Buried deep in a just-released depressing poll from Fairly Ridiculous University, lies this question/result: That's right. 44% – a plurality — of Republicans think we need an armed revolution in the next few years. You know, to protect our liberties. I would like to know what liberties they think are being taken away. Of course, that result explains the reasoning … Read More
Backlash Against Gun Vote
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who championed a bipartisan compromise on gun reforms, has seen his approval rating reach new heights. On the other, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) has seen her support back home drop sharply, so much so that she is "underwater" (disapproval is higher than approval). Yesterday, PPP came out with a poll showing that gun vote hurt others too: After … Read More
Explanation Please
The Boston Marathon bombing suspect is being charged in civilian court with, among other things, conspiring to use a "weapon of mass destruction" against people. I'd like to know how a pressure cooker bomb which kills three people is a "weapon of mass destruction" but a semi-automatic rifle which kills 20 kids isn't. [UPDATE: Or killing four people with a … Read More
Why The Background Check Bill Failed
Ezra Klein nails it: The gun vote didn’t fail because a couple of red-state Democrats bolted, or even because too many senators are afraid of the National Rifle Association, or even because Sen. Pat Toomey couldn’t bring along more Republicans. Those factors help explain why the gun vote didn’t clear the extraordinary bar set for it to succeed. But they’re not … Read More
What The Texas Explosion Reveals
I was reading an analysis of last night's fertilizer explosion in West, Texas, and came upon this paragraph: This explosion is nothing at all like what happened in Oklahoma City back in 1995. That was a mixture of ammonium nitrate, a dry solid, and diesel fuel. Ammonium nitrate is made from ammonia, but the United States banned it after that … Read More
Lockdown at NC A&T
10:25 a.m. Breaking news… GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro was put on lockdown Friday morning after a man was seen carrying a rifle on campus. The school posted an alert on its website shortly before 10 a.m., warning people to stay inside and lock classrooms, doors and windows. Officials described the man as black, standing 5 feet 11 … Read More
Weak Background Check Bill Passes Senate Filibuster
And so it begins. The Senate voted to move forward on gun control Thursday, clearing the first of what is expected to be many 60-vote hurdles for the legislation. In a 68-31 vote, the Senate approved a procedural motion that will allow debate on the Democratic measure to being. Sixteen Republicans voted in favor of the motion, while two Democrats … Read More
NRA Lashes Out Against Background Check Compromise
It looks like Congress might actually vote on some safety measures for guns, although assault weapons and large magazines are still dead-in-the-water. It looks like background checks are the only possiblity, and while its passage is a no-brainer, and yields 90% support in the country, you just KNOW the NRA isn't going to like it. And here's the NRA statement: Expanding … Read More
Four People Shot By Toddlers This Past Weekend
A Tennessee woman was shot in the stomach by her 2-year-old child on Sunday. Rekia Kid was sleeping with the toddler and her three-week-old baby when the toddler discovered a Glock 9 mm stored underneath her pillow and discharged the weapon. Kid managed to get out of the house and crawl to a neighbor’s porch where she was found by the neighbor, … Read More
Your Second Amendment At Work
CNN: It happened in just seconds, by all accounts. A gunshot killed a lawman's wife this weekend in Lebanon, Tennessee. And the tragedy is one more instance of gun violence reverberating across a nation obsessed and at odds over the politics of firearms. A pistol in the hands of a 4-year-old boy went off Saturday and killed Josephine Fanning, the 48-year-old … Read More
Quote Of The Day
“We tell gun owners, there’s a time to hunt deer. And the next election is the time to hunt Democrats.” – Former NRA lobbyist and founder of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Dudley Brown Great. Inform gun owners to start threatening Democrats. Think I'm exaggerating the danger? This just came over the CNN newswire as I was typing this post: Congresswoman … Read More
No Brainer: Stronger Gun Laws Lead To Reduction In Gun Violence
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and its allies in Congress frequently claim that gun violence is highest in places with the toughest crime laws. But a new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) suggests something closer to the opposite is true — the states with laxer gun laws tend to be the ones contributing the highest shares of national gun deaths and … Read More
More “How Guns Keep Us Safer” News
From the Salt Lake City Tribune: Prominent Utah gun lobbyist’s AR-15 assault rifle stolen from his car Crime » Thief took the weapon from the lobbyist’s vehicle, police say. By Michael McFall First Published Mar 28 2013 08:45 pm • Updated 3 hours ago Police are looking for an assault rifle that someone stole from the vehicle of a prominent … Read More
Gun Owners Show Up To Anti-Gun Rally Armed To The Teeth
You want to talk about rights? Let's talk about the First Amendment. I feel pretty comfortable in saying that free speech is threatened (literally) when people show up with handguns, AR-15s, etc. These selfish bastards obviously showed up armed with the intent to intimidate. And intimidate it did. But that's not an argument against gun control; that's an argument … Read More