those who've experienced (COVID-19) and the majority who haven't.

"If you haven't experienced it, you are so lucky. You have no idea how fortunate you are."

Even as public health restrictions start to loosen, Mang is encouraging people not to rush.

"Think about the oldest person that you hang out with and visit and take care of. Are you willing to give them up?"

It still isn't clear how the virus entered the church in the first place since none of the infected had travelled or knowingly encountered an infected person in the days before their last gathering together.

It's suspected the virus may have breached the church a day earlier when a large choir was using the facility.

Health officials say they likely will never know how it was transmitted there - and that's fine with Shannon Morey. "I don’t want to know, " said Morey. "When bad things happen people want to be angry and direct anger at something but if I were that person who brought it in, I would feel terrible."

Meanwhile, Reverend Mang says she doesn't know when her congregation will meet inside their church again.

"We are not going back to what we were because we never will be what we were. We lost two really important members. We lost something but hope this experience will help us grow into something new - I hope a new more loving and caring community."

Coronavirus - More Disturbing Thoughts - USA's Moral Authority UPDATED

US accused of 'modern piracy' after

diversion of masks meant for Europe

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German politician adds to chorus of complaints

about American tactics to source protective gear

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Trump orders 3M to stop exporting N95 masks to Canada

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Is America losing its moral authority to lead the world?

Does it still have a right to call itself a Christian country?
See bottom for UPDATE

Kim Willsher in Charny Julian Borger in Washington and Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem

An N95 mask. Authorities in Berlin say 200,000 such masks were diverted to the US as they were being

transferred between planes in Thailand. DavidBecker/ZUMAWire/REX/Shutterstock

The US has been accused of “modern piracy” after reportedly diverting a shipment of masks intended for the German police, and outbidding other countries in the increasingly fraught global market for coronavirus protective equipment.

About 200,000 N95 masks were diverted to the US as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand, according to the Berlin authorities who said they had ordered the masks for the police force.

Andreas Geisel, the interior minister for Berlin state, described the diversion as “an act of modern piracy” and appealed to the German government to demand Washington conform to international trading rules. “This is no way to treat trans-Atlantic partners,” Geisel said. “Even in times of global crisis there should be no wild west methods.”

The German reports said the masks had been made by a Chinese producer for the US company 3M, but the firm issued a statement on Friday night saying: “3M has no evidence to suggest 3M products have been seized. 3M has no record of any order of respirators from China for the Berlin police. We cannot speculate where this report originated.”

The German allegations added to a chorus of complaints about the Trump administration’s practice as the US wields its clout in a marketplace for scarce medical supplies that is becoming a free-for-all, with nation competing against nation.

Valérie Pécresse, the influential president of the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris, described the race to get masks as a “treasure hunt”.

“I found a stock of masks that was available and Americans – I’m not talking about the American government – but Americans, outbid us,” Pécresse said. “They offered three times the price and they proposed to pay upfront. I can’t do that. I’m spending taxpayers’ money and I can only pay on delivery having checked the quality,” she told BFMTV. “So we were caught out.”

Pécresse said she had finally obtained a consignment of 1.5m masks thanks to the help of Franco-Chinese residents in the Paris area.

Her comments follow allegations from two other French regional heads that unidentified American buyers outbid on mask shipments, including one instance when a consignment was reportedly “on the tarmac” to be flown to France.

“We really have to fight,” Jean Rottner, a doctor and president of the Grand Est regional council, told RTL radio. His area had been particularly badly hit by Covid-19 cases.

Following reporting on his comments, Rottner said on Twitter that it was not his order of 2m masks that had been diverted, although it was “common practice”.

The French media have started calling the rush for equipment “mask wars”.

Medical device manufacturer 3M says it is under pressure from the White House to stop exporting N95 masks it currently produces in the United States to other countries, including Canada.

The Minnesota-based company said in a news release Friday that while it welcomes the Trump administration's invocation of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to compel domestic companies to produce critically needed medical infrastructure, it presents some problems, too.

