Dallas Shooting

Ken AshfordCrime, Gun ControlLeave a Comment

Shooter in Dallas this morning — fortunately, nobody hurt: Insane photo @TomFoxPhoto from @dallasnews snapped of the shooter in Dallas today https://t.co/awHI7hsdN1 pic.twitter.com/VOtRHBNDEO — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) June 17, 2019 #BREAKING: Video of possible shooting suspect holding what appears to be an assault-style rifle near federal building in downtown Dallas. Alleged shooter in custody, unknown injuries. @GillianNHughes pic.twitter.com/9rmeeSI0pF — … Read More

The NRA Finds Itself Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Gun ControlLeave a Comment

A wide-ranging investigation into the NRA announced this weekend by New York State Attorney General Letitia James threatens the very existence of the organization. James has the power to ask a judge to dissolve the gun-rights group if she finds evidence that the board engaged in serial violations of New York state charity law, as her office did with the Donald … Read More

Breaking: Russian Gun Rights Activist Maria Butina Sentenced To 18 Months After Conspiring To Infiltrate The NRA

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Crime, Gun Control, L'Affaire Russe, RussiaLeave a Comment

Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina was sentenced to an 18-month prison term Friday in Washington after failing to register as a foreign agent for conspiring to infiltrate conservative U.S. political circles for the Kremlin. Butina, 30, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring with a senior Russian official to access the National Rifle Association among other groups from 2015 until she was … Read More

New Zealand Gets It Done

Ken AshfordGun ControlLeave a Comment

Jacinda Ardern and her government are not fucking around: “In short, every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned in this country,” said Ardern. The ban on the sale of the weapons came into effect at 3pm on Thursday – the time of the press conference announcing the ban – with the prime minister warning that … Read More

New Zealand Responds In A Way America Can’t

Ken AshfordGun ControlLeave a Comment

It is a little depressing watching New Zealand move quickly on gun control: One day after 28-year-old white supremacist Brenton Tarrant killed 49 people in a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that her country’s “gun laws will change.” Attorney General David Parker took those statements further, announcing at a vigil at … Read More

The Three Mass Shootings You Barely Hear About

Ken AshfordCrime, Gun ControlLeave a Comment

In the span of only a few days last week, three shooters killed a total of 14 people in three separate mass shootings in Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana — but you might not have heard about these incidents at all if you watched cable news. The shootings were barely discussed on the major cable networks, and the minimal coverage quickly … Read More

Update On The OTHER Russia Scandal

Ken AshfordGun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Political Scandals, RussiaLeave a Comment

In a week of political scandals, it is important that this one doesn’t get lost because, although it doesn’t implicate Trump, it implicates the Republican Party as well as the Republicans’ source of campaign income, the NRA. I’m talking of course about Marina Butina.  I’ve talked about her here and here. Butina was arrested in July after the FBI raided … Read More

Last Night’s Mass Killing

Ken AshfordCrime, Gun Control, Mental Health, Military IssuesLeave a Comment

Twelve people including a police officer were killed by a veteran of the Marines at a crowded bar in Thousand Oaks, California, late Wednesday, officials said. Several hundred people were inside the venue, which was hosting a “college country night” for students, police said. The veteran, Ian Long, 28, who died of a gunshot wound, suffered from PTSD. Long has a … Read More

Lot Of “Smaller” Mass Shootings This Month – Here’s Today’s

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Crime, Gun ControlLeave a Comment

Yahoo: Multiple people have been killed at a Maryland Rite Aid distribution center when a female shooter opened fire Thursday.  The lone shooter, who has not been identified, is currently in critical condition, but it’s not clear how she was injured, reports said. At least three people are dead and two more wounded during the shooting spree just after 9 a.m. The suspect was armed with a … Read More

The Drunk Spy

Ken AshfordGun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Alleged Russian spy Mariia Butina talked openly about her contacts with Russian intelligence officials when she got drunk, CNN reported yesterday. According to people who knew her at American University where she attended graduate school, on at least two occasions Butina bragged about her Russian government connections after she had imbibed and even said the Russian government was connected to her … Read More

The Spy Who Loved Me

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, Gun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This is some serious Cold War movie stuff: A Russian woman charged this week with serving as a foreign agent has been in regular contact with Russian intelligence, the Justice Department says, and she attempted to offer sex in exchange for a position with an organization she targeted. Prosecutors included that information in court documents as part of their request … Read More

In Other News, The OTHER Trump-Russia Connection

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Campaign Finance Reform, Gun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This is getting almost no coverage (update: okay NOW it is), but there is breaking news on another front. The DOJ just announced the arrest of an unregistered Russian agent, Maria Butina. Right now, the only charge is that Ms. Butina was an unregistered foreign agent, but the FBI was investigating her on the belief that she worked at the … Read More

Breaking: Shooting at Annapolis Newspaper — Capital Gazette

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Crime, Gun ControlLeave a Comment

A law enforcement source tells CBS News the suspect is male, white, in his 20s, no iD. Two law enforcement sources say the suspect used a shotgun. 4 dead, 5 injured/transported. — CBS News Radio (@CBSNewsRadio) June 28, 2018 The shooter, according to reports, is refusing to identify himself. NYPD sending police to news stations as a precaution. Maybe this … Read More

Russia And The NRA

Ken AshfordCampaign Finance Reform, Crime, Gun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

McClatchy: Several prominent Russians, some in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle or high in the Russian Orthodox Church, now have been identified as having contact with National Rifle Association officials during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, according to photographs and an NRA source. The contacts have emerged amid a deepening Justice Department investigation into whether Russian banker and lifetime NRA member … Read More