By David Higham, Chair (HCDP Gun Sense Action Committee)
On Sunday November 4th, Horry County Democrats and other residents will gather across the street from the Myrtle Beach Convention Center where a large Gun Show is scheduled to take place.
Organized by the Horry Democrats Gun Sense Action Committee, the rally and vigil is scheduled for 2:00 to 3:30 PM. We invite and encourage you to attend.
This peaceful rally will assemble across the street from the entrance to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center (2101 Oak Street).
https://horrydemocrats.org/event/rally-and-vigil-at-myrtle-beach-gun-show/
Our decision to rally at this time was not made lightly. We are concerned that the continuation of this gun show is in direct contradiction to the city’s “family friendly” outreach and promotion initiatives.
In addition, we object that unlicensed, private vendors are invited to come and sell firearms to buyers without having to perform any background checks whatsoever. With this loophole, guns can easily find their way into the hands of illegal buyers and gun traffickers. This dramatically increases the likelihood of gun murders and suicides.
Close the Gun Show Loophole
For too long this Gun Show has jeopardized the safety of our community.
According to this Gun Show organizer, MK Shows, private sellers attending the show are encouraged to go beyond the limits of the law and perform background checks. HCDP applauds this positive step.
But, MK Shows admits that many private sellers refuse to take this simple precaution to insure their buyers can legally purchase a firearm.
We believe this is wrong and creates a constant danger to our community. We and other South Carolina citizens believe that actions must be taken NOW to reduce gun violence. It’s in our power to change what needs to be changed – to require that all gun buyers must first pass a background check before being allowed to purchase.
Nineteen other states have closed this Gun Show Loophole, by requiring private sales to include a background check. And this change has been shown to help reduce gun violence.
A recent national study found that “In the dozen or so states with the most gun control-related laws, [including laws requiring background checks for private sales of firearms, including gun show sales] far fewer people were shot to death or killed themselves with guns than in the states with the fewest laws”.
HCDP invites the Myrtle Beach and Horry County community, to partner with us in support of common-sense gun safety measures.
Reforms Needed
And to our state and federal officials, please stand up to affect common-sense gun reform measures including:
- Mandating Universal Background Checks
- Eliminating the “Charleston Loophole” and the “Gun Show Loophole”
- Allowing only licensed vendors to sell firearms at gun shows
- Banning the sale of Assault-type Weapons, Bump Stocks and Silencers
- Removing guns from domestic violence abusers and from people who are mentally unstable
We also encourage the safe storage of firearms; expanding mental health programs, and strengthening Anti-bullying and Domestic Abuse Training in our schools and workplaces.
Please talk to your Family, Friends and Neighbors about sensible gun reforms. We Can and Must Do Better.
Gun Violence Timeline
The timeline that is presented below is a stark reminder of some of the most horrific mass shootings in the U.S. in recent decades.
But this is only one part of the gun violence that rips at the fabric of our nation. In addition to these mass shootings, every day in big and small communities across the country, many citizens live in constant fear of gun violence. Every day 96 Americans are killed with guns and hundreds more are shot and injured. Many of these victims are children. Nearly 5,800 children each year are treated for gun injuries, many times because weapons in the home are left loaded and unsecured.
Please talk to your Family, Friends and Neighbors about sensible gun reforms. We Can and Must Do Better.
Notable U.S. Mass Shootings (1984-2018)*
1984
July 18th: Twenty-one are killed and 19 injured in San Ysidro, California at a McDonalds Restaurant.
1986
August 20th: Fourteen killed and 6 injured at an Edmond Oklahoma post office.
1989
January 17th: Five killed and 29 injured at a crowded school playground in Stockton California
1990
June 18th: Ten killed four injured in Jacksonville Florida at a General Motors office.
1991
October 16th: Twenty-two killed and 20 injured having lunch at Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen Texas.
November 1st: In Iowa City four are killed and two injured on the campus of the University of Iowa.
1992
May 1st: Four killed and 10 injured at Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California.
1993
July 1st: In San Francisco’s financial district, 8 are gunned down and another 6 injured.
December 7th: Six are Killed and 19 injured on the Long Island Railroad commuter train.
1998
March 24th: Two middle school students open fire on classmates and teachers, killing five and injuring 10 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
1999
April 20th: Thirteen are killed and 24 injured at the Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
July 29th: Nine are killed and 12 injured at shootings at two investment firms in Atlanta Georgia.
September 15th: Seven killed and 7 injured at the Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
November 2nd: Seven killed at a workplace shooting in Honolulu Hawaii.