Among other things, the order mandates that 3M stop making N95 masks that are destined for customers in Canada and Latin America, and instead keep them in the U.S.

The DPA, which was passed in 1950, grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons. Hockey equipment manufacturers and even fashion houses have been trying to shift their production to start making medical safety equipment, such as gowns and masks, where possible.

Health-care workers around the world are currently facing a desperate shortage of such masks in their fight to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. 

"There are, however, significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to health-care workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators," the company said in its statement.

In the statement, 3M also warns that any such move could actually backfire on the U.S. and impact the supply of masks and other medical equipment.

It's rumored that some of the materiel going into the masks made in Minnesota comes from Canada.

"Ceasing all export of respirators produced in the United States would likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same, as some have already done. If that were to occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the United States would actually decrease. That is the opposite of what we and the administration, on behalf of the American people, both seek."

Dale Carnegie must be rolling over in his grave, along with every President who ever lived. American Exceptionalism and 'America First' attitudes and policies are fine when you are talking about economics, even when America bullies its allies relentlessly. But when it starts to cost lives, and possibly thousands or tens of thousands of lives, America will never be trusted as an ally again. 

American News outlets see no reason to bother reporting this, for some reason.

UPDATE:

Cuba: U.S. embargo blocks coronavirus aid shipment from Asia

Michael Weissenstein
The Associated Press

HAVANA -- Cuban officials say a shipment of coronavirus aid from Asia's richest man, Jack Ma, has been blocked by the six-decade U.S. embargo on the island.

Carlos M. Pereira, Cuba's ambassador to China, said on his blog this week that Ma's foundation tried to send Cuba 100,000 facemasks and 10 COVID-19 diagnostic kits last month, along with other aid including ventilators and gloves.

Cuba was one of 24 countries in the region meant to receive the donations announced on March. 21 by the Jack Ma Foundation, which is sending similar aid to countries around the world, including the United States.

Cuban officials say the cargo carrier of Colombia-based Avianca Airlines declined to carry the aid to Cuba because its major shareholder is a U.S.-based company subject to the trade embargo on Cuba. The embargo has exceptions for food and medical aid but companies are often afraid to carry out related financing or transportation due to the risk of fines or prosecution under the embargo.

Human-rights groups have been calling for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and Iran during the coronavirus epidemic in order to permit the flow of more aid. The Trump administration has argued that only the countries' government would benefit from the sanctions relief.

The current pandemic is exposing not only our government’s utter failures to protect its own citizens, but also its profound lack of human decency in dealing with other nations

Oliver Stone

America's Slow March to Gun Control

This article comes from CBC, a mainstream media (MSM) organization, which means it leans heavily to the left. Consequently, the views tend to be for gun control. Whether you are for it or against it, this report gives an informative update on the 'progress' of most American States either toward or away from gun control.

People attend a candlelight vigil the day after last February's deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Progress on gun control has been fitful. (Jonathan Drake/Reuters)

Jonathon Gatehouse, CBC

It's been almost a year since 17 staff and students were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in what ranks as America's ninth deadliest mass shooting.

The survivor-driven (many would question that) movement that followed drew hundreds of thousands to the streets to protest for tougher firearms laws, and helped elect a new generation of pro-gun-control legislators to state and federal office in last November's midterm elections.

But it's proving difficult to make a dent in U.S. gun culture.

In 2018, 27 states passed a total of 67 new gun control measures.

Yet only two states — California and New Jersey — received an"A" grade in the annual gun control report card issued today by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Five others -- Connecticut, Maryland, Hawaii, New York and Massachusetts -- received "A-" grades, while Washington and Illinois got a "B+" ranking. Florida earned a "C+", passing for the first time due to some post-Parkland restrictions.

In comparison, 22 states received failing grades of "D" or "F", with Mississippi ranking 50th for gun control and fifth for firearms deaths.

A new Ipsos/Reuters poll, released this morning, confirms that a solid majority of 69 per cent of Americans — including 57 per cent of Republicans — want stronger gun measures. Although only 14 per cent of gun control supporters say they are "very confident" that their elected representatives understand their views, and just eight per cent trust politicians to actually take action.

