Spotlight on The Fellows: Allison Griner

Allison Griner reports in Seattle, Washington. Photo by: Sam Stites

Name: Allison Griner

School: University of British Columbia

Style of reporting: I’m a generalist—some stories are best suited for long-form, some for short, some for radio, some for video. Basically, whatever works.

Previous internship or work experience: I have interned with Dan Rather Reports, The Chicago Reporter and the Canadian news website The Tyee. I have also reported for The Forest Park Review, The Independent Florida Alligator and The North Central Florida Business Report, among others.

Favorite reporting experience: I have so many favorites: participating in a sacred sweat lodge, tromping through garbage heaps in Beijing, covering the British Columbia provincial elections. Even the everyday, desk-bound phone conversations have left an impact. I once cold-called a man to talk about bankruptcy, and his story nearly left me in tears. His trust and openness left me in awe. I still think about him to this day.

Connect with me: @alligriner

Website: www.allisongriner.com

Favorite app: Not very original, but … Twitter.

Spotlight on the Fellows: Sydney Stavinoha

Sydney Stavinoha reports on Helibacon, a helicopter hog hunting trip in Bay City, Texas. Photo by: Sydney Stavinoha

Name: Sydney Stavinoha, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Fellow

School: University of Oklahoma — Boomer Sooner!

Style of reporting: Broadcast and multimedia

Previous internship or work experience: SLTV News for the City of Sugar Land; OU Nightly and Routes Webzine at Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Favorite reporting experience: One of my most memorable reporting experiences was when I profiled an Oklahoma Angel Flight pilot. We got to fly in his airplane to Arkansas to pick up a patient, and he even let me pilot the plane for a while!

Connect with me: @SydneyStavinoha

Website: vimeo.com/sydneystavinoha or linkedin.com/pub/sydney-stavinoha/50/360/b06

Favorite app: Instagram

What we’re reading: Week 4

By Jessica Boehm

Hunters: Gun rights have nothing to do with hunting (Jamie Taraby, 6/18, Aljazeera America) Some hunters say that the National Rifle Association’s focus has shifted away from representing hunters.

In rare speaking appearance, Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says women should lead the way in seeking laws to curb gun violence (Annie Karni, 6/16, New York Daily News) Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head during a mass shooting in Tucson in 2011, discussed how women can lead change in gun policy.

Gun-control advocate: Snowden, Obamacare hurt our cause (Reid J. Epstein, 6/16, The Wall Street Journal) Mark Glaze, executive director of Michael Bloomberg’s Super PAC, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, stepped down this week and discussed how Obamacare and other unrelated political issues hurt the organization.

Should Catholic priests carry guns? (EJ Montini, 6/16, The Arizona Republic) Columnist EJ Montini explains his take on priests and guns after a priest in downtown Phoenix was shot and killed last week in downtown Phoenix.

The new front in Dudley Brown’s war: Jefferson County (Eli Stokols, 6/12, 5280 The Denver Magazine) The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners continues to play a large role in gun politics leading up to primary elections next Tuesday.

Seattle police arrest man who claimed to be “next Elliott Rodgers” (Laura Stampler, 6/17, Time) Police arrested a man who claimed to idolize UCSB shooter, Elliott Rodgers, and allegedly made threats online to murder women at the University of Washington.

Jessica Boehm is a News21 Hearst Fellow.

Farmers tout importance of gun access in suit against Colorado governor

Horses graze in the shadow of the Rampart Range north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, prime territory for mountain lions. The Colorado Farm Bureau is suing the state of Colorado because they feel gun legislation passed in 2012 keeps ranchers from protecting their livestock from predators that populate much of the state. PHOTO: Morgan Spiehs / News21

By Robby Korth

For farmers and ranchers in the west – and across the nation – guns are an important part of defending livestock and property from predators.

People in Colorado are surrounded by mountainous and forested terrain near the Rockies, ripe territory for mountain lions and bears, while coyotes and foxes populate the plains further away from the mountains.

It can be impossible, some farmers and ranchers say, to predict where these predators might strike cows, sheep or pigs that populate the state’s farms.

“Wild animals don’t put down in an appointment book when they’re going to harass livestock, so (a gun) is something you might need at a moment’s notice,” said Chad Vorthmann, Vice President of the Colorado Farm Bureau.

For those in rural areas quick access to a gun is necessary for defense, he said.

That’s why the Farm Bureau joined in on a lawsuit aimed at repealing Colorado’s 2013 gun control legislation with a group of the state’s sheriffs and other gun industry stakeholders. The lawsuit should be resolved sometime in July, said John Cooke, Weld County Sheriff and a leader of the suit.

Farmers are especially concerned with the universal background check measure signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper last year.

Part of the law states that a background check must be performed through a federally licensed firearms dealer. For those rural areas, the nearest dealer could be miles and miles away.

“I think that we did everything that we could,” Vorthmann said. “We had our voice heard.”

Robby Korth is a News21 Peter Kiewet Fellow.

Female firearm group trains hundreds of instructors

By Natalie Krebs and Brittany Elena Morris

Women shooters traveled across the United States to meet in Buckeye, Ariz. for firearms and instructor training. PHOTO: Brittany Elena Morris / News21

Tamara Mendoza gripped her handgun focused on the little black circle drawn on a paper plate with a black Sharpie, the Buckeye Hills in Arizona as her backdrop.

Mendoza was one of 12 women from across the United States aiming to qualify as a National Rifle Association’s firearms instructor at the General Joe Foss Shooting Range Saturday afternoon.

Mendoza is a healthcare management student from Colorado Springs, Colo., and she screamed with joy when instructor Mike Abramovich declared she had passed.

She insisted on posing with her plate, punctured by bullets, as her classmate snapped a photo with her iPhone.

It was day two in a three-day training session hosted by The Well Armed Woman, a national gun organization for women shooters. The course cost Mendoza nearly $600. At the end she walked away with certifications as an NRA pistol instructor, NRA Personal Protection in the Home instructor and the Well Armed Woman Firearm Certification.

Mendoza is going to use her certification the empower women who want to defend themselves.

“It is such a controversial period for women right now,” she said. “[Training with women] is just a much more comfortable atmosphere.”

After decades of being discouraged from using firearms, women are independent and want to learn how to defend themselves, she said.

Carrie Lightfoot, founder of The Well Armed Woman, estimates that the organization has trained close to 100 instructors since it was founded 2012. She said the demand for women instructors is high.

“These women have positions waiting for them,” said Lightfoot. “There are ranges across the country that really want to meet the need of the women shooter so they’re anxious and eager to have women on staff who are trained specifically to teach women.”

Joan Clements, of Rapid City, S.D., another student, co-founded Responsibly Armed, LLC, a firearm training center, with her husband in 2013. She said she still sees a lot of women who are afraid of guns.

“I specifically want to know how to relate to women because I had that apprehension myself, and I want to show other women you don’t have to be scared,” said Clements. “Scared of other people or scared of handguns.”

And Mendoza believes that educating women about guns takes away this fear from women.

“Guns are not the enemy,” she said. “As long as you understand what a gun does, how a gun works and how to handle it safely, how to keep it on your body safely then, you know, it’s not going to hurt you. It’s there to protect you.”

Brittany Elena Morris is a News21 Hearst Fellow.