2000
December 26th: Seven are killed from a workplace shooting in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
2003
July 8th: Five killed and 9 injured from a rampage at a Lockheed Martin defense plant in Meridian, Mississippi.
2005
March 21st: Shooting at the Red Lake High School in the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota claims nine lives and injures another seven.
2006
January 6th: Six lives lost in Goleta, California at a mail processing center.
October 2nd: Five students killed and another 5 injured at a one-room Amish schoolhouse, in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.
2007
February 12th: Five are killed and 4 injured at a Salt Lake City shopping mall.
April 16th: On this day in Blacksburg Virginia, a Virginia Tech senior opens fire on campus, killing 32 and injuring 17.
December 5th: Eight holiday shoppers are killed and 4 injured at an Omaha Nebraska shopping mall.
2008
February 14th: Five students killed and 16 wounded at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
2009
April 3rd: At an immigration services center in Binghamton, New York, a madman shoots and kills 13 people and seriously wounds four others.
November 5th: A rampage at Fort Hood Texas leaves 13 people dead and 32 others wounded.
2010
February 12th: An assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville shoots and kills three people and injures three at a biology faculty meeting.
August 3rd: A workplace shooting in Manchester, Connecticut kills eight people and injures two.
2011
January 8th: Meeting with her constituents at a Tucson supermarket, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is seriously injured. Six others are killed, and another 10 injured.
October 12th: Eight people killed and one injured from a shooting at a crowded Seal Beach, California hair salon.
2012
April 2nd: Seven people dead and three injured from a shooting at Oikos University, a Christian college in Oakland, California.
July 20th: Twelve people killed and 58 injured from a shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater.
August 5th: Six are killed and three injured at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
September 28th: Six are killed and two wounded from a workplace shooting in Minneapolis. The small sign company specialized in making signs in Braille for the blind.
October 21st: A workplace shooting in Brookfield, Wisconsin leaves three dead and four injured.
December 14th: The Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut leaves 20 first graders and six adults dead. Our nation grieves, but without concrete actions the carnage continues.
2013
June 7th: A shooting on the California campus of Santa Monica College claims five lives.
September 16th: A shooter running through the sprawling Washington D.C. Navy Yard kills 12 people and injures three.
2014
April 2nd: A gunman at Fort hood, the scene of a deadly 2009 rampage, kills three people and injures 16 others.
May 23rd: An attack on the Isla Vista, California community leaves six killed and seven injured.
2015
June 18th: Nine parishioners holding a prayer session at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina are gunned down by an avowed white supremacist who first joined them in prayer.
July 16th: In Chattanooga, Tennessee, a gunman opened fire on two military centers, killing five and injuring three servicemen.
October 1st: Nine were killed and nine injured from a shooter on the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg, Oregon.
November 29th: Three persons were killed and nine injured by a shooter at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
December 2nd: Two assailants killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in a shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.
2016
June 12th: The United States suffered one of the worst mass shootings when 49 people were killed and 58 injured in Orlando, Florida after a gunman stormed into the packed PULSE nightclub.
September 23rd: Five are killed in a Macy’s store in Burlington, Washington.
2017
January 6th: Five are killed and six injured after a man retrieves a gun from his luggage in luggage claim, loads and opens fire at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
June 5th: In Orange County, Florida, five are killed from a workplace shooting.
June 14th: A shooter kills three coworkers at their San Francisco package facility.
October 1st: Fifty-nine killed and more than 500 injured from a gunman opening fire at a country music festival on the Las Vegas strip. America learns what bump stocks are.
November 5th: Twenty-six churchgoers were killed and 20 others injured at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
2018
February 14th: Seventeen are left dead and many wounded from a shooter on the campus of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Outrage by students and others results in an historic national mass movement for common-sense gun measures.
May 18th: Ten students and teachers were fatally shot and 13 others wounded from a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas.
June 28th: The Capital Gazette newspaper loses five staff members from a shooting at their offices in Annapolis, Maryland.
September 12th: A shooter went on a rampage in Bakersville, California resulting in five people dead.
September 20th: An Aberdeen, Maryland workplace shooting leaves three dead and another three wounded.
October 3rd: In Florence, South Carolina seven law enforcement officers were shot, two fatally, during a confrontation with a suspect holding children hostage in a home.
October 27th: During a busy service a gunman burst into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, armed with an assault weapon and at least three handguns. Shouting “All Jews must die” he kills eleven people and wounds six others, including four police officers.
