Joyce Foundation comes out of hiding

[Tvandermyde]

When children with illegal firearms rule

 

By Ellen S. Alberding

 

October 8, 2009

 

The horrific murder of Chicago honor student Derrion Albert has the world's attention, in part because it was caught on video. President Barack Obama sent Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder to Chicago this week to talk with students, school officials and others about school and youth violence.

 

We welcome the opportunity to talk about a comprehensive strategy to combat youth violence. But let's remember that the beating death of Derrion is in some ways unusual.

 

Every week young people here and in other cities are slain. Some are beaten like Derrion but in the great majority of cases the weapon of choice is a gun.

 

In the last two years, more than 500 Chicago Public School students have been shot. From January through August, 152 young people have been murdered in Chicago and 80 percent were killed by guns.

 

Any effort to reduce violence has to recognize that easy access to firearms is inextricably linked to violence involving youth.

 

We have made it easier for young people to get guns and harder for law enforcement, parents, teachers, and local government to control access to them. Every year thousands of students across the nation are caught bringing guns to school. In Chicago, 5 percent of high school students say that they have brought a gun to school at least once in the past month.

 

How can this be tolerated?

 

We have to insist that anyone who buys a gun must pass a background check, so we can prevent criminals, minors and those with mental illness from getting their hands on deadly weapons.

 

We should increase the regulation and oversight of licensed gun dealers and call on law enforcement to trace the flow of illegal handguns and assault weapons that end up in the hands of street gangs or drug dealers.

 

We should stop tying the hands of federal law enforcement agencies by forbidding them to require dealer inventory checks and forcing them to destroy background check records that could be used to investigate gun crimes.

 

We should ask our elected officials why military-style weapons and ammunition are legally available to civilians.

 

We should work to identify and expand the best school and community-based programs to ensure that at-risk youth have a chance to graduate and thrive.

 

Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman have addressed youth violence head-on. More than 450 mayors across the country have come together as Mayors Against Illegal Guns to demand tougher policies. But local officials can't do it alone.

 

We were glad to see Holder and Duncan in Chicago to draw attention to these tragedies. We're glad to see Obama's attention to this. We hope that signals a change in Washington. In recent years, Congress has put less emphasis on the ready access to guns.

 

That's where any comprehensive response to youth violence has to start.

 

Ellen S. Alberding is president of The Joyce Foundation

[Ashes]

Someone is either a) out of touch with reality or just plain evil for using this tragedy for political purposes.

 

IMHO I think this is probably more of a c) a lot of both. If someone meets this person, please thank her for tap dancing on the graves of Chicago school children.

[Fido]

I believe we are going to see a rash of hysterical letters and studies coming out in the next few months leading up to The SCOTUS review. I think they know they have a very weak arguement legally so they are going to try to win it in the court of public opinion.

[Xwing]

I believe we are going to see a rash of hysterical letters and studies coming out in the next few months leading up to The SCOTUS review. I think they know they have a very weak arguement legally so they are going to try to win it in the court of public opinion.

Yep. When logic fails them, appeal to blind emotion. Notice that she took a beating death of a student, and turned it into an anti-gun statement.

[Lou]

Ms Alberding's letter was printed on the Chicago Libune's Commentary page right alongside one written by Arne Duncan. Education Secretary Duncan and I agree on very little but he never mentioned firearms in his piece. Duncan made an effort to address the root causes of the violence that plagues Chicago neighborhoods.

You can read Duncan's commentary here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...0,5207516.story

 

Here are just a few selected sentences from Duncan's piece:

 

They've been denied love, support and guidance and have grown up believing that their life is not worth anything -- so no one else's life is worth anything either.

 

That's a problem we cannot solve with money or by pointing fingers at each other or by looking the other way. {of course he also says elsewhere that the Obama Administration is throwing $500 million at it.}

 

All adults share this responsibility, whether it's teaching those lessons to their own children or someone else's. It starts with parents but it continues with others: teachers, coaches, mentors and friends.

 

Money alone will never solve this problem. It's much deeper than that. It's about our values. It's about who we are as a society.

 

As much as I disagree with much of Mr. Duncan's politics he makes a heck of a lot more sense than Joyce Foundation president Alberding. At least he makes an attempt to address the root causes rather than to use this latest tragedy to further a political agenda.

[GarandFan]

Folks ... PLEASE go on there and post comments.

 

This is the Joyce Foundation President's article. That group spends more money than anyone else, just to take your rights away.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainmen...0,4710837.story

 

Vogel, from Freedom States Alliance, and Christine from Mark Karlin (both huge recipients of Joyce) are on there. Moreover, the FSA page proudly links to the Joyce article and claims it's a MUST READ!

 

Let's let them know that Tribune readers do NOT support their efforts!

[Drylok]

"We have to insist that anyone who buys a gun must pass a background check, so we can prevent criminals, minors and those with mental illness from getting their hands on deadly weapons."

 

 

Yes because we have seen how effective such background checks have been in keeping guns out of the hands of Chicago gang bangers. What they should focus on is getting the FOID cards revoked from those gang bangers....oh wait

[45superman]

I couldn't resist:

 

Yesterday, I discussed Joyce Foundation president Ellen Alberding's op-ed piece that, strangely, tried to exploit the savage beating death of Derrion Albert as justification for more restrictive gun laws.

