I spent the day desperately trying to get my hands on a gun. Specifically, the "Liberator," the 3D-printable firearm offered by Defense Distributed. I was unsuccessful, which is probably for the best.
As the world turned in the 24 hours since two explosions went off around 3 p.m. Monday, most of the world's attention turned to the aftermath in Boston. But other things were happening, believe it or not, so here's a quick primer on what you may have missed.
On last night's Daily Show Jon Stewart explained how the Senate blocked the U.S. from signing on to a UN arms treaty — a treaty that is decidedly anti-Bond villain.
By the NRA's logic, one "detail" in the 225-page "report" that the gun lobby's National School Shield task force has now corrected should make the whole report just about useless. Yes, there are enough school shootings that last week's NRA-funded research findings managed to find a school shooting that never happened.
The National Rifle Association, the ongoing lobbying interests of which primarily exist for the promotion of buying more guns under the auspices of "safety," has apparently concluded that the way to keep schools safe is to bring more guns on campus, with its $1 million task force suggesting Tuesday that the government change laws surrounding gun-free zones and make the NRA's estimated $6.6 billion pipe dream a reality.
Despite a brief spike in interest after the Sandy Hook shootings, Americans care less about gun control than ever, even as gun control passes in Connecticut and stumbles through the Senate. Sounds like a great time for the NRA to stage another PR stunt! And that's exactly what the NRA is doing on Tuesday.
After a brief standoff at the suspect's home late on Tuesday night, police arrested the man suspected for firing shots across his Tacoma neighborhood.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Republican senators inserted several gun rights measures into a bill to fund the government through September, including one that says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives must attach a disclaimer to any gun data saying it "cannot be used to draw broad conclusions about fire-arms-related crimes."
Gun groups have increased a push for teachers to be armed across the country since just after the shootings, but South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard has signed the first law to allow teachers to carry guns in school since December.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Virginia Beach pizza-shop owner Jay Laze is offering a 15 percent discount to anyone who brings in a gun — or concealed handgun permit — to his restaurant, which instantly grabbed the attention of gun-rights advocates across the country.
That's an average of 28 deaths per day, and it's probably a lot more than that.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
The Daily Show host wasn't very sympathetic to the speculation that the president has never actually operated a firearm. "Since when did the ability a fire a weapon become a badge of honor, a patriotic achievement?" he asked. "All you need is a finger!"
Police say they've found what appears to be the body of 70-year-old Arthur Douglas Harmon Harmon, the prime suspect in Wednesday's shooting in Phoenix, and there's a legal trail.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on gun violence in America today, and advocates from both sides — and their rivals on the committee — got plenty of opportunity to speak out.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
The U.S. Senate will hold its first formal hearing on gun control since the Sandy Hook school shooting, and there's the potential for some heated showdowns between the participants — Wayne LaPierre included.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Time to add #FreeChiefKeef to the lexicon of hip hop hashtags. The young Chicago rapper was jailed yesterday for violating his probation, and—bizarrely enough—the music taste-makers at Pitchfork might've helped put him behind bars.
The White House may be signaling to gun-rights advocates that it will offer funding for police in schools, and more teachers may be signing up for gun training, but this could not be what anyone had in mind, could it?
As Vice President Biden prepares his recommendations on gun control, both the administration and the its toughest opponents seem convinced that a new assault weapons ban isn't in the cards.
In a gruesome and still mysterious twist of fate, Georgia police found the man curating the FPSRussia channel shot in the head and surrounded by guns — just not the one that left him dead.
A new Public Policy Polling survey shows that just a quarter of Americans support giving teachers guns, with NRA support dropping below 50 percent and support for its armed-guard plan narrow even amongst Republicans.
Christie's media blitz this morning — including the cover of Time — could signal a shift in tone (and policy) for the New Jersey governor and his ever-growing national profile.
The backlash continues against the Journal News, but the most notorious local paper of the year doesn't seem to be backing down.
The Putnam County Clerk says the Journal News's feature on where gun permit owners live is "clearly wrong," and won't release more records without a fight.
The elaborate trap enacted by William Spengler on Christmas Eve — the one that ended with two firefighters dead and two more seriously injured in Webster, New York — just got even more elaborate.
An inmate in New Jersey managed to shoot three officers early this morning, and details remain unclear, but the incident has already steered the ongoing gun conversation on Twitter today.
A rare example of bridge-building for an organization that has blamed the media regarding Newtown and long before that: "I'm not a vindictive guy that wants to go after David Gregory," said NRA President David Keene on CNN Thursday.
A double-digit jump from last year, when just 44 percent answered likewise, and the highest percentage recorded by Gallup since 2004.
Employees of the Journal-News, which recently published a map of gun owners in two upstate New York counties, are receiving the same treatment — sort of.
People lined up around the block in Los Angeles on Wednesday, some waiting hours to exchange their unwanted guns for grocery store gift cards as the city tries to get the weapons off the street.
Tom Lindeman at the Washington Post chronicles the leading causes of "violence-related" death in the U.S. from 1999 to 2007 by age group.
Both The Washington Post and The New York Times have front-page stories today about competing factions within the movement — gun-toting infights and all — and how they will fight to control its mission looking forward to 2014.
Without further ado: Pictures of people standing in front of Christmas trees with their brand new guns.
There's something about this Bushmaster AR-15: Both Adam Lanza and William Spangler, the two gunmen in the Newtown and Firefighter shootings, respectively, got their hands on the exact same make of semi-automatic, the .223 caliber rifle.
The correlation between gun violence and violent shooter games is dubious, but there are some very real links between the two industries, with gun-makers using these virtual worlds to advertise their products.
It's unclear how William Spengler, a convicted felon, got the gun he used to shoot at firefighters he'd lured to the scene of a blaze. But data suggests that an NRA-supported loophole makes it pretty easy.
That covers the "work lost, medical care, insurance, criminal-justice expenses and pain and suffering" associated with gun violence, and might be one to think on over the holidays as the post-Newtown gun debate rages on.
On the same day the NRA blamed out-of-date movies and video games as the root cause of mass shootings like Newtown, Bloomberg-backed Demand a Plan released this video.
A U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico for bringing a banned shotgun into the country will be released from custody today, reports Fox News, which championed his cause back home.
After Newtown, public figures have called not just for more gun control but to find a way to stop glamorizing violence. But some of the most prominent, most serious public figures in America — national politicians — have been glamorizing guns for decades.
Those following the gun control legislation bubbling up on Capitol Hill must be getting a lot of déjà vu, since similar legislation made its way through Congress 20 years ago.
Obama was right. On the same day the president said at a press conference that a "majority of Americans support banning the sale of military-style assault weapons" and "high-capacity ammunition clips" a new CNN/ORC International poll finds just that.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Obama is "actively supportive" of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's bill to reinstate the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Will it be enough?
The gun lobby will soon break its public silence on the school shooting, Fox News reports. Here's an early indication of its plan.
There comes a point in every gun control debate when certain people feel the need to establish their Real American bona fides. The funny thing is, these certain people are also from New York City, or worse, Washington, D.C.
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