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Women disarmed by DC gun control, bike against government failure, tragedy of the commons

17 Oct





















FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Renee Davidson Communications Director Collective Action for Safe Spaces renee@collectiveactiondc.org

Over 250 DC Women Expected to Participate in Grassroots Anti-Harassment Bike Event This Saturday, 10/19“19th Amendment Alleycat” will benefit local anti-street harassment group, Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS)
Washington, DC — This Saturday, October 19, over 250 women are expected to participate in “19th Amendment Alleycat,” or what might be the District’s first all-women alleycat. Organized by two women bikers who are active in the city’s cycling community, the grassroots event aims to help women feel comfortable and confident on the DC streets, especially when faced with public sexual harassment. The event offers a unique spin on alleycats, or “urban checkpoint races” which are similar to scavenger hunts and are traditionally dominated by men. Registration is $5 and benefits Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS), a local grassroots group that works to empower people in the DC metropolitan area to build a community free from public sexual harassment and assault.

Less about speed and more about strategy, the 19th Amendment Alleycat will include checkpoints throughout the city that center around events and locations related to DC’s role in the women’s rights movement. Participants will also be able to enter a raffle to win prizes from a range of sponsors. Male allies are encouraged to volunteer at check-points and join participants at the finish for a raffle (see raffle sponsors below) and an official after party.

“The 19th Amendment Alleycat aims to help raise awareness and foster dialogue about public sexual harassment, which is a widespread problem that severely limits women’s safety and restricts their mobility,” said CASS’s founder and executive director, Chai Shenoy. A study by CASS conducted this summer found that 90 percent of respondents report experiencing public sexual harassment in DC, including verbal harassment, leering, stalking and groping. “Since CASS was founded in 2009, we’ve received hundreds of stories of street harassment faced by DC residents, including by female bikers,” said Shenoy, pointing to stories of women being forced to change their bike routes to avoid sexual harassment, fearing sexual assaults along local bike trails and being stalked and dangerously harassed by strangers in cars. The event comes exactly one week after a similar all-women’s cycling event was held in Cairo, Egypt, in response to public sexual harassment.

In preparation for the DC alleycat, CASS collected stories of sexual harassment faced by women cyclists, as well as statements on how biking helps women feel empowered. “At the same time that women cyclists often face street harassment, biking can be very empowering, and we look forward to women reclaiming the streets of DC this Saturday,” said Shenoy.

Sponsors and those donating items and raffle prizes to the 19th Amendment Alleycat include: Retail: All-City Cycle, Anhaica Bag Works, Ass Savers, Fabric Horse, Fiks:Reflective, Harlot Clothing Co., Knog, Kozie Prery, Oury Grips USA, Po Campo, Pure Fix Cycles, Road Runner Bags, Rockinoggins, Vaya Bags; Local Bike Shops: BicycleSPACE, CycleLife USA, Proteus Bicycles, The Bike Rack, Velocity Bicycle, Cooperative; Food and Bev: Honest Tea, KIND Bars; With support from: The Bike House, WABA Women & Bicycles.
The 19th Amendment Alleycat will begin at 2:00pm Saturday, October 19th, at Meridian Hill Park in NW DC. The event will last approximately two hours and will culminate with an official after party. Interested parties should RSVP on Facebook. More information can be found on CASS’s website: www.collectiveactiondc.org.
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Founded in 2009 as HollaBackDC!, Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) works to empower people in the DC metropolitan area to build a community free from public sexual harassment and assault. It does this through both online and offline activism, including workshops, innovative direct services, policy advocacy, and community outreach. Volunteer-led and -run, CASS utilizes the creativity and energy of the DC community to further its mission and vision. Follow CASS on Facebook and on Twitter.
Renee D. Davidson
Communications Director
Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS)
[e]  reneeddavidson@gmail.com  

[w] www.collectiveactiondc.org
[t]  @SafeSpacesDC & @reneetheorizes

Take action to help empower people in the DC Metro area to build a community free from sexual harassment & assault.