The survey of 6,800 voters found wide agreement on the need to expand background checks, stop people with mental health issues from purchasing firearms, and ban internet ammunition sales. It also found support for Donald Trump's approach to stopping school shootings, with 61 per cent of parents of school-age children saying they favour publicly funded firearms training for teachers.

This year will be a crucial test for American gun control advocates. At least 50 major pieces of firearms restriction legislation have already been introduced in State houses.

Democratic governors in California, New York and Illinois are moving to strengthen their already tough measures. And there is bipartisan support in almost two dozen states for bills that will stop convicted domestic abusers from buying guns, or so-called "red flag" laws to allow police to temporarily seize weapons from people who might pose a danger to themselves or others.

On the other hand, at least 26 states are poised to expand gun access — particularly when it comes to concealed carry provisions—  in 2019.

In Washington, D.C., the new class of House Democrats flexed their muscles this week with a rare congressional hearing on gun violence, paving the way for the introduction of legislation to expand background checks to internet and gun show sales.

Aalayah Eastmond, a Parkland senior who survived last year's massacre by hiding underneath the body of a slain classmate, testified in favour of stricter measures, receiving a standing ovation.

Republicans countered with Savannah Lindquist, a sexual assault survivor and gun rights backer. 

The eventual house bill is likely to suffer the same fate as the last major federal gun control efforts in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying it is "highly unlikely" to pass in the upper chamber.  

And there is apprehension about what the new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court might do to existing gun control legislation, as it prepares to weigh in on a challenge to a New York City regulation that limits how and where firearm owners can transport their weapons.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been busy making it easier for U.S. arms makers to export their semi-automatic assault weapons, flamethrowers and grenades to overseas customers, doing away with the need for State Department licences.

And while the gun debate rages, the violence continues.

There have been 41 mass shootings in the United States over the first 39 days of 2019, which have resulted in 62 deaths and 128 wounded. 

Gun Control Advocates Score 2 Wins Against Weapons Makers

Sturm Ruger and Remington targeted

Sturm Ruger must produce a report on safety for shareholders,

while Remington faces funding crunch

Pete Evans · CBC News 

Bank of America vice-chair Anne Finucane clarified the bank's policy on gun makers this week. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

Gun control advocates landed two direct hits on the weapons industry they are trying to dismantle on Friday, as a major U.S. bank says it will no longer loan money to one gun maker, and the shareholders of another are demanding that their products somehow be made safer.

Shareholders of Sturm Ruger voted in favour of a proposition that would force the gun maker to look into how the company's products are used in violent crimes, as well as produce a report on producing safer firearms and the risks gun violence could pose to its reputation and finances.

A coalition of religious-based investors, led by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, had purchased a minority stake in the company earlier this year with the express purpose of being able to lobby the company for changes in its behaviour.

The group managed to get a safety-focused resolution to be tabled at the company's annual general meeting this week, and lobbied enough major shareholders to win the vote.

CEO Christopher Killoy said the company will abide by the resolution since a majority of shareholders want it, but angrily warned it would not be forced into changing its business. "What it does not do, and cannot do, is force us to adopt misguided principles created by groups who do not own guns, know nothing about our business and frankly would rather see us out of business," Killoy said of the resolution.

A representative for the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility said similar proposals at Sturm Ruger got less than six per cent support when they were last voted on in 2001 and 2002.

But that was before the recent wave of gun violence brought new levels of scrutiny on the entire industry.

Sturm Ruger is far from the only gun maker in the crosshairs. Rival gun maker Remington is poised to emerge from its own financial restructuring thanks in part to a $193 million US loan from seven major banks.

Remington, which makes the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that was used in 2012's Sandy Hook school shooting and others, declared bankruptcy earlier this year amid mounting debt. A consortium of banks then stepped up to loan the company money while it restructures.

But one of them, Bank of America, is making it clear that it is the last time it will do so for any gun maker.