 

On the other hand . . . with all that money the Joyce Foundation has to throw around at just about any anti-gun group that pops up and asks nicely, it sure is tempting to change sides.

 

That's why I am starting my new "gun violence prevention group": WithOut Really Terrible Handguns, Let's Enjoy a Safer Society (WORTHLESS). This will be right up the Joyce Foundation's alley--another WORTHLESS group, with all kinds of WORTHLESS ideas, proposing all kinds of WORTHLESS laws.

 

Brilliant, isn't it?

Yeah, I know--kinda juvenile. I sure enjoyed the heck out of it.

[abolt243]

I couldn't resist:

 

Yesterday, I discussed Joyce Foundation president Ellen Alberding's op-ed piece that, strangely, tried to exploit the savage beating death of Derrion Albert as justification for more restrictive gun laws.

 

On the other hand . . . with all that money the Joyce Foundation has to throw around at just about any anti-gun group that pops up and asks nicely, it sure is tempting to change sides.

 

That's why I am starting my new "gun violence prevention group": WithOut Really Terrible Handguns, Let's Enjoy a Safer Society (WORTHLESS). This will be right up the Joyce Foundation's alley--another WORTHLESS group, with all kinds of WORTHLESS ideas, proposing all kinds of WORTHLESS laws.

 

Brilliant, isn't it?

Yeah, I know--kinda juvenile. I sure enjoyed the heck out of it.

 

Unfortunately, any efforts on our part to start an intelligent converstation with them will be WORTHLESS!

 

AB

[Sigma]

Where are the anti's

I haven't heard much from them since the recent Supreme court ruling and most or all of the posts on this Tribune website was agaisnt the stupid Joyce foundation.

Are they somewhere staging there next attack?

[Don Gwinn]

Duncan is at least as anti-gun nuts as Aberding. He's not holding back because it would be illogical, he's keeping guns out of it because he works for Obama now and Obama has sent down the word: no drama, no confrontations on anything but my core issues. Aberding is not operating with that constraint.

[PPK]

Found a video your WORTHLESS group may be able to use. Shows what good things can happen if we just throw down our weapons. Really, really good things.

[45superman]

Found a video your WORTHLESS group may be able to use. Shows what good things can happen if we just throw down our weapons. Really, really good things.

Good Lord, PPK--I think I just lost 50 I.Q. points watching that .

[Ol'Coach]

Duhhhh?????

[Federal Farmer]

Found a video your WORTHLESS group may be able to use. Shows what good things can happen if we just throw down our weapons. Really, really good things.

Good Lord, PPK--I think I just lost 50 I.Q. points watching that .

 

 

50! Does that leave you above 0?

[45superman]

50! Does that leave you above 0?

 

Nope--and that's why I now support "strong, common-sense gun laws" .

[Ocellairs]

I couldn't resist:

 

Yesterday, I discussed Joyce Foundation president Ellen Alberding's op-ed piece that, strangely, tried to exploit the savage beating death of Derrion Albert as justification for more restrictive gun laws.

 

On the other hand . . . with all that money the Joyce Foundation has to throw around at just about any anti-gun group that pops up and asks nicely, it sure is tempting to change sides.

 

That's why I am starting my new "gun violence prevention group": WithOut Really Terrible Handguns, Let's Enjoy a Safer Society (WORTHLESS). This will be right up the Joyce Foundation's alley--another WORTHLESS group, with all kinds of WORTHLESS ideas, proposing all kinds of WORTHLESS laws.

 

Brilliant, isn't it?

Yeah, I know--kinda juvenile. I sure enjoyed the heck out of it.

 

Unfortunately, any efforts on our part to start an intelligent converstation with them will be WORTHLESS!

 

AB

 

 

Perhaps we need a sister site...that is anti-gun, just to get funding from the Joyce Foundation; to fund this site. I'm sure the books can reflect no ties.

[PPK]

Perhaps we need a sister site...that is anti-gun, just to get funding from the Joyce Foundation; to fund this site. I'm sure the books can reflect no ties.

 

You could always ask ACORN to help with the tax laws.

[45superman]

I guess Joyce knows about my idea now:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/kjhof/ScreenHunter_02Oct121358.gif

[burningspear]

Congratulations.

[abolt243]

Proof positive that the other side trolls pro-gun blogs and sites. You can bet they're reading everything on this site, including "registered only" forums.

 

AB

[GarandFan]

Proof positive that the other side trolls pro-gun blogs and sites. You can bet they're reading everything on this site, including "registered only" forums.

 

AB

 

Absolutely right. They are bummed because they lack real people (like us) to move their stuff forward. But they console themselves by writing us all off as crazy gun nuts. If only they had the motivation that comes with protecting a fundamental right deeply cherished by scores of millions of people ...

 

Isn't that right, Joyce folks ...

[Johnnybgood]

The Chicago Libune does it again. There were 34 comments posted before I added my 2 cents worth. There are 26 now. Gee, most of the ones missing are those that actually made sense. Go figure.