NRA proudly announced a new president: James Porter, a man who, among other things, refers to Barack Obama as a "fake President"; apparently thinks the Civil War was a great example of an armed citizenry resisting Northern tyranny; and advocates training all civilians in the use of standard military firearms so "they're ready to fight tyranny" yet again. Fellow Southerner Ed … Read More
Today’s Public Gun Shooting
KHOU in Houston: HOUSTON—A man shot himself at Bush Intercontinental Airport in north Houston early Thursday afternoon, the Houston Police Department confirmed with KHOU 11 News. The suspect walked into the ticket area inside Terminal B around 1:35 p.m. and fired at least two shots into the air with an AR-15 rifle, according to witnesses. A McDonald’s employee who works at the … Read More
Esquire Columnist Response To 5 Year Old Killing His 2-Year-Old Sister With “Kid’s” Rifle
I hear you, Charles Pierce: I realize that I am just a pointy-headed liberal elitist who doesn't understand the importance of guns to some of my fellow citizens, but even I know that "Is this thing loaded?" is an important question to teach your five-year old when you give him his first firearm on the day he accepts Jesus as … Read More
Republicans Are Revolting
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
A Little Late, Sandy
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision: Looking back, O’Connor said, she isn’t sure the high court should have taken [Bush v. Gore]. “It took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue,” O’Connor … Read More
Wrong Guy?
You know, what with the Boston Marathon bombing last week, we almost forgot about the other "terrorist" — the guy who sent ricin in the mail to his Senator and President Obama. Paul Kevin Curtis was arrested last Wednesday. Except… hmmmm… there's breaking news that they released him today, the day of his first hearing before the court: A federal … 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
Some Tweets Of The Boston Bomber (Suspect #2, Currently At Large)
Jahar was his handle. From this past weekend: @troycrossley @gameofthrones every character on that show got some sort of std bro, I do like the show tho — Jahar (@J_tsar) April 14, 2013 And here I thought nemo's dad was about to get it with dory but apparently this man turned into a female #thatscray — Jahar (@J_tsar) April 14, … Read More
Insanity In Boston
As I write this, the drama is still unfolding… but it has been a crazy night in Boston. In a nutshell: Yesterday at 5;15 pm, the FBI released photos of 2 men, believed to be responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing. Last night, these two men — who we now know to be brothers — robbed a 7-11 near MIT … 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
Shorter Rand Paul
Shorter Rand Paul: I was NEVER against the Civil Rights Act. I just think the whole desegregating lunch counters went a bit far. His attempt to snow the people at Howard University was a disaster. TPM covers it: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a proponent of civil liberties, told a professor on Wednesday that he never opposed the Civil Rights Act … Read More