Many of us who live in the coastal resort areas of South Carolina, like Hilton Head, and Charleston, rely on out-of-state tourism revenues. We feel that allowing concealed firearms into places that serve alcohol is a recipe for tragedy. We also believe that posting "no guns allowed" signs in restaurant windows sends the wrong message to visitors, and will have a negative impact overall.

It is entirely lawful, defensible and a matter of commonsense for states to take action to control the use of deadly weapons to ensure the safety and the well-being of their constituents. To withdraw the right of the people to debate and decide these issues amongst themselves is a violation of democracy and quite possibly a threat to the continued safety of our schools and neighborhoods. Stand-your-ground laws increase the incentive for aggressive and sometimes racist vigilantes to unnecessarily provoke violent incidents that lead to gun deaths, trusting that they can avoid accountability for their actions by pleading self-defense.

Too many innocent people are the targets of irrational fears, such as Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride and Jordan Davis were. Ohio's HB 203 will allow the use of deadly force in more circumstances which may lead to more innocents dying for no cause. Ohio Law already allows people to defend themselves and their property. We should not give license to more people to used deadly force without real threat of harm or provocation.

To me this is simply common sense. How can anyone find fault with a bill that would restrict a person CONVICTED of the crimes outlined in the bill from possessing, transporting, or carrying a firearm for 5 years. Unless of course that legislator (those legislators) are owned by the NRA.

It's time that legislators listen to the will of the people who elected them. Passing a background check bill is something that people have demanded, yet with no action from our senators and assemblymen. We must do something to prevent and reduce gun deaths in our State!

Too many criminal have far to easy access to purchase a gun in Wisconsin. Gun crimes are robbing our communities of future leaders due to gun violence.

Residents of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties: Please support your neighbors who want to enjoy nature in Chabot Regional Parks and who live near the parks. They are being assaulted by the sound of gunfire to such an extent that they often cannot enjoy the parks or their homes and yards for hours at a time, especially on weekends. Support them by signing this petition. The lease of Chabot Gun Club to operate within Anthony Chabot Regional Park expires this year. The use of the park for environmental education and experiencing nature has expanded by leaps and bounds in the last many years, as has the number of neighbors near the park boundaries. While the gun range is a valuable resource for the law enforcement personnel and private gun owners who practice there, that use is basically and essentially inconsistent with the mission of urban-area parks such as the Chabot Regional Parks. Since over 95% of the users of the parks want an experience of the natural world, free of the explosive intrusion of gunshots, if a gun range is to continue to be operated in the park after the current lease expires, it must be under stringent restrictions on the noise levels and days and hours of operation. Any Request for Proposals for operation of a gun range in the park after the current lease expires must include conditions of use with specific limits on the decibel level of gunfire noise at designated points on certain hiking trails in the park and at stated points on the park boundary where it borders residential neighborhoods. The California Vehicle Code’s limits on vehicle noise may provide a starting place for developing the standards of tolerable noise levels, which certainly should be much lower in the heart of a large regional park than is allowed in our cities. If continued operation of a gun range is contemplated, a committee of park users and neighbors is willing to work with the Park District’s staff to develop the exact noise levels which may not be exceeded, the location of the designated points for noise measurement, the days and hours of operation, and the time line for implementation of noise mitigation.

Do not support Florida's tourism industry until The Stand your Ground Law is abolished! This law has become akin to Jim Crow Laws which enabled and tacitly encouraged violent acts against innocent African Americans--most of whom were male-- under the guise of keeping our country separate but equal. Given the recent mistrial of Michael Dunn who fatally shot a young unarmed African American male teenager over a dispute about loud music, we have to let Florida's government know that the Stand your Ground Law has effected the hard won freedom of two innocent children because their skin color made them suspect.

In 2006, I was shot in the abdomen in my workplace by a deeply troubled young man. And I was lucky to have survived -- one of my coworkers did not. Since that fateful day, I have fought through twenty surgeries, a coma, and months and months of PTSD therapy. I don't know if you had the chance to follow the hearing about gun safety in Olympia -- but I went to testify in favor of I-594. Brian Judy, a gun lobbyist, noted that I-594 wouldn't have stopped Newtown's Adam Lanza from taking his mother's gun and then turning it on her. He even joked, "I think that [one] was the 'murder your mom' loophole." Both he and state Senator Steve O'Ban chuckled. Would you joke about someone murdering their mother and then killing twenty children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary? Then there was Senator Roach, who has been told to seek counseling for threatening her employees and even brandishing a handgun at one. She did everything possible to degrade the testimony of myself and other survivors, and to question our motives. Why shouldn't I want legislation that would prevent the kind of everyday gun violence that threatens our communities, even if I-594 would not have stopped the gunman who shot me? I know at a personal and profound level the damage that gun violence does -- and Republicans in the state Senate, as well as lobbyist Brian Judy, would prefer I stay silent. I've already delivered one round of signatures to the State Senate to demand an explanation for this outrageous and offensive behavior. And I'd like to deliver more. Thanks for your support, Cheryl Stumbo Sponsor of I-594 Jewish Federation Shooting Survivor

I have a great love and respect for Anthony Chabot Regional Park and the purpose that is serves for the people who use it.

Walmart, the American multinational retail giant, currently sells Crickett Firearms, a line of rifles that are marketed to very young children under the tagline “My First Rifle.” These weapons often look like toys, coming in colors like pink and orange. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has made it clear that “the safest home for children is one without a gun.” According to a past president of the AAP, “Young children are curious, and are often unable to remember or follow safety rules ... When you combine these traits with access to guns, the consequences can be tragic and permanent.” As the second largest public corporation in the world, Walmart says “we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished so far on our journey to become a more…responsible business.” But responsible businesses do not market weapons to young children.

Our hearts break every time we think about Zina Daniel’s murder. She was working at the Azana Spa when her estranged, abusive husband walked in and shot seven people, killing Zina and two others. What makes it so hard to accept is that Zina had a restraining order against her murderer -- a simple background check would have blocked him from buying the gun that killed her. But, in Wisconsin, background checks aren’t the law -- they’re optional. All anyone has to do to avoid one is buy from a “private seller” at a gun show, some back alley, or even online. And that’s exactly what happened. Zina’s murderer got his gun through Armslist.com just one day before he killed her. This private sale loophole allows just about anyone to sell a gun with no background check, no identification, and no questions asked. It is time for the Wisconsin legislature to listen to WI citizens, instead of the extremist pro gun lobby from Washington.