Gun Prohibiton Kills

27 Sep

5 People Who Used An AR-15 to Defend Themselves, and It Probably Saved Their Lives

5 People Who Used An AR-15 to Defend Themselves, and It Probably Saved Their Lives
© J McStravick
  at PolicyMic





This 15-year-old Houston boy, Rochester college student, Philadelphia couple, Detroit small business, and LA grocery store are all glad they had AR-15s the day they were attacked.
In the aftermath of last week’s Washington Naval Yard shooting, Democratic gun control advocates have once again been calling for tightened gun control, including a ban on “assault weapons,” such as the AR-15.
Only hours after the shooting, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) issued a statement calling on Congress to enact an assault weapons ban, saying, “This is one more event to add to the litany of massacres that occur when a deranged person or grievance killer is able to obtain multiple weapons — including a military-style assault rifle — and kill many people in a short amount of time,” Feinstein said. “When will enough be enough?”
There’s just one problem with Feinstein’s position: it’s totally false.
AR-15s do save lives and for some, make great self-defense weapons.
They did for these five people.
1. Just this April, a 32-year-old named Jasper Brisbon attacked a Philadelphia couple as they entered their home. The man grabbed his AR-15 and pointed it at the intruder.
5, people, who, used, an, ar 15, to, defend, themselves,, and, it, probably, saved, their, lives,

Via: Cheltenham Township
The man told Brisbon to leave, but he didn’t. Instead he advanced menacingly as the resident screamed, “Stop! Stop! Stop!” and finally fired a shot into Brisbon’s torso.
He called 911 and an ambulance delivered the intruder to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police said the AR-15 was legally purchased.
2. This February, a man and woman attacked a tax preparation business near Detroit, pointing handguns at the receptionist and owner. What happened next was caught on video.
5, people, who, used, an, ar 15, to, defend, themselves,, and, it, probably, saved, their, lives,

Via: Fox 2 Detroit
As you can see in this surveillance video, when one of the attackers advances past two horrified victims to check out the next room of this house converted into a small business office, a security guard behind the door enters with an AR-15 and scares off the intruders with two shots.
3. And this January, two men with a handgun broke into the NY apartment of a Rochester Institute of Technology student named Raymond. His AR-15 may have saved his life.
5, people, who, used, an, ar 15, to, defend, themselves,, and, it, probably, saved, their, lives,

Via: 13WHAM ABC Rochester
In one of the creepiest break-in stories I’ve ever heard, the two intruders broke into the basement of the apartment and waited for a victim to come down to check out the noise.
Raymond’s roommate, Chris Boise, told a local television station: “They were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs,” a sentence that will now haunt your dreams (unless you own an AR-15). One of the intruders pointed the barrel of a handgun at Chris.
Chris says he instinctively let out a blood-curdling scream to warn Raymond, who went to get his AR-15 out of its gun bag. By then, one of the intruders began to open the door to the room where Raymond was waiting with his assault prevention rifle.
“By the time I had it out and ready, one of the men came at my door, slowly opened it, saw that there was a barrel on the other side and from there backed out.”
The intruders fled. No shots fired.
Here’s a fantastic video about it by 13WHAM ABC Rochester:
4. In 2010, a 15-year-old Texas boy used his father’s AR-15 to defend himself and his 12yo sister when they were home alone one afternoon and two home invaders attacked their house.
5, people, who, used, an, ar 15, to, defend, themselves,, and, it, probably, saved, their, lives,

Via: KHOU.com Houston, Texas
The burglers tried both front and back doors at 2:30pm on a Tuesday before breaking a back window. The cool, decisive young man got his dad’s AR-15 and hit one of the suspects multiple times, and they fled, leaving a trail of blood.
Without their dad’s AR-15 and the skills to use it, these two children would have certainly been in worse danger. Here’s a great video about it from KHOU.com Houston, TX:
5. In the 1992 LA Riots, a mob of hundreds of vandals and looters set Koreatown ablaze. When the LAPD abandoned the Koreans, their semi-auto rifles kept them safe.
5, people, who, used, an, ar 15, to, defend, themselves,, and, it, probably, saved, their, lives,

Via: Human Events
Foreground: A man acting as part of an improvised Korean militia kneels by a Ruger Mini-14, “The Poor Man’s Assault Rifle,” which is semi-automatic like an AR-15 and fires the same ammo.
“Why would you need a gun like that for self defense?”
In 1992, when the LAPD abandoned Koreatown to “several hundred looters” who “left a swath of Koreatown in ashes,” “…a group of Koreans armed with shotguns… pistols and automatic rifles” protected the neighborhood.
“Even with guns, they seemed at times overwhelmed by the crowds of looters. For hours [they] fought a back-and-forth battle with several hundred looters.”
Since the ’60s, multiple deadly riots happen in the US over an average human lifespan. One could happen where you live. And there’s no guarantee that the police will protect you.