Last month, the second-largest U.S. bank said it would no longer fund makers of assault style weapons, which is why the company faced criticism when it emerged that the bank was part of the consortium loaning money to Remington, to the tune of $43 million.

Florida high school student David Hogg, who attended the school in Parkland, Fla., that was the site of another gun massacre earlier this year, launched the #BoycottBankofAmerica hashtag on Twitter once he became aware of the bank's participation in the bailout.

Amid mounting protests, in a letter to shareholders this week, Bank of America vice-chair Anne Finucane clarified the firm's policy, clearly distancing the lender from the gun industry.

"There have been some suggestions recently in the press that Bank of America is not standing by the policy that was announced in April" to no longer fund gun makers, the letter said.

A gun enthusiast alters the sight on an AR-15 rifle, the same type of weapon that has been used in multiple mass shootings. (George Frey/Reuters)

"But the Remington bankruptcy financing commitment was in the works for some months and occurred before our current policy was in place," she said. Remington declared bankruptcy in March which was around the time when Bank of America stepped up with the funding.

Which, apparently, she forgot when making the announcement that BofA would no longer fund gun makers. She might have been legally obligated at that time, but she should have articulated that caveat rather than appearing as a hero to military grade gun opponents.

"Let me be clear," Finucane said, "We are not changing our policy to end financing of the manufacture of these military style firearms."

The bank could have faced potential legal action and damages if it had backed out of its commitment to provide Remington financing, particularly if the company failed to emerge from bankruptcy.

In addition, the bank was concerned about its reputation for standing by lending commitments if it reneged on its Remington financing, Reuters quoted an anonymous source familiar with the bank's thinking as saying.

Finucane's letter also hints that the bank could still get out of the funding agreement by selling its stake in it, which would be allowed under the terms of the deal.

Backlash Against NRA, Gun Industry Spreads in Wake of Florida Shooting

Are the voiceless finding their voice?

Several notable businesses have either cut ties with the NRA

or demanded measures to reduce violence

CBC News

Over 20 businesses offer some type of incentive to National Rifle Association members in the U.S., according to reports. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press)

The National Rifle Association and the firearms industry are facing backlash in the wake of the deadly Florida high school shooting, with calls to boycott the big lobby group spreading from social media to businesses.

Over the past week, several notable businesses have either cut ties with the NRA or demanded measures from the association to address gun violence in the U.S.

First National Bank of Omaha announced Thursday it would not renew a contract with the group to issue NRA-branded Visa credit cards.

"Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA," said bank spokesperson Kevin Langin.

Meanwhile, rental car company Enterprise, which also owns Alamo and National car rentals, said on Twitter it would end its discount program for NRA members as of March 26. 

U.S. cybersecurity firm Symantec also took to Twitter on Friday to announce it would stop its discount program with the group.

Insurance giant Metlife  cut discounts for members, while Chubb announced it would stop underwriting a controversial NRA-branded insurance policy for gun owners that covers legal costs in self-defence shootings.

Over 20 businesses offer some type of incentive to NRA members in the U.S., according to reports.

Gun stocks

On Wall Street, the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, said it would be speaking with weapons manufacturers and distributors to "understand their response" to the Florida high school killing last week that killed 17 people, in the second deadliest public school shooting in U.S. history.

"We focus on engaging with the company and understanding how they are responding to society's expectations of them," BlackRock spokesperson Ed Sweeney told Reuters.

The investment company has over $6 trillion in assets under management and is the largest shareholder in major gunmakers such as Sturm Ruger & Co. and American Outdoor Brands.

Shares of the two gun manufacturers recovered from steep losses in morning trading on Friday, with Sturm Ruger closing up 1.8 per cent, while American Outdoor Brands lost 1.2 per cent in New York.

Under pressure

The responses from businesses come as gun control activists and social media users continued to increase pressure on lawmakers and industry players to take action in response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HIgh School.

The hashtag #BoycottNRA remained one of the top trending topics on Twitter in the U.S. on Friday.

Online backlash heightened this week after NRA leaders attacked the Democratic Party and gun control activists, saying they were exploiting the Florida shooting. 

