School denying permission for anti-gun PSA raises legal questions :: 01/03/2015

Rejina Sincic, the director of a “Stop Gun Violence” public service announcement that has been widely criticized by gun rights advocates -- and even resulted in a challenge from a national “gun control” organization -- did not obtain advance school permission for the content of her video or the presence of a firearm prop. An advisory from North Oakland Community Charter School has disavowed any knowledge of Sincic’s intent, and further requested the school's name be removed from the video end credits.

“(NOCCS) did not review, approve, or endorse the YouTube video produced by Rejina Sincic and Sleeper 13 Productions entitled ‘Stop Gun Violence,’” Executive Director Carolyn Gramstorff explained in a statement posted on the school’s website, putting distance between administrators and the activist. “We did allow use of our facility to film a video for a public service announcement. The video was not shot during school hours. No NOCCS students, staff, or board members were involved in the video.

“We were not aware of the contents of the video nor were we aware that our name would be used,” Gramstorff continued. “We have sent a request to the film maker asking that she remove our school’s name from the video. NOCCS does not allow, condone, or support bringing weapons of any kind (real or replicas) to school.”

With that being the case, if no one gave Sincic permission to bring a firearm or imitation firearm (as the one in the video may be) onto school property, its presence becomes a legitimate matter for public and legal inquiry. As does what the school was actually told and what permissions they provided, which might make for a revealing Freedom of Information Act request if Oakland PD punts on its duty and ignores this.

“Lot of people are afraid to share my PSA!” Sincic falsely declared last month. “If you are not a coward please share...”

Plenty of us were happy to share it, and in many cases to point out violations of safety laws and violations of gun laws being represented. But as long as Sincic brings up the subject of cowardice, there are also the matters of her disabling comments on the video, disabling the “Like” and “Dislike” counters, and removing end credits. What’s she trying to hide from?

She’s also given a less than satisfying response to an inquiry from a fellow citizen disarmament proponent.

“It was self funded,” she replied to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence when asked who paid for the production. That’s believable if the IMDB-estimated production budget of $300 is accurate. I only say less than satisfying, because what CSGV was really after was a way to discredit Sincic for reasons they really ought to be pressed to explain in more detail.

“I smell a rat here," CSGV’s Ladd Everitt was quoted in a Vocativ report on the controversial video. "To me, this reeks of something that’s been planted. It’s shocking how this suddenly went viral on right wing media when no one in our movement is promoting this video. I’m actively questioning who this woman is. And I’d like to know who paid for this and why.”

While the more likely answer could be this is just sour grapes over an amateur newcomer on a shoestring being able to engineer a project that attracts more attention than his group is capable of with close to half a million bucks in annual revenue, let’s not be too discouraging. That $492K sucked down the CSGV drain could have been spent on something that’s actually effective, so it’s in the interests of gun owners to steer as many resources Ladd’s way as they can find suckers for.

As for Rejina, to paraphrase the immortal Ricky Ricardo, she's got some 'splainin' to do. As does NOCCS' Gramstorff. And, as does, unless ideological favoritism is to be shown, the Oakland Police Department, who would no doubt already be on the case had someone made an "unauthorized" video utilizing the same "prop," but expressing a pro-gun point of view.

It's not often I find myself in agreement with a "gun control" zealot, but in this case, I'm on board with Rejina 100 percent. By all means, if you don't want her to think you are a coward, please share. Some may even want to start with these guys.