"Evil walks among us and God help us if we don't harden our schools and protect our kids," said NRA executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

"The whole idea from some of our opponents that armed security makes us less safe is completely ridiculous."

He accused Democrats and "elites" of wanting to "eradicate all individual freedoms."

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to speak at the same conference today after aligning himself with the group on Thursday when he suggested that some teachers could be be armed in schools.  

The NRA is one of the biggest financial contributors in elections, spending nearly $55 million in influencing the leadership race in 2016, according to records.

Gun regulation

Yet despite his support for the NRA, Trump called for more gun regulation in the U.S. after meeting this week with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas and their families.

He has commented and tweeted this week about measures such as background checks and increasing the age limit for purchases of some kinds of guns.

Several U.S. states have also announced new gun safety initiatives. 

The Democratic governors for northeastern states of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island said they would co-operate to seize and trace illegal guns and prevent dangerous people from making legal purchases. 

The states are vulnerable to trafficking, because they are located on the Interstate 95 corridor, which is the one of the most travelled highways in the U.S.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott announced proposed measures to address state gun laws, including raising the age to purchase firearms to 21, and banning the purchase and sale of bump stocks. 

Russia's Views on American Exceptionalism

‘Obama’s US exceptionalism statements rival Hitler quotes’ – top Russian judge

Russian Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin © Vladimir Fedorenko / Sputnik

The chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court has said that Barack Obama’s statements about American exceptionalism were very similar to propaganda used by Nazi Germany and equally dangerous to world peace.

“The idea of specialness, exceptionality and unique rights of the American state and American people has been used in US internal political rhetoric for quite a while, but in the recent years it is being actively and persistently offered in US foreign policy documents and public speeches on international politics delivered by US officials,” Judge Valery Zorkin said at the St Petersburg international legal forum on Thursday.

“Any unbiased and educated person would see that this statement by Obama is an almost exact copy of leading politicians and propaganda specialists of the Third Reich, including Adolph Hitler… In essence, Obama is using the exact same thing that Nazi bosses said about the German exceptionalism when they started the world war,” he added.

The judge also said that in his view the exceptionalism concept had direct influence on the modern US concepts of military planning and these concepts see the main objective of all activities as reaching such degree of military might that the United States remains out of reach of other nations, on land, sea, in air and in space.

According to Zorkin, the same applies to the US doctrines on development of mass media and electronic communications – the US authorities see their goal as establishing absolute global domination of their country in the global information space. This idea also constantly appears in Obama’s public speeches.

“Obama says that Americans and the USA are an exceptional people and an exceptional state and thus they can pretend for much more than any other people or state. In other words, he follows the plot of James Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ dystopia and, while formally not rejecting the principle of equality of sovereign states and peoples, fixed by the UN Charter, he still declares that Americans and America are ‘more equal’ than any other country and the rest of the planet’s population,” RIA Novosti quoted the judge as saying.

Zorkin also told his colleague at the forum that he considered such approach to be a blatant violation of international legal norms.

Russian politicians and officials have repeatedly addressed the topic of American exceptionalism when talking on bilateral relations with the US and of international politics in general. In particular, in mid-2015 President Vladimir Putin said in his speech before the UN General Assembly that attempts to influence internal politics of sovereign nations should not be tolerated regardless of where they are taking place and who are making such attempts.

Except, of course, Russian intervention in Crimea.

“It seems that some nations are not learning from others’ mistakes, but keep repeating them. The export of so-called ‘democratic’ revolutions continues.” Putin said.

“I cannot help asking those who have caused this situation, ‘Do you realize now what you have done?’” he said. “But I am afraid the question will hang in the air, because policies based on self-confidence and belief in one’s exceptionality and impunity have never been abandoned.”

I have no major difficulty with American exceptionalism and the current administration. My concern is when someone who actually believes in it so much that he/she makes major decisions based on it. I'm also concerned that the idea is a matter of pride and, as the Bible tells us, 'pride goes before a fall'!